Parent-Teacher Conferences:

We are over half way done with the first quarter of learning! Time is flying by! Parent Teacher Conferences will be October 23rd from 1:30-9:00. We look forward to collaborating with you about your child's strengths and areas for growth. We will again be using the online system for sign-ups. An email will be sent on Monday, September 30th at 4:00 with directions on registering for Parent-Teacher Conferences.

October 2nd - Preschool AM Class Field Trip to Valas-No School for PM Class

October 3rd - Preschool PM Class Field Trip to Valas-No School for AM Class

October 7th - 11th - Homecoming Week (flyer below with the daily theme)

October 8th - Elementary Nature Night 5:45-6:45

October 11th - Ashland Fire Department Drill/Visits the Primary and Intermediate School

October 18th - No School for Students - Staff In-service Day

October 21st - Book Fair Week

October 22nd - 4th Grade Field Trip

October 23rd - Early Dismissal @ 12:50 (Intermediate) & 1:00 (Primary)

October 23rd - Parent-Teacher Conferences 1:30-9:00

October 24th - Elementary Unified Event

October 24th - Blocks POPS (Parents of Preschoolers) Event @ 6:00

October 26th- Halloween Spooktacular@ the Ashland Public Library 3:00-5:00

October 31st - Halloween Party

November 1st - No School for Students and Staff

November 6th - Picture Retake Day and Early Dismissal @ 12:50 (Intermediate) & 1:00 (Primary)

Use the link below to find more information about our scholastic book fair!

https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/ashlandgreenwoodelemschool

We are excited to share about students learning and to collaborate with families at our upcoming parent-teacher conferences! ADD

Thank you to those who attended the September PTO Meeting and our Standards-Based Grading presentation. A summary of the information shared is attached below.

Reminder: Starting with the 2024-2025 school year, the primary and intermediate schools will be transitioning to grading students based on achievement on state standards. In previous years, report cards and grades have been reported for both standards-based grades and traditional letter grades. This year, we will only report on standards-based grades. The grading codes for standards-based grading are pictured below. Please keep in mind that it is not accurate to think a score of 3 to equal a B and a 4 to equal an A. We expect the level of teaching to be at a level 3 - that is proficiency. Our goal is for kids to be proficient, which is a 3. More details about each score can be found in the PDF attached below.

Halloween Parade and Parties are planned for Thursday, October 31st.

All students are encouraged to bring a costume to school. Make-up, hair sprays, and costume weapons are not allowed at school (please save for trick-or-treating). Students will change into costumes in the afternoon and hold Halloween parties at the end of the day. The primary school students will parade in the gym and weather permitting, the intermediate will parade around the intermediate playground at 2:40 PM to share their costumes. Parents are welcome to join us for the parades. If the weather is poor, the parade will be moved indoors, and parents/visitors may watch the parade in the cafeteria.

In celebration of Veterans Day and appreciation for the service of our military veterans, we are delighted to extend an invitation to the families of our students who are veterans. This year, AG Primary School will host Donuts with Vets in the morning and AG Intermediate School will hold the Veterans Day assembly with a guest speaker. Details for the Primary School event are below. The program at the Intermediate will be at 9:30. We hope our veterans can join us for our assembly and donuts and juice immediately following. Students are encouraged to invite their veteran family members to this special event!

https://forms.gle/rp91wbwXKmmUERYX7

Research shows that students who read regularly at home tend to achieve greater success in school, as reading is fundamental to all areas of learning. Setting aside time for reading at home is a simple yet effective way to support your child's academic success. To motivate and encourage students to meet their monthly reading goals, both your child's teacher and the AG PTO will be recognizing those who achieve these goals.

We want to express our sincere gratitude to the AG PTO for their continued financial support of our reading rockstar program!

From September through April, a reading log or activity will be sent home each month for your child to complete and return to school. As a reward for completing this, students will earn a Pizza Hut Book-It certificate for a personal pizza (October through March), have a chance to win gift cards through a drawing, and be eligible for special school activities. Those who participate in every month of the program will be invited to the Smart Cookie Award party in May.

Happy reading!

Health screenings for students in grades 1st-4th take place each fall. A basic screening of a student’s vision, hearing, dental health and their height and weight are required by the state of Nebraska. Screenings were held on Friday, September 27th (3rd & 4th grades) and will be Friday, October 11th (1st & 2nd grades). Students who currently wear glasses will want to wear their glasses for the screening. If you have any questions regarding the health screenings, please contact the elementary nurse, Lindsay Wellman.

Students will be participating in the Academic and Attendance Incentive Program again this year. The Attendance and Academic Incentive Programs are sponsored by the Ashland-Greenwood Elementary School and PTO. The goals of the programs are to encourage and reward good attendance and academic achievement and improvement throughout the school year.

