The Groundhog Gazette
Amity Elementary - Home of the Groundhogs
February 3, 2016
Boise School District Attendance Policy
Being at school every day and being on time are of utmost importance. The Boise School District follows the State of Idaho's requirements that maintain all students must be in school 90% of the time. This only allows for a maximum of 9 absences per semester.
The school district requires that we send attendance letters after the 5th, 8th and 10th absence. These letters are a reminder of how many days your child has been absent. If you receive a letter after the 10th absence, you will need to contact the office.
Students who go beyond the 9 absences may be subject to Attendance Court. If you have reason to exceed the 9 days due to illness or other family matters please contact the school office and we will do our best to work with you. If your child is absent for consecutive days, it helps if we have doctors’ notes specifying the entire period of absence.
We understand the occasional tardy, however, anything over 5 tardies per semester is considered habitual. We want to set our students up for success before heading to junior high where tardies will turn into documented absences. From the beginning of the year to present, we have had 1,793 absences and 868 tardies. We value your education and want you to have a successful second half of the school year; you can do this by committing to being on time to school.
We thank you for your attention to this matter.
February
2: Groundhog Run Club
5: Cupcake Friday (Fourth Grade)
12: No School - District In-service Day15: No School - President's Day
19: Bingo Night 6-8 p.m.
26: Amity Shirt Day
March
10: Kindergarten Registration 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
11: Cupcake Friday (5th Grade & Mrs. McSurdy's Class)
18: Amity Shirt Day
18: Run Club
18: Early Release at 1:45 - End of Third Quarter
21-25: No School - Spring Break
29: Book Fair 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
30: Book Fair 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
31: Book Fair 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.
April
1: Roaring Reader Logs Due
7: 5th & 6th Grade Music Program 10:30 & 2:30
8: Cupcake Friday (6th Grade & Costlett AM/PM)
12: Dorian Class Pictures
14: AM Kindergarten Music Program 11:15 a.m.
14: PM Kindergarten Music Program 1:15 p.m.
15: Run Club
29: Amity Shirt Day
Full Day Kindergarten
We have some good news for parents with incoming kindergarten students. We have been given the opportunity to offer a full day, tuition based kindergarten class at Amity! Students enrolled in a full day kindergarten program will start school at 9:15 a.m. and be dismissed at 3:45 p.m. The school district is only funded for a half day program, so we need to charge a $250/month tuition for students to participate. This is a fantastic educational value!
If you are interested in enrolling your child in the full day program, you will need to make a $35 non-refundable deposit during registration to hold your child’s position. We will need to have a minimum of 20 students enrolled and committed to the full year in order to offer the program next year. Mrs. Coslett will be teaching the program if we have enough students enrolled. The class will be “capped” at 23 students. If we have more than 23 students enrolled, we will hold a lottery to determine which students will be in the program. (IF we have a lottery and your child is not selected, the $35 deposit will be refunded.)
Groundhog Fitness
Amity JFK
Amity Just For kids is a very active place with fun crafts, cooking, science and activities. check us out at the Boise Schools website, under the Parents and Patrons link, or call 854-4222 for more information.
Kindergarten Registration
Fifth Annual Bingo Night
Join us on Friday, February 19th, for our annual Family Bingo Night from 6-8 p.m. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m.; come early to get the best seat, buy your Bingo cards and order nachos.
If you'd like to volunteer to help at the event, please either fill out the volunteer sheet that will be sent home in Friday Folders or sign up on Sign Up Genius.
As in the past, we will hold our Silent Basket Auction during the event. Themed baskets will be available for bidding. We'd like to have a large variety of fun baskets to auction off; however, we need your help! The baskets are put together with your donations.
There are three ways to donate:
1. Each grade level has been assigned a theme (listed below). Purchase an item(s) for any of the themes.
2. We will accept gift certificates from any family friendly location. These make great additions to the baskets.
3. Don't have time to shop? Send in a monetary donation, and we'll do the shopping for you. (Checks can be made out to Amity PTA).
Kindergarten - My Mom Rocks!
First Grade - Do It Yourself (crafts for kids or adults)
Second Grade - Family Game Night
Third Grade - Reading is Fun
Fourth Grade - College Spirit
Fifth Grade - Super Dad!
Sixth Grade - Great Outdoors
We are also looking for donations of new, small items that can be used as prizes. We gave out over 400 prizes last year; donations help alleviate this expense.
A parent or guardian must stay onsite during the event.
Thank you for your donations. We depend on Bingo Night as one of our two main fundraisers; all proceeds benefit your child's classroom. We hope to see you there!
Bingo Night Quilt Raffle
Amity Sound of Music
February 4: Practice 8:30-9:10 a.m.
February 11: No Choir Practice
February 18: Practice 8:30-9:10 a.m. & 1:15-1:45 p.m.
February 25: Practice 8:30-9:10 a.m. & 1:15-1:45 p.m.
March 1: Choir Festival at Borah High at 7:00 p.m.
Students should meet at Borah at 6:00 for rehearsal in concert dress.
MOSS
From the Counselor
In my sixteen years in education there have been many changes but none bigger than the influence of technology in our students' lives. I found this article from "Psychology Today" interesting regarding the possible effects of screen time. Click here to read the article. Have a great month.
Reading Corner
Our dress up themes will be:
Monday (2/29)
"One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish"
Wear red & blue
Tuesday (3/1)
"Fox in Socks"
Wear crazy socks
Wednesday (3/2)
"Green Eggs and Ham"
Wear green
Thursday (3/3)
"I Can Read With My Eyes Shut"
Wear a shirt you can read
Friday (3/4)
"Cat In the Hat"
Wear stripes
Music CDs for Sale
3 & 4 Grade (Give Thanks!) - 2 available
1 & 2 Grade (Snowmen at Night) - 1 available
Save the Date!
March 29: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
March 30: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
March 31: 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
April 1: 9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.