SEM Newsletter

To ensure high levels of learning in a safe, respectful environment where all achieve personal and academic success. ALL means ALL.

Dear Seminole Families,

It’s Literacy Week and the final week of our January Attendance Awareness Month! Let’s finish the month strong by ensuring your child(ren) are at school every day, all day this week. We have an exciting lineup of activities planned to celebrate literacy and the importance of being present!

Be sure to take note of our two special dress-up days at the end of the week:

• Thursday: Dress for the Build Day – Dress up as a builder or construction worker!
• Friday: Vocabulary Parade – Dress up as your favorite vocabulary word and join the fun!

Thank you for your continued support in making every day count. We can’t wait to see all the creative outfits and the enthusiasm your students bring to school this week!

Mrs. VanderMolen, Principal

Mrs. Drazick, Assistant Principal

📚It’s Literacy Week at Seminole! 📚

Join us as we celebrate Literacy Week with the exciting theme: Building Literacy: Constructing the Foundation for Success. Throughout the week, students will participate in fun activities and events that emphasize the importance of literacy as the cornerstone of learning and success.

Mark Your Calendars for These Highlights:

• Thursday: Dress for the Build Day! Students are encouraged to dress up as builders or construction workers for the day.
• Friday: Vocabulary Parade! Students should dress up as a vocabulary word and show off their creativity in our parade!
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Be sure to check out the flyer below for all the details about each day’s festivities. From themed dress-up days to special reading events, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.

Thank you for your continued support in fostering a love of reading and learning at Seminole. Let’s make Literacy Week an inspiring and memorable experience for all of our students! 🖤📖

The 100th Day of School is this week, on January 31st! To celebrate, we’re adding a fun twist to Literacy Week by dressing up as our favorite vocabulary words. We can’t wait to see the creative and unique costumes students come up with for our vocabulary parade!

We are delighted to inform you that our community has access to a wonderful program called Footsteps2Brilliance® that can help your child develop reading and writing skills in English and in Spanish. Footsteps2Brilliance® provides a comprehensive curriculum of over 1,000 English and Spanish books, songs, and games that are fun for children and easy for you to access on any smart device or computer. No internet access? No problem! The app works even without an internet connection. Once the device is connected to Wi-Fi again, all the data will automatically upload to the teacher. Best of all, the program is proven to help children learn to read!

Check out the flyers below to learn more!

In an effort to increase the security and safety on campus, all visitors must have a photo ID to enter the front office.

At Seminole Elementary, we know that consistent attendance is essential for student learning and success. Every day matters! This month, we are focusing on celebrating and improving attendance across our school community.

We’re excited to reward students with perfect attendance and recognize the grade levels with the highest attendance percentages. These fun incentives are a great way to highlight the importance of showing up, staying on track, and making the most of every learning opportunity.

Your support is crucial to the success of this initiative. Please ensure your child attends school every day, arrives on time, and avoids early checkouts. Together, we can help all of our students reach their full potential by prioritizing consistent attendance.

Let’s make January a month of remarkable attendance and even greater achievements! Thank you for your continued partnership in your child’s education.

📢 Attention Parents and Guardians:

Yearbooks for the 2024-2025 school year are now on sale! Don’t miss the chance to secure a special keepsake for your child.

📖 How to Order:
1️⃣ Order online by clicking here.
2️⃣ Send payment directly to the school.

💰 Price: $15
🗓️ Deadline: March 15th (no orders will be accepted after this date).

Don’t wait—grab your yearbook before it’s too late! 🎉

Florida is leading a first-in-the-nation approach that empowers students to persevere and overcome life’s inevitable challenges. The Florida Department of Education developed state education standards and resources to equip students with skills that build resiliency.

These are the 11 resiliency characteristics to help your child overcome any challenge:

Perseverance, Responsibility,Self-Awareness & Self-Management, Grit, Responsible, Decision-Making, Mentorship, Gratitude, Critical Thinking & Problem Solving, Citizenship, Honesty, and Empathy

Explore the skills by going to buildresilency.org and clicking each word to learn its definition and access downloadable resources.

Spring Class Picture Day is just around the corner on February 4th! Your student should have brought home information on how to place an order. Please remember that class pictures must be paid for before picture day!

To order online, please visit www.strawbridge.net Click order pictures and type in the following code: FM446601

A read-at-home plan is required to be provided to parents of any K – grade 3 student who has been identified with a substantial deficiency in reading. The Just Read, Florida! Office at the Florida Department of Education has compiled resources that each school district must incorporate into a read-at-home plan provided to the parent of a student who is identified as having a substantial

deficiency in reading. A read-at-home plan includes information and resources connected to the essential components of reading: oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. These resources are available in an electronic format that is accessible online, and a hardcopy of such resources must be provided by the school upon parent request. To access these resources digitally, click on each link provided.

Just Read, Florida!

Parents, take a look at our Parent Family Engagement Plan here! This plan provides an overview of the ways we aim to foster strong partnerships between families and our school.an overview of the ways we aim to foster strong partnerships between families and our school.

Parent Family Engagement Plan English

Parent Family Engagement Plan Spanish

AfterCare is being offered at Seminole!

Please use the QR codes to learn more information and register your child for AfterCare!

Below is a link to the District Policy on Bullying and Harassment. In order to be classified as bullying, the physical threat or emotion distress must be continuously inflicted towards the student. A one time occurrence of teasing would not fall under bullying.

SEM takes bullying seriously! If your child is being bullied, please have your child tell an adult at school or call the office to inform administration of the situation.

Link to District Bullying and Harassment Policy

Parents, please use the roundabout towards the back of the school when dropping off or picking up your student. This helps us avoid congestion and issues with traffic back up. Do not use the driveway before the roundabout to turn around. This creates a very dangerous situation for cars that are driving to the roundabout or turning into the school.

Also, please do not exit your vehicle during drop off or pick up times. We have staff that will assist the students exit or enter the vehicles as necessary. This limits pedestrian traffic in the road and near our opened gates.

Thank you!

At Seminole, we are committed to Read Aloud A Lot. Students spend time daily reading aloud in class. Students daily are required to read 20 minutes at home for homework. Students K-2 should be reading the fluency passages sent home by the teacher and grades 3-5 should be reading books at home.

Stay Informed About Meals at Seminole! 🥞🍎

Access the January Breakfast and Lunch Menus on our District Website by clicking here. These menus are packed with delicious and nutritious options to fuel our students for success!

Remember, breakfast and lunch are completely free for ALL Seminole students. Make sure your child takes advantage of these healthy meal offerings every day! 🥪✨

Parents, please check out this wonderful free resource! Even if your family is not eligible to receive books, there are still free resources available to help your child with reading!

Link to New Worlds Reading Website

The Florida Department of Education has recently updated their Just Read, Florida! initiative. Click here to learn more about the updates!

Parents, does your child need additional assistance?

Okeechobee County School District has partnered with Varsity Tutors for Schools! All students now have access to the Varsity Tutors learning resources like live classes, chat tutoring, and more. Some students may have been assigned tutoring by your school, ask your teacher or school office if this has been provided to you. All Okeechobee County School District families can sign up for paid supplemental private tutoring for their students at a discounted rate!

Click here to learn more information about what it is, how to login, and so much more!