Together We Can Build a Community of Belonging
Dear Evans Park Elementary Community,
The 2024-2025 school year is off to a beautiful start! We welcomed students back after a long and restful summer, and have begun our academic adventure together. Each year, our schools have a focus which drives our work in character education and frames our vision for the year. This year will continue to work on building a sense of BELONGING in school through the phrase, "Belong By Being You"!
September and October have brought many opportunities to come together as a school, experience unique learning moments, establish classroom culture and practices, and take on leadership roles beyond the classroom. Together, we learn and grow together!
Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership,
Joe Avdek
Principal
First Day of School!
On September 3rd, we started our year together as Tigers at Evans Park! Our staff, students and families had a wonderful day back together where we began making friends, building community, and learning!
Thank you to our PTA for their support of our Kindergarten Playground Night and Orientation which helped ensure a smooth transition for our youngest students. It was truly a beautiful start to the school year!
We are Tigers!
"Belong By Being You!" is the PRSD elementary focus for the 2024-25 school year - and through read alouds, monthly clinician lessons, assemblies and exciting activities tying into social emotional learning and PBIS initiatives, K-4 students are learning how they help build our schools through their strengths, unique qualities, and choices! Throughout the month of September, Mr. Avdek paid visits to all classes at Evans Park Elementary School to read "I Am Human" by Susan Verde - discussing how each person's individuality plays a key role in what makes our community so special. Students and staff members then worked on designing 'tiles' - selecting a word from the book that helps them express themselves.
Tiger Tee Tuesdays
Every month at Evans Park, we celebrate our community with Tiger Tee Tuesdays! These are opportunities for students to show their pride for Evans Park and come together to connect as a whole school.
On Tiger Tee Tuesdays, all students come to the hallway for morning announcements, the Pledge of Allegiance and to sing the Evans Park theme song, "Together We Can!". These moments provide all students the opportunity to build a sense of belonging and connect across our school community.
Unity Day - October 16th
On Wednesday, October 16th, Evans Park celebrated Unity Day as a whole school community by wearing orange and making a pledge to lead with kindness and acceptance. In October 2011, Unity Day was started by PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center as a unifying event to spread kindness. This year, Evans Park is committed to support students to “Belong By Being You” and celebrate school connectedness through a Unity Day event. Students will create a "Universe of Unity" mural showcasing different ways we can do our part in uniting our community that will be on display outside of our library.
Thank you to the PRSD clinical staff for their support in planning and running this event for our students!
Celebrating Tigers
This year, we are excited to continue to highlight the positive behaviors of our students. All classes participated in a school-wide assembly focused on positive behaviors and being a leader through kindness. Classes then toured our building to discuss how to be respectful, responsible and safe throughout our building.
When Tigers show positive behaviors, they are rewarded with a ticket. Each week, the class with the most tickets receives a class-wide prize. As we progress throughout the year, our whole school will be recognized for collecting tickets and reaching milestones.
Our Tigers work together to spread kindness and celebrate how our positive behaviors build our community!
Together, Tigers are Respectful, Responsible and Safe!
In September, students learned all about our "Little Spots of Respect, Responsibility, and Safety". Students explored how positive behaviors help support relationships, create an engaging learning environment, and ensure that all Tigers can be included at Evans Park.
On the week of September 30th, students were brought into the "spotlight" for how their behaviors contribute towards Evans Park being such a wonderful place. Over the month of October, we will be highlighting "Little Spots of Friendship" that build our community.
Tigers in the Lead!
On October 9th, close to half of our fourth grade students ran for the opportunity to be a part of the Evans Park Tigers' Student Council! We have been overwhelmed by our fourth graders' desire to take on leadership roles and make a positive impact on the Evans Park community - and we are so proud of all of our students for their vision, passion and effort to be a voice.
Our mission as an educational community is to always foster students' desire to learn, lead and make a difference in their community. That's why all fourth grade students will be provided the opportunity to volunteer to take on one (or more) of many leadership roles in the building during the course of the year. These students' 'jobs' will help support safety in our hallways, organize our library center, and build connections with our younger students.
In October, Art teacher Mr. Tom Price took students on a tour of the world and explored various cultures through puppetry. Each grade gathered in our library to listen to five unique tales from Native American, Italian, Filipino, German and Polish folklore. These stories were brought to life through the artistic vision and creativity of Mr. Price! Students were engaged as they learned how puppets are created, how they help tell a story, and how they express the unique elements of each culture. Our Tigers had the opportunity to explore so many unique cultures without ever leaving Evans Park!
Thank you to Mr. Price for putting together this amazing experience for our students!