TAGG is an easy way to help our school raise money. Ashland NE's Runza just opened, and is the 17th participating location on TAGG! Uploading your receipt gives 5% back to our school. They are also offering 20 Reward Points until Sep 30. Details for how to use TAGG and other fundraising opportunities are below.

Click here to fill the AG PTO form out digitally if you haven't done so already! We had our best response ever this year on registrations! Mrs. Cooper's 2nd grade and Mr. Chudomelka's 5th grade classes won a cookie party because they had the most returned forms! Congratulations!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1yU3kS9mklnDSSRdhM6IJ-X3Qf916gymHJzc6vFmwBYY/viewform?edit_requested=true

Thank you to all of our Bluejay families for your donations to our Ashland-Greenwood PTO! Thanks to your generosity, they were able to provide each teacher with a $25 Amazon gift card for supplies for their classroom to start the school year.

'I CAN' be a courteous Bluejay FAN!

We are looking forward to kicking off our Bluejay football season! Please review the rules for home football games listed below.

1. The elementary playground is closed during football games. No playing on the school playground or in the parking lots. Students are not permitted to play with footballs or other play equipment in the stadium area or grounds.

2. During halftime, elementary students cannot leave the stadium to play football or for any other reason unless they are accompanied by a parent.

3. Students need to sit on the bleachers with their parents or supervising adult. No sitting on the concrete wall next to the football field.

4. Show good sportsmanship and courteous audience behavior.

There is limited seating on the south side of the bleachers. Students who are accompanied and supervised by their parent/adult may sit on the grassy hill. Students need to stay seated and not run, roll down the hill, or be boisterous on these grassy slopes or grassy areas near the field.

** Following these rules will help all fans have a fun and safe evening. **

Mrs. Murphy was awarded the Pay It Forward Award from First Interstate Bank and KMTV! Mrs. Murphy earned $500 to spend on resources for her classroom! We are proud of you, Mrs. Murphy!

Third-Fifth grade students enjoyed an afternoon outside with friendly competition at our annual Soccerfest. Thank you to Mr. Thompson for organizing and running this event for our students!

5th Graders worked on the engineering design process. Cars were tested on how fast they could drive, how much cargo they could carry, how safe they were, and on their appearance. We learned about tradeoffs when designing cars as well.

If you have a child that walks home from the intermediate school, please remind them to use the crosswalk when crossing 14th street. The traffic is very busy after school and we want to ensure all of our students get across safely!

Meal program staff will be available in the cafeteria to assist families in making deposits in your child's meal account as well. The cost for meals is:

• Student breakfast - $2.15
• Student lunch - $3.10

Ashland-Greenwood JJYB is excited to offer our 1st & 2nd grade skill sessions for a 2nd year & our interleague scrimmages after the holiday break!

We will be offering four (4), hour long skill sessions that will touch on the importance of fundamentals and drills involving ball handling, shooting, passing and competitiveness.

Below are the details of these skill sessions:

Date: Oct. 27th, Nov. 3rd, 10th & 17th

Time: 5:00 - 6:00 pm

Location: AG Primary Elementary School (Please drop off and pick up on the east side of the school by the gym entrance)

Cost: Free

**There is no registration - please feel free to just show up on any/all of the dates!

Lastly, as mentioned above, we will be holding our interleague games after Christmas break. More information will be released later but this is an opportunity for our girls to showcase their skills and enjoy playing the game of basketball!

If you have any questions, please contact Ashley Armstrong (402-699-1182) or myself at 402-801-1155.

Ashland-Greenwood Junior Jays Youth Basketball registration for girls in grades 3-6 at AGPS is now open. Attached below, you will find:

- Registration Form

- Summary of JJYB

The registration process is online & can be found within the document, or clicking HERE.

Registrations are due by Saturday, October 19th.

-Thursday, November 14th

-Ashland-Greenwood Middle School - Commons Area

-From 6:30-7:30

-PreK (starting K in Fall of 2025) through 8th grade

Wrestlers will:

-Register for the 2024-25 Season

-Pick up a team shirt

-Rent a singlet ($60 deposit) *return singlet if needed

-Have picture taken by Jen Wilke

Families will have the opportunity to purchase shirts on this night as well. We are anticipating having shirts on site instead of placing an order this year.

Practices will begin the first week of December. The practice schedule will not be available until after registration night.

Parents Meeting will be on Sunday, November 24th at 6:00 in the Ashland-Greenwood Middle School - Commons Area.

Follow the Ashland-Greenwood Jr Wrestling Facebook page to receive updates.

Please check back for additional winter activity information. As programs share sign-up information, we will make sure it is added to the newsletter.

Do you know of a community event that would be something our Ashland Greenwood Elementary students would be able to participate in? Please contact us at 402-944-7083.