The Bear Necessities

Winter has arrived both on the calendar and the thermometer. The students are busy building snowmen on the playground and hoping for as many outdoor recess opportunities as the cold temps will allow us. Teachers are busy reteaching the Bear Expectations and conducting our winter testing. All of this means it must be January!

The students and staff have been working hard to get ready for that winter FAST testing session. This is a time for all schools in Iowa to measure the progress our students have made in reading and math since we started this fall. Ask your child if he/she has done any of the testing sessions yet. Classroom teachers will more than likely share your child's results with you in their 2nd quarter report card.

Read on for more updates from the Bear Den!

Last week's vlog featured second graders from Mrs. Rehman's class. Each Friday afternoon, watch the school Facebook page for the latest edition of our video vlog. We will update you on things going on throughout the building each week. Please make sure to "like" our vlogs on Facebook.

*Danville Elementary has a new google site for our students that get placed in virtual learning. If your child is quarantined for any period of time, parents can refer to this site for assistance with the online platforms, virtual learning roles, checklists, and grade-level specific guidelines. The new site can be found here: https://sites.google.com/danvillecsd.org/danvilleelementaryvirtuallearn/home

*Second semester begins on Monday, January 25th. If your child has been on virtual instruction throughout the entire 2nd quarter, now is the time to let the office know if he/she will be returning to in-person learning for the 3rd quarter.

*Winter FAST and IRLA testing are underway at Danville Elementary. Your child will be assessed in both reading and math to see how they are progressing this year.

*6th Grade students will be starting a new social/emotional online curriculum format called Rethink Ed.

Please be reminded that students need a coat, snow pants, boots, hat, and gloves each day. Students that do not have snow pants or boots will not be allowed to play in the snow. They will be required to remain on the blacktop during recess. This is for all grade levels PK - 6th.

The Danville Elementary second grade classes were featured in The Hawkeye newspaper for their work on their holiday charity project with Hope Haven. The group raised over $800 for Hope Haven. Hope Haven will use the funds to purchase gifts for their clients, as well as buy activity items for the Day Habilitation program. Congratulations to our 2nd Grade students!

All other elementary grades also conducted holiday charity projects. We are so proud of the work that the students did this year. Check out a couple of the photos below of the donations that the classes received. Great work Danville Bears!

*Monday, January 18th - Friday, January 29th. Winter FAST and IRLA testing window continues.

*Wednesday, January 20th is a FULL DAY, there is NO Early Dismissal this week.

*Friday, January 22nd is the last day of the 2nd quarter/1st semester. 3rd quarter begins on Monday, January 25th.

*Friday, January 29th - Report Cards will go home.

*Friday, January 29th - PBIS January Awards Assembly & 2nd Quarter Celebration.

We have been working to devise a plan for classroom Valentine's Day celebrations, while still mitigating against the Covid-19 virus. We are confident we have a safe plan in place to allow the students to still have the usual Valentine's Day parties in their classrooms. Please watch closely for detailed guidelines and instructions from your child's classroom teacher.

All Valentine's Day celebrations will be held Friday, February 12th. However, all students that wish to exchange Valentine's Day cards with others, will need to bring their cards to school no later than Friday, February 5th. This will allow us to safely exchange the cards on the 12th. Once again, your child's teacher will be sending details home with your child soon.

We would like to thank the Danville Elementary PVO for the many projects that they assist teachers with throughout the school year. Recently, the PVO helped Mrs. Rehman's Second Grade classroom get new book containers for their cubbies. We thank them for their generosity!

If you are interested in joining the Danville PVO, please feel free to contact the elementary office for details.

In November, Danville Elementary students started a gratitude wall. In conjunction with our November PBIS Assembly, we challenged the students to show their gratitude to other students or teachers, or to write about something they were thankful for. Our "Attitude of Gratitude" paw print trail has grown quite large the last few months. Each paw print contains a thank you message written by a student. We hope to continue our bear paw trail throughout the remainder of the school year.

Email: jaci.thornburg@danvillecsd.org
Website: danvillecsd.org
Location: 419 South Main Street, Danville, IA, USA
Phone: 319-392-4221
Facebook: facebook.com/danvillecsd.org