Stewart Family Star

We are so excited to meet with families this week during conferences! Your kiddos are already showing so much growth this year!

Also, exciting news . . . the Scholastic Book Fair is coming to our school! This is a great opportunity to connect with your child over the thrill of bringing home new books to dive into again and again. Studies show that kids read more when they choose books for themselves. And fostering a love of independent reading leads to a wide variety of benefits—including academic success and improved mental health.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Book Fair:

Dates: November 11-14

Location: Stewart Elementary School

Family Event schedule and location: November 12 between 4:30-7:30 pm & November 14 between 12:45-3:30, 4:30-7:30 pm

There’s even more info on our school’s Book Fair homepage:

https://www.scholastic.com/bf/stewartelementaryschool24

While you’re there, set up a Book Fair eWallet, the digital payment account that allows your child to shop for books at the Fair without cash. Then share your eWallet link so friends and extended family can add funds. When you fund an eWallet, you’ll have the opportunity to contribute to a giving initiative called Share the Fair™. Your contributions directly support our students who need help buying books from the Fair.

Many of us still remember the rush of finding the perfect book at a Scholastic Book Fair. I hope you’ll join your child at our school’s Fair and share a reading experience they’ll remember forever.

Happy reading,

Carole Fetke

Principal

PS: Need one more reason to visit the Book Fair? Every purchase at the Fair benefits our school!

It's Scholastic Book Fair time! From November 11-14, come experience the limitless possibilities with your kids. Every purchase benefits our school. Don’t forget to sign up to volunteer! https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/stewartelementaryschool24

• Monday, November 11th:
• Veteran's Day Luncheon
• Monday November 11th through Thursday November 14:
• Scholastic Book Fair (see more info above)
• Tuesday, November 12th:
• Parent Teacher Conferences: 4:30 PM to 7:30 PM
• Thursday, November 14th:
• HALF DAY OF SCHOOL (students are released at 11:50 am)
• Parent Teacher Conferences: 12:45 PM - 3:30 PM / 4:30 PM - 7:30 PM
• Picture Retakes (see below for more information)
• Friday, November 15th:
• NO SCHOOL
• Tuesday, November 19th:
• Community PTO Meeting at Watermark
• Wednesday, November 27, 28, and 29th:
• Thanksgiving Break (NO SCHOOL)

Families:

If you're satisfied with your child's picture, no further action is required.

If you purchased and were unhappy with your Picture Package, please send your Picture Package to school with your student on Retake Day. Your Retake Picture Package will be produced and shipped to the school four weeks after Retake Day. Please note, if your child is photographed on the original and Retake Picture Days, the Retake picture will replace the original picture in certain products, like the yearbook.

Students who were absent for Picture Day should come to school prepared to have their picture taken. If you have not preordered, please use the Retake Order Code 87653SF to place your order at https://inter-state.com/Order. To see your Order History, check your Inter-State Account.

Find answers to Retake Day questions here.

Great news! Yearbooks arrived yesterday and they were sent home with kiddos today (unless your child had a substitute teacher)!

If you did not order a yearbook, we do have some extras to sell for $10 each. Put $10 (cash or check) in an envelope, write your child's name and teacher's name on the front of the envelope, and we will send a yearbook home with your child. (Please note, we do not have change in the office.)

Again thank you so much for your patience -- it is greatly appreciated!

Please make sure your student has appropriate outdoor gear every day. There will be outside recess unless it is consistently raining during recess time. It is also a good idea to label their gear with their first and last name in case it ends up in our lost and found.

Pop Shop is up and running! Our new and revived Pop Store got a face life and a new name. It is now mobile down the hallways delivering the goodies to the kids.

Come see your kiddo. Help others learn to shop with their pop tickets. A fun, rewarding experience!

Sign up with this link:

https://signup.com/mobileweb/2.0/vspot.html...

Holiday Support

As the holiday season approaches, we recognize that this time of year can bring additional challenges for some families in our community. To ensure everyone has the opportunity to enjoy the holidays, we are reaching out to offer support. If you are in need of assistance during this time, whether it’s help with meals, gifts, or other resources, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Our school is committed to providing support and can work to connect you with available resources.

