Queens Creek Elementary School
Parent Newsletter - April 16, 2021
Important Parent Surveys
Dear Parents,
We need your help. It is very important have we have as many parents as possible complete these surveys. These are are the same surveys being sent home by many of the teachers.
Climate & Culture Parent Survey:
https://eprovesurveys.advanc-ed.org/surveys/#/action/162053/22839
Title 1 Parent Survey:
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=2oj0MM90xkqfNEBYMyDapOu8J8fQsGlLl-a90X8SljRUOEwxTVY0UFQ5QkpMUVpGMTIzWEFBVzVZSC4u
Reminder from Dr. Bazzy - Music Teacher
Links to the School and OCS Websites

Family and Community
Spring Pictures
All money and/or returned pictures are due back to QCE by May 3, 2021.
Special Purchasing Program to be extended to OCS Families.
We are excited to extend the Dell Member Purchasing Program to our staff, students, and families. We have added a page on our departmental website (link below) with the information needed to make a purchase and receive a discount. Anyone participating in the program will be dealing directly with Dell on the purchase, and discounts vary based upon the item being purchased and any specials that Dell may be running at the time. Gail Thomas will serve as the Point of Contact for this program, and her email is listed on the information page. You are free to share this link on your website and in newsletters, etc.
Transportation Edulog Portal and Bus
The purpose of this portal is to notify our parents of bus changes. This program sends the parents a text message letting them know the changes. It is a great way to for parents to stay informed when there is a change in the time of pickup or drop off for their child.
This Portal is available for all parents and all you need to do is sign up each of their children. They will need their Student ID #, go to OCS website or your school website and click on transportation.
We also need your help in getting the word out that bus drivers & monitors are needed in the county. Information for the online classes is available on the OCS website or call Transportation at 910-455-5037.
Hanging Basket Sales
Who is excited to see this order form?! We sure are! If you are new to QCE, these beautiful hanging baskets are typically the highlight of the beginning of May!
These order forms were sent home this week. Please return them with exact change by April 23rd (orders written on the back of the order form).
Let us know if you have any questions!
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Happy selling!

