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At South Elementary School, we are a learning community nurturing a culture to provide students the skills necessary to be active, productive, and responsible citizens while empowering students through communications.

October 1: Honor Choir Performance at MHS

October 4 3rd Grade Field Trip

October 4 PTO Fall Harvest 5:00-6:30

October 2 ILEARN Checkpoint 3rd Grade Math

October 7 Elementary 2K Run at Poston

October 9: eLearning Day & Parent/Teacher Conferences

October 10: Parent/Teacher Conferences (after school)

October 10 ILEARN Checkpoint 4th Grade ELA

October 10 CHAMPS field trip

October 10 2nd Grade field trip

October 10 PTO Fundraiser Turn in forms and money

October 11 First Grade/CHAMPS Field Trip

October 14-18: Fall Break-No School

October 17 PTO Fundraiser online orders due

October 24 Unified Track and Field Day

October 25 ILEARN Checkpoint 4th Grade Math

October 25 Boomer Anti-Bullying Convocation

October 31 Fall Parade/Parties

November 5 ILEARN Checkpoint 3rd Grade ELA

Week of November 11 Book Fair

November 11 Veterans' Day Program 10AM

November 13 PTO Fundraiser Delivery Date

November 14: Grandparents/Family Night 5:30-7:00PM

November 18, 2024 Elementary Area Spell Bowl at Centerton

December 12 Winter Concert for Grades 1 and 3 at 6:30PM

The Metropolitan School District of Martinsville kicked off an "Anti-Bullying Campaign" on September 25th for the month of October. The purpose of the Campaign is to educate students about the various forms of bullying and the steps they can take to help stop bullying. The long-term goal is to eliminate "bullying" in our schools and to better provide a learning environment where students respect and treat one another with more kindness.

Health and safety experts conclude:

1) Preventing bullying among children requires more awareness and intervention among adults.

2) All school personnel should be aware of the extent of the bully/victim problems in our school and should involve themselves in changing the situations.

3) Bullying prevention interventions improve the overall school climate.

4) Bullying prevention interventions should target the entire school population.

5) National bullying prevention experts recommend that schools research the subject and develop a school anti-bullying plan, which might include developing school rules against bullying, establishing classroom rules against bullying, raising school awareness, and conducting staff and student discussions on the subject.

South Elementary School of Communications will be participating in activities throughout the month to educate students.

October 9th 8:30AM-7:45PM

October 10th 4:00-7:45PM

@ South Elementary School of Communications

Schedule Your Conference

To schedule your parent/teacher conference:

1. You can go to Family Access and choose “Conferences” on the left side.

2. You can choose “All Conferences”.

3. You will be able to select a time that is available and works for your schedule.

4. Then, click on save.

5. If you have more than one student, then you will need to schedule a separate time for each student.

6. Scheduling started on Monday, September 23rd. The window to select a time will close on Friday, October 4th.

7. If you do not sign up for a time, your child’s teacher will reach out to assign you a time.

8. If you need to change a time, then you can go back into Family Access and the Teacher Conferences tab. Go under View Schedule Time to unschedule and then select your new time.

9. Here is a video that can help you with scheduling your conference, How to schedule Parent/Teacher Conferences in Skyward.

The Martinsville High School Girls’ Basketball program is partnering with the YMCA of Morgan County to offer a girls basketball program. The purpose of the league is to get girls involved, teach fundamentals of the game and to have fun and enjoy basketball.

The winter program will run simultaneously with the high school program from November through early February for girls in grades 1 through 6. Games will take place at the Martinsville High School Field House on Saturdays. Registration begins in September.

The Martinsville High School Girls’ Basketball Program and the YMCA of Morgan County are offering a spring girls basketball program for grades 1 through 8. Games will take place on Monday evenings at the Martinsville High School Fieldhouse. The purpose of this mini season is to keep girls involved in basketball, teach fundamentals of the game and to have fun and enjoy the game.