Angel Tree

Additionally, if you are in a position to give back, please be on the lookout for opportunities to do this! We will have an Angel Tree program- ornaments will be up at the Veteran’s Day lunch,and during parent teacher conferences! Together, we can make this season brighter for everyone.

Please contact Dayna Galloway, School Counselor if you are interested!

dgalloway@lpslancer.net

School Climate Survey

Your feedback matters! Be on the lookout for a survey about how we are doing at Stewart Elementary. The survey will be brief and will provide the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS team) with valuable information from our important stakeholders- our families! More information to follow!

Lory’s Place Group started!

If you have a child who has experienced a significant death in their life and you would like for them to participate in the Lory’s Place peer support grief group, please contact Dayna Galloway. Also, if you would like more information regarding this community resource, please feel free to send an email asking for more information.

dgalloway@lpslancer.net

-***PLEASE NOTE THIS DATE/LOCATION CHANGE*** – Our next PTO community meeting

is on Tuesday, November 19th at 7:00pm at Watermark. Enjoy a beverage and join us to hear

all the fun things the PTO is planning this year. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend!

-We are in need of volunteers to send in food & drinks for the teachers during conferences the

week of November 11th. Tuesday will be snacks and drinks and Thursday will be a meal. We

love providing this for our awesome teachers as they are at the school for many hours with little

break times. Please sign up using this link https://signup.com/go/sNKAJGm

-The first BookFair of the year will be the week of November 11th. Shopping will be available

during the Veterans Day Lunch and conferences as well. We will need volunteers to help kids

shop both during school hours and after school. Please use this link to sign up to volunteer -

https://signup.com/mobileweb/2.0/vspot.html?activitykey=1041562660117#choose_event_page

-The Angel Tree will be back up starting next week! Please check it out during conferences. We

are blown away by the generosity of our Stewart Family each year helping make the holidays

bright for those who need it. The gifts will need to be turned in (unwrapped) by the beginning of

December. If you have any questions, please email us at hello@stewart-pto.com

-2023-24 Yearbooks will be in by the end of the month! Look for those to come home soon if

you ordered one last year. There will be extras available at the school to purchase if you did not

order last year and would like one.

-Skate with Santa is back this year! It will be on Friday, December 13th. Look for more

information to come home in the next few weeks!

School Bus Policies

The Policy States:

Lakeshore Public Schools provides bus transportation for all eligible students. We only grant requests to ride another bus in EMERGENCY situations or to a licensed daycare. A parental note describing the type of emergency or daycare situation must be brought to the office in the morning for administration approval. Students must present a valid pass from the office to the bus driver in order to ride a bus that is not assigned to them or get off at a different stop.

Student's will NOT be allowed to ride a bus home to qo to a friend's house for afterschool activities.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

• Please do not drop your child off at school prior to 8:25 The doors open at 8:25 and we do not have supervision outside. Students need to remain in your vehicle until our adults outside give the signal that it is ok to let your children out. This includes walkers.
  
• In the morning we will have adults outside to assist and/or open doors to get your Lancer inside safely. Please remain in your vehicle to help our car line run smoothly. Please do not park and walk your child across the parking lot. If they are having a "moment" and you need assistance, please pull up to the curve and let an adult know so that we can support you.
  
• At dismissal you will pull through the car line and we will send your child(ren) to the correct cone.

TransportationChanges/EarlyPick-UPs

Please remember to notify the office by 2 p.m. of any transportation changes for your child. This allows us to have ample time to relay the information to their teacher.

If you need to pick up your child early from school, kindly do so before 2:30 p.m. This helps maintain safety in the pick-up line and avoids complications.

Thank you for your cooperation!

Important Car Drop Off/Pick Up Information

It is our #1 goal to keep all of our children safe! Unfortunately, we have had a few scary moments for our staff in the car drop off/pick up lane in the past few weeks!

