Elm Creek News
January 23, 2025
SCTIS Annual Supply Drive
Give a Little, Help a Lot
Elm Creek will be conducting its 16th Annual International School Supply Drive next week, January 27-31. Our school supply drive is part of a multi-school project called Students Connecting through International Service, which will provide school supplies to a small school in Sasabe, Sonora, Mexico. This year, fifth grade students were selected from five of the schools in our district: Elm Creek, Edinbrook, Oak View, Park Brook, and Basswood Elementary. Our representative, Teague Long, will lead the school supply drive at Elm Creek.
In April, Teague and the other representatives will deliver the items to the Mexican students, and in May, they will share their experiences and pictures with their schools and supporting community organizations.
For the last 20 years, school supply drives in our district have made a big difference in the lives of these Mexican children, enabling some of them to attend school for the first time and allowing all of them to fully participate in school. This service project also allows us to develop a connection with the Sasabe students: posters from previous years are on display around our school, and during the post-trip presentation, our students will watch a video of the delivery trip.
Please help us continue this worthy tradition of helping children who aren’t as fortunate as ours. To save you time and money, we’ll do the shopping. We’ve arranged for school supply kits that include five notebooks, five folders, 24 crayons, 10 markers, a package of paper, six pencils, erasers, and glue for only $10 (Retail Value: $19.88).
$10 provides school supplies for 1 child
$20 provides school supplies for 2 children
$30 provides school supplies for 3 children
Any amount you give will help us buy school supplies for the Mexican children!
Please contribute cash or checks made out to “Students Connecting through International Service” to buy the school supplies.
If we all give a little, we can accomplish a lot! Thank you for your support!
Parent/Teacher Conference Scheduling
Reminder: Deadline to schedule conferences is January 26th!
Parent/Teacher Conferences are on February 4, 6 & 12, 2025. Conferences will be held in person with your child’s homeroom teacher from 7:50 - 8:30 a.m. and 3:40 - 7:00 p.m. You will only be able to schedule a time with your child's homeroom teacher; specialist teachers (PE, Music, TAG) will be available upon request. Please contact them directly to schedule a conference time with them.
The window for scheduling conferences is January 21 - 26, 2025
You need a ParentVUE account to sign up.
Don’t have an account? Contact Staci in the office at 763-425-0577 or joness@district279.org to request an access key.
Don’t remember your password? Go to the login page to reset your password.
Don’t remember your user name? Call or email Staci, she can look it up for you.
Ready to sign up? Sign in to your ParentVUE account and follow the instructions below.
Scheduling Conferences in ParentVUE
If you have any questions please call the school office at 763-425-0577 or email Staci Jones at joness@district279.org
Calendar
January 24 - Student Council Spirit Day: Teacher/Student Swap
January 27 - Coffee with the Principal at Annabelle House, Osseo
January 27 - 31 - Students Connecting Through International Service Supply Drive
January 27 - 31 - Great Kindness Challenge Week
January 28 - Third grade Music Program 6:00
January 30 - 5th grade Orchestra Demo Concert at OMS
February 1 - 28 - Student Council Service Project: Ronald McDonald Tab Collection
February 3 - No School - Licensed Staff Workshop
February 4, 6 & 12 - Parent/Teacher Conferences & PTO Scholastic Book Fair
February 6 - Kindergarten Field Trip to Ordway
February 7 - Student Council Spirit Day: Jersey/Sports Day & 2nd grade Field Trip to Stages Theater
February 11 - PTO General Meeting
February 14 - 4th grade Field Trip to Kindness Retreat
February 17 - No School - Presidents' Day
February 21 - 5th grade Field Trip to Ordway & PTO Fun Dance
February 28 - Coffee with the Principal at Elm Creek
Student Council Service Project
Student Council collects pop tabs all year long for the Ronald Mc Donald House, but in the month of February we are looking to collect a lot more! Please save all your pop tops and send them to school to help us raise money for a great cause!
Facts about Ronald Mc Donald House:
* The Ronald McDonald House provides a “home-away-from-home” for families of seriously ill children receiving treatment at area hospitals.
* Ronald Mc Donald houses have support services like art therapy, music programs, and gardens *Ronald McDonald Houses serve more than 8,000 families each day around the world, saving them over $311 million a year in hotel costs.
Thank you for your support!
Kindness Week
The Great Kindness Challenge Week is January 27 - 31
Here are the Kindness Week activities and spirit days:
Monday:
Activity: Pledge to kindness Day (on stars to go with our display) and start your kindness checklist
Spirit Day: School Colors Day (to match to Be the I in KIND display)
Tuesday:
Activity: Global Kindness Day-bring funds for School Supply Drive to help Sasabe, Mexico students (donations accepted all week)
Spirit Day: Siesta Day (PJs)
Wednesday:
Activity: Kind Words and Notes Day (write kind notes-teacher/class pick nurses, bus drivers, elderly, etc.
Spirit Day: New Year of Kindness Day-wear red and yellow/gold (for Vietnamese New Year)
Thursday:
Activity: Buddy Room Kindness Day- sticky notes on desks/lockers
Spirit Day: Read with your Buddy Day
Friday:
Activity: Kind Bracelets Day-make a kind bracelet
Spirit Day: Twin Day
PTO Family Dance
Gather your family and grab your dancing boots!
FRIDAY, FEB 21ST
6-8PM
ELM CREEK GYM
ADMISSION $3
SNACKS & BEVERAGES $1
This is a cash only event.
This is not a drop off event. All children must be accompanied by an adult.
Coffee with the Principal
Monday, January 27th, 10:00-11:00 a.m. at Annabelle House in Osseo
An opportunity to connect, gather feedback, and be available to answer questions. Have questions? Contact: Mrs. Ness at nesse@district279.org
Yearbook Ordering
We are excited to offer school yearbooks to our families again this year. Please read the below information carefully and note the yearbook ordering deadline.
School Yearbook - $10
This 40-page yearbook is available to all students for purchase and includes all VPK – 5th grade level photos, student clubs, class projects, learning and some of our fun events throughout the year. The cost is $10 and the ordering deadline is March 28. We will make every effort to take photos of students who missed picture day so they are included in this book. School yearbooks may be ordered online or via a paper order form.
- Order Online (credit card payment only): https://store.plicbooks.com/projects/cb9df08b-f9e0-40a1-b06c-712a9a3942c4
- Paper Order Form (cash or check): Please print the attached form and fill it out. Place the completed form and money in an envelope and turn it in to your teacher. Checks should be written to Elm Creek Elementary. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1urA2251YG50VaHmIuHOaaetteYqrjxko/view?usp=sharing
Please note: Kemmetmueller Photography sent out initial online ordering information for the School Yearbook in the fall. If you already placed an order, please disregard – do not duplicate your order
Grade Level Book - Complimentary
All students will receive a complimentary book featuring only their grade level class photos. Students who did not have their photo taken on picture day will not be pictured in the grade level book.
If you have any questions, please call the school office.
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Staci Jones
Administrative Assistant
Elm Creek Elementary