Family News from the Nest
English Landing Elementary School
Friday, March 31, 2017
English Landing Family News from the Nest
Email: roek@parkhill.k12.mo.us
Website: http://englishlanding.parkhill.k12.mo.us
Location: 6500 NW Klamm Dr, KCMO, MO, United States
Phone: 816-359-4370
Twitter: @EnglishLanding
What's Happening at English Landing Elementary School Next Week?
Monday, April 3, 2017:
- Science Fair (Monday-Friday)
- BIKE Night (6:00-7:00pm) Bus Loop and Playground Blacktop
Wednesday, April 5, 2017:
- Science Fair Open House 7:45-8:30am and 3:30-5:00pm
Thursday, April 6, 2017:
- Science Fair Open House 7:45-8:30am and 3:30-5:00pm
MASL 2017 Spring Conference
Terri Daly, Southeast Media Specialist, and Kitchell Schneider, English Landing Media Specialist, presented at the MASL (Missouri Association of School Librarians) conference in St. Louis, Missouri this past Monday. They presented to roughly 100-125 media specialists from around the state on their approaches and successes connecting great literature, including award winning books in grades K-5, to Makerspace activities that promote critical thinking and problem solving.
Kindest Kansas Citian Honorable Mentions
Megan Humiston, Kara Fitzpatrick and Mika Birchler won Honorable Mentions in the Kindest Kansas Citian contest, sponsored by STOP Violence, a program of Synergy Services. Each student wrote an essay about a local person who they believe exemplifies kind, caring and respectful behavior. Congratulations to Megan, Kara and Mika for taking the time to recognize the impact that these caring adults have had on others. Kindness is contagious, and they’ve caught it!
Science Fair Project Work in 5th Grade this Week
Highlighting Student Leadership Jobs - Lunch Count Leaders
English Landing Bike Night - April 3, 2017
English Landing Science Fair
Standardized Testing Dates and Times
English Landing PTA Variety Show
The PTA invites you to participate on
Friday, April 21st
Park Hill South High School Auditorium
7:00-9:00pm
Save the Date!
First Annual English Landing Maker Night
The English Landing PTA and staff are excited to invite you to the first annual Maker Night, Thursday April 20th from 6-7:30 p.m.! This is a FREE family fun event! See the attached flier for more information. To make the night a success, the PTA is asking for donations of supplies, please visit the Sign Up Genius link here:
www.SignUpGenius.com/go/5080848ADA62FAB9-maker
Donations should be dropped off at school by Thursday, April 13th.
As this is the first year for this family event, we are asking families to RSVP so that we are better able to plan and have the appropriate amount of supplies. Your RSVP is greatly appreciated! Please note a ticket is NOT required to attend!
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/english-landing-elementary-pta-maker-night-tickets-33322390166
THANK YOU for your SUPPORT! We had an AMAZING Student and Staff Basketball Game!
English Landing 2016-2017 Leadership Team
A big THANK YOU to the English Landing Leadership Team, Mrs. DeMint, Ms. East, Ms. Peters, Mrs. Milby-Palma, Mr. McGinley, Mrs. Willis, Mrs. Walker, Mrs. Peeler, Mrs. Douglas, (Mrs. Schneider - not photographed) for all of their hard work on the recent basketball game!
2016 vs. 2017 Basketball Game Proceeds
Basketball Game Theme Basket Winners
Summer Fun Basket 1: Lily Gochee
Summer Fun Basket 2: Justin O’Brien
Star Wars Basket 1: Meira Flanagan
Star Wars Basket 2: Henry Ensminger
Game Night: Kenzie Bunnell
Sporting KC Basket: Everett Grower
Autographed Sporting KC Poster in Frame: Max Fletcher
Autographed Sporting KC Soccer Ball: Max Riordan
Autographed Sporting KC Picture of Players in Frames: Valerie Quintana and Jax Ghasemi
Lego Basket: Nathan Dickson
KC Chiefs and Royals Basket: Landon Smith
Autographed 2012 All Star Picture (Royals): Tyler Leeson
Alex Smith Autographed Football: Madison Mulvaney
Autographed Mike Moustakas Baseball and Bobble Head: Brendan Fox
THANK you for your generosity in providing donations for these theme baskets!
