Dolphin Digest
August 2016 Newsletter
Dear Springfield Plains Family,
Dolphin Up! It’s the year of the Dolphin!
I hope you have found time to rejuvenate and find joy this summer. I hope the kids have found a lot of time to play and even to overcome boredom.
I have had the opportunity to travel to Boyne Mountain, Mackinac Island and to Lake Lure, North Carolina this summer with my wife and three boys. We spent much of July packing up our home of 10 years in White Lake and are proud and excited to be moving into the Clarkston community this fall.
Until then, I am excited to reconnect with kids and families. We will have a Meet the Teacher gathering on August 30 at 2:30 p.m. followed by the PTA sponsored Ice Cream Social outside on our playground. I have two questions kids need to start thinking about and talking to each other about:
What does it mean to be a dolphin?
What is a pod?
The 2016-2017 school year will continue to embrace the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People with Leader in Me through Clarkston’s Culture and our culture of thinking. We will aim to dig deeper to understand and effectively relate and utilize the habits in our learning and our daily lives. We’ll spend some time thinking about grit and how our own passion and perseverance can create our successes in life. We will also read good books, write strong opinions and stories, we will calculate and reason with our new math curriculum, we will laugh, we will have fun, we might even cry sometimes. We will play and we will even take a break for lunch.
Our kids are empowered thinkers, empowered learners and empowered leaders. Most importantly, kids are loved at Springfield Plains Elementary.
Yours in Learning,
Matthew Gifford, Principal
Important Contact Information
SPE Main Office 248.623.3800, Secretary Karen Postal
Attendance Line 248.623.3890Fax 248.623.3805
Email: kepostal@clarkston.k12.mi.us
Website: www.clarkston.k12.mi.us/schools/SPE
Location: 8650 Holcomb Road, Clarkston, MI 48348, United States
Phone: 248.623.3800
Summer Office Hours
Summer Office Hours:
August: 7:30 - 3:00
Please urge anyone who needs to enroll a new student to call the
Central Enrollment office at 248-623-5400 before September 1.
2016-2017 REVISED School Start & End Times
Start of Day:
8:25 a.m. First Bell (students can enter building)8:35 a.m. Tardy Bell
End of Day:
3:45 p.m. Dismissal
CLASSROOM TEACHER ASSIGNMENT
ParentVue - Fall Bus Information & Student Information System
Please make sure you access and set up your account in ParentVue. We need your email adress for school and district communications while we strive to go paperless. You will find your student's bus number and pick up/drop off times for fall toward the end of August. Parents can change phone numbers and add emergency contacts. To access ParentVue:
Go to the Clarkston Schools’ webpage www.clarkston.k12.mi.us
Choose the Resources tab and then select ParentVue
MEET YOUR TEACHER & ICE CREAM SOCIAL
KIDS CONNECTION (Before/after school Care)
DATES TO REMEMBER/FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL TIMELINE
- Monday, September 5 - Labor Day - NO SCHOOL
- Tuesday, September 6 - 1st Half Day of School & Kindergarten Open House. Dismissal at 11:40 a.m.
- Wednesday, September 7 - Grades 1-5 full day, 8:30-3:45. Kindergarten A-L attends full day, M-Z stay home.
- Thursday, September 8 - Kindergarten M-Z attend full day, A-L stay home.
- Friday, September 9 - All students attend full day.
- Thursday, September 15 - Partnership Night - All parents.
Clarkston Community Schools Nutrition Services Department
Students will receive menus the first day of school in their First Day Packet.
Students will have the opportunity to order hot lunch the first full day of school (September 7). Hot lunch is $2.60 and milk is included. Food Service prefers that you send a check for at least one week in advance ($2.60 x 5 = $13), or go online to www.lunchdeposit.com and set up an online account. If paying by check, please make checks payable to Clarkston Community Schools; enclose it in a sealed envelope with your child's full name, grade and teacher. Students may also bring their own lunch to school to be eaten in the school cafeteria. Milk is also sold for 50 cents.
Menus and Free and Reduced lunch forms will be sent home in the students' First Day packets. Lastly, since we are a satellite kitchen, student orders for hot lunch must be placed before 9:30 a.m. In order to receive Choice A, B, or C from the menu. If not, students will receive the "replacement meal" (usually a cheese sandwich).
Thank you, Marla Ernst
MEDICATIONS
If your child needs medication at school, please pick up a form for the doctor and parent to fill out and bring it with medication to the school office. Thank you.
Clarkston Community Schools Student Calendar 2016-17
Please visit the CCS website at www.clarkston.k12.mi.us for a full district calendar. The Springfield Plains website has a calendar with specific school events. Go to www.clarkston.k12.mi.us/schools/Springfield Plains.
2016-2017 PTA Officers
President, Mary Warner
1st Vice President, Kristy Brandon
2nd Vice President, Tracy Bessert
Secretary, Kelsey Jones
Treasurer, Deborah Ego
Asst. Treasurer, April Love
Membership Coordinator, Maggie Benson
Volunteer Coordinator, Janel Sadowski
Homeroom Coordinator, Nichole Kraatz
Ways & Means - Paul Carpentier
Clarkston Community Schools Discrimination Acts
The Clarkston Community Schools, in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and the Americans with Disability Act of 1990, states that it is the policy of the Clarkston Community School District that no person shall, on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or ancestry, age gender, marital status, disability, height, weight, and/or any other legally protected characteristic, be discriminated against, excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subjected to, discrimination in any program or activity for which the Board is responsible or for which it receives financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Education.
If any person believes that the Clarkston Community School District or any part of the school organization is guilty of discrimination as noted above, he/she may bring forward a complaint which should be referred to as a grievance to the following public officials:
Deputy Superintendent (Section 504 Coordinator)
Clarkston Community Schools, 6389 Clarkston Road,
PO Box 1050, Clarkston, MI 48347-1050
(All other inquiries related to discrimination)
Executive Director of Personnel & Auxiliary Services
Clarkston Community Schools, 6389 Clarkston Road