At the Creek.....

1/31-RCCA and Preschool Movie night-see below for info

1/31-Beach Day

2/3-Geo Bee--2pm in MPR

2/7--Spelling Bee--2pm in MPR

2/7-Winter Fun Night 4-7pm

2/11--PTA meeting 7pm

2/12 and 2/13-Parent Teacher Conferences-See information below

2/17-Presidents Day holiday

Dear Parents,

I have been asked by teachers to communicate with families on the subject of being requested to prepare work to be sent with students on vacations, as family vacations are common here at Rabbit Creek. I've reviewed the Elementary Student Handbook (found at https://apps.asdk12.org/forms/uploads/EShandbook.pdf) to look at district policy in this area. The School Board has provided the following guideline to schools to clarify what constitutes an excused absence. It is here for your information.

According to Anchorage School Board Policy 443 (b), the following conditions may result in an absence being coded

as excused:

1. illness

2. death or serious illness in the immediate family

3. participation in a school function

4. extenuating circumstances approved by the principal,

   and

5. attendance at religious services

When a family let's our office know of an upcoming vacation, it is entered into the system as a pre-arranged unexcused absence. As you know, absences are noted on the report card without identifying whether they are excused or unexcused, making this for documentation purposes only. The staff and I fully understand that family vacations happen and are valuable in many ways.

The Elementary handbook speaks to student make-up work when there is an excused absence, as well as when there is an unexcused absence. With just my luck, it leaves the unexcused absence make-up work when there is a vacation up to the school principal. The handbook speaks only to being able to complete work missed after a trip and not of the request for work ahead of time to support students while they are missing instruction. As I know you're aware, the sending of worksheets and tasks does not replace the instruction and rich discussions that would take place in a classroom.

A challenge that arises for staff is when they are requested to send work with a student prior to a vacation. Our teachers use district curriculum in the different subjects, however the pacing of lessons is typically dependent on student learning and understanding of the skill. Lesson plans are usually created for a week at a time to allow for review at the end of the week to assess whether the class is ready to move on or whether they need additional time to master a specific skill. This makes it difficult for a teacher to prepare work for a week or two week period to send with a student. I do know that time is another factor, as teachers have limited time within their school day to complete the daily tasks and prepare for the day to follow. Adding in the preparation of work for days/weeks ahead to send with a student is something they've spoken about as being difficult to do. At this time, one teacher has three different vacation dates that she is working to remember and look at providing support by preparing work ahead of time.

Our Leadership team will be discussing this subject at our meeting in February to look at how we can support students and the requests of families.

Thanks for your sharing your children with us each day!

Ms Peterson

We have multiple safety issues in our front parking lots that are impacting others and are creating safety concerns. Please read below:

**No students may be dropped off in between the two rows of parking. We have families who are dropping students off in these ares and the students are then walking across the driveway to get into the building. All students need to be dropped off and picked up in the drop off /pick up line.

**All cars must pull all the way to the front door for drop off. Families are stopping back by the portables to let students out of the cars and this creates an incredible back up. This causes others to pull into the inside area to get around cars and there have been no less than 3 near misses this week. All cars must pull as far forward as possible to drop off students-and pick up. Students can and should walk from being dropped off at the closest spot to the front door-heading either into the building or back towards the portables/playground.

**Cars can not wait for students in the parking lot/between the rows of cars. Every car picking up a student from school needs to be either in the pick up line or in a parking spot. Families can not block in other cars to get a closer spot to meet the children.

**Cars can not park in our handicapped spots to wait for children. These spots are reserved throughout each and every day for those with the appropriate sticker/license plate. This does include the parking area closest to the MPR.

Dear Parent(s),

Rabbit Creek Elementary School will be teaching the 3rd Quarter Personal Safety lessons between February 10 and February 21st, 2020 during the Health classes. The age-appropriate lessons will be presented in a non-threatening way, along with the skills needed for self-protection. The lesson content is part of the Anchorage School District’s plan to enact the Alaska Safe Children’s Act and will be handled in a sensitive, respectful manner.