Transition to Plan A
OCS students in grades K-12 currently attending in-person instruction will return to the classroom five days a week beginning Tuesday, April 6. The transition of all in-person K-12 students from Plan B to Plan A was unanimously approved by the Onslow County Board of Education during a special meeting on March 17.
Remote instruction days will continue through the end of March but will be discontinued following the districtâs spring break. While there will be no remote instruction days for the final eight weeks of the school year, the BOE did approve the addition of two regular teacher workdays. The traditional calendar teacher workdays will be:
- Wednesday, April 21
- Wednesday, May 12
District staff will be working with the Onslow Early College and Coastal Carolina Community College on placement of the early college workdays.
The transition to Plan A will see many of the same precautions which have been in place since the return to school in August. Families can expect to see wellness checks, face coverings, and continued emphasis on hand washing and sanitizing. Daily deep cleaning will remain a priority and district staff will work closely with schools to ensure healthy learning environments.
According to the StrongSchoolsNC: Public Health Toolkit (K-12), the major difference between the plans is the shift from required social distancing under Plan B to social distancing to the greatest extent possible under Plan A.
This transition was made possible by the passage of Session Law 2021-4 by the North Carolina General Assembly, which was signed into law by Governor Roy Cooper on March 11, 2021. Under the new legislation, all K-5 schools in North Carolina must open under Plan A. Local boards of education may decide for grades 6-12 to operate in either Plan A or Plan B for the remainder of the school year.
OCS Superintendent Dr. Barry Collins was grateful for the work of OCS staff and for the opportunity to transition to Plan A, âI want to thank our teachers. Our teachers are the ones that are on the front lines. All of our school staff have done an outstanding job over the course of the last year. The overarching feeling throughout this has been âwe need to get kids back, face-to-face, as much as possible.â We were waiting on this bill, that became law, that allowed us the ability to bring grades 6-12 back.â
OCS BOE Chairman Bob Williams echoed Dr. Collinsâ appreciation of the opportunity and also expressed his gratitude to OCS teachers, âWe look forward to getting our students back full time. I think itâs important that we take of advantage of this opportunity. The teachers are doing a fantastic job out there. We want to help the teachers out as much as possible to do what they need to do to educate our children.â
3rd Nine Week Principal's List and Honor Roll
3rd Grade Principalâs List
Everli Felts, Hannah Garrett, Adriana Run, Luke Abernathy, Cooper Carmody, Jace Mathews, Abbigail Montford, Colsen Moser, Kimber Parish, Karlee Smallwood
3rd Grade Honor Roll
Seamus Collins, Leah Degen, Harper Eggert, Austin Ervin, Alona Price, Adriana Zamora, Aiken Anderson, Aisha Foye, Caleb Lowe, Aidyn Mason, Micah Maynard, Andrew Ortega, Sadie Tessier, Rayna Tuck, Melaina Wittler, Aspen Stallings, Aaiden Aguilers, Ethan Bailey, Delilah Borges, Zayden Burnette, Bethany Meeks, NyâSaun Turner, Addisyn Vigneault
4th Grade Principalâs List
Mackynzie Bilbrey, Derek Eschenbaum, Ainsley Page, Hunter Garrett, Ayden Hollingsworth, Joshua Jensen, Brayden Tindle, Grace Williams, Joshua Austin, Elliana Whitmarsh, Zoe Mackey
4th Honor Roll
Kenneth Anderson, Alexander Brown, Trace Cole, Nathan Perzyna, Madilyn Reid, Alessandra Run, Akira Saunders, Nic Alcocer, Mason Chase, Layla Collins, Marley Cushman, Brooklyn Evans, Trent Fountain, Isabelle Fernandez Gray, Saphira Hulings, David King, Daniella Medina, Christopher Mikko, DJ Smith, Zoey St. John, Jayden Willison, Dylan Langlois, Mia Mendez, Abby Milbery, Gavin Thompson, Taven Ward, Madison Williams, Brynlee Miller, Baylon Mroz-Kaynor, Audrina Ramos, Solomon Saint-Pierre, Madaline Brown, Sonya Edwards, Ella Hebert, Cameron Hood
5th Principalâs List
Anthony Anderson, Leah Lawson, Connell Murphy, Katherine Patterson, Phoenix Price, Adalyn Taylor, George Meeks, Preston Barnes, Phoenix Villanueva
5th Honor Roll
Evan Burke, Samuel Sullivan, Breanna Almond, Kaylani Covington, Tala Davis, Hayden Holleman, Mitchell LaRose, Owen Ravan, Corina Ray, Olivia Wade, Logan Brown, Aydelynn Collins, Noah Ellsworth, Declan Hammel, Camiâya Heggs, George Markle, Carter Hardison, Izabel Hoagland, Hayden Maynard, Caleb McCoy, Isabell Merritt, Adalynn Sprague, Amiah Watts, Alivia Williams, Magdalena Willis-Medina
Sea Turtle Art Contest
- Art Contest for 4th and 5th Graders - Creating a Turtle from marine debris and recycling. Click Here for more information
Kindergarten Registration
Kindergarten Registration
Online Registration begins April 5, 2021.
Please click here to begin the kindergarten registration process.
To be eligible a child must turn five on or prior to August 31, 2021.
Please have the following:
Birth Certificate
Updated Immunization Records
Photo ID of Legal Parent/Guardian
Proof of Residency (Electric or Water Bill)

Grade Level News
Kindergarten 3/19/21
First Grade - March 2021
Second Grade 2/19/21
Math: We will continue to practice our skills on telling time. Please also be practicing those basic math facts at home!
Writing: Students are still working on sharing their opinion about specific topics.
Social Studies: We will be learning about historical figures from black history.
Third Grade 4/9/21
Fourth Grade 2/12/21
This week 4th grade will be working on:
Math: Introducing Equivalent Fractions
Science: Types of Energy
ELA: Elements of Plays (dialogue, stage directions, setting, script, cast of characters)
SS: Introducing History of North Carolina Social Studies Writing Project
(Please practice multiplication facts and division strategies at home)
Fifth Grade - 3/12/21
Math: multiplication and division of fractions
Science: Ecosystems
Social Studies: Civil War, Westward Expansion
Encore - 3/26/21
Art
Kindergarten students will create : Flower still life paintings, tissue paper collage, pizza collage and fans.
1st grade will create: the great wave, chicken collage, and stamp and dot paintings.
2nd grade : warm and cool weavings and Van Gogh sunflowers.
3rd grade: Starry night paintings and paper bowl weavings.
4th grade: Lighthouse paintings, clay fairy doors, and collages.
5th grade: Georga O'Keefe flower paintings, figure people drawings with manikins, and house collages.Media
Music
Kindergarten - Students are learning about the unique sound, or timbre, made by each instrument.
1st grade - Students are identifying and creating music in various forms.
2nd grade - Students are completing their cultural exchange with Sweden this month. Each class picked an American pop song to share, and the students are preparing a performance of their chosen pop song.
3rd grade - Students are reading and playing melodies on various instruments.
4th grade - Students are playing melodies on barred instruments such as xylophones, metallophones, and glockenspiels.
5th grade - Students are identifying pitches on the staff and beginning work on ukuleles.
P.E.
What's happening in PE?! We have been practicing Jump Rope for a couple of months and the 2nd and 3rd graders have been practicing the PACER. It is time to move on to cooperative activities and make these last couple of months in PE FUN!
All grades will participate in parachute activities, tossing activities, scooter activities, and a variety of relays.
STEM
Spring is here and so is the arrival of new life and fun ideas! With the nice weather the stem encore classes can start creating outside activities. QCE is also excited about our science festival and the many science activities the teachers have planned for the students. In STEM some of our fun activities include:
Kindergarten making ring gliders
First and second grade getting gooy with ooblec
Third grade and fifth learning how to use microscopes and
Fourth grade making parachutes.
What an awesome time all the students will have.


