The Siple Scoop

It's March! Can you believe it? The year is flying by. I love this time of year at Siple. The children are in an exciting learning mode. I see them grow more during this time of year than any other.

March is Reading Month every year. Our staff will be helping the students to celebrate the joy of books and reading. This year our theme is STEM Through Stories! We are having a science focus with a featured book for each week.

March 3rd- Ada Twist, Scientist

March 10th- Rosie Revere, Engineer

March 17th- Iggy Peck, Architect

March 24th- Sofia Valdez, Future Prez

I am sharing the Reading month calendar below and it was sent home this week as well. Watch for more information from your child's teacher.

We will also celebrate reading by having our 2nd Scholastic Book Fair of the year March 10th-13th. More information about the Book Fair is available later in the newsletter.

We hope your family will join in the fun of celebrating reading by joining us for our Family Science Night on Tuesday, March 11th. It will run from 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. More information will be sent home. Happy Reading!

Christy Flowers, Principal

cmflowers@davisonschools.org

810-591-5104

We are interested in hiring additional Playground Monitors and Title I paraprofessionals at Siple Elementary. Playground Monitors work 10:30 - 2:00 p.m. Monday through Friday when school is in session. Playground Monitors have an excellent opportunity to be a positive influence in the lives of children. If you are interested in applying to be a Playground Monitor you can apply online at www.gecs-inc.org. Please call the office at 810-591-5104 to let the office staff know you have completed an application.

Title I Paraprofessionals work with students to provide additional support to increase student achievement. Paraprofessionals are required to have some college credit or pass a test to be eligible for employment. If you are interested in becoming a paraprofessional you can apply online at through Applitrack. Also, please be aware that part of the hiring process for both positions is a complete background check and fingerprinting. If you have any questions please feel welcome to call us.

We will be accepting applications for Schools of Choice from May 2-16, 2025. The online application will be posted on the Davison Schools website beginning May 2nd. If you have moved out of the District and wish to have your child continue to attend Davison Schools, you must apply and be accepted for School of Choice. You are welcome to contact Robin Ricica at 810-591-0801 with questions.

The Davison Community Schools Parent and Student Handbook is posted online and hard copies are available upon request. I've copied the link below for your convenience. Although District rules and procedures are reviewed with students at school, we understand that the partnership that we have with our parents/guardians play a critical role. It takes a team effort of cooperation and individual responsibility to achieve the safest and best educational environment for our students, families, and faculty.

I'm highlighting 2 areas of our handbook in this month's newsletter. Please know that this includes cell phones, smart watches, or other paraphernalia that has the ability to game, record, snap pictures etc. In all honesty, these devices are a major distraction to the learning environment and make it very difficult for our children to focus. If you review the handbook, you can see that consequences for any violation of our District handbook are progressive in nature, due to age/development, as well as frequency of offenses.

K. Improper Use or Possession of Electronic Devices: Electronic games or other paraphernalia, and digital cameras are not to be used/played or operated without permission of the teacher. In all buildings, use of these devices may be permitted under special circumstances with permission of the classroom teacher and/or administrator. Cell phone use during before- or after-school activities is at the discretion of the coach, director, or other adult in charge. Cell phones, electronic music players and games may be permitted during bus rides. They may not be used when boarding or exiting the bus. These items are the responsibility of the student. The school assumes no responsibility for lost, broken or stolen items. Taking pictures, video or audio recordings of any staff or student, or drawing pictorial representations of students or staff without their permission is not allowed. These may not be posted on any internet sites or disseminated in any fashion to other individuals.

Elementary First offense – warning. Second offense – warning and parent notification. Third offense – warning, detention, restorative practices, parent must pick up device in office. After the third offense, the student may no longer be permitted to possess the device on school grounds. Additional suspension up to 3 days may result from repeated violations.

L. Cell Phones/Electronic Devices: In the elementary and middle school buildings, cell phones, smart watches, and other electronic devices are to be used for emergency purposes only and after school hours. Their use during the school day presents a disruption to the educational process. Cell phones must be turned off and put away in the student’s locker at Hahn Intermediate and Davison Middle School during school hours. At Davison High School and Davison Alternative Education, cell phones may only be used before school, after school, during passing time and during a student’s lunch time in the cafeteria In all buildings, use of cell phones may be permitted under special circumstances with permission of the classroom teacher and/or administrator. Cell phones may be permitted during bus rides. They may not be used when boarding or exiting a bus. Students are prohibited from using cell phones/cameras to capture, record or transmit the words (i.e., audio) and/or images (i.e., pictures/video) of any student, staff member or other person in the school or while attending a school-related activity, without express prior notice and explicit consent for the capture, recording or transmission/posting of such words or images. Using a cell phone/camera to take or transmit/post audio and/or pictures/video of an individual without his/her consent is considered an invasion of privacy and is not permitted unless authorized by the building principal. Students who violate this provision, violate the privacy rights of another person may have their cell phone confiscated and given to law enforcement. No expectation of confidentiality will exist in the use of cell phones on school premises/ property.

