Eagle News

"Providing learning opportunities for students to change the future through creativity, independent thinking, and unlimited possibilities"

Welcome to Morningside!

Dear Morningside Eagle Families,

We are thrilled to welcome you to a new school year at Morningside STEM Elementary! Thank you for helping make this a successful start to 2024-2025. Your collaboration and teamwork have been instrumental in building a strong foundation as we support our Eagles from school to home.

Building Connections & Character Strong Kindness Kick-Off

We are excited to continue our journey with Restorative Practices and the Character Strong SEL curriculum. This week, we launched our 2-week Kindness Kick-off by proudly wearing our Eagle smiles and Kindness-themed tees. Our ongoing committed to daily greetings at the door, Morning Meeting circle engagements, and integrated SEL through Character Strong through these intentional efforts help us build a foundational supportive community as we continue practicing our daily classroom and building-wide SOARing routines throughout the year.

New Schedules & Healthy Snacks

With the new school schedules and Friday early releases, many of our classrooms have added more opportunities for students to enjoy daily snacks during breaks. If your family chooses to send snacks or pack home lunches, we appreciate your mindfulness in providing healthy, sustaining options. Our SCCSD Food Service Department carefully plans nutritious breakfasts and lunches daily, with the goal of "Feeding the Body as We Feed the Mind." For more information on school meals, please visit SCCSD School Meals & Menus.

As you plan items you may send to school this year, please also consider these body and mind-building items such as water, juices, or healthy drinks that align with our breakfast and lunch guidance. If you choose to send snacks for your student or classroom, we ask for your help and to align with our focus on feeding the body and mind to support learning. Our teachers, students, and staff appreciate your partnership in sustaining our well-being practices at school.

Birthday Treats

Celebrating a birthday at school is a fun experience for students, and we certainly encourage it! To ensure we maximize instructional time, classroom birthday celebrations will be held at the end of the day or at a time determined by the teacher. Birthday treats or snacks must be pre-packaged; please do not send homemade treats to school. Treats may be dropped off at the office during the day with the student’s name/teacher’s name for delivery. Also, birthday party invitations should not be distributed at school unless the entire class is invited. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as celebration treats are shared for all in a routine way.

Attendance

Student attendance is crucial to learning, and we ask all families to review the District’s attendance policy in the 2024-25 Parent/Guardian and Student Handbook. Parents/guardians should notify the school of an absence by 9:00 a.m. daily. If an absence is not reported, the school office will contact the student’s household to inquire about the reason for the absence. Additionally, parents/guardians can download the Infinite Campus application to receive attendance updates directly to their mobile devices.

Stay Connected: Infinite Campus, Canvas, and Talking Points

We encourage all parents/guardians to stay connected to their student’s academic progress using Infinite Campus (grades K-12) and Canvas (grades 6-12). These portals provide access to teacher email addresses, student schedules, grades, attendance, and more! Please ensure your email address is updated in Infinite Campus, as email is our primary mode of communication.

Additionally, we are excited to introduce TalkingPoints this school year, a new communication tool that allows you to easily connect with your student’s teacher via text message. Messages will continue to be sent to you in your family’s primary language. Please contact your teacher or the office at 712-274-4048 if you have a new phone number or email address so that we can ensure our TalkingPoints and email communications can connect with you.

New Schedule

****Students who eat breakfast can arrive at 8:00 AM.

****If not eating breakfast, they can arrive at 8:25 AM.

****Dismissal will be at 3:30 PM Monday-Thursday.

****Dismissal will be at 1:30 PM on Fridays

Save the Date: Calendar Reminder

September 2 Labor Day No School

September 5 1st day of preschool

September 20 Picture Day

Dear Parent(s),

My name is Beth Hanna, and I am the new Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) at Morningside Elementary for the 2024-2025 school year. I am looking forward to working with you and your student and supporting their communication needs throughout the school day.

I just celebrated 12 years with Northwest Area Education Agency (NWAEA) as a SLP and this will be my 8th year serving Sioux City Community Schools. I love helping students find ways to communicate clearly and effectively and watching them grow using a variety of different service delivery models such as direct instruction, teacher consultation and collaboration, and pushing into the classroom setting to support communication needs.

Thank you for your continued efforts to make your student’s speech and language remediation a success. I will be in the building Monday-Thursday and some Fridays. Speech and language services will begin on Tuesday, September 3rd. Please feel free to contact me with questions or concerns by emailing me or calling my Northwest AEA direct line (see below information).

Sincerely,

Beth Hanna

M.A., CCC-SLP

Email: bhanna@nwaea.org

Phone: 712-222-6242

The Sioux City Community School District is excited to share an opportunity for parents/guardians! A Parent Advisory Group will be formed to provide input/feedback to work being done by a Special Education Task Force and a Talented and Gifted Task Force. The Parent Advisory Group will meet 4 times during the 24-25 school year. If you are interested in participating in the Parent Advisory Group, please email Kim Neal, Director of Learning Supports, at nealk@live.siouxcityschools.com for more information.

Thank you!!

What’s Happening in Siouxland

Stay connected with family-friendly activities, programs, and clubs in the community through Virtual Backpack. The e-newsletter, which includes information from various Siouxland organizations, is sent out monthly to all district families. Or, view the most up-to-date lists of events and activities on the Virtual Backpack website.

Handbook Includes Updated Protocol Information

Have you reviewed the 2023-2024 SCCSD Parent/Guardian – Student Handbook? The handbook includes important updates to the district protocols for cell phones and vaping along with other information to help students reach their fullest potential at school. Families are encouraged to review the handbook with their students to make sure they are aware of what is expected of them as a student in the Sioux City Community School District.

Click here to view the 2023-2024 Parent/Guardian – Student Handbook.

Have a Safety Concern?

Safe + Sound Iowa offers students and families a convenient way to anonymously report safety concerns related to our school. Trained dispatchers will share the information with appropriate school administrators and/or law enforcement so help can be given to those in crisis or at risk.

Visit Safe + Sound Iowa for more information.

Eagle Families,

Several times a month our staff wear our SOAR shirts to encourage...

S-Safe

O-On task

A-Act Responsibly

R-Respectful

We welcome you to purchase SOAR with merchandise for yourself, or your child. We have many different options to show your support for our Morningside STEM SOAR efforts. Here is the link to check it out. https://morningsidestem-store.1rti.com/, or click on the picture.

• Purchase ships directly to you
• Open all year long
• CHECK OUT THE NEW COLORS