FES Knightly News
Weekly Family Newsletter
Week of September 4, 2023
For Your Information
From the Nurse
Lions Club will be coming to FES on Monday September 18th to screen 2nd and 4th grade students. Opt-out letters will be sent home. Only families who choose NOT to participate need to return the letter by Monday September 11th. Letters are available in English, Spanish and French. Other students can be included in the screening process if teachers have concerns. Parents can also call the school for questions.
All parents are encouraged to keep an extra change of clothes in their student's backpack in case of accidents or messes. Thank you.
From the FRC
- Be on the lookout for Big Smiles Dental forms coming home. Big Smiles is a mobile dentist that will be coming to our school in October and will stay until they see every student that is signed up and eligible.
- Food bags started coming home last week. If your student was on the list last year they will continue to stay on the list and we will add any siblings that may attend FES this year. If you weren't on the food bag list and are interested, please contact the FRC at 859-282-2156 to be added to the list. This is a brown bag of food that comes home on Fridays and are filled with kid friendly snacks and meals to help with food while students are home on the weekends.
From the Transportation Department- ZPass Rollout
Parents will soon be receiving letters with information about the ZPass program. This tool will aid the school district and parents in quickly locating students and will provide transportation with real time rosters for each bus. This program will be offered to all elementary school students and students grades 6-12 who use special transportation. Parents do have the option of opting their student out of the program. Parents must indicate their desire to opt-out of the program by completing the form located here and returning it to school by SEPTEMBER 13TH.
A list of frequently asked questions has been compiled and is available at the link below. If after reviewing this document you still have questions, please reach out to the transportation department directly. Transportation Department Phone Number: 859-384-5340 Transportation Web Address: https://www.boone.kyschools.us/transportation-department Email: transportation@boone.kyschools.us
From FES Lead Driver, Mr. Dave (Bus 137)
School bus safety: To help ensure the safety of students during loading and unloading, the students should look at the bus driver for a signal to enter/exit the 10 foot danger zone around the bus. Once the signal is given it is safe for the students.
For the younger students if the parents/ guardian would like to help with the process please feel free to.
Knights of the Week
Congratulations! These students and staff were nominated by teachers because they ROCK!
Preschool- Andi Cable (Ms. Lobenstein)
Kindergarten – Bentley Null (Ms. Hanna)
1st Grade – Harper Glutz (Ms. Bryan)
2nd Grade – Jaxson Ixcayau (Ms. Reynolds)
3rd Grade – Sadiemae Chappell (Ms. Ortwein)
4th Grade – Roland Conklin (Ms. Lawrence-Argullin)
5th Grade – Mardoche Bompengo (Ms. Gambrel)
Staff – Ms. Whalen (kindergarten para-educator in Ms. Bachman's room)
From the Cafeteria
Community Partner
Thank you Florence Lowe's!
Our courtyard is looking great thanks to a generous donation of topsoil and grass seed from the Florence Lowe's! Thanks to our community partners!
SBDM Update
The School Based Decision Making Council at FES is made up of the principal (Ryan Burch), three teachers (Alicia Bachman, Abbigail Supe, and Megan Timmerding), and two parents (Alicia Coulter and Vee Miller). This group makes policy decisions and approves some of the school's financial and instructional activities. Meetings are held on the first Monday of each month at 4:15 in the FES library. Meetings are open to the public (except for occasional closed sessions). Click here for this month's agenda.
There have been some questions from teachers and parents recently about our a couple of our policies, specifically our dress code and visitation policy. All of our SBDM policies are available on the FES school website.
Here's What We're Learning!
Please help us by reinforcing these skills and concepts with your child at home!
Kindergarten
Reading & Writing- We are continuing with our Alphabet book camp (we've done letters A-I so far) and reviewing sight words (a, I , to, the, like, in)
Math- We are using our position words to talk about math (under, over, behind, front, back, in, out, etc)
Science- We are looking at weather and how it changes
Social Studies- We are working on building a community in the classroom.
2nd Grade
Reading & Writing- Students are working on asking and answering questions about a text. Students will also be reading stories about the importance of family.
Math- Students will be learning mental math strategies for subtraction. These strategies include making 10, counting on and using a number line.
Science- Students will be learning about the properties of matter.
3rd Grade
Reading & Writing- Reading: This week we are learning how to use a summary from a text to determine the central idea. We are also learning how diagrams, graphs, photographs, and side bars contribute to the meaning of a text. Writing: We are practicing how to make a claim when we write.
Math-This week we are learning to tell and write time to the nearest minute and to measure elapsed time.
Science- This week in STEAM Lab students are learning about forces, motion and magnets.
Social Studies- We will begin social studies the week of September 11th.
Other News- On Friday, we will be awarding the students with a surprise and delight activity! We will be doing a Book Tasting!!!
4th Grade
Reading & Writing- Students will work on identifying story elements, such as characters and their traits, setting, conflict, and solution.
Math- Students will work on understanding place value to the 100,000 place value.
Science- Students are learning about energy transfer and collision.
Social Studies- Students are learning the five themes of geography (location, place, region, movement and human/environment interaction)
5th Grade
Reading & Writing- Students will be finishing a genre unit that focused on the difference between fiction and nonfiction. Students will start to be introduced to book clubs.
Math- Students will Read, write, and compare decimals to thousandths.
Science- Students will be discovering where does water come from when turning on a faucet.
Social Studies- Students are studying the question “If we live in the present, why should we study the past?” Students will be starting with an inquiry study into the life of Pocahontas.
Here are some photos of Knights working hard and having fun!
Kindergarten Math Class
Finding number partners that make 10
Kindergarten Math Class
Finding number partners that make 10
Kindergarten Writing
Practicing writing sight words
Kindergarten Writing
Practicing writing sight words; I, See, The
2nd Grade Math Class
Addition Wars!
Fun with friends
From the Library
This week students will start weekly book check out! At the present time, grades K-2 may borrow one book and grades 3-5 may borrow two books. Grades 3-5 may take their books home for at-home reading. In grades K-2, teachers will help decide if library books may go home (teachers know their students best). We have discussed book care in each class and students are well prepared to be responsible book borrowers!
If you would ever like to explore the FES library collection on your own or to help your Knight choose a book, it is available online here.
On the Calendar
Upcoming Events
- September 7th: Family Movie Night @ 6:00 in FES Gym
- September 7th: Board of Education meeting @ 7:30 in the Ralph Rush PD Center
- September 11th: School Based Decision Making Council @ 4:15 in FES Library
- September 11th: PTO @ 5:30 in FES Cafeteria
- September 13th: ELL PSP Night @ 4:30 in FES Cafeteria
- September 19th: Picture Day