Astronaut News
Andersen Elementary - December 2019
MESSAGE FROM OUR PRINCIPAL MRS. KINGHORN
Dear Andersen Families,
It is hard to believe we are in our last month of 2019! We are halfway through the school year and students are growing academically, socially and emotionally.
To stay on track in school, students need to be present every day. Missing 18 or more days of school in a year puts a child’s high school graduation at risk, according to BoostUp.org, a national dropout prevention campaign. Being absent for just two days every month of the school year can put a child behind academically.
Students with regular attendance are more likely to read well by third grade and score higher on tests. They also tend to be more engaged in school and feel better about themselves.
Put your child on the path to success with these attendance strategies:
Make school a priority. Every absence (excused or not), can impact a child’s academic achievement. Talk to your child about how important their education in. Make daily routines for homework and waking up on time for school.
Maintain communication with teachers and keep an eye on your child’s academic progress. If your child seems disconnected from school or is prone to skipping class, try signing him or her up for an after-school activity. A report by the University of Minnesota found that students in an after-school program attended 18 more days of school and missed nine fewer than their peers.
Make a plan. If your schedule or transportation situation makes getting your child to school a challenge, ask for assistance. Make a carpool or transportation plan with other parents or family members, or ask us for ideas and partnerships to help.
Carefully weigh sick days. If your child is sick, talk with your health care provider to determine whether they should stay home from school. If the doctor or nurse recommends that your child stay home, find out exactly how long and on what conditions he or she can return to class.
Schedule wisely. Know our school’s calendar, and arrange doctor and dentist appointments after school, on weekends, or during holiday breaks, if possible. Resist the urge to schedule vacations when students will miss school. This gives students the impression that school is not a priority.
Help students complete assignments. When your child has to miss school, make arrangements with teachers to pick up a packet of make-up work. Ensure that your child follows through, and be available to explain concepts or monitor their work. If your child’s absence will be length (for surgery, for instance), alert teachers as soon as you know and pick up assignments as the days go on.
After looking into our letter grade, we learned that we did not get the points for chronic absenteeism. This is when students are picked up and/or called out more that 10% of the time. In order to receive our points we have to show this number is decreasing. Please know that your decisions to keep students out of school and/pick up early does affect our school letter grade.
I appreciate your support in ensuring your child is at school each and every day. I hope you all have a happy and healthy holiday season. We will see you next year!
MESSAGE FROM OUR DEAN MR. BROWN
I can’t believe that that the second quarter is almost over, the students have really been giving it their all in the classroom. I know the students are excited for winter break and a reprieve from homework and getting up early. Before they know it, the holidays will be over and it will be back to the bus stop. Students remember to practice your reading, writing, and math skills during winter vacation. Have a Great Winter Break!!!
ATTENDANCE REMINDERS
This is just a friendly reminder that the tardy bell rings @ 8:10 a.m.
Please make sure your child arrives on campus BEFORE this bell, in order to make it to class ON TIME! Thank you!
ALL absences should be called into the attendance line by 9:00 a.m.
The phone number is 480-812-6003.
EVENTS THIS MONTH
BUTTER BRAIDS PICK UP INFORMATION
Butter Braids will be delivered on Thursday, December 12th.
PLEASE reserve this day and come to school to pick up your order or make arrangements to have it picked up by the end of the school day at 2:40pm.
We will send your order home with your student UNLESS you contact ANDERSENPTO@gmail.com to arrange a pick up time between 9:00am - 3:30pm, December 12th.
The order MUST be picked up on this day, since we CANNOT store your butter braids at school.
Thank you!
WHAT IS HAPPENING IN CLASSROOMS THIS MONTH
PRESCHOOL
December will be a short month at school with the Holidays approaching. In Preschool we will begin learning to write our lowercase letters now that we have made it through all 26 letters in the Fundations program. We will be taking a break from our Big Day themes and be talking about different types of Holidays/Traditions celebrated around the world. In math we will keep exploring with number sense, and science we will begin our unit on air.
KINDER
In December, Kindergarten will breeze through our capital letters. We will be continuing with our word families and sight words. Students are now using their sounds to spell words in their sentences. We will dig deeper into our numbers through 10 and addition and finish up our Human Body STEM unit for Project Lead the Way.
1ST GRADE
Reading: Our spelling words will have long I, and the digraphs kn, wr, gn, and mb. We will be comparing and contrasting in reading and be looking at text features. We will be using a bubble map in writing to describe our topic.
Math: We will finish Chapter 4 on subtraction strategies to20.
Leader in Me: We will be reviewing Habit #7 Sharpen the Saw.
Thinking Maps: We will introduce the brace map.
Social Studies/Science: We will be studying U. S. Symbols.
