Wow! What an exciting and eventful month of October! Thank you to our families for taking time to come to Parent-Teacher Conferences! Your partnership in your child's education is critical to ensure student academic and social-emotional success! We had almost 100% of our families in attendance!

We are excited to see our AG families in attendance for the Halloween parade on October 31st at 1:45 at the Primary and 2:40 at the Intermediate!

October 26th- Halloween Spooktacular@ the Ashland Public Library 3:00-5:00

October 28th-31st - Red Ribbon Week (Details below)

October 30th - Superhero Day in Preschool

October 31st - Halloween Parade Primary School @ 1:45 and Intermediate School 2:40

November 1st - No School for Students and Staff

November 4th - Student Council Field Trip

November 6th - Picture Retake Day and Early Dismissal @ 12:50 (Intermediate) & 1:00 (Primary)

November 7th - Bingo sponsored by the PTO at the Primary @ 6:00

November 11th - Donuts with Vets at 7:45-8:15 at the Primary and the Intermediate will host a Veterans Day Assembly at 9:30 AM

November 12th - National Young Readers Day

November 15th - 3rd Grade Field Trip

November 21st - POP Event for Preschool

November 27-29th Thanksgiving Break No School for Students and Staff

https://forms.gle/hdqg1iumdTHagbBY9

Halloween Parade and Parties are planned for Thursday, October 31st.

All students are encouraged to bring a costume to school. Make-up, hair sprays, and costume weapons are not allowed at school (please save for trick-or-treating). Students will change into costumes in the afternoon and hold Halloween parties at the end of the day. The primary school students will parade in the gym and weather permitting, the intermediate will parade around the intermediate playground at 2:40 PM to share their costumes. Parents are welcome to join us for the parades. If the weather is poor, the parade will be moved indoors, and parents/visitors may watch the parade in the cafeteria.

In celebration of Veterans Day and appreciation for the service of our military veterans, we are delighted to extend an invitation to the families of our students who are veterans. This year, AG Primary School will host Donuts with Vets in the morning and AG Intermediate School will hold the Veterans Day assembly with a guest speaker. Details for the Primary School event are below. The program at the Intermediate will be at 9:30. We hope our veterans can join us for our assembly and donuts and juice immediately following. Students are encouraged to invite their veteran family members to this special event!

RSVP HERE: https://forms.gle/WxJjzt6WXYDcXTgE6

This week, all students have been completing activities that focus on inclusion, being supportive, and learning about how we are all different and alike in many ways. This is all to prepare for our Elementary Unified T-Ball event. On Thursday, all K-5th grade staff and students gathered at the ball fields to cheer on our Unified team. It was a beautiful afternoon to play ball and celebrate our Bluejays!

The K-3 Winter Concert will be held on Monday, December 9 at the Performing Arts Center. K-1st will start at 6:30pm and go until approximately 7pm. There will be about a 15 minute break following the K-1 portion for any families who do not have a 2nd or 3rd grade child to exit the auditorium so other parents and family members may attend their student's portion of the concert and for all K-1 students to be picked up. The 2nd-3rd portion of the concert will start around 7:15pm.

Both elementary schools practiced a fire evacuation drill on October 11th. The Ashland Volunteer Fire Department observed the drills. In addition on October 9th, students participated in activities and toured fire trucks to learn about fire safety. Students enjoyed visiting and learning from the fire personnel.

National Young Readers Day takes place on Tuesday, November 12th and focuses on literacy and encouraging reading at school and home. Reading supports language and literacy skills. Supporting the AG Reading Rockstar Program by reading at home is a great way to encourage your child to explore a good book, learn, and enjoy the world around them through reading! When students engage in a book or other text that they find interesting, they will read more often! On November 12th guest readers from the community will visit classrooms to share a story with students and talk about their favorite books.

This year, yearbook orders will be placed online. Please use the link or QR code below to order a yearbook online (CODE: 1413625). We will not be selling yearbooks at school this year. All orders must be placed online by January 10th. Yearbooks will be distributed to students in March. The yearbook will continue to be one elementary preschool-5th grade memory book. Thank you!

