Louisville Elementary School
January Newsletter
Louisville Elementary Happenings!
February Parent Teacher Conferences
Our 2nd round of parent teacher conferences are super early this year. The online sign up form is now available at the link below. Time slots will be every 15 minutes starting at 4:30 PM and ending at 8:00 PM. You may sign up for a conference on February 3rd or 5th. Please don't hesitate to contact your child's teacher now if you have any concerns.
Visitor Parking and Our Special Guests
A new addition to our elementary parking lot is five visitor parking spaces just for you! We have painted these spots so that you can come visit us at any time. We request that you refrain from parking in the bus lane. You may still pull up to drop your children off in the morning, but at no time should you be parking there. The visitor spots are for you!
Once inside, we ask that EVERYONE check in with Mrs. Sheehan. We want every Louisville Public Schools visitor to sign in and receive a name tag. This is one of the many ways we strive to keep our children safe on a daily basis. Thank you for your cooperation with parking and checking in!
MAP Growth Celebrations
Our students took the Winter MAP test in December. We were so pleased with each student's effort on these tests. After reviewing the data, we are excited to announce that our students grew 460 points in Science (4th/5th only), 2,540 points in Reading (all grades), 2,116 points in Math (all grades), and 1,107 points in Language (2nd-5th grade only). Our overall growth of 6,223 points is an amazing accomplishment. Everyone deserves the credit for this growth...parents, teachers, and the students themselves all play a part in yearly progress. We will be taking these same tests again in April/May to see what additional growth we can achieve. If you have any questions about individual MAP scores, please feel free to contact your child's teacher.
Kid's Heart Challenge
We are kicking off our Kids Heart Challenge program (formerly Jump Rope for Heart) on January 13th We are thrilled to participate as we work together to raise money for the American Heart Association and learn how nutrition and being active can help us live longer, healthier lives.
Through the Kids Heart Challenge, we are going to talk about three things:
- Habits to keep our hearts healthy
- How we can help others…Meet Finn
- Encourage everyone to take the challenge to adopt one of three healthy habits
This year we are excited to welcome the Heart Heroes to our school. Over the next few weeks, the characters will share important messages about keeping their heart healthy, building self-confidence and helping others. The first step is getting your student registered and taking a challenge. When they register, they will receive their free wristband and join the Heart Heroes!!! If we can get 50% of our students registered to take the challenge our school will receive $500.00 in PE equipment!!!
- Click Here register your student for our Kids Heart Challenge
- Choose your challenge
- MOVE MORE
- BE KIND
- BE READY
- Earn your free glow-in-the-dark Heart Hero wristband
- Download the Kids Heart Challenge app to bring the wristband and any Heart Heroes to life.
Your student can earn the Heart Hero characters and additional gifts by asking friends and family to make donations in the support of the American Heart Association.
Thank you so much for supporting our school and the American Heart Association. Together we can do this!
JANUARY FAMILY CHALLENGE - Do you want to build a snowman? AGAIN!
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday break with your children. I'm super bummed there hasn't been enough snowfall for our snowman challenge, so I've decided to keep the contest going for the month of January. Remember, your snowmen do not have to be made out of snow. I received several entries in December made out of all sorts of materials (marshmallows, popcorn, doughnuts, etc.).
All entries will be judged and a grand prize winning family will receive a $50 gift certificate to THE AMAZING PIZZA MACHINE!
Entries are now due by February 1st. A picture of the winning snowman will be included in the February newsletter. If you entered the December contest, your entries will still count for this challenge.
Happy Building! Make Olaf Proud!
Sincerely,
Mr. Mathis
School Spotlight - Craft Day
All of the elementary school students participated in Craft Day on December 20th. It was an amazing celebration for a wonderful first semester. Students played games, designed two crafts, played BINGO, and decorated and consumed graham crackers. Below you will find a few pictures from this special day.
LOUISVILLE ELEMENTARY LUNCH AND BREAKFAST MENUS
Remember to Dress for the Weather
Counselor's Corner - Mrs. Linda Allen
We will begin guidance activities this month by making goals for both an academic and a behavior area. These will be measurable goals and students will monitor how they are doing by checking in every month.
The article below from https://blog.edmentum.com/6-parent-tips-setting-goals-your-child lists great information on how to go about setting goals. It works great for the adults in the family to also make a goal so children can see the positives and difficulties that can arise with goals.
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Parent Tips on Setting Goals with Your Child
In an age where instant gratification reigns and the virtues of perseverance and steadfastness seem like things of the past, teaching your child the value of setting and achieving goals has become all the more important. While it may seem like a topic for older children, setting goals can actually begin as early as elementary school.
Why start goal setting with your child? There are many benefits to doing so early: it can help teach the value of working hard toward a goal in the future and delaying gratification until getting there. It also teaches children the value of responsibility and time management. With pursuing a goal, children grow in perseverance and develop grit. Lastly, goal setting gives a child greater self-confidence; with every accomplished goal, your child will grow with a sense of accomplishment and have greater confidence in his or her abilities.
