
Crocker Chronicles
April 2024
WELCOME TO THE CROCKER CHRONICLES
Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) Testing - April 1st-4th
Dear Crocker Families,
Crocker students in grades 3-5 will take the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) April 1-4, 2024. Students will take these tests during the regular school day. Students who are absent will make up the tests the same week of ISASP if able.
Students in grades 3-5 will take the Reading, Math, and Language/Writing assessments. Students in grade 5 will also take the Science assessment. It is important to get a good night’s sleep and eat a balanced breakfast to support a positive testing experience. All students will be required to keep smart watches and/or cell phones at home or in their locker during the testing sessions.
Optional practice tests are available to complete at home (students will practice these at school, as well). When you click on the link, scroll down to practice tests and select the subject area and grade level of your child. The purpose of these practice tests are to navigate the online assessments and use the support tools provided. https://iowa.pearsonaccess.com/test-prep/
Please do not hesitate to reach out to us at brandon.hargens@ankenyschools.org, christian.houser@ankenyschools.org, or 515-965-9660 with any questions you may have. .
District Art Show
The District K – 12 art show will be on display and open to the public for free from March 26th through April 25th at the Ankeny Art Center, located at 1520 SW Ordnance Road so there will be a month where you can view the art work.
The show will include masterpieces from the 25 talented Crocker artists listed below! Please come and enjoy all the amazing projects that have been created by the students in the district!
Alen Begovic
Olive Encinias
Markayla Irlmeier
Austin Pietigl
Nico Rivera Morales
Otis Morarend
Emmalyn McMillin
Lucy Gardner
Claire Rockwell
Olivia Morgan
Harper Mark
Norah ONeal
Anita Dueñas Ortiz
Audrey Harbert
Lilly Kline
Kenzlie Baccam
Tessa Doose
Kendall Mohler
Della Pagliai
Colton Renze
Zoey Griffith
Tillie Fairchild
Brady Kruger
Presley Pogones
Cameron Selby
NOTES FROM NURSE JULIE MAILE
April is Autism Acceptance Month. Autism is the fastest growing developmental disorder in the United States, affecting 1 in 36 children. The goal of Autism Acceptance Month is to educate the public about autism so those who have autism can be accepted and fully embraced. Children (and adults) who have autism have difficulties with social interaction, communicating ideas and feelings, self-regulating and the ability to establish relationships. Despite their struggles, our students with autism are some of the most amazing, resilient children and daily bring joy to our school. Chances are your student has contact with a classmate who has Autism. I encourage you to look up the Autism Society of America or you and your student can learn more about Autism and ways to support our amazing students!
Thank you so much for continuing to monitor your students for symptoms of illness and keeping them home when they are sick. No matter what virus they may have, students should stay home for 24 hours after having a fever, vomiting, or having diarrhea. If your student has a sore throat or cough from spring allergies and needs cough drops, remember those need to be stored in the nurse’s office in their original package. You can contact me for a medication permission slip at julie.maile@ankenyschools.org
As the weather warms up, make sure your children get plenty of time outside to play! When they are outside, please make sure they are wearing sunscreen to protect their skin, and protective gear like helmets and wrist guards when biking or skating!
Counselor's Corner
Classroom Guidance in April
Hello Families! We started bullying prevention right before spring break and will finish this unit in April. We use the Second Step curriculum and below are our lesson highlights. Students are taught to recognize, refuse, and report bullying behavior.
Lesson 1: Recognizing Bullying: What is bullying? The definition is: Bullying is when someone keeps being mean to someone else on purpose. Bullying happens over and over again and the person it’s happening to hasn’t been able to make it stop. Repeated bullying can happen through hurting someone else on their body or belongings, through mean words, or excluding others.
Lesson 2: Reporting Bullying: Students will identify trusted adults they can report bullying to. Students review the importance of using their assertive voice and reporting to an adult when they are being bullied or they see bullying happen.
Lesson 3: Refusing Bullying: Refuse means being assertive and standing up to the person doing the mean acts by telling the person(s) to stop.
Lesson 4: Up-stander Power: Students learn they have the power to help stop bullying by being an up-stander to bullying by reporting, telling the person to stop, or helping the person who is the target of bullying. Reach out with any questions.