2ND GRADE
In December 2nd grade will be working on 2-digit addition and subtraction with regrouping for math. In science, we will be working on matter and starting our PLTW on that as well. In writing, we will be working on opinion writing. We are also starting on new second step program and will be focusing on the skills needed for learning.
3RD GRADE
Our third graders are continuing to work hard on multiplication and division. We are starting Fractions Friday, while sprinkling in elapsed time and money. Our third graders are learning how to use the thesaurus, along with our ongoing vocabulary studies. We are finishing our literature study on The Storm. Be sure to ask your student about Pandora and Seabold.
4TH GRADE
Fourth grade ELA is working on figurative language and using the figurative language in poetry. Our focus in reading is fact and opinion, understanding characters, and making inferences.
In Math we are working all things FRACTIONS! adding, subtracting, simplifying, comparing and creating equivalent fractions....
In Science we have wrapped up learning about Earthquakes and will be moving on to a PLTW unit about coding and understanding how input/output works!
5TH GRADE
In fifth grade students will continue writing about personal experiences and move into writing a fictional narrative. Students will also listen to a variety of short stories and then reflect in writing and/or whole group discussion upon the experience of the characters in the stories. In reading we will be citing textual evidence to help us with the skill of inferencing. We will also be using Time for Kids to learn about different text features.
In math students will be working on adding, subtracting and rounding decimals. In science we will be starting to prepare for the upcoming Science Innovation fair and in social studies starting the Westward Expansion.
SPED
GAYLORD'S CLASS
K-2 Special Education will be exploring sentence writing. Students will work on describing words using adjectives to create sentences of their own. In math we will continue to learn the correct touch points to help learn addition and we will also be counting to 100 by 1’s, 5’s and 10’s.
In Mrs. Bojanowski’s class the kids will be learning about holiday in December. As a class we will learn about Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa during social studies. In reading we will be reading about holidays around the world. Kids will learn new customs and see how they are alike and different.
ALBERTINI'S CLASS
We are learning about a special star, our Sun and planet Earth.
HEALTH OFFICE NEWS
Dear Families,
Please make sure your student EATS A HEALTHY BREAKFAST every morning prior to school, BRINGS WATER and a JACKET, since morning temperatures are dropping.
THIS MONTH'S HEALTH OFFICE SPOTLIGHT ARTICLE:
Click here for link to Miss Jo's website
FLU SEASON SEASON IS HERE!!
Wondering when to send your student to school if they are sick or were sick?
Click here for our district Health Protocol information.
Did your child borrow clothes or shoes from the health office?
Please wash the clothes/ clean the shoes and return them back to the health office. Thank you!
REMINDER REGARDING MEDICATION
ALL medication, including inhalers and cough drops/medicine should be checked into the health office. Any medication found on student without proper documentation will be confiscated.
CAFETERIA NEWS
TAX CREDIT DONATIONS
Dear Families:
As this calendar year comes to an end, I am respectfully asking that you support our school through the Arizona Public School Tax Credit program. Last year, we had donations that helped grade levels experience various field trips, helped to support before and after school clubs, and other extracurricular activities such as tutoring, robotics and the purchase of supplies to ensure our clubs are successful. Every cent went to the specific club, grade level, or program designated by the contributor. I encourage any parent, grandparent, relative, or friend that is an Arizona taxpayer, to consider Andersen Elementary School as the school for this tax credit contribution.
Our teachers are busy planning activities and need your donations to make those activities possible. Without these donations, we are unable to attend or sponsor these events.
This year tax credit dollars can also be used to purchase technology. With your tax credit contribution, we can enhance the technology used in classrooms.
Extracurricular tax credit donating has been made easy! Many of our parents have already contributed funds for clubs and grade level field trips. Those payments may be eligible for Arizona State Income tax credit under Arizona Revised Statutes.
Please visit https://www.cusd80.com/Page/1131 to learn about ways to donate in detail.
Parents and guardians can donate through Infinite Campus Parent Portal – fees.
Friends and extended family can donate through “Community Members” link for card payments or by filling out a form under “Donations by Mail” for cash or check payments, which need to be mailed to Chandler Unified District Office.
Thank you in advance for your consideration with this important tax credit opportunity!
Warmly,
Kristin Kinghorn
Principal
BOX TOPS
YOU CAN STILL BRING IN BOX TOP CLIPS IN BAGS WITH THE TEACHERS' NAMES CLEARLY LABELED.
As you purchase box tops products, you don't have to clip box tops anymore!
Just simply download the app, set it up and choose Andersen Elementary.
Scan the receipts within 14 days and it will automatically log the box tops for our school!
About Us
Email: contactAndersen@cusd80.com
Website: https://www.cusd80.com/andersen
Phone: 480-812-6000
Twitter: @AndersenElemen1