Longbranch Family Newsletter
Week of March 27th
Kindergarten Registration is Monday from 4-7pm.
It's Time to Register for Kindergarten!
What do I bring to registration?
1. My child's social security card and birth certificate
2. Proof of residency (a bill works great)
3. Medical paperwork (immunization record, eye screening, dental screening, medical screening...all on official paperwork contained in the registration packet)
4. My child.
You can find registration packets on our school website or we will have plenty of copies at the event for you to complete on site.
We are a Leader in Me School. What does that mean?
We operate under 5 paradigms: Change starts with each individual person. Teachers should assist students in developing his or her whole person (not simply the academic side). Everyone can lead. Everyone has genius (a gift that each person brings to the table...a strength...something that helps you lead.) And finally, Educators are challenged to allow children to lead their own learning.
We teach habits of mind that are important not just in the classroom, but on the soccer field and at home. Students learn to put first things first...what is most important should be finished first. Work then play. Students learn to listen to others for the purpose of understanding, not to build their own case. Seek first to understand and then to be understood. Students learn to work together more effectively through the habit of Synergy. ...and many more.
The change in the community of Longbanch can be described best as night and day. There is a buzz thoughout our building all day every day as children keep their eyes open for opportunities to lead and assist and synergize in the best interest of the community, there is a common belief that every child can and will lead with their strengths, there is an empowerment that we did not see previously as children create their own opportunities to lead and succeed, and there is a general feeling that this family of learners can achieve anything they put their minds to.
Want to hear from our students about how The Leader in Me has affected them? Watch the video below.
Parent training will begin soon for those that would like to bridge this teaching from school to home. Please contact our parent trainers for more information: meredith.larison@boone.kyschools.us, susan.alig2@boone.kyschools.us, stacie.kegley@boone.kyschools.us, or brittany.pendleton@boone.kyschools.us
State Testing Window May 9-15
Habits 101...Scroll Below
This Week's Events
MONDAY
- Monday Morning Meeting
- CLUB DAY
- ESS after school 1st grade Reading, 3rd grade Reading/Math
- Monday Morning Meeting Skit Crew after school until 4:30
- Kindergarten Registration 4-7pm
TUESDAY
- Strings before school
- ESS: 2nd grade reading and math, 4th grade math, and 5th grade reading
- Girls on the Run after school
WEDNESDAY
- Girls on the Run after school
- Dental Smiles at school all day for appointments
- ESS: 1st grade reading, 3rd grade reading and math
- LB Chorale before school
THURSDAY
- ESS: 2nd grade reading and math, 4th grade math, and 5th grade reading
- Strings before school
FRIDAY
- LB Chorale Before School
- Gym in use 5:30-7pm
- Reality Store for 5th grade
WEEKEND
Parent Leadership Information and Events
Spring Carnival Plans are Underway!
We will be hosting a Spring Carnival at Longbranch on Saturday April 29th!
Planning is underway but we would love more help! We need people to help with games/booths, food, decorating & signage, prizes, clean up, supplies and SO much more!
Please contact amanda.scroggin24@gmail.com for questions or if you’d like to help with the event!
Yearbook Photos
WE NEED YOUR PHOTOS!
If you’d like to make sure your child and his/her activities at Longbranch make it in the yearbook for this year, then please send your photos to us!
Our yearbook coordinator cannot be at all the awesome events that go on with our students throughout the year and needs your help in making sure we get a large variety of kids and activities included in the book!
Please email photos that you would like to submit for possible inclusion in the yearbook, along with the names and grade of the students in each picture, to longbranchyearbook@gmail.com. If you would rather send them in another format that is fine too!
Any questions, contact the VP of Communications, Rachel Pearson, at communications.longbranchpta@gmail.com.
Support Longbranch when you Shop on Amazon!
Support Longbranch while you shop by shopping at AmazonSmile!
Go to smile.amazon.com to create your account,
search for "Longbranch Elementary PTA" as your
organization, and .5% of your purchase goes back to the school!
Amazon will donate 0.5% of your purchase
to Longbranch Elementary PTA.
Support us every time you shop!
AmazonSmile is the same Amazon you know!
Same products, same prices, same service
Questions? Need help logging in?
Contact: waysandmeans.longbranchpta@gmail.com
Kroger Cards Help Generate BIG MONEY for Our School
Kroger donates 4% of all money you spend after you scan your Kroger Plus card as long as you connect the Plus card to our Longbranch PTA account.
If 400 families connected their cards and spent $100 a week at Kroger, each family would make $4 per week. That's $1600 a week. That's $19,000 a quarter. That's unreal. That's plain and simple easy money.