Mrs. Kennedy, School Counselor
Crocker Fun Night!! - Saturday, April 13th
There will be games, prizes, inflatables and a raffle. Students play games to earn tokens that can be redeemed in the Prize Center. Games will be set up in various classrooms and families will have the opportunity to volunteer for shifts to help make Fun Night a success. If you would like to volunteer please visit the Crocker Volunteer Page to signup.
NOTE: If you have not completed the 3 VOLUNTEER STEPS to become an approved volunteer you will need to start there. Please follow this link to our district volunteer page.
If you are already an approved volunteer follow this link to login to your account and sign up for a Fun Night shift!
Know any students looking for silver chord hours, or high school sports teams/clubs looking for volunteer hours? They can sign up to volunteer too! Please contact the PTO to sign up at crocker.pto@gmail.com
Crocker Cruisers!
Students that choose to participate are able to run for fun during their lunch recess on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This is an optional running program where students have the chance to build up to running a full marathon for prizes. All students that complete a marathon will be invited to a celebratory picnic at the end of the year. Hundreds of students participated this week. Keep up the great work Cruisers!"
If you would like to volunteer to help with cheering on the students and celebrating their accomplishments please visit the Crocker Volunteer Page to sign up!
Crocker Book GIVEAWAY 2024
Crocker Book Giveaway
On May 20th-22nd, Crocker students will get to “shop” for FREE books to promote summer reading. We need donations of gently used, age-appropriate books! Please donate books April 29th-May 10th. Our amazing team will sort and organize the books to be ready for students to shop on May 20th-May 22nd. Please avoid religious books and books that are intended for teenagers. We will also need plastic grocery sacks for students to carry home their books. Thanks for supporting this exciting project!
2024-2025 School Enrollment: Annual Updates Needed
Registration for the 2024-2025 school year opened February 2nd, 2024.
Crocker families: please remember to complete your annual update for the 2024-2025 school year. All existing families are required to complete the annual update for each student in their household using the Infinite Campus portal. This is also where existing families can add a child who is new to the district, such as an incoming preschool or kindergarten student. Visit our website to complete your update today.
The registration process is best completed on a laptop or desktop computer; using a mobile device will not allow for registration to be completed. If you have questions, please contact the district registrar by email, or by phone, (515) 289-8955.
BACK-UP CLOTHING
Unforeseen accidents in the classroom, lunch room and playground can result in wet or soiled clothing. Please make sure your student(s) has the following back-up items in a grocery sack or large ziploc that can be kept in their locker for those unforeseen accidents.
Appropriate back-up clothing suggestions:
- Shirt
- Long pants
- Underwear
- Sock
- PE shoes
CROCKER PTO
Follow us!
We are now on Instagram at @crockerelementaryschool!
Make sure to give us a follow to stay updated on all things Crocker!
Attendance Reminder
STUDENT APPOINTMENTS AND DELIVERIES
If your student forgets to bring something needed that day for class, we ask that you ring the Aiphone doorbell and we will ask for you to put the items on the table just inside the door. Please label item with the student's name and teacher.
Please remember that delivery's of flowers, candy, balloons, or presents are not accepted for students as stated in the parent handbook and will be sent back with the delivery driver.
Water Bottles
TENNIS SHOES FOR PE
Register for School Cafe`
School café is a great resource for lunch information click here to register.
Register for TouchBase
VIRTUAL BACKPACK
The information distributed in the Virtual Backpack (vBackpack) is provided as a community service to inform members of the community of available activities or services. The majority of information included in the vBackpack is from community organizations. Community groups can submit their information within certain guidelines, governed by Board Policy #1004.25.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
April
1st - 4th ISASP Testing for 3rd, 4th & 5th Graders
8th - NO SCHOOL
12th - Fun Night Set up
13th - Fun Night 4 - 7pm
22nd - PTO Meeting @ 6:30 - 7:30pm
Crocker Elementary
Email: cr.office@ankenyschools.org
Website: crocker.ankenyschools.org
Location: 2910 Southwest Applewood Street
Phone: 515-965-9710
Facebook: facebook.com/CrockerElementarySchool
Twitter: @AnkenyCrocker