Math in Children's Literature
by Katie Betts
Integrating subjects is a great way to engage your child in relevant activities that relate to real life. Often times children have difficulty solving word problems in math. Children’s picture books are a great way to see math problems in situations that are familiar to students. Below is an example of a picture book that you can read with your child and discuss math concepts relevant to your child’s grade level.
When A Line Bends...A Shape Begins
By Rhonda Gowler Greene
Video reading of When A Line Bends…
http://viewpure.com/76VzW5bd0tQ?start=0&end=0
Disclaimer: The book names one of the shapes a “diamond”. This is not the correct term and the shape should actually be called a rhombus, parallelogram, or square, depending on its position. To not confuse children later on, I would recommend telling students the correct name of the shape.
Activities
Kindergarten-2nd grade: As you read have your child point out different lines in the book and discuss how lines together can make up different shapes. Draw different length and different direction lines and have students add onto each line to make a new shape. You can also draw a line and then name a shape that your child has to create with that line. Make sure you do not have your lines always pointing the same direction so that children understand that shapes can point in all directions.
3rd-5th grade: Geoboards are a fun way to construct shapes and measure their area and perimeter. Give your child a shape name and have them construct the shape on the geoboard. Then have them identify the area and perimeter of the shape. Another activity is that you can give a certain shape name and perimeter or area and your child has to construct it.
Online Geoboards
http://www.mathplayground.com/geoboard.html
https://www.mathlearningcenter.org/web-apps/geoboard/
Take Your Child to Work Day: Student Attendance
As families begin to make plans for Take Your Child To Work Day (April 27, 2017), I want to make sure you have accurate information regarding how student attendance will be documented on this day.
Up until last school year, a letter had been sent home with all Park Hill elementary students stating that they would be counted present at school if a signed form and Take Your Child to Work Day reflection activity was returned. As of last school year this was no longer the case since following this former practice violated the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education guidelines regarding student attendance.
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education language regarding daily student attendance states: “Students must be in attendance in an instructional capacity under the direct supervision of a certificated employee of the district to be counted for attendance purposes.” Therefore, if students are absent, for part or all of the day, on Take Your Child To Work Day (Thursday, April 27th), they will be counted as absent for the time they are not in school.
In Park Hill at the elementary level, we do not distinguish between excused and unexcused absences. Therefore, when a student is absent, it is simply counted as an absence. At English Landing Elementary School, we do not recognize perfect (100%) attendance. We strive for student attendance to be at or above 95%.
I encourage you to make the decision that best meets the needs of your child/family when determining if your child will participate in Take Your Child To Work Day (April 27, 2017). Please let me know if you have any additional questions regarding attendance procedures for Take Your Child to Work Day (April 27, 2017).
Sincerely,
Dr. Kerry Roe
Repeat: Park Hill School District News: No Tax Increase Bond Issue (April 4, 2017)
No-Tax-Increase Bond Issue:
Schools in the Park Hill School District are getting crowded.
Many families move to our community just to send their children to our schools, and this means we need to keep up with our growing enrollment.
For several years, we have been planning ahead to deal with this growth. We got feedback from the community, including students, staff and parents, to help the Park Hill Board of Education develop an enrollment-based long-range facility plan. The community told us that it was important to have enough classroom space in our schools, to maintain our existing buildings, to keep class sizes low and to have simple feeder patterns.
The long-range facility plan we created with all this feedback has enrollment targets. Since our enrollment continues to grow and hit those targets, we installed mobile classrooms at several schools this year. However, our community told us they do not want us to use these as long-term solutions to our crowding.
So, in keeping with the next step of our plan, as we hit our enrollment targets, the Board of Education decided to place a no-tax-increase bond issue question on the April 4, 2017 ballot. Voters will decide whether to take on an additional $110 million in debt to pay for facilities to accommodate our growth, including
- A new elementary school
- A new middle school
- A high school innovation studio
- A district warehouse and support services facility to support our classrooms and maintain our facilities
- Improvements to existing facilities
If economic conditions leave enough proceeds from the bond issue, we would also
- Build a transportation center, which could save us money on busing
- Pay for maintenance projects in our existing facilities
It is possible to pay for these projects with no tax increase because of our Board’s careful money management and good financial stewardship of taxpayer dollars. Thanks to good financial management by the district, Park Hill is in a position to ask for a bond without raising taxes. This is a result of aggressively paying off existing debts and refinancing for better rates. Local commercial and residential growth has also helped by expanding the local tax base. Because of these factors, we have room in our state-set debt limit to take on additional debt with no tax increase. We will continue to carefully monitor our debt and interest rates in order to save taxpayer dollars.