Elementary First offense – warning. Second offense – device taken and sent home at the end of the day and parent notification. Third offense – warning, detention, parent must pick up device in office. After the third offense, the student may no longer be permitted to possess the device on school grounds. ** Additional suspension up to 3 days may result from repeated violations or taking or transmitting pictures/ video/ audio recordings.

Davison Community Schools Parent and Student Handbook

https://www.davisonschools.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=22&dataid=12019&FileName=ParentHandbook20222023.pdf

In a school environment there will be issues that arise that need to be addressed. There can be academic and behavioral concerns. We like to address these issues as soon as they are brought to our attention, but we can't address an issue if we are not made aware of the problem. Here are the best steps to take when an issue comes up.

1. Please reach out to your child's teacher first. The teacher is with your child most of the day. They are aware of situations that arise at lunch, recess, and in the classroom. Because the classroom teacher knows your child so well, as well as their classmates, this is the best place to start.

2. If you and the classroom teacher are not able to clear-up the matter, please contact the office to speak to the Principal. The Principal will speak with the classroom teacher to see what steps you and the teacher have already put into place and then reach out to you to discuss the matter.

3. If there is a bus issue, please contact the transportation office at 810-591-0816. They can reach out to the bus drivers and work to resolve the situation. If the issue is not cleared up, please contact the Siple office so we can get involved and help.

Finally, I would encourage parents to avoid turning to social media to address problems. As mentioned before, contacting the classroom teacher and then the office is the best way to handle a difficult situation. If we don't know about a situation we cannot fix it. We care deeply about all of our students and want to partner with parents to keep our school safe for everyone. We appreciate your help with this.

Thank you for being very careful in the parent pick-up/drop-off area. My staff is outside helping with car doors and traffic to keep the children and staff safe. Please make sure that your child and the staff member helping your child is clear of the vehicle before closing automatic doors and driving away. To help get people off Coldwater Road while in line I ask that you make sure to close the gaps between vehicles. It is important to have your blue dashboard cards in your vehicle's window for parent pick-up. If your card is misplaced, please contact the Siple office for a replacement. These small acts help the line move along quicker and helps everyone get on their way to their next stop. Thank you for your help with this.

Can you believe that it is already time to start thinking about next year?! We began taking appointments for Kindergarten Round-Up on Tuesday, February 25th, 2025. If you have a child or know someone with a child who will be in Kindergarten next year, please be sure to call the Thomson office and make an appointment at (810) 591-0911.

Kindergarten Round-Up for all Davison Elementary Buildings will take place at Thomson Elementary April 21st - 25th.

If you have younger children at home we wanted to make you aware that we are now starting the wait list for Early-5's. Our Developmental Kindergarten program is for children that will turn 5 between June 15th and December 1st. This is an excellent program to prepare young children for kindergarten. It is a full day program that focuses on kindergarten readiness. To add your child to the waitlist please call the Thomson Elementary office at (810) 591-0911 as soon as possible.

**As a note, our current Developmental Kindergarten (DK) students do not need to make an appointment as your child(ren) are already completely enrolled as Davison students. As always, please do not hesitate to contact the office if you have any questions.**

Have you moved? Are you getting ready to move? Please contact the Siple office to update your address and phone numbers if needed. Be sure to let us know if you need to make any changes for emergency contacts as well. We want to make sure we keep your student's records current.

We work hard at Siple to teach and reinforce the Cardinal Code behavior expectations at Siple. We wanted to create a way to recognize students that consistently follow the Cardinal Code in an exemplary way.

Each month classroom teachers will nominate one student from their class to be entered into the grade level drawing for the STAR of the MONTH for that grade. Each grade level STAR of the Month will receive a certificate, medal, and their photo will be on display in the hallway during that month.

We are pleased to recognize students for consistently demonstrating excellent behavior. Thank you for sharing your outstanding children with us. I am pleased to announce our STARs

February STARS of the Month

Kindergarten: Harley Stafford, Jameson Owczarski, Mance Kennedy, and Ruby Hart

1st grade: Desmond Thompson, Alexis Morrish, and Taiden Davis

2nd grade: Raelyn Bradley, Ava Cremen, Rowan Andrews, Lydia Campbell

3rd grade: Amelia Traynor, Paisley Isom, and Marlo Randt

4th grade: Ellah Rice, Olivia Beal, and Violet Embach

Congratulations to these outstanding young learners!

