The Explorer

We’re off and running! Every new school year brings with it challenges and joys - but our blessings are many:

• The toothless smile of a kindergartner who can’t wait to get a tooth holder from the Health Office.
• The first graders who feel like they have finally made it now that they have made it through kindergarten.
• The second graders who are beginning to read with fluency and very proud of it.
• The third graders who now are officially part of the BIG kids.
• The fourth graders who mature so much during the year becoming more settled, mature, and serious about learning.
• The fifth graders who are suddenly taller than some of our staff and thinking about middle school.

This month, there are parent teacher conferences. Conferences play a significant role in a student’s development and academic success. Teachers and parents often see different aspects of a student’s personality - by maintaining an open dialogue it can be helpful for both.

When parents take advantage of conferences and other opportunities to speak with teachers, it allows parents to learn of any challenges - academic or otherwise - their child might be having. Similarly, parents can relay any special circumstances at home that might have some bearing on the student’s performance or behavior. When parents and teachers work together to try and provide the best environment for learning, the child stands to benefit the most.

I look forward to seeing you at parent teacher conferences and let's continue to make this the best year yet!

Mr. Dan Fischer, Principal

The 2024-25 SFSD Parent Calendar is also attached below.

• Sept. 30: Dress-Up Day - Super-Fan Day
• Oct. 1: Dress-Up Day - USA Day
• Oct. 2: Dress-Up Day - Favorite Outfit Day
• Oct. 3: Dress-Up Day: Barbie & Ken Day
• Oct. 4: Dress-Up Day: Spirit Day
• Oct. 8: Classrooms K01, K02, and K04 to Our Farm Pumpkin Patch from 9:00 am - 12:30 pm.
• Oct 10: Classrooms K03, K05, and K06 to Our Farm Pumpkin Patch from 9:00 am - 12:30 pm.
• Oct. 14: No school in observance of Native American Day.
• Oct. 15: No school for teacher in-service.
• Oct. 15: Parent teacher conferences from 12:30 pm - 7:30 pm.
• Oct. 17: Parent teacher conferences from 3:30 pm - 7:30 pm.
• Oct. 22: School Picture Retakes
• Oct. 24: End of 1st Quarter
• Oct. 25: PTO Fall Dance

Get ready for a fun-filled week with dress-up days for Jefferson High School's Homecoming!

Cool mornings and warm afternoons! Below are the student “what to wear” guidelines that we follow.

Safe2Say South Dakota operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Anyone with information about a potentially dangerous situation can call the toll-free number at 1-844-373-7233, make an online report, or by downloading the free mobile app from either the App Store or the Play Store.

A trained Safe2Say analyst will interact with the person reporting the safety concerns and forward the information to a multi-disciplinary team consisting of school officials, law enforcement, and mental health professionals. Safe2Say South Dakota was created to ensure that South Dakota schools and students remain safe. With Safe2Say South Dakota, our schools and communities are able to anonymously report student safety concerns in a safe and secure fashion.

Anytime something seems out of the ordinary or someone is acting out of character, it could be an indicator to call. Out of the ordinary statements and observations could include a person bragging about an illegal act, making a threat to injure or kill someone (including self-harm) or seeing something you believe to be suspicious.

Suspicious activities could include (but are not limited to) cars parked in odd locations, unattended packages in unusual places, open windows that are normally closed, someone asking many detailed questions about a person or a location, or people watching a location for extended periods of time with no apparent personal or professional reason.

Some of these activities could be innocent. It's up to law enforcement to determine whether the behavior warrants investigation. A caller should not feel embarrassed for reporting something that makes them uncomfortable. If You See Something, Say Something® (United States Department of Homeland Security).

The Sioux Falls School District (SFSD) has emergency plans in place for a wide variety of situations. While the specifics of those plans are confidential, we want our community to know what they can expect in the event of an emergency.

• SFSD will work closely with emergency first responders and the media.
• Administrators will determine, based on the direction given in our Emergency Response Plan, what course of action to take.
• SFSD will notify parents through our electronic mass communication systems.
• Updates will be delivered through these same channels.