Schools and Districts are putting in the hard work to “Place School Safety First” and are now being recognized for their efforts to meet requirements, trainings, drills, and best practices in school safety and security with the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) Badge Certification. NDE has established a badge system to recognize schools that go above and beyond to provide a safe environment for students, staff, and visitors.

The badge identifies and recognizes Nebraska public and non-public school districts meeting the highest standards of safety and security. Schools can earn Diamond, Gold, or Silver badges, highlighting their commitment to ensuring the safety and security of students, staff, and visitors.

Effective learning can only take place in a safe environment, and this certification reassures communities that their schools are actively fulfilling the four pillars of safety: prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery. Diamond certification means a district is meeting the highest standards in school safety and security, with gold being the next level, and then silver. By earning these badges, schools demonstrate their dedication to “Place School Safety First”. We are proud to share that AGPS has earned DIAMOND certification!

School districts have built safety and threat assessment teams and are required to have an emergency operations plan, develop safety & security policies, complete safety drills, conduct suicide and other safety trainings, as well as having digital, substance use, dating violence, and countless other safety best practices to keep school communities and the members free from harms way.

Students will be participating in the Academic and Attendance Incentive Program again this year. The Attendance and Academic Incentive Programs are sponsored by the Ashland-Greenwood Elementary School and PTO. The goals of the programs are to encourage and reward good attendance and academic achievement and improvement throughout the school year.

HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS

K-5 Attendance Incentive Program

Goal: To encourage and reward regular school attendance.

Regular attendance is important because…

• Students who attend school regularly learn more.

• Students who develop regular, punctual attendance habits in school are more likely to carry these habits over to the world of work.

How It Works: Each quarter students have an opportunity to put tickets into a container. The more regular a student’s attendance, the more tickets the student gets. At the end of the school year, drawings for prizes will take place for each grade level.

• No Absences earn 3 tickets

• 1 Absence earns 2 tickets

• 2 Absences earns 1 ticket

3rd-5th Grade Academic Incentive Program

Goal: To encourage and reward academic achievement and improvement

Academic achievement is important because…

• Students who strive to do well in school learn more and develop positive attitudes and skills that carry over into all facets of their lives.

How It Works: Each quarter students have an opportunity to put tickets into a container. Students earn tickets for strong academics and/or improvement of their grades. At the end of the school year, drawings for prizes will take place for each grade level, 3rd-5th grade.

• Students who have mastered (score = 4) all skills in reading, writing, or math = 3 tickets

• Students who have shown proficiency (score = 3) in all skills in reading, writing, or math = 2 tickets

• Students who have raised their score from one level to the next in any single skill from the previous quarter = 1 ticket (Only given in quarters 2-4)

The BLUE Team is our student assistance team which is a state requirement for the purpose of ensuring all appropriate instructional strategies are being implemented and to provide suggestions for additional supports or interventions with a student to assist him/her in making progress in academic, social/emotional/behavioral and speech/language areas. BLUE stands for ‘Boosting Learning and Understanding for All’. The BLUE Team is a group of certified staff members who meet for the purpose of analyzing student data and information, sharing strategies and resources for both academic and social/emotional areas, and determining possible next steps to support students. BLUE Team members include administrators, classroom teachers, interventionists, counselor, school psychologist and special education staff. Every year, our team completes a program evaluation to action plan how we can best support staff and students at school. The BLUE Team has accomplished goals related to a proactive approach to reviewing and acting on discipline data, sharing information with stakeholders, and implementing interventions. This year, our action plan will focus on goals to build consistency with our school-wide plans and continue to build our intervention implementation for students with behavioral needs.

TAGG is an easy way to help our school raise money. Ashland NE's Runza is a participating location on TAGG! Uploading your receipt gives 5% back to our school. Details for how to use TAGG and other fundraising opportunities are below.

4th grade took an Ashland Tour and went and learned all about Ashland at the Historical Museum.

