McClure Newsletter
December 5, 2024
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Dates
- Dec. 3: PTO Meeting, 5:30 pm
- Dec. 10th 2nd Grade Music Program 6pm
- Dec. 10th 5th Grade Music Program 7pm
- Dec. 19th: 2nd Quarter SOAR Assembly 2:30PM
- Dec. 20th: Last day of 2nd quarter
- Dec. 20th: 1:30 PM Sing-a-Long
- Dec. 20th: Winter Parties, 2:30pm
- Dec. 23-Jan. 3: Winter Break
- Jan 6: School resumes for students
- Jan. 14th: Kinder Kollege, 5:30-6:30 pm
- Jan 20th: NO SCHOOL; MLK Jr. Day
- Feb 3: NO SCHOOL
- Feb. 17th: NO SCHOOL
- Mar. 12-13: PT Conferences
- Mar. 14-24th: NO SCHOOL- Spring Break
- Mar. 25th: School resumes for students
- April 1st: Kinder Kollege, 5:30-6:30 pm
Morning Drop-Off Reminders
As a reminder, there is not adult supervision until 8:20 AM Monday-Thursday and 9:10 on Fridays. Please ensure that students are not arriving until these times with supervision; if you do arrive early, please have your students stay with you until the bell rings.
Winter Parties- December 20th at 2:30pm
Winter parties are coming up on December 20th at 2:30 pm. You will be receiving an email from the classroom room parent with sign up information. Please be on the look out for this email!
Spirit Wear Fundraiser
Use the following QR code or THIS LINK to access our McClure Spirit Wear!
Parent Engagement Survey
2nd and 5th Grade Music Programs- Save the Date
Reminder for the dates and times for the 2nd and 5th grade music programs on December 10th!
- Dec. 10th 2nd Grade Music Program 6pm
- Dec. 10th 5th Grade Music Program 7pm
Staff Amazon Wish Lists
Many families have asked teachers how to support- our PTO has created a document with individual staff member's wish lists. Please use the link below to access the wish lists.
House Families- Candy Gram Sales
Penguin Patch PTO Fundraiser
The Penguin Patch is a fundraiser for our PTO. Students will have the opportunity to shop for gifts for their family members during these scheduled times. Ms. Newman has created a volunteer sign-up sheet. Please use this sheet to sign-up and help support the Penguin Patch PTO Fundraiser.
12/11-Preview Day (10 mins) Teachers will take their class to the library on Wed. to preview the Penguin Patch
12/12 & 12/13 Shopping Days (15-20 mins per class) Volunteers will come to your classrooms to get students.
Winter Clothing and Winter Weather
As it becomes colder outside, please make sure your child is wearing a coat to school. As long as the wind chill- "feels like-" temperature is 20 degrees or above, students will be outside for recess. So please make sure they are dressed appropriately. If you do not have a winter coat for your student, please reach out to your child's teacher or me. We are happy to help!
Toys and Objects from Home
We are seeing an increase in toys and other trinkets being brought from home, that are not being used at tools, but instead are causing interruptions and distractions.
As our school handbook states, "Students should not bring personal items from home unless special arrangements are made with the classroom teacher or principal. Students should not bring any money other than lunch money or money required for special projects to school. The school is not responsible for these items if they are lost or stolen and will not use the academic day to investigate."
We appreciate your support in ensuring these items are left at home!
Coming soon- Quarterly Parties!
Starting this quarter, we will begin having "quarterly parties" for students who have 90% attendance or higher, no major discipline referrals, and less than 2 minor discipline referrals. Students will receive more information soon!
Staff Shout-out
Help us recognize our amazing staff by giving them a shout-out below!
Eagle Store Wishlist
Our Eagle Store has kicked off and went extremely well! After the first round, we asked students what they would like to see in the store (on top of experiences). We have created an Amazon Wishlist to help support buying some of these items. These items go directly to students, as they purchase them with tickets they earn for following school expectations. Please check out the link below! Thank you for your continued support!
Snacks Make Everything Better- Teacher Snack Wish List
Our instructional coach, Ms. Ritter, provides snacks for teachers during PLC and throughout the day. Please view this link! We appreciate your support and donations.
Eagle Store Volunteer Form
We are looking for volunteers on various Friday afternoons to help support our Eagle Store. This is a great opportunity to see the excitement from students and being able to buy items and experiences!
If you are able to volunteer, please select a date and a time slot. If you can volunteer for multiple time slots, you will need to sign up for each slot individually.
Thank you for your time and donations- we are so excited about our Eagle Store, as this reinforces positive behavior, and is something our students love!
Please use the link for the SignUp Genius below.
