Samuelson's Monthly Newsletter

Hello Everyone! As you know from previous communications, Mr. LaConner is out on an extended leave of absence. In the interim, we have made a transition of me taking the role of interim principal. I am excited to continue the work we have started and carry on with leading all of our amazing students at Samuelson. With this being my ninth year at Samuelson, I have a deep understanding of the systems and initiatives as well as knowing the students and families very well. I’m looking forward to having Mrs. Roerig coming in part time to help me with administrative tasks. With winter break upon us, we are preparing for some fun activities this week. Students will be enjoying a sing-along on Friday morning as well as a sock skating party that afternoon. Students have made snowflakes and we are currently decorating our halls with them. We will soon be walking in a winter wonderland! We are moving quickly toward the end of the first semester. So many great things have happened over the first few months of school. We have a new extended core class called Empowerment where students meet with Mrs. Griffin to work on social emotional learning. They have been focusing on community building, friendship, and empathy. During our morning meetings on Friday, students practice saying words of affirmation to set a good intent for their day. We also provide frequent opportunities for student to show gratitude through a variety of activities. We will begin preparing for our upcoming FAST assessments in January and the end of the first semester on January 15. I have met with our PTO board and there are fun things coming up this Spring. We will be doing the annual Fun Night on the evening of March 7. We will be doing our Walk-a-Thon fundraiser on March 29. Packets will come home earlier in March. I am anticipating an amazing second semester full of learning and full of fun!

~Amy Wiegmann

PTO has some fun things coming up this Spring. We will be doing the annual Fun Night on the evening of March 7. We will be doing our Walk-a-Thon fundraiser on March 29. Packets will come home earlier in March. PTO meetings are at 6:00 in the school library. Here are the upcoming dates: January 14, February 4, March 4, April 8, and May 15. Please come and join us!!

Please send your children to school with warm winter clothes. When we have snow on the ground, students are allowed to play in the snow if they have snow pants, boots, a coat and gloves. We encourage you to bundle them up! Weather guidelines for outdoor recess state that we will go outside when the temperature and/or wind chill is 10 degrees or warmer.

Please check SchoolCNXT periodically for the most up-to-date health information and screening dates.

• December 23rd - January 1st ⛄WINTER BREAK ⛄
• January 6th - January 10th 🦷 Smile Squad is doing dental checks with students
• January 6th - January 24th - Fast Screenings
• January 14th - PTO meeting in the library at 6:00 PM
• January 16th - Beginning of 2nd Semester
• January 16th, 17th, 20th - NO SCHOOL for students

Happy December!

Classroom Guidance Standards Addressed this month:

K-2

PSWK.1: Identify common personal and community safety rules, including gun safety, fire safety, stranger safety, bike safety, crossing the street.

RDM1.19: Apply choice and accept responsibility for outcome.

RDM2.17: Demonstrate awareness of equity, justice, fairness, and respect that positively impacts school and community.

3-5

RS3.16: Identify and apply strategies for handling relationships that are not safe, healthy, or positive.

SM4.9: Demonstrate ability to manage time and tasks.

RS5.12: Recognize that the same norms and behaviors for face-to-face interactions apply to interactions through social media.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Contact Information

Carrie Weers

Carrie.weers@dmschools.org

515-242-8441

Google Voice # for texting: 515-518-0948

Greetings from The Samuelson Library. Here are a few fun facts about our library.

· At any given moment there are about 500 books checked out of the library. That’s a lot of books!!

· Parent and staff member Tess Hannapel is a gifted artist. On her own time, she has taken it upon herself to paint the library windows. If you have not seen them, look the next time you are in the building!! They are works of art. I am so grateful for her initiative and efforts.

· At the beginning of the school year, we added about 1000 new books to the library thanks, in part, to Mr. LaConner. He gave a portion of the building funds to begin to update our library! The new titles have motivated some kids to read!!

· Kindergarten, first and second grades have been learning The Library Song. You should ask them to sing it to you!

· It has been a long time since our library was updated and weeded. That is my focus this year. It’s quite a bit of work, but it will be much better in the end for our students.

· The Des Moines Library has donated some gently used books. The week before Christmas break each student can take a book home to keep.

· Please look around your house for any Samuelson Library books that need to be returned.

· Thanks for the opportunity to serve your kids!!! It’s a real pleasure!