When you know a serious situation is taking or has taken place at your child’s school, your immediate desire is to get to them as quickly as possible. This is normal and understandable. However, additional people arriving at a school when the circumstances could be chaotic can make the response slower and more complicated. SFSD encourages parents/guardians to pay attention to the messages we deliver and follow the instructions provided. It is highly likely that the school grounds will not be accessible in the event of an emergency.

The SFSD strives to provide you with timely and accurate information during situations like this. If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to the SFSD's Let’s Talk platform via SFSD website.

The 2024-25 Yearbook Committee is accepting photos throughout the school year for the Discovery Yearbook. If you have a photo(s) from a school or classroom event, please email them to discoverysfyearbook@gmail.com.

Below are front circle drive reminders. We appreciate your cooperation with this.

• If you are dropping off or picking up your child in the front circle drive, you cannot park your vehicle and leave it there. At dismissal, you can stay in your vehicle and wait for your student(s) to come to you – but you cannot park and leave the vehicle.
• If you are going to get out of your vehicle, you must park in the parking lot or on the street.
• You cannot wait in your vehicle in the left lane of the front circle drive. The left lane is strictly for moving vehicles.
• Pull all the way up to the vehicle in front of you so we can prevent a back-up of traffic on Discovery Ave.
• Children should exit the car on the passenger side of the vehicle to avoid vehicles driving through the left lane.
• Do not stop midway through the circle drive to drop off your student - this becomes a safety hazard.

It’s that time of year again - cold and flu season. Below are the SFSD Health Services guidelines that we follow. Please use this as a guide to determine when your child should be kept at home due to sickness.

• A child with a fever over 100.4 degrees should not be sent to school. If your child has a fever of 100.4 degrees at school, he/she will be sent home. A child should stay at home until the fever has been gone for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medication such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen.

• A child with a mild cold will be permitted to stay in school. A child with a “heavy” cold and a hacking cough should be kept home even if they do not have a fever.

• Children with vomiting and diarrhea should be kept at home. A child should be free from vomiting and diarrhea for 24 hours before returning to school. If your child has illness related to diarrhea or vomiting at school, he/she will be sent home.

• A child with a sore throat accompanied by a fever should be seen by a health care provider. A child with a sore throat and fever should not be sent to school and will be sent home from school if it occurs during school hours.

The Discovery Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) is in need of candy donations to hand out as prizes for their upcoming Fall Dance, which is on October 25. Donations can be dropped off in the office between 7:30 am - 4:00 pm.

To check the balance of your student’s lunch money account, go https://www.myschoolbucks.com/ver2/getmain.action?clientKey=&requestAction=home or download the MySchoolBucks app. You will need your student’s ID number, which can be found in your Parent Portal (Infinite Campus). In addition to checking your student’s balance, you will have access to:

• view purchases.
• make payments.
• set-up automatic notifications for low balance.
• set-up recurring payments.

Office staff does not have access to students' lunch accounts or balances.

Students are learning about the Zones of Regulation and how their brain works when it’s in different zones of regulation. Dr. Dan Siegel's hand model of the brain helps us understand what happens to our brain and to our body when we "flip our lid".

Students learned that the downstairs brain controls our feelings and reactions - and our upstairs brain controls our thinking and problem solving. When we get in the Red Zone and "flip our lid", our upstairs brain is no longer functioning, and we first need to use a calm down skill to get our upstairs brain working again. Learning this helps us to do our best learning and feel like our best selves.

Kindergarten has been working hard on learning the difference between big and small sized problems. We read "Don't Squeal Unless It's a Big Deal" and did an activity with our "snouts" (we apologize for any extra "snorting" that happened because of this)! Students are starting to learn about Kelso's choices and will continue to do so. Encourage your student(s) to solve their small problems using a Kelso's choice before going to an adult for help!

School-wide, we use an empowering, problem-solving curriculum called Kelso’s Choices that teaches students nine ways to solve small problems. Students learned that BIG problems make us or someone else feel hurt or scared. Small problems they should try solving on their own using Kelso's Choices. Students can try two Kelso's Choices to solve a small problem. If they still need more help, they can ask an adult.

Email: Daniel.Fischer@k12.sd.us

Assistant Principal: Mrs. Jodi DeHaven

Email: Jodi.DeHaven@k12.sd.us

Location: 1506 South Discovery Avenue, Sioux Falls, SD, USA
Phone: 605-362-3530 Fax: 605-362-3535