Happy Friday, Lil Steamer Families!

January 17, 2025

From the Desk of: Principal Hoese

Lil Steamer Families --

Two quick updates:

Fastbridge Testing - Each year, students complete benchmarking during the fall, winter, and spring which allows us to track student progress. This week our students completed their winter benchmarking. Next week, parents will receive a copy of the testing which includes the fall scores and shows student trends. If you have any questions or concerns about your student's progress, please contact their respective homeroom teacher.
Remote Learning Schedule - Last week, Dr. Hogue sent out a weather notification letter regarding cancelations, late starts, and remote learning days. However, last year's remote learning schedule was attached instead of the updated schedule for this year. Please see the letter below this note for the updated 24-25 remote learning schedule.

Stay warm this weekend!

JAGH

From the Desk of: AP Parsons

The last two days have been much nicer than earlier this week and that has been a welcome change. Looking ahead, we could have MUCH colder weather when we see each other again on Tuesday. Please spend a few minutes looking for the hats, gloves, and scarves that have likely been shoved into the bottom of your child's bookbag. They WILL need them next week.

Enjoy the three day weekend!

From the Desk of: Counselor Meumann

Martin Luther King Jr. made it his life’s mission to bring compassion, fairness, and racial equality to all. His “I Have A Dream” Speech called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism.

Drawing inspiration from King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, ask your children what their dreams are. What inspires them? Talk about ways that your family can make the world a better place. You can also write them down and hang the paper on your fridge (or elsewhere in your home) to serve as a source of inspiration throughout the year.

House Color Day!

Friday, January 24th is a House Color Day! We encourage all students and staff to dress in your house color to show your house pride.

Anchor House- Yellow

Bridge House- Green

River House- Blue

Wheel House- Orange

Cheer Camp Signups!

IMPORTANT UPDATES:

Cheer camp forms are due on Friday, January 24th.

Cheer camp has been rescheduled to Saturday, February 15

from 9:00am-12:00pm at River Bend Middle School.

The cheer performance has been rescheduled to Tuesday, February 18

between the JV and Varsity games.

If you have already paid and cannot make the rescheduled dates,

please contact the FES office for a refund.

Nominate your teacher for My Favorite Teacher

WQAD News 8 is proud to partner with Blackhawk Bank & Trust, CSI Homes, and Carpetland for this year's My Favorite Teacher Contest.

wqad.com

Grades 3-5 Field Trip on Thursday, February 6!

FES PTO Corner

Apparel Store: We’re thrilled to announce that apparel store items are anticipated to be ready within the next week! Once the orders are complete, we’ll send out information regarding pick-up times. Thank you for your patience—we can’t wait for you to see your new gear!

Teacher Requests: PTO has approved a request for classroom supplies for our new kindergarten teacher, Ms. Tiffany Smith. We’re so excited to welcome Ms. Smith to the FES family and extend our heartfelt congratulations on her graduation!

Polar Bear Patch Holiday Shop: The Polar Bear Patch will take place December 16–20. This special holiday shop allows students to purchase gifts for their loved ones. Keep an eye out for a flyer coming home with your student soon!

Volunteer Opportunity: The flyer includes a section that can be cut off and returned to school for parents who wish to volunteer at the Polar Bear Patch.
Budgeting Help: To make shopping easier, the flyer also includes a budgeting section where parents can help plan how much their student should spend on each loved one. This section can be sent to school with the student’s spending money to ensure a smooth and enjoyable shopping experience.

The PTO has been hard at work preparing for this event since the end of last year’s holiday shop. Every item was hand-picked by the board, and we’re so proud of this year’s offerings. We can’t wait for the kids to enjoy this magical shopping experience!

Next PTO Meeting: Mark your calendars! Our next PTO meeting will be on February 4th, 2025, at 7 PM.

As always, feel free to reach out to us on Facebook at Fulton PTO, by email at fultonelempto@gmail.com, or contact a board member:

Lynne Coffey – President
Abra Richards – Vice President & Media Manager
Danielle Wilkins – Secretary
Tarah Manon – Treasurer

Thank you for your continued support of FES and our PTO initiatives!

Guidelines for Keeping Home a Sick Child

1. A child should be fever-free without the assistance of medication for 24 hours before returning to school. A child's temperature is lowest in the morning, so a low temperature on awakening is not a true indicator. If you have given your child Tylenol or Motrin at night, the medication could still be affecting your child's temperature.

2. A child should be free of vomiting/diarrhea for 24 hours before returning to school. A child who has been ill during the night may feel slightly better in the morning and even ask to go to school. however, the child will likely experience symptoms of illness later and will be contagious to the other children and staff.

3. A child with a thick or constant colored nasal discharge should remain home. Very few younger children can effectively blow their noses and wash their hands afterwards.

4. A child diagnosed with strep throat/scarlet fever should remain home for the first 24 hours of antibiotic treatment. A child remains contagious until they has been antibiotics for 24 hours.

5. A child diagnosed with conjunctivitis may attend school after 24 hours of antibiotic treatment. There should also not be any drainage from the eyes.

6. If you child has a persistent cough.

7. If your child sustains an injury either in or out of school, please notify the school nurse's office and send a doctor's note if your child is unable to participate in physical education or recess.

The 24-Hour Rule:

A child should stay home for at least 24 hours to rest if the following symptoms are present the morning of school or the previous night:

Vomiting and/or diarrhea
Fever above 100 degrees
Itchy or reddened eyes with drainage
An unusual rash, respecially if accompanied by drainage
A poor night's sleep due to illness, cough, etc.

Position Available

Starting pay is $18/hour. AM/PM Route. Up to 4 hours per day.

Paid holidays, sick, personal and bereavement time, and insurance available as well as participation in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund.

Come join River Bend's excellent team of transportation professionals! All of our vehicles are well maintained, newer models and are all parked indoors.

No CDL? No problem! Paid training is provided (terms apply.)

Email Transportation Director Taylor Whitney at twhitney@riverbendschools.net to apply.

Capturing Kids Hearts January Family Newsletter

Be sure to read through the conversation starters at the bottom of the newsletter for great ways to discuss how to be a respectful student. Respect is our January monthly character trait!