Email: dupreet@usd231.com
Website: https://www.usd231.com/o/sunflower
Location: 775 North Center Street, Gardner, KS, USA
Phone: 913-856-3700
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sunflower-Elementary-2134875270174250/
Twitter: @SEEagles231
1. Please label your child's backpack, lunch boxes, and water bottles! Multiple students have the same items, so please help us and your students by labeling those items!
2. Please watch this ARRIVAL CAR LINE video if you drop your child off at school.+
3. If your student HAS DIFFERENT DISMISSAL INSTRUCTIONS, please call the office as soon as possible. If change of dismissal instructions are received after 3:00 pm, we can do our best to relay the message to your student.
4. Early release starts Wednesday September 13th.
5. A HUGE Thank You to Stricker's Auction for allowing our families to park in their parking lot during our classroom information nights on Tuesday and Thursday this week.
Sunflower Elementary will be conducting school wide screenings after Labor day. Hearing screens will be done Tuesday, Sept. 5. Vision screens will be conducted Friday, Sept. 8, 2023. Hearing will be checked for 1st and 3rd graders. Vision will be checked for 2nd and 4th graders. Pre-K and Kindergarten will get both hearing and vision screened. Pre-K will not be part of the school wide screening day and will have their screenings done at a later date. Periodic hearing and vision screenings are required by the state of Kansas for school districts. You will only be notified of results if your child’s screening warrants follow up or referral. If you prefer your child opt out of screening, please send a signed written note to school or email me personally prior to this date. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. Thank you!
Dear Sunflower Families:
Welcome to the Lit Lab otherwise known as the Sunflower Library! I am very excited about working with your sons and daughters during the coming year. I try both to support the regular classroom curriculum and to develop a love of reading. We will have structured daily read-alouds and learn information literacy skills. I will help students learn about the resources available to families from both our local Johnson County Public Library and the State Library of Kansas - which are all free!
I use the first weeks of school to teach about what to do in a library and how to be responsible for a library book. To help your child practice responsibility, I suggest that you read your book together and then put it right back in their backpack, ready to go back to school. This will help your child know where their library book is when it is time to check it in and keep it safe from pets, food and water. Please try to keep their water bottle out of their backpacks so that our books can stay safe.
I would like to hear from you and to have your input as I work with your children. Every child and family is different so let’s work together to make sure your child is choosing the right book: not too long, not too short, not too scary, not too silly, not too mature, etc. Please don’t hesitate to return a book that you don’t think is right for your child or to contact me with any questions or concerns. We’re on an ABCD rotation so your child will have Library every four days or so but if your child hasn’t finished reading their book by the time their next Library day rolls around, they are welcome to keep reading!
Be sure to follow and like our Facebook page so you can keep up with our many activities throughout the year. (SCAN THE CODE BELOW) And if you would be interested in coaching a Novel Navigators team, helping out during the Book Fairs, or donating some of your time as a library volunteer, I would also be glad to hear from you!
Julie Rains, MEd/MS
Teacher Librarian
Sunflower Elementary School
913.856.3734
Hello, Sunflower Families!
We are introducing a change to how we are handling Sunflower’s Got Talent this school year. There will be two in-person talent shows on Wednesday, December 13th, and Thursday, May 16th. More information about those talent shows will be available at a later date. Video talents have been very popular in the past, so we will be introducing a new weekly segment to our morning announcements: Talent Tuesday! Rather than two opportunities per year to submit a video talent, students will be able to send in videos throughout the school year to be premiered on Talent Tuesdays. We are requesting the length of the videos be no more than a minute to keep the announcements at a reasonable length. Additionally, parents are asked to review any content or media within the videos to ensure that they are school appropriate. Videos deemed inappropriate will not be premiered and families with rejected submissions will be informed as to the reason why. All videos can be sent to Mr. Prall at prallg@usd231.com. Any questions regarding Sunflower’s Got Talent, or Talent Tuesdays can be directed to Mr. Prall as well. I am excited to share this new opportunity with our students and I look forward to all of the amazing talents we will get to experience this school year!
Mr. Prall
All Kansas children ages 0-5 are eligible to enroll and participate in The Dolly Parton Imagination Library of Kansas. Simply click HERE to enroll your child in the program to receive a free, age-appropriate book every month in the mail until your child’s 5th birthday
Full URL Link: https://imaginationlibrary.com/check-availability/
IF YOUR STUDENT...
...HAS AN EXCUSED ABSENCE due to illness, appointment, funeral or family emergency, please email the attendance line SEattendance@usd231.com as soon as possible. If we haven't heard from parents by 9:00 am, we will call to check on your child. You can also call in student absences to the absentee line at 913-856-3749.
...WILL BE LATE TO SCHOOL, please let our office know ahead of time (if possible). When your student arrives at school, they will need to stop by the office first, and the secretaries will give them a hall pass.
...WILL BE ABSENT BECAUSE YOU'RE GOING OUT OF TOWN, this is considered an UNEXCUSED absence, unless preapproved by Dr. Jones. Please do not just tell the teacher! Please request approval in writing by emailing Dr. Jones at jonesja@usd231.com.
...NEEDS TO LEAVE SCHOOL EARLY, you can call to let us know you are on your way, but students will not be called out of class UNTIL a parent is present to sign them out. Please plan ahead for appointments, as we would like to minimize missed class time. You will need to come into the office to sign your student out. You won't be able to park outside and call us to send your student out to you.
...HAS DIFFERENT DISMISSAL INSTRUCTIONS, please call the office as soon as possible. If change of dismissal instructions are received after 3:00 pm, we can do our best to relay the message to your student.
AND LAST, BUT NOT LEAST...
If you notify your student's teacher of an absence, please also let the office know. Everybody's lives are crazy and busy...everybody's human...everybody can forget to forward an email on to the appropriate person. So, if you send an email to your student's teacher about an absence, please "cc" Terra (dupreet@usd231.com) and Janet (mcconvillej@usd231.com). That way, at least one of us gets the email and gets it taken care of right away. Thank you!!
Over the summer, USD 231 implemented another measure to ensure the safety of our students and employees. That action is the installation of the visitor management system, Raptor. Raptor will scan a valid government ID and immediately report if there is any reason for the individual not to be in the building. Once the background is checked, the printer attached to Raptor will print out a visitor badge with the picture from the ID.
Although this might be a minor inconvenience for visitors, the safety of our students and employees is paramount.
To learn more about the Raptor system, click HERE.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
If you need to drop off something for your student, for example, their lunch, there will be a table available for parents to drop it off each time as well. Just make sure to notify the front office who the item(s) are for.
We invite everyone to join the Sunflower PTO Facebook page. By searching "Gardner Sunflower PTO" under Pages, you will be able to join the group and receive updated PTO information.