Congratulations to the students pictured below who completed the September reading challenge at home!

Congratulations to the students pictured below who completed the September Reading Rockstars activity.

New this year, we are also incorporating a monthly raffle into our Reading Rockstar Program. Students who return their monthly activity/log are entered into a drawing for gift cards and prizes. Thank you to our AG PTO and fundraiser earnings for supporting this program. Congrats to our September winners!

Thanks to the Ashland-Greenwood Foundation funding a grant submitted by Jenny Washburn, our students enjoyed see many different types of animals at the Primary on October 25th. Wildlife Encounters programs are based on the core value of connecting the next generation to our natural world. Students had the chance to learn new information and see a kangaroo, red-tailed boa constrictor, American alligator, and kinkajou in person. THANK YOU to the Ashland-Greenwood Foundation for making this event possible for our students!

Due to a generous donation from the AG Foundation, all intermediate staff and students were able to enjoy a Molecular Mayhem presentation from the Omaha Children's Museum. We were able to explore what happens to molecules when they are put to the test watching liquids become solids, soap become fluffy, and chip bags shrink. We learned all about molecules and chemical reactions!

We would like to thank Mrs. Looper and the high school AG and FFA students for sprucing up our main entrances at both the Primary and Intermediate with mums! Because of a donation from Platte Valley Antiques to FFA and our Ag program Mrs. Looper has generously offered to plant and care for our mums year-round. We appreciate it!

Congratulations to our Art Award recipients pictured below. Selected students have their artwork framed and on display in at the intermediate school.

Mrs. Kelley would like to announce her Read Poster Winner this quarter was Dart Harrison. Dart has shown great improvements in the classroom, is participating in classroom discussions, and is showing he is a model for hard work! Keep it up buddy!

Ashland 4th grade took a Field Trip to Pioneers Park and learned about Nebraska's terrain and animals! We also had an in person presentation from the NRD to learn more specifics about Nebraska mammals!

Meal program staff will be available in the cafeteria to assist families in making deposits in your child's meal account as well. The cost for meals is:

• Student breakfast - $2.15
• Student lunch - $3.10

Ashland-Greenwood JJYB is excited to offer our 1st & 2nd grade skill sessions for a 2nd year & our interleague scrimmages after the holiday break!

We will be offering four (4), hour long skill sessions that will touch on the importance of fundamentals and drills involving ball handling, shooting, passing and competitiveness.

Below are the details of these skill sessions:

Date: Oct. 27th, Nov. 3rd, 10th & 17th

Time: 5:00 - 6:00 pm

Location: AG Primary Elementary School (Please drop off and pick up on the east side of the school by the gym entrance)

Cost: Free

**There is no registration - please feel free to just show up on any/all of the dates!

Lastly, as mentioned above, we will be holding our interleague games after Christmas break. More information will be released later but this is an opportunity for our girls to showcase their skills and enjoy playing the game of basketball!

If you have any questions, please contact Ashley Armstrong (402-699-1182) or myself at 402-801-1155.

-Thursday, November 14th

-Ashland-Greenwood Middle School - Commons Area

-From 6:30-7:30

-PreK (starting K in Fall of 2025) through 8th grade

Wrestlers will:

-Register for the 2024-25 Season

-Pick up a team shirt

-Rent a singlet ($60 deposit) *return singlet if needed

-Have picture taken by Jen Wilke

Families will have the opportunity to purchase shirts on this night as well. We are anticipating having shirts on site instead of placing an order this year.

Practices will begin the first week of December. The practice schedule will not be available until after registration night.

Parents Meeting will be on Sunday, November 24th at 6:00 in the Ashland-Greenwood Middle School - Commons Area.

Follow the Ashland-Greenwood Jr Wrestling Facebook page to receive updates.

Please check back for additional winter activity information. As programs share sign-up information, we will make sure it is added to the newsletter.

Do you know of a community event that would be something our Ashland Greenwood Elementary students would be able to participate in? Please contact us at 402-944-7083.