PTO Agenda and Minutes
Please view the following documents to review the agenda and meeting minutes. Join us for our next meeting on January 28th at 5:30 PM.
PTO Calendar of Events
Grade Level Newsletters
Each month, grade levels will share their newsletters. Please click on the respective links to read!
Mental Health Minute- Monthly Newsletter
Each month, our Mental Health Team will be sharing a newsletter. Please read this edition!
Character Strong Focus of the Month
We are thankful for you being part of our school community!
We are excited to tell you that we will be using a program called Character Strong this year to help social-emotional learning. Our goal is to do everything we can to help students be successful in school and life. Each month, we will focus on a different character trait. For the month of December, we are focusing on "Empathy."
Please read the following family newsletter below!
December Lunch Menu
Attendance Matters
Please review these Back-to-School attendance tips! Our goal is to have at least 95% of our students attending daily. Last year, McClure's chronically absent rate was 24%, which was the largest in 4 years. This means that 75 students missed more than 18 days. Please review these tips to help get children to school.
- During the month of AUGUST we had 95.2% of students attending daily.
- During the month of SEPTEMBER, we had 93.4% of students attending daily.
- During the month of OCTOBER, we had 93% of students attending daily.
- During the month of NOVEMBER , we had 93.6% of students attending daily.
Attendance Policy
It is important that your child attend school each day to have a consistent educational program. Of course, illness or other family emergencies can cause absences. If your child will be absent please let us know by contacting the office at 785-438-4340.
The Topeka Public School Procedures are as follows:
Absences are excused for student illness or family emergencies. If your child is going to be absent, you should call the office before 9:30 a.m. It is each parent’s responsibility to be sure the office has been notified of the reason for absence. Advanced notice is appreciated.
A phone call attempt will be made on every child that does not arrive at school by 9:30am.
After 2 days of unexcused absences, staff will conduct a home visit or make other direct contact with child’s family, determine what assistance is needed to remedy the problem.
Unexcused absences can result in a truancy report being filed.
- Excessive absences, whether excused or unexcused, can cause academic problems for a student. More than 10 absences will be considered “excessive” absences. When a student obtains more than 10 excused absences, a doctor’s note will be required to excuse any additional absences.
- Although Kansas law does not require students to be in school prior to the age of 7, ANY child enrolled in public school does fall into the state truancy policies. Truancy reports will be made to the district truancy officer for any student with excessive absences and/or tardies.
Snack Request
We are looking for snack donations, if you are able to donate snacks, please send them with your child to bring to the office. Thank you for helping support our students!
High Five Friday!
My School Bucks
This year, Topeka Public Schools will be using My School Bucks (MSB) as a way for parents to track and pay student fines, fees and other costs online. To access My School Bucks, Parents will need to log into ParentVue to create a 'secure' login. Once your secure login has been created, you will login to My School Bucks to access your account. From the Home page in Synergy ParentVue, click on My School Bucks.
All families need to log into ParentVue (the same app or website you used to register your student) and connect to MySchoolBucks. Directions are below with pictures to help with the process.
We are excited to use MySchoolBucks because it allows you to submit payments electronically for convenience!
Please see the flyer below with directions on how to access My School Bucks.
McClure Family Handbook 2024-2025
This handbook includes important information about McClure including our mission and vision, attendance, behavior expectations, policies and procedures.
Please take time to review this handbook. If you have any questions, please let us know.
Calendars
2024-2025 Calendars
The District's Academic Calendar provides a quick-glance overview of important dates for parents to be aware of. This calendar includes days school is not in session, parent-teacher conferences, and start and end dates for the 2024-2025 school year.
The McClure school calendar is posted on our school website. Click here to view.
Community Events & Information
Campus Care Clinic
The Campus Care Clinic located at Topeka High School and is open to all USD 501 staff, students, and their household family members. Below is a video created by the THS Broadcasting Department. Click here for the Clinic Flyer with additional information.
Location:
Topeka High School 800 SW 10th St., Room 101 Topeka, KS 66612
Contact Us:
THSCampusCare@KUMC.edu 785-295-3256
Link to clinic video: Campus Care Clinic (updated)
Dillon's Shopper Card
Do you have a Dillon's Shopper Card? Help our school as you shop for groceries. When using your Dillons card, designate McClure Elementary as your community rewards benefactor and your donations will go to directly support our school. Sign in to your Dillon’s account or create an account to enroll. Once signed in, you can enroll or update your Community Rewards under your account settings.
McClure Elementary
Email: cartzer@tps501.org
Website: https://mcclure.topekapublicschools.net/
Location: 2529 Southwest Chelsea Drive, Topeka, KS, USA
Phone: 785.438.4340
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TPS501McClure