Sit down with your child and discuss what kinds of goals he or she wants to accomplish. It doesn’t necessarily have to be something academic; it can be something fun, like learning how to ride a bike! Not sure where to start? Check out the following tips.
Choose a goal that is just out of reach
Goals should be attainable, but they should require some effort. This is so that your child can really push himself or herself to meet a new challenge versus just doing what is comfortable. If your child’s goals seem unrealistic, he or she may attempt the goal and then give up early. Help your child reign it in and decide on a goal that’s more achievable. Note: while it would be great for your child to achieve a goal, if he or she is not able to, at the very least, he or she can learn the process of pursuing a goal. All goals aren’t going to be realized, but that is OK!
Break it down (the 5Ws)
Here’s where the 5 Ws (and how) come in, which will help break down how your child can achieve goals.
What: What does your child want to do?
How: How will your child do it?
When: When will your child do it?
Where: Where will your child do it?
Who: Who are the people that can help?
Why: Why is this goal important for your child?
Here’s an example of setting a goal:
What: Improve in a reading level
How: Get a reading list from school and try to read all the books on it by the end of summer
When: Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 2:00 PM-2:30 PM, read an accelerated book for 30 minutes
Where: At the library
Who: Need parents to drive to the library
Why: Because I want to be able to read above grade level
Breaking down the goal will help make the goal more manageable. Teaching your child how to chunk the goal into more achievable steps is an important skill so that, in the future, large projects, or even loftier goals, won’t seem so out of reach.
Let your child own it
After you have settled on a goal and have helped your child break it down, aid your child in setting up checkpoints to review progress. Perhaps your child can set up a visual board that displays where he or she is in the process, or he or she can make a board that just reminds him or her of the goals that have been set.
Show support and role model for your child
While your child is the main driver of accomplishing a goal, indicate your support. Offer to give advice or guidance as he or she attempts to carry out goals. Sometimes, children need to see the process modeled for them. You can show your child how you would break down a bigger project like reorganizing your garage or even training for a 10K run. Your support and help can encourage your child to persevere with his or her goals.
Reward accomplishments and offer encouragement
Encourage your child with statements that affirm effort and perseverance. Offer rewards along the way to encourage your child as he or she struggles with something difficult. Once your child actually accomplishes the goal, make that time special and memorable. Go out for dinner, or go out for dessert. This helps your child savor a sense of accomplishment and encourages him or her to tackle the next goal.
Reflect and revise
Whether or not your child has accomplished the goal, have a time for him or her to reflect on what went well and what didn't go well. Help your child honestly evaluate himself or herself and learn from the process of pursuing a goal, even if he or she didn’t succeed. As your child processes this, tell him or her that not all endeavors succeed, and encourage him or her by saying that we all can grow from learning from our mistakes. Teach your child not to let initial failures deter him or her.
Ready to start goal setting? Here are some examples of goals that you can work on with your child:
- Memorizing the multiplication table
- Advancing in a reading level
- Learning how to ride a bike
- Learning how to get organized
- Learning how to play an instrument
- Learning a new language
- Running a 5K
- Tying their shoes
- Putting away clean clothes
- Learn all their alphabet
- Making a simple meal once a week
- Whatever your family decides is a goal to work towards.
Mark Your Calendars
Middle of January - Online Enrollment for Students
January 20th - No School for Students
February 3rd and 5th - Parent Teacher Conferences
February 7th - No School
February 14th - Valentine's Day Parties
February 21st - No School
February 26th - No School for Students (we are hosting ECNC Speech)
February 28th - Box Tops are Due
March 6th - No School
March 13th - No School
March 14th - Roll with Me at Leopard Lanes in Bellevue!
March 16th - End of 3rd Quarter
March 27th - Kindergarten Roundup 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM
April 10th-13th - No School
April 23rd - Early Out for Students at 1:00
May 6th - Senior's Last Day
May 9th - Senior Graduation
May 15th - FUN DAY!!
May 19th - Preschool and Kindergarten Graduation
May 21st - Possible Last Day of School
Louisville Lions PTO News
- 1/31: Bunco! Ladies Night @ 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. – Louisville Commons Area. Registration details coming soon.
- 2/3 & 2/5: Parent Teacher Conference Dinners for LPS Staff – Sign Up/Donation Links Available via Facebook mid-January
- 2/14: Valentine’s Day! Let us help you secure your delicious chocolate. More information coming soon.
- 2/28: Box Tops - Keep scanning! Keep clipping! Have you downloaded the app? Be sure to scan all receipts within 14 days for credit to be applied to Louisville Schools. All clipped tops are due by Friday, 2/28.
- 3/14: Roll with Me! A fun filled night for boys Kindergarten and up to test their skills against their mom or special guest. This will be hosted at Leopard Lanes in Bellevue.
PTO INFORMATION
Louisville Elementary School
Email: smathis@lpslions.org
Website: https://louisvilleelementary.weebly.com
Location: 200 West 3rd Street, Louisville, NE, USA
Phone: (402) 234-4215
Twitter: @pride_purple