We encourage you to visit Kroger.com and create an account. Click Community Rewards. Search for Longbranch and connect your plus card with Longbranch PTA. It's the EASIEST fundraiser you'll ever participate in, period.
7 Habits 101
Be Proactive
LOOKS LIKE: Getting ready for school on their own without adult prompting, doing their homework without being asked, performing tasks around the house that need to be done without being asked.
Begin With the End in Mind
LOOKS LIKE: Determining that there's something they want to buy and setting up a system to make sure they save weekly to be able to buy it or knowing they have a project due in 3 weeks and keeping up with the work that needs to be done throughout the 3 weeks so the goal is accomplished.
Put First Things First
LOOKS LIKE: Putting work before play. Being able to prioritize the tasks that MUST be done vs. the tasks that are optional. They do household chores before they play x-box or they practice piano before they go to a friend's house.
Think Win-Win
LOOKS LIKE: Students are in a small group working on a science experiment. Katie wants to create a test with one set of materials. Braden wants to create a test with a different set of materials. They decide to try both and see which one is the best set of materials rather than Braden getting his way or Katie getting her way. Students who think win-win are working on a broader habit of recognizing that everyone's voice matters and acknowledging that there can be another perspective or vantage point other than their own.
Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
LOOKS LIKE: When in a group, a student demonstrating this habit will be actively listening to other students' input to a conversation and then will take time to assert their viewpoint. A student who demonstrates this habit is not a student who never asserts him or herself. Rather, they wait respectfully to hear others' perspectives before asserting himself or herself. This allows the individual to really create a stronger understanding of their own opinion through the eyes and minds of others.
Synergize
LOOKS LIKE: 5 students working on a group project all inputting equally into a conversation about how to complete a task, dividing up the task based on their strengths, allowing one another to contribute to all parts of the task, and having an outcome that is superior to what would have been accomplished had they all 5 completed the task alone.
Sharpen the Saw!
LOOKS LIKE: From an adult perspective, you take time daily to mediate, walk the dog, read for enjoyment, attend a painting class, play an instrument, run with a friend, etc. Daily you or your child participate in something that brings you joy and balance to your life. Did you just say, "I don't have time for that"? You don't NOT have time for that. There's very solid research that would tell you that if you do this daily, your productivity will skyrocket.
Spring Events
April 3: Star Spring Benchmark Window Opens and 2nd Grade to the Nature Center
April 6: Lifetouch Spring Pictures
April 7: Spirit Day: Flip Flop Friday and Popcorn Friday
April 10-14: Spring Break
April 19: 2nd Grade to the Nature Center
April 20: School Board Meeting at 7:30pm and Kona Ice Day
April 24: Club Day
April 26: Administrative Professionals Day
April 28: 1st Grade to the Zoo
May 2 and 4: Student Led Conferences
May 5: Spirit Day--Hat Day and Popcorn Friday and 5th Grade Lock In
May 8: Jim Basketball Jones Assembly!
May 9: SBDM at 4:30 and Boone County Honor Choir at Erpenbeck at 6pm
May 9-15: State Testing Window
May 11: School Board Meeting
May 12: Kona Ice Day
May 18: Florence Freedom Night
May 19: WIG Celebration Day
May 24: Last Day for Students and Spirit Day: Sign My Shirt Day and 5th Grade Promotion (tentative)
*The final day of school is tentatively May 24th for students. This is pending approval by the school board at the March or April board meeting. To date, we have missed 1 full day and three 2-hour delays due to inclement weather. This may adjust the final day of school.
*After the board has established the official last day of school, we will work with our feeder middle schools and high school to establish a 5th grade promotion night, a Kindergarten celebration of learning event, staff vs. student basketball game, 5th grade lock in, and field days.
Our W.I.G.s (Wildly Important Goals) for 2016-2017
Updated 12/2016
ATTENDANCE: From 96.97% in December to 97% average daily attendance by March 15, 2017.
Current: 96.97%
MATH:
2nd grade: Raise the average percentile rank for 2nd grade students from 59th percentile to the 70th percentile of the nation by May 2017.
3rd-5th grade: Raise the average percentile rank for 3rd-5th grade students from 73rd percentile to the 80th percentile of the nation by May 2017.
Winter Checkup for 3rd-5th Math:
- 3rd Grade: 78th percentile
- 4th Grade: 80th percentile
- 5th Grade: 81st percentile
READING:
Raise the average percentile rank for all students from 55th percentile to the 65th percentile of the nation by May 2017.
Winter Checkup for Reading:
- K and 1st Grade: Not measured by percentiles
- 2nd Grade: 67th percentile
- 3rd Grade: 69th percentile
- 4th Grade: 66th percentile
- 5th Grade: 64th percentile