This school year has gotten off to a fabulous start! Thank you to all of our families who have supported the fabulous start from making sure your child is on time and ready to learn to donating classroom supplies to volunteering, from Get Fit Friday to tie-dyeing with our kindergarten students. We value your support and partnership!

• Our Meet the Staff Presentation is attached. We hope you enjoy getting to know us a little better!
• For families who need a hard copy of communications, I have included our master calendar in your child's Monday Folder. The Student Handbook will be sent home shortly, also in your child's Monday Folder.
  
• Please see the attached Right to Know letter. If you require/request hard copies of communications, the Right to Know letter will be included in your child's Monday Folder.
• Fall Picture Day is Friday, September 13. You can place your order online before or after picture day. If needed, use order code 86677FF.
• We added our Coffee & Connections dates to our master calendar. Please add the following dates to your calendar: September 13, November 15, January 17, March 21, May 9. All meetings begin after the first bell, 8:30, in the library. Our first Coffee & Connections will be our Annual Parent Meeting content: Title I, Code of Content, and family engagement opportunities.
• Cross country practice starts Monday, September 9. The parent meeting is Thursday, September 12, at 4:00. All students, K-5, are invited to participate, and it's not too late to join! Your child must have a physical to begin practicing with the team, so if you need any of the forms, contact the office.
• We are always in need of volunteers. There are so many opportunities to be involved, such as working in your child's classroom, helping to monitor in the cafeteria or on playground, shelving books in the library, making copies or laminating materials, and the list goes on and on. If you're able to volunteer in any capacity, we would really appreciate it! You can reach out directly to your child's teacher for volunteering in the classroom, and you can reach out to Mrs. Marcia, our School Community Liaison, for all other volunteer opportunities And remember, all volunteers, including parents, must apply every school year and be approved to volunteer for any event, teacher, field trip, etc. The Steps to apply are:
  

1. On the TUSD Careers Website, enter "Volunteer Application" in the keyword search.
2. Select the Volunteers 2024-2025 School Year Job Posting.
3. Click on the Blue Tab to "Apply Online."
4. From the job listings page, select "Apply for this Position."
5. If you don't have an account, will you need to create one.
6. Login to your account and complete the Volunteer Application.

During the month of August, my first counseling lesson was to let all Kinder through fifth grade students know what the school counselor does and the various ways that I can support them. since then, students have participated in activities that help them get to know their classmates, and we've read several books that led to discussion about growth mindset.

In Kinder and 1st grade, we read It’s Hard to be Five and I’m Gonna like Me by Jamie Lee Curtis. For second and third graders, the book was The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes. It has a really positive message about the fact that we learn from our mistakes. And finally, in fourth and fifth grade classes, students heard excerpts from My Fantastic, Elastic Brain. Kids got to learn what different parts of the brain do and we watched a video of Simone Biles, where they got to analyze how her brain was helping her in various aspects of her performance.

for the month of September, we will be learning about mindfulness and some strategies for self regulation. Other topics covered will be learning about respect and how to play cooperative games.

Please know that I am available to talk if you ever have concerns about your child. You can email or call the main office and leave a message (520 232-7200). I am also at the valet dismissal on the south side most days. One more thing we have available at Howell is a partnership with Intermountain counseling, where the counselor comes and does counseling during the school day. If you feel your child could benefit from regular weekly counseling, please let his/her teacher or myself know, and we can make that referral for you.

Happy September! 😃

We started our Kindness Squad this month. Our official starting day was September 3rd. We will be meeting in the school’s library from 2:45-3:30. We will dismiss from the front office right at 3:30 p.m.

Mrs. Marcia and I are looking forward to welcoming our returning Kindness Squad members and meeting the new members as well. We’re so excited for the opportunity to have the Kindness Squad grow. We would like to thank the families that were able to sponsor another child in the squad. We truly appreciate your support wholeheartedly.

Something we’re introducing this year is to “be present” at arrival on Tuesdays. Mrs. Robles will be at arrival with Kindness Squad members welcoming our families. Kids have been able to help us out for 10-15 minutes, take turns, and still have time to play on the playground. The objective for us is to simply spread kindness and make someone’s day brighter!

We have created a Kindness Squad Dojo, so if your student is in Kindness Squad, please sign up!