Car Rider Line!!
Screening Protocols and Flow Charts
- Do you know if you have been around anyone diagnosed with COVID-19?
- Since you were last at school, have you had a fever, chills, had trouble breathing, been coughing, or lost your sense of taste or smell?
- Since you were last at school, has anyone in your household developed a fever, chills, had trouble breathing, been coughing, or lost your sense of taste or smell?
- Have you been diagnosed with COVID-19?
CDC recommendations on washing your child's mask.

General Information Topics
SchoolCashOnline
Afternoon School Dismissal
Car Rider Parents, Please continue to display the yellow window card until your child enters your car. The best place to display the yellow card is over the passenger side visor. This will assist the staff to quickly load the students into the cars safely.
All afternoon transportation changes will happen within the School Dismissal Manager system. This eliminates the need for notes that don't always reach the teachers or emails to the front office that might not be seen until after dismissal. All changes need to happen before 2:00pm. At 2:15pm each teacher is sent an email with a list of all his/her students and how each one is getting home.
If you still have not claimed your account, please email either the jill.yager@onslow.k12.nc.us or michelle.staley@onslow.k12.nc.us and they will assist you.
Green and Global Topics
What can we do to help honeybee populations?
Plenty! Here are six simple ways you can help these vitally important insects thrive â right in your own backyard.
- Go wild. Let part of your lawn grow without mowing. Bees love flowering weeds and grasses.
- Grow native plants. A patch of wildflowers will add color and a nectar source for bees. Cultivate a landscape with diverse colors, shapes, sizes and bloom times. Donât have a yard? Grow pollinator-friendly plants in an outdoor space in your city. (Bzzt: Seed flings are perfect for tossing into abandoned lots or other urban greenspaces. Want to learn how to make one? Download our Inside the Buzz At-Home Guide to find out how.)
- Create a bee âpond.â Bees canât swim or get their wings wet, but they need water, too! Try filling a shallow pie pan with pebbles and water, so bees have somewhere to land and sip some H2O. Bonus: no cleaning required! Bees actually love âdirtyâ water, which is why they love the water that gathers in saucers under flower pots.
- Ditch the harmful sprays. The sprays we tend to use on plants and veggies hurt the good bugs and keep us from getting the nutrients we need. Care for your lawn and garden organically and explore alternatives like incorporating plants that attract beneficial insects for pest control. Try a sprinkling of cayenne pepper around pestered plants. Sometimes the best method is to pick unwanted bugs right off!
- Buy local, organic produce. Support farmers who are doing their best to support bees. Anytime you choose organic food, you know pesticides that can harm our pollinators were not used. Bee on the lookout for a rainbow of veggies and fruits, which contain nutrients that can help our bodies stay healthy â all brought to you by bees! And donât forget to buy local honey! Youâll help support a thriving local honeybee ecology, which means that more food can be grown locally.
- Please donât swat! Honeybees very rarely sting, but they can be be curious creatures. If a honeybee approaches you, be still as she checks to see if you have any nectar. Once she knows youâre not a flower, sheâll buzz along. While other kinds of insects can sting, like wasps and yellow jackets, they look very different from honeybees. Learn how to recognize honeybees so youâll know they mean no harm. Once you know what a honeybee looks like, help your friends learn, too!
ColorCycle It!!
