Elm Road Express May 2018
Putting Dreams into Flight
From the Desk of Dr. Soto Kile
I would like to thank the committee chairpersons and all of the volunteers for assisting us in our Screen-Free, VIP Night, Book Fair, and Art Show at Elm Road. We certainly had several nights of fun! Each night was packed with many wonderful family adventures. Our Family Fun Night was also such a success! The proceeds from our Family Fun Night and silent auction will assist the PTO and school in providing many programs and services to students at Elm Road School. The Treat Street will also allow us to support the upcoming Silver Mile sponsored by the Educational Foundation.
I hope to see many of our families at the Silver Mile as well as our upcoming award ceremonies.
Student of the Month
Congratulations to the following
“Eagles” for their wonderful
“SOAR” behavior:
Barnes: Lauren Miller & Eli Neuenschwander
Portolese: Hannah Smith & Matthew Rogers
Renz: Cameron Truman & William Armenteros & Elsie Corn
Bush: Leo Grimm & Kameron Harmon
Clark: Brylan Leffler & Celine Villanueva & Emma Resendez
Hinton: Paul Jaquay & Claire Steif
Taylor: Ella Emmons, Isaiah Stark, and Briar Barrier
Gizewski: Autumn Cole & David Moyer & Angie Maldonado
Richard: Ethan Karnath & Angelica Kousky & Kinley Bortone
Tornquist: Eva Nissley & Eden Poorman
Anderson: Riley Bice & Alivia Dawson
Miller: Makayla Nardini & Max Barnes
Myers: Brogan Oldfather & Kaylie Creighton, & Cameron DeMunck
Pillow: Jacob Pennington & Baylee Ward & Misty Fielder
Cook: Riley Hertel & Olivia Floyd
Fisher: Brody Grounds & Cash Caloni
Keough: Braelyn Clark & Ryleigh Browning & Audrey Nicely
Newcomer: Natalie Guhl & Will Selis
Freeman: Josh Marvin & Jackson Markus
Kertai: Adam Smith & Gabby Matson
Mellor: Brodie Wilder& Link Sandoval & Zac Markus
Shreiner: Addison Nicely & Jayden Fuchs
Dates to Remember
April 30-May 4 - ISTEP testing
April 30-May 4- Screen Free Week/ Spring Book Fair
May 1 - PTO Art Fair/Ice Cream Social 6-8pm
May 3 - Grandparent/Vip Night 6-8pm
May 5 - PHM Silver Mile/ Bubble Bash
May 10- 3rd Grade Mini Mall
May 14 - PTO Meeting 6 pm
May 15 - 4th Grade Music Program 5:30-6:30pm
May 15 - 5th Grade Music Program 7-8pm
May 18 - 2nd Grade to Curious Kid's Museum 9:45-1:30
May 24- 3rd Grade to Bonneyville Mill 9:45-1:30
May 30-June 1 - 5th Grade to Camp Eberhart
May 28 - Recess Day- Memorial Day
June 5- FUN IN THE SUN DAY
June 5 LAST Day of SChool
We are Elm Road Eagles
Website: Elmroad.phmschools.org
Location: 59400 Elm Road, Mishawaka, IN, USA
Phone: (574)259-3743
Twitter: @ElmroadES
Award Ceremonies
Please join us during the upcoming award celebrations.
June 1:
- 1st Gr. 8:30 a.m.
- 3rd Gr. 10:00 a.m.
- 2nd Gr. 12:00 p.m.
June 4:
- Kindergarten 8:30 a.m.
- 5 Gr. 10:00 a.m.
- 4 Gr. 11:15 a.m.
June 5:
- FUN IN THE SUN!
- LAST DAY FOR STUDENTS
Please refrain from bringing in flowers, balloons, etc. This is a distraction to classroom learning, causes hurt feelings, and these items are not allowed to be taken home on the bus.
Lost and Found
We have once again accumulated some items in our lost and found. We encourage families to take a peek at the items outside the office.
Unclaimed items will be removed and donated to a deserving cause once school is over for this year .
Notes from the Office
If you have moved, please update your address with the office. You will need to bring in to the office two proofs of residency: one must be a utility bill (Nipsco or Mishawaka Utilities) and the other one must be a rental, lease or mortgage. Please contact the office if you have any questions.
A note regarding traffic in the morning. Please make certain to only enter our lot from the south during student arrival and dismissal. Please pass this along to anyone who may drop off or pick up your student to and from school. Even if you arrive before or after the buses, please get into the routine of driving in from the south. Not doing so creates a very unsafe and delayed process. We may understand you are in a hurry or running late, but so could everyone else. Please be considerate of the over 150 other families that follow the guidelines that makes things smooth for others. PLEASE DO NOT pass the buses sitting on Elm Road to get into the lot. It is ILLEGAL, unsafe and we have had several near-miss head-on collisions because people are doing this. Stay off your phone, Stay Alert, spend this precious time talking w/ your child! Keep our students and staff safe! Please!
Summer School Dates
June 11 - June 29th
7:30 - 11:00 am
K-4th Graders
Summer School @ Meadow's Edge (Breakfast and Lunch Provided
June 11 - June 29
7:30 - 11:00
5th Graders
Summer School at Schmucker Middle School
June 11 - June 29
8:30 - 12:30
Greetings from the Elm Road Music Room!
