Liberty Link
November 4, 2022
Our kids had a great week that started out with a bang as we had our first holiday party of the year. Thanks to those parents that helped out with the planning and preparation! Our kids were also able to participate in the reading incentive pumpkin drop, and that was a lot of fun for all of us!
This upcoming week, we will have our first official e-learning day on the same day as our parent-teacher conferences. I am hopeful that I will see many of you here to participate. Although most conferences are just 15 minutes long, it seems that we are able to connect so much better with a conversation than an email or Dojo message. Please come prepared with questions and concerns for your child's teacher, and feel free to contact me if you would like to speak with me, as well.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. Heidi Hennigar
219-983-3650
Parent-Teacher Conferences & E-Learning
- Parent-Teacher Conferences are scheduled from 11-7 on November 8th. The students will have an e-learning day with two half-hour chunks of time set aside for 'office hours'. This way, students can reach out to teachers with questions or difficulties.
- Office hours for students are from 11:00-11:30 and 2:30-3:00. If you have questions about the e-learning assignments, this is the time that teachers will be able to communicate with you/ your students.
- Please know that we have a pretty tight schedule- if your conference seems to be running long, the teacher may ask you to pause and schedule a follow up conference at another time. This is important to be aware of, so that we can be respectful of the time constraints of all of our Liberty families.
Calling All Veterans!
Veterans Day Attendees:
Please know that all visitors will be required to be scanned through our Raptor system with their ID. To expedite this process, veterans/ parents who are attending may come in at any time next week to have their license pre-scanned. That way, they will not need to wait in the Raptor line (which will likely be quite long). They will simply give their name, we will see that they've been pre-scanned, and we will give them a sticker and send them in to the gym. If those attending are unable to come in prior to Friday, please just note that there will likely be a line and it will take some time to get in and seated. I recommend coming early. Doors open to the gym thirty minutes prior to the performances.
RSVPs
Veterans Day RSVPs went out last week. If you plan to attend, please let us know by returning that. Part of our program will be honoring veteran family members of our Liberty students. To help us facilitate this, we are requesting that you send a photo of a past or present veteran so that we may include it in our presentation. Please email photos to our Music teacher, Mrs. Smith. Thank you in advance for your help!
While we understand that many families would like to attend the Veterans Day program, our primary audience is veterans. There will be seating for all veterans attending but will otherwise be limited. This event will be live streamed on our PTO Facebook page!
Email: Lsmith@duneland.k12.in.us
The School Directory is Here!
Please click the button below to access our school directory. Additionally, double check your information here so that you can let our PTO know if edits need to be made. They can be contacted @ pto4les@gmail.com.
Snapshots of School Happenings
Pumpkin Drop Fun
Halloween Parade
PTO Updates
Upcoming PTO & School Events
Nov. 7
- Picture Re-takes
- Food Drive Begins
- PTO Rise & Roll Orders ($$) due (new due date)
Nov. 8
- E-Learning Day; Office hours 11:00-11:30, 2:30-3:00
- Parent-Teacher Conferences 11-7
Nov. 9
- Book Fair begins! Students shop @ school
Nov. 11th
- Veterans Day Programs
- Kindergarten, 1st & 2nd grade @ 10:00 a.m.
- 3rd & 4th grade @ 1:15 p.m.
- Winter Card Contest Submissions Due (see info below)
- Texas Roadhouse Gift Card Fundraiser begins
Nov. 17th
- PTO Rise & Roll Drive Thru Pick Up (Time TBD)
- Last Day for Food Drive
Nov. 18th
- ROAR Assemblies
Nov. 23rd-Nov. 25th
- Thanksgiving Break
Dec. 3rd & 4th
- Parents' Night Out- Excelsior Karate
Get involved!
Your PTO Officers:
President: Mandee Pollock
Co-Vice President: Mike Myers
Co-Vice President: Nicole Forsythe
Secretary: Amber Andrews
Treasurer: Jessica Decker
Interested in getting involved? Contact them!
Picture Retakes
Picture Day is: November 7, 2022
Order Code is: 69583J
Your link to order is: https://inter-state.com/FlyerEntry/69583J
Check out our November Reading Challenge!
Reminder
Parents who are picking up their child or dropping something off for their child must present a driver's license or state ID to our office staff in order to do so. If a parent is sending someone else to pick up their student or drop something off for them, they must not only present identification, they must also be on the list in Skyward as family or an emergency contact. This is also the case for attending any class parties.
Halloween Pumpkin Decorating Winners
Our families came out BIG TIME to participate in the Halloween Pumpkin Decorating contest! The winners of the contest are shown below. Thank you to all who participated and all of our staff and students who voted, as well as Mrs. Costa, who organized this great activity!