The district will have an eLearning Day on October 9th. Therefore, students will not report to school. Lessons and activities will be given and completed online. This is not a real time learning day. Therefore, students will not be meeting with their teacher via Zoom.

Families can expect:

❏ Students will have remote learning activities that reinforce grade-level Indiana Academic

Standards.

❏ Delivery of remote learning activities will be sent out via Google Classroom or Seesaw. Additional guidance/mini lessons may be given through videos.

❏ Families can contact school personnel, including their child’s teacher, administration, and

counselor, through dojo, email or phone calls.

❏ Students will receive feedback on their work, and teachers will monitor and track their

engagement.

Student Expectations During eLearning Day:

❏ During remote learning, elementary students are expected to login to their Seesaw or Google

Classroom accounts. All assignments and attendance questions will be posted by 9:00 A.M.

Attendance questions must be answered by 9:00 P.M.

❏ Students are expected to complete assignments. Students will be given regular feedback on their assignments. Assignments will count towards the students’ cumulative grade.

❏ Students are expected to engage in their learning and students/parents are expected to reach out to the teacher and/or school if help is needed.

❏ Student attendance will be documented when answering the attendance question and work

completion by 9PM.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. What if our family does not have internet access?

● Wi-Fi ACCESS POINTS: The district has added outdoor access points to each school (and the

Central Education Center/389 E. Jackson Street) to provide Wi-Fi for district devices. Families

can park in the parking lot of each school or at the Central Education Center and download

homework from their teachers, then complete the assignment offline while at home. Students will be able to upload assignments once finished and back on the district’s Wi-Fi. Every school in the district has at least one outdoor access point.

● Families can also request to check out a hotspot ahead of time to use. Contact your child's teacher or the office to obtain a hotspot to use for the year.

2. Does the work assigned during eLearning days count?

● Yes; work assigned during the eLearning days will count towards the students’ cumulative course grades.

3. How can I get technology support?

● Please contact the district’s Tech Helpdesk with chromebook/device questions during remote

learning at 765-342-6641, extension 1071 or by email, helpdesk@msdmartinsville.org.

Boomer from the Pacers will be here to put on an event to prevent childhood bullying and promote kindness, acceptance, and inclusion.

Parade & Fall Classroom parties will be on Thursday, October 31st.

Students can wear costumes to school on Thursday, October 31st. Please make sure the costumes are kid-friendly. NO face paint, hair color, or fake weapons.

Only parent volunteers that have been contacted to help and have a background check by October 28th are allowed in the room for the room party and to attend the parade.

In November, our school will be partnering with the Monique Burr Foundation for Children, a leader in abuse and bullying prevention, to implement their comprehensive, evidence-based prevention program called MBF Child Safety Matters®. Students receive two fun, engaging, and developmentally appropriate classroom lessons that educate and empower them to prevent, recognize, and respond appropriately to bullying, cyberbullying, all types of child abuse, digital abuse, and other digital dangers. A trained facilitator will be implementing the program in classrooms. Parents will receive information and materials as students participate in the lessons. To learn more about the program or about child safety, visit www.mbfpreventioneducation.org or download the mobile app, “Child Safety Matters,” available at no cost from the App Store or Google Play.

The Robotics Team has started practices and are gearing up for competitions this year! Mrs. Willard and Mrs. Hessler are the coaches.

Spell Bowl is an academic team made up of third and fourth graders. Spell Bowl practices are underway. The competition is November 18th. Mrs. Scrougham is the coach.

South Elementary high ability students meet monthly after school for LEAP (Learning Enrichment Activities Program) Club. The project for September was Bottle Decorating and Courtyard Design. Students decorated painted bottles and strung beads to use as decoration in our library courtyard. Students determined the perimeter of the space and measured distances between bottles on the string to engineer a display for the whole school to enjoy. Thank you, Mrs. Hostetter and Mrs. Durbin, for leading this club! Thank you to the parents that helped with this project.