Students will be listening to Camille Saint-Saens as their composer of the month. All grades will be preparing a song to perform at their awards ceremonies. Here's a little bit more of what each grade is working on:
1st: Silly Songs using the whole scale
2nd: Sight-Singing Do, Re, Mi, So and La
3rd: Introducing the staff (note names). B-A-G songs
4th: Preparing for May 15th program. Students report to Elm at 5:20 for the 5:30 performance!
5th: Preparing for May 15th program. Students report to Elm at 6:50 for the 7:00 performance!
Library Lines
Our “Paws for Books” Scholastic Book Fair was April 30 - May 4 The Book Fair was open during the evening events on Tuesday and Thursday. Thank you for supporting our school by coming to the Book Fair and purchasing books.
Screen-Free Week is also that week. The goal of Screen-Free Week is to refrain from using screens for entertainment in order to enjoy the rest of the world. Please make it a family project. Less screen time = more time for creative & active play time = more fun, more learning & better health. A lunch bunch celebration for all participants will be held in the Library sometime after May 7.
Our final due date for library books is May 18. Please encourage your students to return their books. If your student has lost a book, please contact me about replacement cost, replacing the book with another book or other options.
The Mishawaka Penn Harris Public Library will be offering a Summer Reading Program beginning in June. Look for details soon.
Thank you to our Library volunteers, you are very much appreciated!
Enjoy the beautiful month of May!
Mrs. Linda Knapp
Youth Service Bureau
5th Grade Transition
This month, I will meet with all the fifth grade students to discuss what they might expect when they make their way to Grissom Middle School next year. If you have a fifth grade student, you may notice they are both excited and nervous… this is completely normal and expected. Next year is going to be a year of growth and exciting new opportunities.
If they are having a difficult time with the transition, please take advantage of times this summer, when they pick up their schedules, to find their way around the building, try out their locker, and hopefully meet some of their new teachers. They will also be going to Grissom this month with their class to visit during the school day.
It’s also a great idea to encourage them to get involved; generally, students who are involved in activities (clubs, sports, etc.) outside of the classroom become more connected to the school community and do better academically.
Important Christ Child Information
Christ Child referral forms should be available soon for the next school year. Christ Child will open again in August 2018. Christ Child is a wonderful organization that helps eligible families with new clothes and winter coats for children 12 and under. In order to see if your family qualifies, please give Mrs. Shell a call to set up an appointment. All information is confidential. Reminder-All students receiving service need to complete the permission slip EACH year.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to give me a call at 259-3743. Thank you! - Mrs. ShellHigh Ability Identification Update
Mrs. Creighton's Reading Corner
Have you ever heard of the Summer Slide? It is a term that describes the loss of skills and material that students experience over the summer months. Essentially, if they don’t use it, they are going to lose it!
By preventing the Summer Slide, your child’s transition back to school in the fall will be much easier. There are many fun activities to help prevent the Summer Slide.
Read- The most important activity is reading. Read to your child, or read with your child. Have them read independently. Listening to audiobooks is a wonderful way for children to enjoy great books. Audiobooks expose children to vocabulary words, and models fluency. Visit the library once a week. Libraries have wonder summer reading programs.
Math Facts- Basic math facts are part of the foundation for math success. Have your child practice math facts with sidewalk chalk or paint.
Word of the Day- Choose a word of the day and write it on a card. Discuss the meaning of the word with your child. Throughout the day see how many times your family can use the word.
Cooking- Invite your child to help you in the kitchen. They will get practice with math skills, as you measure ingredients. Cooking will also help strengthen direction following skills, and literacy skills.
I wish you and your family a safe and relaxing summer break.
Mrs. Donna Creighton
Title I Teacher-Reading Specialist
Gym News
All grade levels have concluded a volleyball unit (bumping, setting, serving, team play, ready position, rotating etc..) The upper grades have also completed the final round of fitness testing. All grade levels have enjoyed learning and participating in a game called “Ga Ga Ball”. Younger grade levels used balloons to work on some hand-eye coordination and volleyball lead up skills and well as throwing and catching various balls. Our focus after skating will be on base sports and using teamwork with the parachute before the end of the year.
All grades are having a blast with our skating unit! There has been such a tremendous amount of progress since day one. We have enjoyed playing the color game, completing an obstacle course on skates, changing directions, practicing backward skating, doing the Chicken Dance, Whip Nae Nae, YMCA and Limbo. A huge thank you to our parent volunteers! They have helped with lacing, tying, organizing and most importantly; helping to keep our skaters safe!!
The fourth and fifth graders have been working hard at practice to participate in this year's “Running is Elementary”. This program will help improve cardiovascular endurance and prepare us to participate in the Silver Mile 5K or 10K run at Penn High School on May 5h.
Our “Fun in the Sun” date is scheduled for Tuesday June 5th Thank you to all parents that are interested in helping lead a station. If the weather does not cooperate we will hold our event inside on this date. More information will come home soon with those parents that returned volunteer slips!
Our Jumpin’ Eagles team will be performing at Elm Road on May 9th and 11th for our student body and staff members. On May 23rd, we will be traveling to a few elementary schools in the area to perform.
Our top thirty runners that accumulated the most miles during 4/5th grade recess will be rewarded with a trip to Sky Zone on May 24th Permission slips will be going home on May 21st. Thank you to our dedicated volunteers for helping count miles at recess on Wednesdays and Thursdays. (Mrs. Zumbrun, Mrs. Werntz, and Mrs. Smith)
Things to do this Summer
Individual P-H-M Camp information: https://www.phmschools.org/community-events-activities