Knight Notes
Yarbrough Elementary - January Newsletter 2021
Quick Glance at Important Dates
January 18th - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - No School
January 25th - Laredos Restaurant Spirit Night
February 2nd - Eye Screening for 4th GradersFebruary 5th - Club Day
From Dr. Forster
YES Parents,
We hope you had a restful and relaxing holiday. We were thrilled to welcome back our students on January 5th – those who came to YES in the fall and those who are returning from remote learning. It is so uplifting to have our school filled with students again. The energy and excitement of YES is back, and we will work hard to engage and educate our students every day they enter our doors.
We will continue to use facial coverings, distancing in our classrooms and hand sanitization as a way to stay safe. Our students did an excellent job with all three the first half of the year, and I know they will continue to work hard to help us all stay healthy. Your help in monitoring student health at home is extremely important. Please continue to report contacts with positive cases to your child’s teacher. If a quarantine at home is needed, we have developed methods to ensure your student does not fall behind their classmates.
This month, we anticipate a large delivery of iPads will arrive at YES. When our order is complete, we will have an iPad for every student in our school!!! We have purchased iPad cases and storage carts for each classroom to protect equipment so the iPads can be ready each morning. Our teachers spent time this week preparing to use our iPads to support instruction in the classroom. This is an exciting opportunity for our teachers and our students, and we will make the most of the educational experience.
As always, thank you for your continued support of Yarbrough Elementary.
Pete Forster
PTO News
Spirit Night is Monday, January 25th from 4-9 pm at Laredos Mexican Restaurant. Dine in or carry out both work. You just have to sign your receipt and place it in the bucket by the register.
If you missed out on Winter shirts, be on the lookout for another chance to purchase this month.
Our YES fundraiser will be coming up soon! Watch for more information. If any parent is interested in serving on the fundraiser committee, please reach out to our YES PTO President, Amy Parker on the YES Parents Facebook page or email at parka@charter.net
Knightly News
Want to stay caught up on what’s happening at Y.E.S.? Watch the Knightly News! You can find our daily news broadcast linked below or on the school website. Look under “Our School”, then click on “Knightly News”. Then click on the video next to the day of the week of the broadcast you want to watch. Broadcasts are available for viewing for one week.
Order Your Yearbook Online!
Order your 2020-2021 Yarbrough Elementary School Yearbook today. Our yearbook is only sold online and can be purchased at the following link:
http://www.jostensyearbooks.com
Customer Service: 1-877-767-5217
Nurse Notes from Nurse Julia
Parents/Guardians of 4th grade students
What: Vision Research Corporation Eye Screening
When: Tuesday, February 2nd
Where: Yarbrough Elementary School
Who: 4th grade traditional learner students
Why: To screen for and detect eye problems
How: Students will receive a form to complete and return to school
If you do not wish for your student to be screened you must still return the form.
Art Adventures with Mr. Daniel
The YES Art Dept. is off to a fantastic start for the month of January!
Our 4th and 5th grade artists are using their creative ability, skill set, form, color, space, texture, contrast, and movement to develop "Spectrum Haystacks," based on the works of famous artist Claude Monet. We will explore the principles of perspective and the colors on the Wheel to develop our own variation of Monet's painting, "Haystacks." We will also explore the works of Claude Monet.
Computer Communication with Miss Ball
Fitness Fun with Coach Smith
In January, students will participate in skill stations, cooperative games, and many fun "instant" games. Students will also see how math, reading, and writing skills are used in PE activities.
We would all like to welcome our Spring Intern Renley. She is in the Physical Education Program at Auburn University. She will be with us for 8 weeks, and we are excited to have her in our program.
Virtual and traditional students can find PE activities on Schoology and our PE website. https://www.auburnschools.org/Domain/1296
Media Center Memo with Mrs. McGilberry
Music Moments with Mrs. Oprandy
All musicians at Yarbrough enjoyed many music activities related to the ballet, The Nutcracker. We explored the history of the ballet and learned more about the composer of the music, Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Students learned new ways of creating sound with a cup routine to “March,” performed a challenging scarf dance to “Trepak,” and practiced sightreading rhythms to “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” using rhythm sticks. We also compared and contrasted different musical arrangements of “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” by watching video performances that allowed us to listen to the original orchestral arrangement, an arrangement played on a “glass harp,” and the vocal-stylings of Pentatonix.
Venture Visit with Mr. Jackson
Counseling Connection with Mrs. Walsh
Welcome to 2021! I am happy to welcome some of our virtual students back to campus. I was hopeful that all of the pandemic concerns would no longer linger, but they are here, and we will make the best of it. We will continue to be mask heroes and follow protocol so that we can finish this school year in a strong and amazing way. We need to keep our “rose tinted” glasses on and count our blessings daily. An optimistic attitude, after all is a win-win for all.
I hope you have spent time with your children reflecting on the previous historical year. It is fun to remember the good times (including a new way of life in many ways) and to decide how to change the things we may not have liked so much. Some ideas for goal setting may include: bed times, study time, exercise, eating healthier, having a more positive attitude, and even having a time to relax. This is not only a new year, but a new semester as well. Students need to focus on setting new goals. Help your children set realistic goals for both their academic and personal lives. Setting goals helps children raise their self-esteem. Building strong children today invests in our futures.
In Guidance we will focus on goal setting during the month of January. We will also focus on “hope and optimism:" expecting a better future and working to accomplish it. Take time to ask your children about the goals they have set at school.
Quote of the month:
“Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear any hardship today.”
By Thich Nhat Hanh