Thanks to their conservative budgeting, we have enough room in our debt service levy to issue bonds to cover the cost of these new schools and projects with no tax increase.
For more information about Park Hill’s no-tax-increase bond issue, please visit the district’s website at http://www.parkhill.k12.mo.us/.
Paid for by the Park Hill School District
Dr. Jeanette Cowherd, superintendent
7703 NW Barry Road
Kansas City, MO 64153
Looking for Future Kindergarten Students!
Save the DATE! Kindergarten Roundup on May 1, 2017
Enroll Your Kindergartner Today, Then Mark Your Calendar for the Kindergarten Roundup Event
Families with children entering kindergarten in the Park Hill School District in August 2017 may enroll now by visiting English Landing Elementary School between 7:45 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday on days when school is in session. Children who turn five on or before July 31 are eligible for kindergarten for the 2017-2018 school year.
Parents will need to bring their children’s certified, state-issued birth certificate, immunization records and two proofs of residency to enroll. One proof of residency must be a current paid real estate tax receipt, a lease or mortgage agreement, or a new construction contract. The other should be an original and current gas, electric or water bill on which the name and address are provided.
After you enroll, mark your calendar for the Kindergarten Roundup event at English Landing Elementary School on Monday, May 1. Our Kindergarten Roundup is an Open House format (5:30pm-7:00pm). Parents and students will get a sneak peak of our school, tour the building, ask questions and get to know the staff.
Remaining 2016-2017 Evening Grade Level Music Programs
Kindergarten: Thursday, April 13, 2017: 7pm “Baby Beluga”
2016-2017 Elementary School Hours
8:20am First Bell Rings and Students Go To Grade Level Classroom
8:40am Tardy Bell Rings and School Officially Begins
3:30pm Evening Dismissal
Save the Dates: 2016-2017 Park Hill Elementary Early Release Dates
Park Hill STAR Awards
Park Hill Star Award
Our employees are the reason we are so successful here in the Park Hill School District, and we would like to recognize them for all they do for our students.
That is why we present the Park Hill Star award once a month to a pre-K or elementary teacher, a secondary teacher and a support employee.
Anyone can nominate an employee for this award by using the form below. It asks you to share how your nominee demonstrates our district values of continuous improvement, high expectations, integrity, visionary leadership and student focus. You can also share how your nominee supports the goals in our district’s strategic plan.
Please nominate a Park Hill Star today!
Park Hill Star nomination form
English Landing Elementary School - Building School Improvement Focus Areas
District Vision
Building Successful Futures - Each Student - Every Day
English Landing Vision
Our vision is that all English Landing students will meet grade level expectations and demonstrate responsible citizenship.
English Landing Values
1. We will embrace a welcoming climate.
2. Safety will be a priority.
3. Students and staff will strive for excellence.
4. We will promote collaboration and community involvement.
5. Our school will model life skills.
6. Diverse cultures will be respected.
7. We will practice positive communication.
8. Our school will encourage leadership.
English Landing Strategic Focus Areas
Financial
Academic
Climate
Employee
English Landing 2016-2017 School Improvement Priority Goals
EL STAR testing results will display reading growth (on track or above) that increases from the current Park Hill MODERATE score (Yellow) to meeting the Park Hill GOAL score (Green) on the 2016-2017 English Landing Balanced Scorecard. (Indicator #7)
EL Students reporting through semester student surveys My Needs Are Being Met will increase fro 90.4% to 100%. (Indicator #17)
EL Families will report they are Involved in their Child's Education will increase from displaying the current Park Hill MODERATE score (Yellow) to meeting the Park Hill GOAL score (Green) on the 2016-2017 English Landing Balanced Scorecard. (Indicator #20)