South Grove Intermediate School
News and Notes for November
From Mrs. Reid
Happy November! We are now in the 2nd nine weeks grading period. Hopefully, all parents were able to connect with their child's teacher during Parent/Teacher Conferences prior to Fall Break. It is important to stay up with how your student is doing in school. Research proves that students achieve when parents are involved. I encourage you to check Skyward Family Access and sign up for weekly progress reports. There is a free App on both the iPhone App Store or in the Google Play Store.
5 Easy things parents can do each night to encourage their students to grow and learn at South Grove:
1. Check homework to make sure it is completed.
2. Ask your students questions about the school day. Don't settle for just yes or no answers.
3. Make sure your student reads at least 20-30 minutes each night in his/her AR book.
4. If your child does not know their multiplication facts, practice, practice, practice with them! There are many free apps that can be added to your phone or to your student's device for math skills practice.
5. Set up Family Access and ask your child about specific grades.
Student Discipline Survey
Students in Mrs. Evans' class learn to create Edpuzzles!
Canned Food Drive - November 9-20
Box Tops for Education
Just a few reminders...
Cafeteria Policy
Students who bring Hot Cheetos, Doritos, or any kind of bag of chips may only bring a single serving size to lunch. Also.... carbonated beverages are not permitted at breakfast or lunch.
Morning Drop-off
Students should not be dropped off at school prior to 8:05. If you are here early with your student, they must remain in your car until 8:05 and then there will be an adult to supervise them prior to school starting at 8:35. Please understand, leaving your student at school prior to 8:05 means they are unsupervised. Thank you.
Art News from Mrs. Pieper
Guinevere Rugenstein won third place and Fernando Martinez and Grace Fisher were chosen in the top thirty at the 5th grade level. Their posters are on display at the Haunted House at the Children's Museum until October 31st. Mrs. Pieper and Guinevere attended the Black Hat Bash Saturday October 3rd at the Children's Museum.
Music Notes from Mrs. Alkire
South Grove's Veterans Day program will be Wednesday, November 11 at 2:00 p.m. in the gym.
Intersession Fun!
4th Graders:
Aidan Howell
Skylar Noyd
David Forler
Arlandria Brooks
5th Graders:
Mackenzie Hausdorfer
Genny Chandler
Sierra Swigert
Raising Digital Kids - Tech Tips from Mrs. Collinsworth
1. Pay attention to what your kids are doing online.
This is easier said than done! I've been trying to ask my kids to show me the video that is making them laugh so hard or even sit down and watch them play Minecraft. It's been interesting to see what catches their attention!
2. Be a good digital role model
Boy! This one is difficult. There are times, more than I'd like to admit, that I am too busy checking my phone rather than listening when my boys talk to me. I have to remind myself that they deserve my attention and that my email and Facebook can wait. My husband and I are working hard to put our phones down and spend time as a family without our devices in hand.
3. Encourage "unplugged" time
My boys would tell you they hate hearing me telling them it's time to unplug, but they know this means they need to turn off the Playstation, iPad, or iPhone and come and chill with us to have family time. It's important that kids have time at the end of their day to wind down.
4. Use and talk about Privacy settings
My husband and I have had to talk with both our boys about sharing information. Instagram and online video games are a part of their world, but we also want them to understand that they need to only communicate with people they know on a face to face basis. We've made sure to turn off the location service on the iPhone and we don't allow game apps to share data. These were a few tips offered from Common Sense Media and were pretty easy to set up on our devices.
5. Using Social Media
Many sites like Instagram and SnapChat have the listed age of use as 13. We have decided to allow our 7th grader to use Instagram and I know many students at South Grove use social media. One of the biggest things we've tried to stress is posting and following appropriate people. Whether kids realize it or not, they are creating their own brand - what will represent them both now and in the future. We ask our son the question, "Is this how you want to be known?" If people look at your posts and likes, will they see the "real" you or will they see someone else? My husband and I do our best to practice this in our own life by only posting positive images and updates.
Please let me know if you have any questions or need information on kids and digital citizenship. I will do my best to help find answers and resources!
6th Grade Chromebooks
The student Chromebooks are monitored and your child's activities are recorded. Please let me know if you are concerned about where your child is going online and what they are viewing when they are at home. We use Go Guardian to help make sure our kids are safe anytime they are using their school device. Let me know if you have questions.
-Mrs. Collinsworth