The Simon School Days Newsletter
September 5, 2014
Dear Parents and Families of Simon Elementary:
Even though the official start of autumn is not until September 23, it will soon feel like fall. I have always enjoyed the fall season; it is a great time to share time with your family, friends, and my personal favorite - football.
At Simon, we are here to make a difference in the life of your child. Parents are a huge part of this. If you have a question about your child’s academic performance or behavior, please contact your child’s teacher first before you contact the principal. Clear lines of communication between teacher and parents are very important to meet the needs of your child. Thank you.
Reminder about Remind
1. Scan the QR Code (next to this article) with your smartphone
2. Enter this number (815) 401-9303 with this message @simon1415
3. Click here for additional directions
By joining the group on Remind, you’re choosing to receive class messages via push notifications, SMS, or email. Don’t worry, your phone number will not be shared with the teacher or anyone else in the group.
Simon Picture Day - Thursday, September 25
Dorothy Simon Fall Picture day will be Thursday, September 25 starting at 8:30 a.m.
The link below will provide your parents and students access to your school's online order page. That's right, no order code needed when the link below is used. This provides an easy way for your parents to not only order before Picture Day, but also after Picture Day for those who might have forgotten to return their order envelope.
Back to School Night at Simon Elementary
Parents are invited to attend Simon’s Back to School Cook Out & Open House on Thursday, September 11 starting at 5:00-6:00 for the cookout and 6:00-7:00 for the Open House.
This is the 7th year of this event aimed at getting students and their families excited and energized about going back to school. Bring the family along with your lawn chairs and blankets and join us for dinner on the lawn of the school. After dinner, the building will be open, families can get to know the teachers and the facilities.
Birthday Treats
For grades PreK-5, students may bring treats to school to celebrate their birthday. Please note, treats should be commercially prepared and not "homemade" with the list of ingredients displayed so the teacher can monitor if there is a risk of an allergic reaction. Parents should not feel obligated to bring a treat; it is completely optional. In order to create the least amount of confusion, please send something that is easy to eat. Gum is not an appropriate treat. If you choose to send a treat, please contact the teacher beforehand in order to determine an appropriate time for the treat to be distributed and to avoid multiple treats on the same day. We may also ask our school nurse to review the ingredients of a birthday treat if there is a child in the classroom with a severe food allergy.
Simon Super Heroes and Superhero SPIRIT WEAR
Simon will be continuing their theme of “Simon Super Heroes” this year as we practice the “Three R's" of Simon Super Hero behavior (Responsible, Respectful, and Ready). Throughout the year we will have exciting lessons and activities that acknowledge and promote positive behavior.
Our first superhero is FLASH! Even though he is the fastest man on Earth, he still walks in the halls and school grounds. Beginning today, each class is working on earning stickers for Superhero Hallway Behavior. All staff members are encouraged to give "lightning bolt stickers" to any class that they see walking or waiting quietly in the hall along with a verbal praise of what you see them doing well. Class progress is tracked on posters in different areas in the building. Classes that complete their Flash charts are able to have the honor of having the Simon Super Shield to display proudly with their classmates.
The staff has been wearing their “Simon Super Hero” shirts at the beginning of each week to help remind us of our quest for positive behavior. We will be offering a chance for students to purchase shirts to wear as well. Student Simon Superhero spirit wear orders will be due September 10.
STAR 360 Student Assessements
What are STAR assessments?
Renaissance Learning™ pioneered computer-adaptive testing in the classroom in 1996 with the introduction of STAR Reading™, and has been improving upon it ever since. As a result we offer a line of testing products that all function the same, are all built with the same high level of measurement accuracy, and all share the same design principles.
STAR Early Literacy Enterprise™ is the leading computer-based diagnostic assessment of early literacy skills developed for Pre-K–3 students. These tests take 15-20 minutes. STAR Early Literacy Enterprise tracks development in three domains and ten sub-domains:
Word Facility and Skills
- Alphabetic Principle
- Concept of Word
- Visual Discrimination
- Phonemic Awareness
- Phonics
- Structural Analysis
- Vocabulary
Comprehension Strategies
and Constructing Meaning
- Paragraph-Level
- Sentence-Level Comprehension
Numbers and Operations
- Early Numeracy
These assessments will start K-2 in a couple of weeks (mid September). Parents will receive their child's information with their first report card in November.
Fall is Here – Halloween is Near
As you are selecting your child’s costume for school, we encourage you to choose nonviolent costumes. We want to have the children enjoy the event, by not encouraging aggressive behaviors. Because we deal with a great number of young children, violent masks often frighten students. Please remember this when planning a child’s costume. Also, toy weapons or any look-alike weapons are NOT allowed in Illinois schools, even on Halloween. Also, students are encouraged not to use face paint or hair dyes. It takes too long to apply them at school.
We realize that some families do not participate in Halloween. If you do not want your child to participate in activities, please contact your child’s teacher so alternative arrangements can be made.
Art News from Mrs. Melancen
I am so excited for this new school year. We have many new and exciting projects to do this year. Make sure your little artist (child) has a paint shirt. We use paint frequently and it can get messy.
We have a Golden crayon that will be moving from classroom to classroom. One class will be picked every week to display the Golden crayon outside their classroom to show they were excellent in art the previous week.
A list of donation items will be handed out at Open House so don't forget to stop in. You can also find the list on my website https://sites.google.com/a/winnebagoschools.org/mrs-melancen-s-art-room/. Feel free to explore there are many things on my site.
Information About Milk Break
September Calendar Events
We will start adding a full month Simon calendar to the website starting in September. If you do have any specific questions about events or functions, please call the school office at 815.335.2318.