Pick adhere to the following guidelines so we can all work together and protect our children:

• ENTER the car rider drop off/pick up lane off of Maple Lane and veer right to loop around the back parking lot and enter the car rider drop off/pick up lane on Orchard Lane.
• After dropping off / picking up your child, EXIT the lane off of Orchard and onto Morton Lane (watch for our staff member here directing traffic to allow our buses to enter and exit safely).
• Keep your focus on the car lane and our staff who are directing traffic (please refrain from texting and/or look at your phone while you are in the drop off / pick up lane)
• Please do not go around any vehicles at the cones.

Officer Boone, our school resource officer, has watched our drop off/pick time on several occasions in the past few weeks and has complimented our families and staff on how smoothly it runs! Let's keep working together to keep our children safe!

1. All volunteers that will spend time in the building beyond the office need a background check. Background checks were sent home during the first week of school. If you need one, please reach out to our office or you may locate one on our website at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfCagP-QMUV-G94YjTrdhxT7fU_v1jDZkCCUZ4l2h-OXYkKsg/viewform

2. All visitors/volunteers in the building will be pre-arranged through the teachers’ schedules. Please sign in at the office and get a visitor’s tag.

Please remember that your child should be fever free (without medicine) and not vomiting for 24 hours before returning to school. Thank you for following this policy and keeping our Stewart Family healthy! If your child will be late or absent, please contact the office before 9:00 am by email at jmcgovern@lpslancer.net or call 269-428-1418. You may leave a voicemail at any time. Mrs. McGovern checks it multiples times during the day. It is required by the state to report the reason for an absence so please share the reason/symptom and/or type of illness if known.

Late students need to be signed in by an adult in the office.

Thank you!

https://www.instagram.com/lakeshore.stewart/?igsh=MWc3anNodXcxdnp2eg%3D%3D

http://www.facebook.com/lakeshore.stewart

SIGN UP TODAY!! https://docs.google.com/forms/u/1/d/e/1FAIpQLSf0gG5TvXncKQsZz3DFVvZ-hKQWOx6-y05cpS9C79OZsxNiLA/viewform

Is your 4th or 5th grader looking to develop essential life skills like patience, focus, and problem-solving in a fun and creative way? Our Knitting Club offers the perfect opportunity! Whether they’re beginners or experienced knitters, your child will enhance fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and confidence while crafting unique, handmade projects. Plus, it’s a great way to foster friendships and creative expression. Let’s weave together learning, creativity, and community - one stitch at a time!

Students in the Knitting Club will join Ms. Lane and Mrs. Miu every Thursday starting November 7th from 3:45-4:45pm in Stewart Room 12! All skill levels are welcome and encouraged to come, and it's completely free to join. Please email Ms. Lane and Mrs. Miu if your child is interested - we will send out important information and updates!

*YMCA-Before and After Care**

The YMCA is planning to have before and after care at the YMCA this year. Students will be bussed from the Y to their school in the morning and from their school to the Y in the afternoon. You can find information on the YMCA's website.

KIDS NIGHT OUT at the YMCA

• Do you need a night out? Look no further! Each month, your child can have an exciting Saturday evening at the YMCA!
• We play in the gym and swim.
• Dinner and a snack are ALSO included.
• Bring a water bottle.
• Ages 5-12 welcome. Space is limited.

TUTORING

1. Tutoring Sessions
Tuesdays: 3:45 - 5:00 PM
Help your child succeed with extra tutoring!
https://forms.gle/ucgD82X4D8JLDVg2A

2. Kid's Night Out
November 8th: 4:00 - 6:30 PM
Join us for Game Night!
https://forms.gle/kozrAAqpv8ikeWcZ6

Free Breakfast and Lunch

We are happy to let you know that we will again have free breakfast and lunch available for our students each day. Stewart Elementary students will not need money in their lunch account unless you plan to send a packed lunch and have them purchase milk/juice.

We will collect all year! Keep on collecting those pop tabs! Let's support the Ronald McDonald House Charities! Drop off pop tops in the office to Mrs. McGovern.