NOVEMBER NEWS

Hello Parents and Guardians,

Please read through the newsletter, as there are several important items for you regarding attendance, early pickup, Title 1 events, and more. There are also some exciting and fun events coming up, so check out our "Mark your calendars" section for all those dates.

From all of us at Snowshoe Elementary to all of our amazing families, we wish you an amazing Thanksgiving holiday!

November 11 - Veteran's Day *NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS

November 12 - Girls B-ball Scrimmage at Machetanz 4:15pm

November 14 - Veteran's Day Assembly 10:00am

November 16 - 5th Grade Boys Basketball Jamboree @ WMS

November 19 - Girls B-ball Scrimmage at Dena'ina 4:15pm

November 20 - Girl Scout Meeting in library 4:00pm

November 22 - Spirit Day *PARTY IN THE USA* - Dress patriotic

November 23 - 5th Grade Girls Basketball Jamboree @ WMS

November 26 - 4th Grade Field Trip to Borough Building

November 27 - 2nd Grade Field Trip to Valley Cinema

November 28-29 - Thanksgiving Holiday *NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS

December 2 - Food Drive Ends

December 4 - Girl Scout Meeting in library 4:00pm

December 5-6 - AIMS Testing

December 11 - Books and Breakfast Event *See below for more information

December 12 - Books and Breakfast Event *See below for more information

December 12 - Drama Club/Kdg-2nd Grade Holiday Program 2:30pm and 6:30pm

December 13 - 2nd Grade Babysitting Night

December 13 - 1st Grade Field Trip to Reindeer Farm

December 16-19 - Spirit Week

• 16th-Wear red and green
• 17th-Santa's workshop helpers (elf, reindeer, snowman, etc)
• 18th-Ugly Christmas sweaters
• 19th-Pajama Day

December 20 - Work Day for Teachers *NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS

December 23-January 3 - Winter Break

Help us help our community!

We are having a food drive through the month of November and ending on December 2. We are collecting canned green beans, canned corn, soups, and mac and cheese.

There is a classroom competition going as well. The classroom that collects the most items by quantity will win an ice cream party. There is also a competition for the teachers. The top 3 teachers in the district will win a professional massage.

Thank you for your participation and for helping our valley community.

Why Regular School Attendance Matters

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We want to take a moment to emphasize how important consistent school attendance is for your child’s success. Regular attendance is directly linked to better academic performance, stronger social skills, and the development of important life habits such as responsibility and time management.

Here’s why it matters:

• Academic Success: Every school day is an opportunity to learn and build on important concepts. Missing school can lead to gaps in knowledge.

• Personal Growth: Attendance helps students develop social skills, build relationships, and gain confidence.

• Preventing Struggles: Chronic absenteeism, even in early grades, can impact future academic success.

We understand that there are times when absence is necessary, but we encourage you to prioritize school attendance whenever possible. If your child is facing challenges with attending school, please reach out—we’re here to support you.

You may notice these signs throughout the school - we want to encourage students to be here, ready to learn, every day, so we are challenging ourselves to beat the previous month's number. At the time this picture was taken, we have had 4 school days in November and 171 absences. We can, and need to do better.

We understand that occasionally, parents need to pick students up early. Please be aware that between 3:00-3:45pm daily, our office is very busy fielding phone calls, calling students down, running dismissal reports, and other end of day procedures. And classrooms are finishing up instruction and preparing to leave.

If possible, please avoid picking your students up during this very busy time. We understand that there are circumstances where that cannot be helped and that is okay. But if at all possible, we would very much appreciate if parents could avoid early dismissal during this time.

Please join us for our next Title 1 Family Engagement Event on December 11 and again on December 12, from 8:30am-9:00am.

This FREE event will be in our library. We will have a collection of winter and holiday themed books for giveaway, as well as provide our families with breakfast.

This is a family event, so students must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. No drop offs allowed.

Our Instructional Coach, Erin Morrow, will be available to answer any questions you may have regarding the Alaska Reads Act or our Title 1 plan.

This Thursday, November 14, our music teacher, Mr. Miller, will have a Veteran's Day Assembly which will have the WHS JROTC presenting the colors, a guest speaker, a slide show explaining the history of Veteran's Day, and musical performances by our Snowshoe students.

Mr. Miller is asking that students wear Red, White, and Blue for the assembly.

Parents and guardians are welcome to attend. If you are a veteran or service member, please come and be recognized.

Assembly starts at 10:00am and will end at 11:00am.

Click the button below to order your yearbook.

Use Yearbook ID Code: 8624425. Deadline to order is April 7, 2025.

Order your Snowshoe gear by clicking the button below. Choose from a huge selection of items and logos!

Make sure you look closely on the home page, as there are almost always discounts. Currently there is 20% off discount that ends 11/13/24.

*The pictures below are just a few examples of items you can order. There are many different items and styles to choose from! Something for everyone's tastes!

Our 2nd Grade team is fundraising for their Seward Field Trip that will happen in May.

Please keep an eye out for information coming home on how to order Kaladi Brothers Coffee that will benefit our 2nd grade students.

Online orders will open on Tuesday, 11/19/24. In person order forms will be coming home soon as well.

Here are a number of resources that may be helpful to your family during the holidays:

Thanksgiving Blessing held on Saturday, November 23rd from 10am-4pm at various locations (please see flyer below) where families will be provided with one frozen turkey and groceries for a delicious holiday meal.

Next is a Thanksgiving Dinner, put on by Frontline Mission, on November 28th from 11am-2pm at the Menard Sports Center. (See flyer)

Also, if your family could use some help for the holidays, below is the link for the Special Santa program.

https://www.specialsanta.net/applications.html

Hi Snowshoe families,

I wanted to provide notice to families of 1st grade, 3rd grade, 5th grade and new to district students that I will being screening students for health. These health screenings involve vision, hearing, general health which includes height, weight, blood pressure and heart rate, and finally dental health.

If you would like to decline the screenings for the year, please provide notice in writing to either Mr. Moore or myself, Mrs. Brauneis, that you are declining all the health screenings. Please sign and date the note and return it to school.

If you have any other questions or concerns about the screenings, please feel free to call me and we can talk about how I do the screenings.

I am continuing with kindergarten students that were missed during kindergarten roll-in. If you would like to opt out Kindergarten students, parents/guardians please follow the same above process.

Thank you!

Melissa Brauneis, RN - School Nurse