November Bulldog Bulletin

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Email: kmerritt@msdwt.k12.in.us
Website: www.sm.msdwt.k12.in.us
Location: 8250 Spring Mill Road, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone: (317) 259-5462
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpringMillElementary/
Twitter: @springmillelem

November

7 - eLearning Day - Students will learn from home

8 - CogAT Testing Begins (K, 2, 5)

14 - 3rd Grade STEM Connection Field Trip

16 - Dine to Donate @ Noble Roman's

16 - 1st Grade STEM Connection Field Trip

17 - PTO Popcorn Day

17 - Human Growth and Development Presentation (4 and 5)

20-24 - Thanksgiving Break

December

4-15 - NWEA Testing Window

20 - Winter Showcase (2, 4, 5, Choir/Orff)

21 - Last Student Day / End of Q2 / Winter Classoom Parties

Winter Break 12/22 - 1/8

January

9 - Students Return From Break

Dear SM Bulldogs,

It has always been a priority of mine to engage students in my leadership of this school community. Last year, I brought an idea from my time as a secondary assistant principal to our school. Student agency is something that I value as not only a building leader, but also as a parent. Creating opportunities for students to use their voice in ways that benefit our school community as a whole is important for students to feel seen and heard by the adults within their learning environment. This is the reason why we have a Principal's Advisory team at Spring Mill.

The Principal Advisory Team is a team who will regularly meet with the principal to share ideas of how Spring Mill Elementary can continue to be a school of academic excellence for all learners. The initiative is to promote student agency by giving students the opportunity to have voice and choice being directly involved in leadership decisions with the principal. Students within this team regularly model leadership, critical thinking skills, and should be strong examples of what it means to be a Spring Mill Bulldog. Although we are not looking for students who carry a "perfect" behavior record, appropriate behavior is a strong characteristic in order to be considered for this team. This team will meet with me on the second Tuesday of each month, with the first meeting being November 14 at 12:00 pm.

This year's Principal Advisory Team members include:

Adalyn Amspaugh

Rory Dills

Donovan Gess

Angeleah Little

Amelia Oglesby

Elle Schlimgen

Scout Schultz

Keenan Shah

Elanor McCorkle Singly

Harmony Smith

Phoebe Smith

Tennyson Strand

J'ceon Torrence

Anna Weatherly

Claire Wright

Sincerely,

Ms. Kellée Merritt, Principal

#goodBetterBEST

#excellentonpurpose

#whyWT

Happy Fall, Bulldogs!

Whew! It’s been a busy fall at Spring Mill. It was AWESOME to see so many students and families at Bulldogtober Fest last week! Watching the kids run around in their costumes, playing games, bouncing in the bounce house, and getting their faces painted was amazing. The real highlight was our incredible crew of teachers and staff who competed in a Trunk or Treat that saw various witches, M&M’s, Barbie, a spooky veterinary clinic, and more. In the end, it was a tight race with the Bulldog Pit Crew crossing the finish line first ahead of team Pac Man and The Forensic Friends. We’re so grateful to EVERYONE who came and participated, volunteered, donated, and are so excited to have an equally awesome Spring Fling next semester.

Mark your calendars for our November Dine-to-Donate at Noble Roman’s Thursday, 11/16, and see the flyer below for details.

Stay tuned for upcoming teacher appreciation activities and ways to volunteer as we get closer to classroom holiday parties and special events in November and December! We’re also working on spirit wear and should have options available to order and send home in the coming weeks.

Thanks for all you do to make Spring Mill great. Go Bulldogs!

We're so grateful for all of you and our incredible Bulldog community! Thanks for all you do!

Go Bulldogs!

SME PTO

www.springmillpto.com

Congratulations to Michelle Branch, Social Worker, for being the Spring Mill Standout of the Month for November. Michelle was recognized for always having a positive attitude and her willingness to go above and beyond. We are grateful to have her on our team!!

Please see the following message from our district leadership:

"We appreciate the outstanding student and community support that consistently shows up at our North Central athletic events. Moving forward, to increase safety at our high school sporting events this year, students in grades K-8 must now be accompanied and supervised by an adult (aged 18+) to enter the event.

This change in practice is due to the amount of supervision resources that often have to be dedicated to dealing with incidents of unsupervised K-8 students. While we want student participation at our home games, students without an adult will not be admitted. These changes are now in effect.

While we acknowledge this change in practice may take some getting used to, its purpose is to assist in ensuring that all attendees have a safe and enjoyable experience. Thank you in advance for your support with this new practice. Go Panthers!"

At Spring Mill, we have a school wide positive behavior system, Bulldog Bones. Every month we have a different focus, such as safety, respect, and integrity. Throughout the month, we have different skills that the entire school focuses on and, when students model that behavior, they are rewarded with a Bulldog Bone. The bone is submitted for a paw print sticker and entered into a daily drawing where selected students can choose a non-tangible reward such as office helper, classroom helper, special seat, morning announcement helper, etc.

For the 23-24 school year, we are adding to our program by having the "Paw"sitively Excellent Student of the Month for each classroom. Teachers select a student that exemplified the focused behaviors throughout the month. For the month of October, our focus was Responsibility and the following students were selected for modeling responsibile behavior throughout the month:

Kindergarten

Gabbei- Kaycee Pasteurin

Bloomer- Alicia Ojata

Miranda- Anna Schwiess

Moore- Maisie Singley

1st Grade

Johnson- Maria Reyes Tenjo

Harton- Damarion Buckner

Schneider- Elliott Miller

Keegan- Lucy Wuerfel

2nd Grade

McAllister- Muyehthaw Zarni-Htoo

Urbanski- Hai Di Halvarson

Finley- Montae Jackson

Culp- Tessa Parsudi

3rd Grade

Gallagher- David Vazquez Garcia

Hartnagel- Tenny Strand

Sweeney- Scout Schultz

Joyner- Makayla Ervin

4th Grade

Dewey- Honor Allen

Patterson- Emiliano Rojas

Turner- Eleanor McCorkle Singley

Morse- Wesley Williams

5th Grade

Amspaugh- Elena Miloradovic

Evans- Salem Wolderufael

Badger- Jamal Harrison

Arms- Jennifer Alpizar-Felix

For the month of November, our Bulldog Bone Behavior Program will focus on the skill of kindness. The definition we will use for our discussions of kindness, as well as the weekly focus, is listed below. When you are talking with your child/children about their day, you can incorporate it into your discussions and practice the skill of kindness at home as well.

Every day, the class that has best demonstrated safety, respect, and responsibility for their grade level in the Cafeteria is awarded the Golden Spoon to hang outside their classroom door and a Positive Paw. The following classes have earned the Golden Spoon the most times in October and celebrated with lunch in one of our large group instruction rooms. Thanks to our PTO for helping chaperone lunches!

• K- Bloomer and Moore tie!
• 1- Keegan
• 2- Culp
• 3- Sweeney
• 4- Dewey
• 5- Evans

It is very helpful for Nurse Jamie to have extra clothing on hand for students and her inventory has drastically decreased. If you have any of the following items that are GENTLY USED, for girls or boys, and would like to donate them, it would be greatly appreciated.

• Pants (preferably with an elastic waist) size 5,6,7, and 8
• Shirts size 5,6,7, and 8

The following items must be NEW:

• Boys underwear 5,6,7, and 8
• Girl's underwear 5,6,7, and 8
• Socks in any size or style

You can drop items off at the main office. Thank you for your continued support!