March can be a tricky month when it comes to deciding what outdoor wear is appropriate for recess. I recommend checking the weather every day to make sure that they have the right jacket or coat for recess. If it is snowy they still need to bring boots, snow pants, hats, gloves or mittens, and scarf. Please write your child's name inside their outdoor gear. This helps prevent items getting lost at school. We go outside every day unless the actual temperature or wind chill dips below 0 degrees F. I recommend working with your child to check their backpack every night to make sure they have what they need packed and ready to go. Some parents use a second bag for winter gear. By getting it ready at night you'll have an easier time getting out the door in the morning.

While students should be kept home when they are ill, being at school on-time and staying until dismissal matters. When students are absent, they miss valuable learning time which can be a negative impact on learning. Likewise, arriving late or leaving early, even 5 to 15 minutes, can throw off a child's day. When children walk in late, they can become stressed or experience anxiety, trying to catch up with the start of the day.

Additionally, when children leave early, they often miss the end of the day's closure. Please be mindful that every minute matters and we must work to make the most of every minute!

Building Self Esteem

Along with warmer temperatures, the spring also tends to bring friendship struggles, academic demands, and testing pressures. Unfortunately, these experiences can lead kids to have negative thoughts of themselves and their abilities.

Building your child’s self esteem is an important part of parenting. Positive self esteem is critical for your child to be successful academically, socially and emotionally. As a parent you can nurture and empower your child to be themselves and to be comfortable in their uniqueness.

Here are some ways that you can build your child’s self esteem:

• Give praise and affirmation: parents tend to frequently tell children when they have done something wrong, but often don’t balance this out with the same amount of positive messages. When praising your child, provide specific comments about the behavior or attribute you are praising.

• Teach good decision making skills: When your child needs to make a decision, help them by discussing the problem and possible solutions. Help them think through the consequences of each potential choice. When your child chooses a course of action, respect their decision. If your child becomes dissatisfied with the results, you can then discuss how they could have done things differently.

• Listen to your child: Take time to have conversations with your child. Listen to what they have to say and take them seriously; even though you may think they are being childish and unrealistic. Children have feelings, opinions, and emotions and it is important not to dismiss what they have to say.

• Encourage your child’s interests: Parents need to take notice of what their children are interested in and encourage them in those interests. When possible, give them a variety of experiences related to the interest. It is important to encourage children to follow their dreams.

• Be there: Spend time with your child. Parents are the most important people in the lives of children. For a child it is important that their parents are present for both the small and large milestones in life. Take time to have fun, be silly and play with your child. Quality and quantity of time are important. Create many happy memories.

Mrs. Liley, Counselor

aliley@davisonschools.org

810-591-0227

Did You Know This Service is Available

There are many great resources for families in the area. This section of the Siple Scoop is dedicated to introducing you to a FREE resource each month.

This month we are featuring Michigan 211, which is a free, confidential service, that connects you with local community based organizations across the state offering more than 30,000 different programs and services for people seeking help with a variety of things (Food, Utilities, Housing/Homelessness, Veterans & Military Affairs, Children & Families, Re-Entry Services, Disaster Preparedness & Response, Transportation, and Tax Assistance). Simply dial 211 or go to the website: https://www.mi211.org

The Siple PTO is the greatest PTO!! It was fantastic to have a big turnout to our last PTO meeting. we had an enthusiastic and helpful group. THANK YOU!

There are many ways to get involved! They are finding creative ways to continue their strong partnership and support to our school. The best way to stay informed is to connect with the PTO on their Facebook page. They are listed as Siple Elementary PTO. Our next PTO meeting is Tuesday, March 4th at 4:00 p.m. Enter the building at the Media Center entrance, door 8. We hope you can join us.

March 3 -7: Genesee County Health Department vision and hearing screening at Siple

March 4: PTO Meeting at 4:00 p.m. in the Media Center

March 7: Dress like your future career for Reading Month

March 10-13: Scholastic Book Fair

March 11: Family Science Night: 5:30 - 7:00 p.m.

Book Fair is open during Science Night

March 13: 4th grade Musical at Performing Arts Center, 7:00 p.m.

March 14: Hat Day for Reading Month

March 19: Early Release Day, dismissal at 1:30 p.m.

March 21: Wear a shirt with words on it for Reading month

PTO Popcorn Friday: 50 cents per bag, 2 bag limit

March 28: Last day of 3rd Marking Period

Dress your Best for Reading Month

March 31 - April 4: NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS/Spring Break

April 7: NO SCHOOL/Teacher Records Day

April 8: School resumes with a full day

April 9: Report Cards emailed to parents

Siple Elementary

9286 E. Coldwater Road

Davison, MI 48423

Christy Flowers, Principal

cmflowers@davisonschools.org

Office Phone: 810-591-5104

Office Fax: 810-591-5102

Attendance: 810-591-5100