• To report an absence for your child, please call the office at

(765) 349-1486 by 9:00AM. If you do not call the school by 9:30 a.m. and report the absence, the school messaging system, someone from the school, or the attendance officer may be calling your home. Please call in so that the day is an excused absence.

• A doctor visit should be documented with a statement from the doctor so that it can be entered in the school data system. Doctor statements should be faxed to 765-349-5247 or given to the office. We need this documentation to mark it as an excused absence.

• We ask that you not keep a child out of school for the entire day for a doctor or dental appointment.

• If a child is sent home with a fever of 100.4 degrees or over, he/she is not to return to school until fever free for 24 hours without fever medication. If the student is sent home from the clinic, it will be marked as an excused absence through the clinic.

Regular attendance is essential for children to be successful in their educational endeavors. Students are bound by the requirements of the Indiana Compulsory Attendance Laws. Students are expected to attend school regularly and be on time for classes in order to benefit from instructional programs and develop responsible personal habits that are respected in society and therefore a part of the educational process. Please make sure students arrive on time. The morning bell rings at 8:40AM to start class. It rings at 9:40AM on Wednesdays to start class for grades K-4.

*Complete details of attendance procedures and guidelines can be found in the student handbook.

Attendance Guidelines

• AUTHORIZED ABSENCES: If documentation is not provided, these absences will be recorded as unexcused absences. Documentation does include calling into the office.

• DOCUMENTATION: All legal or medical documentation must be submitted within 5 days for the absence to be recorded as excused. The school’s fax # is 765-349-5247.

Please call in or send a doctor note for the attendance to be excused.

Attendance Letters & DCS Notification

• Attendance letters are generated and sent via email on the 5th unexcused absence, 10th unexcused, and 18th unexcused absence.

• Under IC 20-33-2-25, the school must notify DCS when a student reaches 10 unexcused absences. See additional information below.

Under IC 20-33-2-25, the “Superintendent or an attendance officer having jurisdiction shall report a child who is habitually absent from school in violation of this chapter to an intake officer of the juvenile court or the department of child services. The intake officer or the department of child services shall proceed in accord with IC 31-30- through IC 31-40.”

Everyone should report abuse or neglect. The reporting and investigating of suspected child abuse and neglect are not discretionary matters. They have been required by law (IC 31-33-5-1) since 1979.

Do Report When...

• Students have reached ten (10) or more unexcused absences.

• Educational neglect is suspected

• Students are missing and unaccounted for

On Wednesday mornings, staff will be participating in professional development to improve student learning and success.

Therefore, for grades K-4 doors will open at 9:25AM with school starting at 9:40AM. Contact the South office if childcare is needed from 8:25-9:25.

PreK will still be at normal time on Wednesdays. Doors will open at 8:25AM and school will start for PreK at 8:40AM on Wednesdays.

PLEASE RETURN EMERGENCY CARDS AND STUDENT RESIDENCY FORMS AT YOUR EARLIEST CONVENIENCE. YOU MAY RETURN THEM IN YOUR STUDENTS FOLDERS OR TO THE SCHOOL OFFICE BETWEEN 8AM AND 4PM.

Federal funding has been made available through school-wide Title I services to South Elementary for the purpose of providing students with extra support in reading and language arts. This extra support is available for all students at South Elementary. Classroom teachers, Title I teachers, and instructional assistants will provide assistance in reading, language arts, and math through small group and individual instruction as children demonstrate need for support. Please contact Jessica Shanafelt at 765-349-1486 Ext. 1654 with any questions about support your child may receive.

Anyone wishing to volunteer in the classroom, help out with parties, or attend a field trip must have a background check completed before participating. This process can take time so please contact the office at least two days before your scheduled event. Request made at the last minute may prevent or delay participation in an event.

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*Please contact the office if you need this information provided in another language.

Website: https://msdofmartinsville.org/south-elementary/
Location: 500 Artesian Ave, Martinsville, IN, USA
Phone: 7653491486
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SouthElementarySchool
Twitter: @southdolphins1