If you have any questions about the content of the program or if you wish to inquire about opting out, please contact our Elem. Health Specialist, Erika Jones: jones_erika@asdk12.org

Thank you for partnering with us as we continue to provide learning opportunities to improve the safety and well being of our students.

Sincerely,

Kristina Peterson

February 12th and 13th are Parent-Teacher conference days with student dismissal at 12:30 and conferences scheduled to follow. All of our teachers will have their conference schedule set up by the beginning of next week, with some already having them online at this time. Please visit the following link to set a time with your child(ren)'s teachers.

https://apps.asdk12.org/ConferenceScheduling/StudentScheduleStartExt.aspx

Friday February 14th is an InService day for staff and a no school day for students. Please be sure to mark these days in your calendars for planning purposes. Thank you!!!

Student Council would like to thank those that have donated to our "Change for Koalas" fundraiser. We will be finishing it up on February 7th. We are supporting a foundation called Wires which has helped wildlife in Australia for over 30 years. Their website is www.wires.org.au . Checks are also accepted and can be made out to WIRES. Thank you!

We are excited that our new school store is opening. New stuff is arriving daily and will be on sale every Friday during the lunch periods. We have a limited amount of jog -a - thon shirts as well as pens, pencils, notebooks and bracelets. Student Council is hoping to acquire a glass case on wheels so that we can set up in the lunchroom but until then, check it out in the first glass case by the library.

Val grams will go on sale on February 7th . We will have a table at the Flurries and Fun night for the parents that would like to make a purchase. They are 25¢ and will be available from your child's teacher. Student Council will be delivering the Val Grams on Thursday, Feb. 13th.

Thank you for all of your support!

3rd and 4th Grade Choir starts this Tuesday - February 4th! If your student is interested in joining, please email Mrs. Hunt (hunt_elizabeth@asdk12.org). Looking forward to a great semester of singing!

With a song,

Mrs. Hunt

Nichole, our cafeteria manager, has left Rabbit Creek, meaning the position is open. If you think this is something you might be interested in, please check the ASD website. On the right hand side is the yellow "I want to" section. Under here is a place to click 'apply for a job.' Although the position is currently posted internally only, it will be open to external candidates soon. The job is 4.5 hours a day and gives you great opportunities to spend time with our wonderful school family!

Your feedback on our school's success is important to us and helps guide our work with students. Please share your thoughts in this year's Climate and Connectedness survey at the following link. The access code is rabbitcreekfamily

https://surveys.panoramaed.com/aasb/login

This year's event will take place on April 28th from 2:20-3:20 in our kindergarten classrooms. Our incoming students will have a chance to visit the rooms, talk to teachers and learn a bit about what kindergarten is all about! More information will follow as we get closer, but you can add this to your calendar. :)

Dear Rabbit Creek families,

Third quarter is off to a great start and we have lots of fun community events and PTA-sponsored school activities to report on or coming in the next few weeks. First, on the evening of January 27th, PTA, put on a showing of the documentary, “Screenagers”and invited parents and kids in 6th grade or older to attend. We had a great turnout with over 70 attendees, including 27 students. Lots of healthy discussion was had and families left feeling better equipped to outline family rules regarding technology use and find resources to help them navigate the challenges of parenting in the digital age. If you missed it, there will be another public showing on Feb. 25th at 6:30 pm at Grace Christian School and “Screenagers 2: The Next Chapter”will be shown at Oceanview Elementary at 6:30 pm on March 24th. Thank you to Tina Baldridge for coordinating this event and requesting the $650 Grant through PTA to pay for it and to Mrs. Peterson for supporting the event.