1st Place- Liam
Book: Star Wars
2nd Place- Milly
Book: If You Give a Dog a Donut
3rd Place- Monroe
Book: Magic Tree House
4th Place- James
Book: Harry Potter
5th Place (tie)- Hendrex
Book: Spiderman
5th Place (tie)- Colyn
Book: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Lunch this Week
- Monday: Hot dog on a bun, baked beans, broccoli w/cheese and a cookie
- Tuesday: E-Learning Day
- Wednesday: Mac and Cheese, Buttered Carrots, Fresh Veggies w/Dip
- Thursday: Popcorn Chicken w/Dipping Sauce, Tator Tots, Grape Tomatoes w/Dip
- Friday: Bosco Sticks, Marinara Sauce, Seasoned Corn
Staff Spotlight: Miss Atkinson
Ms. Atkinson is our instructional coach here at Liberty. Not everyone knows what an instructional coach does, but she is a vital member of our staff! An instructional coach is a type of educator who supports teachers and staff members. Her goal is to help students be successful! Her job is very exciting - sometimes she meets with teachers and discusses students’ learning, sometimes she helps teachers plan lessons, sometimes she teaches lessons with teachers in their classrooms. You might also find her working with a group of teachers to create curriculum or hosting a training session on a type of teaching strategy. Sometimes she even researches different ways to teach skills or attends workshops and conferences so that she can share the information with the teachers and staff here at Liberty!
In her downtime, Miss Atkinson loves to read, garden, and shop. She also loves to try new things! She is currently working on a diamond painting of Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night. You might also find her spending time with cats (her favorite animal) or eating her favorite Vietnamese dishes, like phở, bún, and bánh mì.
Miss Atkinson's favorite school memory was recess! Her elementary school had a huge playground, and they got to go tubing on a giant hill near the playground at recess time. It was a great memory she still holds with her to this day!
Those of us who are lucky enough to work with Miss Atkinson feel that her favorite quote, "Progress over perfection," exemplifies the way that she works with our entire staff. She is a wealth of knowledge, but always makes us feel good for the progress we make, not put down for the areas in which we need to improve. She is truly an unsung hero here at Liberty!
Art To Remember
THANK YOU to all who participated in Art To Remember this year. Here is some information about current orders or if you would like to make an order.
Liberty Elementary's main order has closed and they are beginning to create the keepsake products. If orders are shipping to the school, I will package them up and send them home with your student when they arrive.
Parents who are shipping orders to their home will be notified when their order has shipped.
We are accepting late orders and they will be shipped to home. You still have time to upload a new piece of art and get custom holiday gifts. (late orders end 12/31)
Arttoremember.com
search by using your child's first name and last Initial.
Thank you again for supporting your child's visual art experience here at Liberty.
Miss Rose
Family Friendly Schools
In keeping with our Core Values, Duneland School Corporation is committed to fostering partnerships to improve the quality of life in our community. One of our most important partnerships is with our families. As we strive to continue to build upon and strengthen our family partnerships, DSC is applying for renewal from the Indiana Department of Education as an IDOE “Family Friendly Schools” corporation. In doing so, we will continue to “focus on addressing students' academic, physical, emotional, and social needs while providing the needed resources and fostering the active involvement of their families through schools and the community.” (Indiana Department of Education Family Friendly Schools Handbook)
Please help us as we continue to support our students and community by completing the IDOE online survey by November 18, 2022.
SURVEY LINK AND INSTRUCTIONS:
Website: https://form.jotform.com/210636394920961
School Name: 6823 Liberty Elementary School
School Corporation: 6470 Duneland School Corporation
School Liaison Name: JENNIFER BYE
School Liaison email: jbye@duneland.k12.in.us
Your ongoing support in educating the children of our community is greatly appreciated!
Lost & Found
We will place the lost & found cart near the front entrance at conference time, then donate the remaining items.
Information from previous newsletters
Winter Card Contest
The Duneland School Corporation will again host a Winter Card Contest for Duneland School students in grades K-8. Contest submissions are due on Friday, November 11. Winners from each grade level will be notified and invited to the Dec. 5 school board meeting to be recognized and awarded. Eligibility and rules for the contest are listed under district announcements on the Duneland website and are posted in the district’s newsletter DuneNews. All submissions are due to their respective school’s main office on or before the end of the school day on Nov. 11.
E-Learning Updates
Unexpected/ Unplanned E-Learning Days
Pre-planned E-Learning Days
We currently have two days on our school calendar in which students are scheduled to have an e-learning day: November 8 & May 3. Teachers will have blocks of time available for 'office hours', where they will be available to students for questions, but the majority of this day the students will be completing Canvas activities on their own. Teachers generally have professional development scheduled on these days, so they are not available all day long. This method of instruction is referred to as asynchronous. I have linked the guidelines and differences between the two of these days below.
DuneNews
The goal of the Duneland School Corporation district school newsletters is to inform students, parents and the school community about school-related information.
This year, the Duneland Schools will share information that pertains to opportunities our students may be interested in outside of school on a special page on our website. These available opportunities are offered by not-for-profit partnerships and organizations within our school district boundaries and local communities. Follow this link to Community Opportunities.
Liberty Elementary School
Website: https://www.duneland.k12.in.us/liberty
Location: 50-1 West 900 North, Chesterton, IN, USA
Phone: 219-983-3650
Facebook: Liberty Elementary