Horizon Highlights
Seeing 2020: Building Future-Focused Learners
Dear Horizon Families,
We are in full swing of things at Horizon. The year has had a smooth start and our students are learning every day. This newsletter is a little longer than normal as we have a lot of information to share.
We have 3 big goals at Horizon Elementary:
1. Students come first.
2. Relationships are key. (Relationships with students, staff, parents and our community)
3. We desire academic success and growth for all.
We invite you to be partners in all that we do. If you have an area of expertise that you would like to share, please reach out to us. Students need to see real-world relevance in what they are doing here. They also need to see themselves as contributors to our community and society. We have amazing kids, so I feel confident that we are in good hands!
We have a few changes to inform you of. We will not be having quarterly assemblies this year for student recognition. We found that it is hard to hear in our gym and our students were struggling to stay focused. Instead, a group of 6th grade students are creating monthly visual announcements. These announcements will highlight our monthly recipients of our PBIS awards and Warrior Awards as well as highlight things going on in our school. Teachers will share these announcements in class, and we will send them home to you and post them on social media. We like that we can recognize more students since we will be doing this monthly rather than quarterly.
We will still have student leadership groups quarterly that will focus on passion projects. Our youngest Warriors (grades K & 1) will go through 7 Habits boot camp on these days as well. More information will come about our leadership groups.
Students are finishing the NWEA benchmark for math, reading and science this week. The results will be shared with you during parent/teacher conferences in October.
Over 180 dads and students from Maple, Horizon, and Eagle Heights attended the WatchDOG information evening at Maple on August 29th. Fathers and father figures volunteering in our schools enhance a sense of security in the building and help support a positive learning environment. We love having our dads and father figures help in our school!
All classes participated in lessons and activities to learn and review school-wide expectations to support our Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS). Tribe tickets are being used to promote student behavior that is respectful, responsible, and in control and safe. Student-informed tribe ticket menus are being used to allow student to cash in their tickets. Today was our first ticket turn-in.
Our theme this year is Seeing 2020-Building Future-Focused Learners. We are kicking off our 2000 Acts of Kindness campaign this month. We are on the lookout for individuals who are demonstrating kindness throughout the day. Mrs. Wilson, our behavior interventionist, is also putting together a display with pictures of each student and their vision of the future in our back hallway.
We look forward to a wonderful school year!
For Our Kids,
Denise Harwood, Principal
Casey Kuska, Assistant Principal
Important School Day Information
Starting time:
8:45 a.m. (Mon. Tues. Thurs. Fri.)
Students riding in private vehicles to school should arrive no earlier than 8:30 a.m.
*Please do not drop students off earlier than 8:30AM.
9:05 a.m. Late start Wednesdays
Students riding in private vehicles to school should arrive no earlier than 8:50 a.m.
Dismissal time:
3:40 p.m.
Students being picked up by parents and students riding the buses will be dismissed at 3:35 p.m.
Early Childhood: 8:30 – 11:45 AM session. Does NOT operate on Wednesday.
12:25 – 3:40 PM session. Does NOT operate on Wednesday.
Attendance:
To have perfect attendance, a student must be in school each day throughout the school year from 8:45 A.M. until 3:40 P.M. Students who are tardy or who check out early will not qualify for perfect attendance recognition at the end of the school year. Leaving early from field trips and parties will count against perfect attendance at the end of the year.
Visitors:
Please be prepared to sign in with your identification.
Birthday Treats
All food and beverages the district provides or makes available to students during the school day will meet or exceed the Smart Snack nutrition standards. This includes, but is not limited to, foods and beverages provided or made available to students for celebrations, classroom parties and birthdays, regardless of the source of the food. Some classrooms are nut-free classrooms and food-free classrooms due to allergy concerns. Please be considerate of all student needs and abide by these guidelines. The following link will help to determine if a food or product meets the standards set forth: Guide to Smart Snacks in School.
Please consider non-food “treats” as an alternative to celebrate your child’s birthday with his/her class. Ideas include donating a book to the classroom or bringing a pencil for each student.
We recommend working with our school cafeteria to order smart snack approved treats. To do this email remboldj@smithville.k12.mo.us.
Also, please remember that our policy prohibits soft drinks and drinks in glass bottles.
Horizon PTO
This year Horizon is not participating in the Clubs Choice fundraiser that the other buildings are doing. PTO is doing a few other fundraiser instead. For example, PTO will have a spirit shop with Warrior gear. They will be giving the option of direct cash gifts. Third, we will host our own Horizon Running Rampage in the Spring. By hosting our own Fun Run of sorts, we will be able to keep all of the proceeds rather than only 50%.