Coming up soon, we have the Geography Bee on Monday, Feb 3rd, followed by the Spelling Bee on Friday, Feb. 7th. Both events are at 2 pm in the MPR. We also had two 3rd/4th Grade and two 5th/6th grade Battle of the Books teams compete at the district Battle of the Books this week. Our 3/4 teams competed today with Sophie Allen, Lilly Kim and Mila Hildebrand finishing in 9th place and the team of Sophia Novakovic, Emma Fondy and Khloe StAubin finishing 6th. Congratulations to all teams! The 5/6 team of Holly Rogness, Adele Matthews, and Maryn Korpi finished in 13th place. In 8th place for 5th/6th grade was the team of Megan Fondy, Lucy Boyd, and Alysa Reidel.Each battle had 52 teams from around Anchorage competing. We are proud of our students!!!

A special thanks to Katrina Rhodes, Rachael Selby (Geo Bee) and Gabriella Bookman (Spelling Bee) and Anya Kean (Battle of the Books) for organizing this year’s competitions!

Another event is the “Spring” Book Fair, which will run February 5-14. Lori Hanna and Candace Cartwright, along with Ms. Kean, are organizing this on behalf of PTA and they are looking for helpers for set up on February 5th and run the cash register throughout the rest of the book fair. Please sign up to help at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080a4ea8af22a57-2020

Lastly, our PTA will be hosting our 2nd annual Winter Fun Day, "Flurries N Fun,"next Friday, February 7th from 4-7 pm. This is a family event (no drop-offs) that will feature fun winter activities such as sledding (sleds provided, please don’t bring your own), XC Skiing, Snowshoeing, Kick-Sledding, Snow Art and Orienteering. We will have Kaladi Bros cocoa and hotdogs and the Book Fair will be open for those wanting to take a short indoor break to browse some good books! Our Community VP, Tina Baldridge, is organizing this event and is in need of LOTS of helpers to run stations for one hour or more during the event. If you can assist, please sign up at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0945a5a828a2f94-2ndannual

Lastly, our next PTA Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 11th at 7 pm in the Library. All are invited to attend.

Remember to stay ‘in the loop’ by checking out the reader board as you drop off & pick up your students--thank you to Danielle Cornelius for keeping that updated in this COLD weather-- visit our website: www.rabbitcreekpta.org,or join our closed Facebook group: Rabbit Creek School PTA.

See you soon at Rabbit Creek!

Heather Birch

president@rabbitcreekpta.org

907-317-0015

Back by popular demand, our Second Annual Winter Fun Day, Flurries N' Fun will be here February 7 from 4-7pm! Gather your families and join us for an evening of music, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, snow art, and an orienteering course! New this year, we will be serving hot dogs to hopefully tie over those hungry tummies so they can stay and play longer! One of our Rabbit Creek parents and local firefighter,Todd Loy, has secured a grill from the Anchorage Fire Department for our event as well as volunteered to cook hot dogs! Thank you Todd! Furthermore, we are honored to be serving Kaladi Brothers Hot Cocoa, thanks to their generous donation.

As we gear up for this fun event, we want to pass on a few important safety reminders to consider before arriving:

1) Please remember to bring a helmet from home if you plan to sled. We will provide sleds for all and therefore, ask you leave your personal sleds at home.

2) If you own a headlamp, we encourage you to wear it as the field can get extremely dark after the sun goes down. This will especially be helpful when partaking in the orienteering course.

Safety continues to be our top priority so your cooperation is much appreciated. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to Tina Baldridge by emailing communityvp@rabbitcreekpta.org. Interested in volunteering at the event? Please visit our SignUp Genius link Winter Fun Day - "Flurries N' Fun"

Thank you for your support and let's have some winter fun!

Home of the greatest students, families and community members!

Email: peterson_kristina@asdk12.org
Website: https://www.asdk12.org/rabbitcreek
Location: 13650 Lake Otis Parkway, Anchorage, AK, USA
Phone: 907-742-5700
Facebook: www.facebook.com/RabbitCreekPrincipalPage