Principal of Barack Obama Elementary School

January 9, 2025

Dear Obama Family,

Happy New Year Obama Families! We hope you had a restful and enjoyable winter break. As we dive into the second half of the school year, we want to keep you informed about exciting opportunities and events coming up for our 4th and 5th graders.

As we continue to foster a love for reading, encourage your child to use these strategies at home.

• Preview the text: look at the headings, pictures, and captions before reading

• Make connections: Relate the story their own life, other, books, or the world

• Ask questions: Encourage them to ask “why” and “how” questions while reading.

• Summarize: After reading, ask your child to share the main idea in their own words

Rising Stars Program

We are excited to continue the Rising Stars Program Monday through Friday after school. If for any reason a session is canceled, we will notify parents in advance. Thank you for your support in ensuring your child attends regularly and is ready to learn.

Program Contacts: Mrs. Acino, Mrs. Brown, and Ms. Sorrell

Thank you for your continued partnership in your child’s education. Let’s make this semester a success!

Please make sure that your contact information is up to date. You can do this by completing Final Forms. Make sure to sign digitally at the end to submit.

https://mapleheights-oh.finalforms.com/

Visitors & Guests: We would like to welcome you to Barack Obama Elementary school. The procedures for our guests and visitors to the building are to arrive at the main entrance of the building (Glenwood Ave.), visitors will press the buzzer to gain entrance into the main office. Guests/visitors who visit classrooms or provide services will have their IDs scanned to create a visitors pass. All of this is to ensure the safety of our students and staff. As a reminder, photo IDs are required when signing students out for the day before 2:45 p.m.

Meetings: We understand that your time is valuable, to ensure that we are able to meet your family’s needs, schedule a meeting with Dr. Hughley (Principal) or Mrs. McCrystal (Assistant Principal) 24 hours in advance. We will make every effort to meet and/or return calls between 24 to 48 hours.

School Counselor

Hello Obama Parents,

Our winter fundraiser is fast approaching. Obama students will be selling Mrs. Fields Cookies beginning February 3, 2025 through February 25, 2025. Order forms will be sent home with the students once we receive them from the Mrs. Fields representative Ms. Engler.

Assistant Principal

We hope you have had a wonderful holiday season! We are back and ready to take on the New Year with renewed energy and commitment to serving our students! Goal setting is a common occurrence at the start of a new year. We would like to encourage you to create goals with your children. Some options are behavioral goals, academic goals, social emotional goals, personal development goals, or family goals. Goals do not have to be big. They can be small or short-term goals, however it is important to ensure we create SMART goals. SMART goals are goals that are:

• S – Specific – This means that the goals have real numbers with real deadlines.

• M – Measurable – Make the goal trackable somehow.

• A – Attainable – Make sure the goal is challenging but achievable.

• R – Realistic – Be honest with yourself about what can be attained.

• T – Timely – The deadline should be reasonable.

Some examples could be: improve reading fluency by reading aloud for 15 minutes daily for the next month, increase emotional regulation by mediating for 5 minutes daily for the next two-weeks, or improve organization skills by keeping a neat and tidy desk and backpack for the duration of quarter three. No matter what you decide your goals will be, remember that:

• Your goals can be flexible and change over time

• Your goals are unique to you and your family

• It’s ideal to start small with goals that are realistic and achievable.

Student Wellness Coordinator

CASEL and SEL at Obama

CASEL is an organization that works to bring high quality standards to social and emotional learning. The organization has identified 5 major focuses of SEL instruction: self-management, responsible decision making, relationship skills, social-awareness, and self-awareness. Many of the activities and lessons that students receive include many of these focuses in one lesson.

Self-Management

Self-management, often referred to as "self-control" or "self-regulation," is the ability to effectively regulate one's emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in various situations. Students may learn about this by learning, practicing, and using stress-management and calm down strategies. Self-awareness also focuses on organizational skills, goal setting, self-motivation.

Additional Resources:

Some easy ways to build self-management skills include practicing coping strategies, discussing pros and cons when problem solving, organizing goals, and using positive self talk to encourage yourself when things get hard!

If you’d like to know more about the work that the Wellness & PBIS team and its partners are doing, you can check out our website here. You will find information and details about all the wellness initiatives occurring both at the district level and here at Barack Obama Elementary! If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to me (juliana.wilder@mapleschools.com)!

Student Support Coordinator