With the gifts from PTO and the proceeds from our Fun Run, we were able to purchase a chromebook cart and enough chromebooks for 5th grade to be 1:1. We also purchased 10 more iPads for kindergarten. Flexible seating options were added to most classrooms (and to all that requested them). Our teachers were given additional supply money, and PBIS incentives were purchased for our students. This year our big goal is to buy sound panels for our gym. ($21,000) Please attend the PTO meeting for more information.
Please see the flyer below for information about our all school tailgate party. Please use this link to donate items. It's going to be a fun time for our kids!
Important Dates
Sept. 9-13: You Matter Week
Sept. 10: Fight Like a Princess Day (Wear gold & bring a new toy donation)
Sept. 12: Horizon PTO Meeting 6:30 PM
Sept. 13: Fall Picture Day (AM)
Sept. 18: Board of Education Mtg. 7:00 PM
Sept. 19: PTO label pick-up
Sept. 20: PTO Tailgate Party @ HES Parking Lot 5:00-7:00 PM
Sept. 23: Clay County Dental Health Screenings
Sept. 24: Curriculum Camp and A Day in the Life of K 5:30-7:00 PM
Sept. 27: Homecoming - Early Dismissal 1:00 PM
Sept. 30: NO SCHOOL - Teachers’ Meetings
Oct. 2: National Custodian Appreciation Day
* Every Wednesday is a Late Start (Arrival 8:50 AM, school begins 9:05 AM , NO EC classes)*
News From Encore
Art - Mrs. Way
Hello, Horizon Families! You should have received an email from a website called Artsonia, which is an online art portfolio that we will be using this year. Artsonia has the added bonus on being a fundraiser for our art program, and giving you the opportunity to purchase items that have your student’s artwork on them! Please make sure to follow the email to provide your student permission to upload their artwork.
Our art room follows a teaching philosophy called TAB. TAB (or Teaching for Artistic Behavior) provides student choice and autonomy in their art, while still providing them with a large toolbox of skills and techniques. This art is completely student-generated, so you may initially see a change in student art, since a big emphasis is placed on process, technique, idea generation, and expression. Remember that this work is completely generated by your child, and not coming from the mind of an adult.
Please follow my art room page on social media to see what we've been up to in art class. You can follow me at Way Wonderful Art (on Facebook) or way.wonderful.art (on Instagram).
If you are looking for ways to support our art program and your child's art education, keep an eye out for our Donors Choose fundraiser to raise money so that our students have an opportunity to use more clay this year. If you have any items lying around the house that you'd like to contribute to the art room, we are looking for donated materials such as paper towel rolls, fabric, embroidery hoops, envelopes, plastic bottle caps, beads, and embroidery thread.
Thanks, and I’m so excited to work with your students this year!
Music - Mrs. Phipps
PE - Coach Barker
Innovation Lab - Mrs. Scheibe
In Innovation Lab we have been working very hard on learning expectations, seeking feedback, and having a growth mindset. As always we welcome any recyclables you have around the house for Innovation Lab. You would be surprised how many items we go through with 7 grade levels!
Library - Mrs. Sumerall
What a great start to the school year! All of the classes have been to the library and checked out books. I love it when kids are excited about reading!
If your child came home last week and talked about becoming “Totally Twain,” let me explain this reading incentive. The Mark Twain Award is geared, but not limited, to students in grades 4-6. If students want to become Totally Twain they need to read all 12 books on the 2019-2020 nominee list and pass a multiple choice quiz. Books may be obtained from the school library or MCPL. When a student finishes a book they need to come and ask me for a copy of the quiz. Students have until April 30th to complete all 12 books. A list of this year’s titles can be found at https://maslonline.org/2019-2020-masl-readers-awards-final-nominees/ just scroll down until you come to the Mark Twain list.
On October 25th, students in Grades 1-3 will have the opportunity to hear the author, Jody Jensen Shaffer. Ms. Shaffer’s book, “Prudence the Part-Time Cow,” is on the 2019-2020 Show Me Award nominee list. If you would like to order one of Ms. Shaffer’s books, which will be autographed on the day of her visit, be watching for information to come home with your child.
Happy reading and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Counselor - Mrs. Boyd
Horizon Elementary
Email: harwoodd@smithville.k12.mo.us
Website: www.smithvilleschooldistrict.net/Domain/10
Location: 695 South Commercial Avenue, Smithville, MO, USA
Phone: (816)532-4566
Facebook: facebook.com/HorizonElementary
Twitter: @HrznWarriors