Prairie Elementary News: Feb. 2024
from Principal Kristen Jones
February News
2/01: Theater for the Imagination at Lunch
2/02: February First Friday Assembly: Responsible Decision Making Theme
2/02: Read-a-Thon BINGO card check
2/05: 6pm 2nd & 3rd Grade Musical and Open House for 2nd grade (3rd Gr will have Open House during Box City unit)
2/05-2/08: Chiefs Super Bowl Bound Spirit Week (see below)
2/07: 6th Grade Field Trip to Coterie
2/07: 9:30 am Preschool Visit in Art
2/08: Read-a-Thon BINGO card checks
2/08: Parent Teacher Conferences 4:30-7:30
2/09: No School: Parent Teacher Conferences 8:00-3:30
2/12: Read-a-Thon Final BINGO card collection & Final day to submit minutes
2/14: Valentine's Day Parties at 2:15 (Makeup on Friday, 2/16 if no school on 2/14)
2/15: 4:00 Regional Mathletics Competition at Prairie
2/16: Read-a-Thon Prize Day
2/19: No School: Presidents' Day
2/21: Spirit Dining Night at Culver's on Stateline Rd: Prairie Staff Serving Food
2/22: 5th Grade Field Trip to School of Economics
2/23: 8:15 am: Prairie Site Council in Conference Room
2/28: Skate City Party
Arrival & Dismissal Reminders
- Only the bus and cars with special passes should be using the front circle drive. It becomes unsafe and too congested when those who do not have passes try to enter.
- It is very important for children to be here and in our classrooms ready to learn at 8:10. Reminder: 10 tardies = 1 Unexcused absence. Elementary years are the prime time to develop lifelong habits of being prepared and on time for school and work!
- Please pull forward as far as possible as you are dropping off and picking up students. We must work together to get as many cars off of Mission Rd as possible.
- The Mission Road construction will open up again as weather permits. Please be patient and aware of the construction causing some delays.
Monthly Focus: Responsible Decision Making
Did you know we make an average of 35,000 decisions a day? Teachers make 1,500 educational decisions in their work day, which accounts for 4 decisions per minute! Students in K-4 make about 3,000 and 5-6 make about 3,500 in a day.
Our focus during our assembly this morning was in all of those decisions we make in a day and how they impact our lives and those around us. We went over some school scenarios and shared pros and cons of possible choices. We also linked this thought process to our focus on kindness and empathy during the month of January.
Happy Mail is going to be sent all around the Prairie school! We have positive vibes to send:) Students are encouraged to send a note to those around them who are spreading happiness throughout Prairie! The HAPPY MAIL will be read at lunch to celebrate all of the specific kind and caring behaviors our students are showing to make a difference in our building!
Prairie Read-a-Thon: NOW - Feb 11th
Our #1 goal is participation. We want your child reading every day and logging their minutes to count towards our school goal of 125,000 minutes!! Students who dedicate just 20 min. a day to reading, open up their world to over 1.8 million words in a school year! Imagine how this impacts vocabulary development and future academic achievement!
We’ve been blown away by the number who have already registered and collected donations. Your efforts have us moving in the right direction, BUT we still have work to do to reach our goal! Please register here and begin collecting pledges to show your support!
Fun events for the two weeks are listed in the dates above.
- BINGO cards will be checked by our 6th grade leadership team. Please be sure it is stored in your child's backpack. See dates above.
- BINGO card is to promote ongoing reading at HOME throughout the 2-week program. Activities on the board are designed to be completed during separate
- NEW this year: Staff Mystery Readers every night! Clues are read during morning announcements. PTA will send an email out with the video linked each night. So much fun! Past videos can be viewed here and new ones go live each week night.
Parent-Teacher Conferences: Feb. 8 & 9
Classroom teachers have already reached out to some individual families if there is a need for a spring conference. If your child's teacher has not reached out and you would like to hold a conference, please email them ASAP to set up a time next week!
If you feel the need, I encourage you to reach out to specials teachers to set up a time as well! It is always nice to address any concerns or celebrations in-person rather than email.
Thanks to our wonderful PTA for providing a meal for our staff during evening conferences on Feb. 8th!
Visiting Author: Kristen Heath
We are excited to announce that this year’s visiting local author for the Read-A-Thon is: Kristen Heath, author of We're All Weird! Kristen has partnered with Lead to Read and the 15andtheMahomies to share her book about inclusion and embracing our flaws and our quirks.
Click here to read more about the book and order a copy - use code: PRAIRIE at checkout to order a paperback for $10 or a hardcover for $20. No need to order an extra item just to get free shipping - hit free local delivery to schools at checkout for no shipping fee! Students can even bring it to school during her visit on Feb. 6th for her to sign!
Prairie Elementary
Email: kristenjones@smsd.org
Website: prairie.smsd.org
Location: 6642 Mission Road, Prairie Village, KS, USA
Phone: (913) 993-4400