HES Parent & Family Newsletter

As the cooler temperatures approach, please remind your student to bring a long sleeve shirt or light jacket for recess when the temperature is below 50 degrees. Once temperatures drop below 30 and snow is on the ground, the 'magic 5'—a hat, jacket, snow pants, gloves/mittens, and boots—will be needed to keep everyone warm and ready for outdoor fun!

In an effort to reduce milk waste and manage costs more effectively, we are making some changes to our milk distribution at snack time for students in grades 1-6. Moving forward, we ask that families who wish to purchase milk for their children at snack time complete the attached form. This will allow us to distribute milk more accurately and ensure that funds are collected appropriately.

Please take a moment to fill out the form and indicate which of your students you would like to receive milk during snack time It's important to note that students receive a free carton of milk each day during school breakfast and lunch. However, milk is only free at lunch if the student takes the school meal. Otherwise, students in grades K-6 will be charged $0.60 at lunchtime for their milk.

Milk distribution at snack will begin September 9th, 2024. We will add students to the list and milk will be delivered to students during their scheduled snack times.

Cost per milk $0.60:

• Quarter 2- 11/5/24-1/17/25 (41 school days)= $24.60
• Quarter 3- 1/21/25-3/21/25 (42 school days)= $25.20
• Quarter 4- 3/31/25-5/28/25 (40 school days) = $24.00
• Total cost for milk = $96.00

Thank you for your cooperation and support as we work to make this process more efficient.

Snack Break Milk Request

Kind regards,
Angela McQuinn
Assistant Principal, Houston Elementary School

• • Monday, October 28th
  • Fire Drill this morning
  • Lunch today is Beef chili
  • Tuesday, October 29th-
    
  • Lunch today is Beef hot dogs
  • Wednesday, October 30th-
  • Lunch today is beefy nachos
  • Thursday, October 31st- Dress up- orange & black today (no halloween costumes)
  • Lunch is a Turkey Hot Pocket
  • Halloween parties, movie.
  • 3-4 grade eat lunch when you return from the movie
  • 5-6 eat lunch at 11:25
  • Friday, November 1st
  • No School
  • Monday, November 4th
  • No School

  
  

  All lunches are served with a milk & vegetable & fruit options.

• The alternative this week is- Crispy Chicken Ranch Wrap with cheese

This week Aubree O. & Violet V. were nominated by their 3rd grade teachers Mrs. Lambrecht & Mrs. Thompson. Thank you Aubree & Violet for your respectful and responsible behavior at school!

In Kindergarten, students are embracing growth and making strides in their reading skills through a UFLI lesson. They are working on word patterns and proudly putting them into sentences. The picture below shows Layla F. beaming with pride over her work! These strategies are key to our continuous improvement in student achievement, focusing on essential components of reading such as phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Our teachers also incorporate print awareness, letter knowledge, and irregular words into instruction. The Handwriting Without Tears curriculum has been a valuable addition to support their progress and success.

As part of our commitment to continuous improvement through partnerships and real-world learning, Ms. Morken's Winona State Field Experience Social Studies class recently visited Houston Elementary to teach students in grades K-6. Their first lesson focused on the electoral process, a key standard for all grades. Kindergarten students learned about voting by deciding between a gummy bear or chocolate treat, using the Smart Board to identify pros for each. In first grade, students created posters about why it would be great to be president. A huge thank you to Ms. Morken's class for their time and energy—we’re excited for your next visit!

At Houston Elementary, we are excited about strengthening our partnerships with families as we work toward starting a parent organization. We want to extend our gratitude to PTA National for joining us last week for an informational meeting. Our next steps include finding parent leaders and scheduling another meeting to begin the organization process. If you are interested in being part of this parent group, keep an eye out for upcoming communication and feel free to reach out to Mrs. McQuinn. You can find a link to our meeting notes below.

October 24th Meeting Notes

• October 28th: Fire Drill
• October 31st: Orange & Black dress up day
• Movie grades 3-6 in Spring Grove

• October 31: End of 1st Quarter
• October 31: Early Childhood Screening - NO AM or PM preschool.
• November 1: End of Quarter: No School - Hurricane Watch will be available.
• November 3: Daylight Savings Ends, Turn your clock back 1 hour.
• November 4: Teacher Inservice: No School - Hurricane Watch will be available.
• November 11: Veterans Day Celebration

Please check the school website calendar for more information as well as other events/opportunities.