WEEKLY WONDERS

“Joy, feeling one's own value, being appreciated and loved by others, feeling useful and capable of production are all factors of enormous value for the human soul.” - Dr. Maria Montessori

Pictured above: The billboard in the front foyer where teachers and students have written what brings them joy.

Pictured below: Students create herbal ornaments last Saturday. Special thanks to community member, Janie Brodhead, for donating the supplies.

Important Dates

December 19-January 2- Winter Break

January 3- Staff Planning Day- No school for students!

January 4- Beginning of Third 9-Week Period

January 16- MLK Jr. Day- No School!

January 21- SCCPSS Student Success Expo

January 21- Choice Program Application Window Opens

View the SCCPSS Academic calendar at this link.

View the SCCPSS Assessment calendar at this link.

Ellis Spirit Night at the Savannah Bananas

Ellis will go Bananas early this year! Join us on February 25th, 2023 as the Bananas take on the Party Animals.

Bananas tickets are great holiday gifts, and they are available for purchase now at this link. All proceeds from ticket sales with this link will go to the Ellis PTA.

Lost & Found

Upper El students in technology class photographed and organized nearly 100 pieces of clothing that were left on the playground or around the school.

Use this link to see the collection.

Items may be retrieved from the ramp near the Multi-Purpose Room (MPR) when students return from the holiday break.

Hour of Code- Computer Science Week

Students in tech classes from Lower El through Erdkinder participated in several coding activities throughout the month of December. Using Blockly and Java Script, students wrote hundreds of commands and programmed avatars to move, change direction, follow patterns, change color, collect items, draw shapes, and more. Elementary students learned the fundamentals of sequence, loops, conditionals, and events and even a bit of artificial intelligence programming!

When the network was down, students used binary code to weave color-coded loops to hide their initials in coasters they made with a loom.

P.A.G.E. Academic Bowl Team

The P.A.G.E Academic Bowl team of 8 (pictured below) participated in the Regional tournament at Bradwell Institute in Hinesville, Ga. Saturday, December 10, 2022. They did well with a total score of 410 points (5th Place). They had a great educational experience in the head-to-head round robin style tournament of 7 teams including Appling Co. MS, Long Co. MS, Sav. Country Day, Southeast Bulloch MS, St. Francis Xavier and Waycross MS.

Kudos to these students for their commitment and hard work (on a Saturday!).

Make-Up Photo Packets

If your student took make-up photos on October 18th, photo packets have been distributed to their teacher and they should have been sent home with your student.

Please return the packets and/or money (if you wish to purchase any photos) back to school when we return from Winter Break.

Make checks payable to Strawbridge.

If you have questions, contact Ms. Lisa (lisa.odonnell@sccpss.com).

SCCPSS Student Success Expo

Mark your calendar for the SCCPSS Student Success Expo which will be Saturday, January 21st, at the Savannah Civic Center. More information will be sent out directly from the district as the event draws closer.

Applications for the SCCPSS Choice Schools program will also open on this day.

If you have any friends or family members interested in learning more about Ellis, please direct them to the Ellis school website.

Counselors' Corner

This past week, students in years 6, 7, and 8 had the opportunity to visit with representatives from area Choice high schools to learn more about the Choice school process. We held a family Q&A for parents of 8th graders to discuss applying for high school. The choice process begins in January, so for more information, visit http://choice.sccpss.com for dates and criteria.

We wish everyone a peaceful holiday with family and friends. See you in 2023!

Ms. Rebecca, School Counselor, Primary & Lower Elementary

912-395-5470 x71201

tinyurl.com/BookMsRebecca

rebecca.burkhart@sccpss.com

Mr. Wes, School Counselor, Upper Elementary & Erdkinder

912-395-5470 x71243

tinyurl.com/BookMrWesC

wesley.cooper@sccpss.com

Ms. Lauren, School Counseling Intern from Georgia Southern University