September 2024 Sunflower Patch

September

2 - Labor Day - NO SCHOOL

6 - School Store (during lunch)*

16 - Girls on the Run - practices begin

20 - Homecoming Parade & Pep Rally**

*School Store is the first Friday of every month during lunch. We are looking for a parent or two to help run the store each month. If you are interested, please reach out to Staci Wokutch at staci_wokutch@usd368.org.

**Click HERE for detailed information about Homecoming.

Hey, Panther Families!

PHS has invited each Sunflower class to create little red wagon floats for the Paola Homecoming Parade on September 20. The only way we can do this is if we have parent volunteers to help with making the floats. We could provide all of the materials, you would just need to be able to come to school and work with a small group of 1-3 students (your student would be one of them) to work on the float. No specials skills required! You just need to be able to glue and staple.

We have two dates: September 16 (2:30-3:00) and September 17 (7:30-8:00 or 2:30-3:00) set aside to put together the floats.

If you would be able to help a group of students put together a float, please sign up by Friday, September 13.

Panther Parent Volunteers

Click HERE to see other ways to show your Panther Spirit during Homecoming!

The Panthers take on the Ottawa Cyclones for Homecoming.

Welcome to the Sunflower library. Students will check out books from the library on D, E, and F days. They may check out three books for a two week period. During Library, students learned the importance of taking good care of the books and being responsible for returning them.

This year our reading incentive program is Hang Ten with Good Books!

The goal is to encourage independent reading to practice the skills being taught in the classroom. Students can earn brag tags for reading books from eight different genres. The program was explained during library lessons this week. The program is optional.

Students will bring home permission slips. If your child would like to participate, please read and sign the permission slip and return it to Mrs. Armbruster in the library or Ms. Whitaker in the office. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email Mrs. Armbruster at cassandra_armbruster@usd368.org

As students are traveling each day with lunch boxes and water bottles in their backpacks, please make sure that proper care is taken for library books!

We want to keep our books dry so they are in the best condition for students to use for years to come!

Please make sure that all lids are fastened tightly and secure!

In our commitment to prioritize education and celebrate our educators, we have launched the ‘Sponsor a Teacher’ program. This program allows outstanding teachers and their nominators the opportunity to receive a $100 Scooter’s Coffee gift card. The program will run from August 26th to September 8th.

We encourage colleagues, students, and parents to submit nominations for current teachers who have had a positive impact on their lives.

To nominate a teacher, follow this link: https://forms.gle/1jLD1KRgdgdhFYRC6 and complete the nomination form.

The deadline for nominations is September 8th.

It’s been exciting to have kids back in school! With a couple of weeks of the new school year under our belts, we thought this would be a good time to remind parents of the importance of calling the school the morning your child is absent if your child will be not be in school that day. Here are some important tips and reminders:

• If your child is going to be absent from school, please notify the school before 8:30 am THAT SAME DAY. This will prevent the school from having to mark them as an unexcused absence.

• It is best practice to notify the school via email. Please email your child's teacher along with the attendance clerks in the front office ( sunflower-office-attendance@usd368.org ) to let them know your child will be gone and how the absence should be marked (ill, out of town, etc...) To avoid a call from the attendance-dialer, be sure to include the sunflower-office-attendance in your correspondence. When you use the above email address for attendance, the office attendance clerk and Mrs. Kinaman, our school nurse receive the email. Please note the new email address for attendance.

• When you contact the school, if you anticipate an extended absence, please note length of the absence then be sure to send a doctor’s note upon your child returning.

• If you are not able to email, please call the school at 913-294-8040.

Your partnership in notifying the school the day your child is absent will help the school to prepare your child's missed work. It will also help families avoid unnecessarily receiving an unexcused absence letter from the school outlining state truancy laws. (Although, state truancy laws are important for families to know: An unexcused absence in Kansas is when a parent does not notify the school of their child’s absence that same day. When a child has 3 consecutive unexcused absences, 5 total unexcused absences in a semester or 7 total unexcused absences in a school year, the child is considered truant by Kansas state law and the school is required to report them as such).

Thank you so much for your continued partnership in making this a great school year!

• Current school policy based on guidelines from Miami County Health Department for all Respiratory Viruses (COVID, Influenza & RSV) are as follows: Any person with a positive case shall remain in home isolation until fever-free for 24 hours without the aid of fever reducing medications AND overall symptoms are getting better. Contact school health staff for any additional questions.

• Please work with your child's classroom teacher on the best time to have treats in the classroom.
• Birthday party invitations should NOT be handed out at school unless there is an invitation for everyone in the classroom. They should not be distributed to anyone outside of your child's classroom. This would include placing in mailboxes or handing out on the playground. Thank you for understanding.

Order online at inter-state.com/order

Order Code - 87014XF

Mindsets Matter (At Home too!)

Hello Sunflower Families!

I am Ms. Finson, the school counselor! Each month we will focus on one of the 7 Mindsets! September's Mindset is 100% Accountable! In class, your students are learning the four critical components of 100% Accountable. Each week will focus on a different component. We are learning to own our lives, overcome limiting beliefs, focus our energy, and grow through life!

My challenge for you is to help your student(s) complete their Mindset of the Month Choice Board! This will give you the chance to help your student(s) grasp the concepts taught within 100% Accountable while spending quality time together! When you and your student(s) complete items on the choice board, scan the QR code and post a picture to our Mindset of the Month Padlet so we can share how others are living the 100% Accountable Mindset!

NEEDING HELP? Giving the Basics (www.givingthebasics.org) is a free program available to USD #368 students that provides the necessities of life, not covered by government assistance programs, that most people take for granted such as laundry soap, shampoo, deodorant and other personal care hygiene products.

Giving the Basics distributes products to more than 140 organizations and 350 schools, including USD 368, making the basics accessible to 250,000 people monthly.

We also have resources available to help families with school supplies, school clothes or food items.

Giving the Basics/Harvesters Form

If you need assistance, please fill out this form and Ms. Finson, our Sunflower School Counselor, will reach out as soon as possible!

jeri_drinkert@usd368.org

913-294-8040

If you would like your student to participate in this program for FREE Dental Services in the school, please see the attached flyer with information on how to enroll. If your student was previously enrolled there is no need to enroll as this carries over from year to year.

The faculty and staff look forward to a positive and productive year at SUNFLOWER ELEMENTARY!

There are many ways to stay connected at Sunflower Elementary. It is important that you connect in all three ways if possible.

· Infinite Campus (Web Browser & App)

· Panther Alerts

· Facebook

Information on each of these communication tools can be found below.

The success of any educational institution depends on the support and cooperation between parents, teachers, and students. All of us must work together as a team to provide the best education program for our students. We look forward to working with you and your child this year.

There are 2 versions of the IC App available for download in the iTunes App Store and Google Play. They are Campus Parent and Campus Student. To use the Campus Student or Campus Parent apps, mobile devices must be on an Android version of 4.4 or later and iOS devices must be on a version of 9.0 or later.

Parents - Sign up for IC to receive emails & texts from your child’s teacher & school.

NEW account? Trouble logging in? Email molly_jones@usd368.org (put IC in the subject line). If you signed up at Cottonwood, you will use the same account for Sunflower.

Students & parents have different login pages.

1. Click the INFINITE CAMPUS box above.

2. Choose Campus Parent or Student.

3. Enter Username & Password provided by your school.

4. Click LOG IN

Email: staci_wokutch@usd368.org
Website: www.usd368.org
Location: 1401 East 303rd Street, Paola, KS, USA
Phone: 913-294-8040