Monday Morning Message
September 5, 2022
About Us: Rainbow Elementary School
Principal: Mrs. Maria Stauffer
Assistant Principal: Mr. Jeff Kuciapinski
Attendance Office: (rbattendance@casdschools.org).
The mission of the Coatesville Area School District, rich in diversity and committed to excellence, is to create innovative educational experiences, which are funded by the taxpayers, supported by the community, delivered by dedicated teachers and administrators, to ensure all students will become responsible, contributing global citizens.
Research shows that attendance is critical to student achievement. We want to emphasize the importance of your student’s attendance in both a virtual setting and a brick and mortar setting. If your student is absent or you plan for your student to have an early dismissal, please email excuse notes to rbattendance@casdschools.org within three days of the absence.
Email: staufferm@casdschools.org
Website: https://www.casdschools.org/rainbow
Location: 1113 West Lincoln Highway, Coatesville, PA, USA
Phone: (610) 383-3780
Facebook: facebook.com/coatesvilleSD/
Twitter: @CASDRainbow
A Message from Mrs. Stauffer
We had a wonderfully exciting first week of school! The school was vibrant again with students’ cheerfulness. The credit of this wonderful start surely goes to the entire Rainbow team- our teachers, our secretaries, our counselors, our custodians, our school nurse, our cafeteria staff and service providers as they have been working diligently to start the year. Our entire staff is committed to providing a positive and safe learning environment for all of our students.
We will celebrate Patriot's Day on Friday, September 9th. by wearing red, white, and blue and an assembly at our flagpole to commemorate the lives that were lost and to celebrate the heroes who risked their lives saving others.
Help us celebrate the start of the school year, by joining us for Rainbow Camp Read-A-Lot on Thursday, September 22nd from 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm! See below for more information!
If you have not paid your child’s Technology Insurance Fee (TIF) you may submit a payment through RevTrak https://coatesvillearea.revtrak.net/casd-technology/. If you are paying the TIF through RevTrak please email a copy of your receipt to alessandroc@casdschools.org so your child can take his/her Chromebook home.
If you prefer to pay in cash, please come to Rainbow’s main office to make a payment. Payments are accepted Monday-Friday from 10:00am-2:30pm. Please DO NOT send cash payments into school with your student.
Fees are as follows: $40 for one student, $80 for two students, or $100 for three or more students. The TIF is an annual fee that families will need to pay each school year. Please understand that Chromebooks will not be permitted to go home with students until the TIF is paid
Kind Regards,
Mrs Stauffer
Rainbow Students Follow the Wildcat Code!
1.Be respectful
2. Be responsible
3. Be safe
September Lunch Menu
Rainbow Camp Read-A-Lot
To celebrate the start of the school year, join us for Rainbow Camp Read-A-Lot on Thursday, September 22nd from 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm! During our fun filled evening, your family will have the opportunity to read under the stars, go fishing for words, make puppets, play games, and enjoy smores! All families will receive a free book! To join us, please sign up using the link below!
Update from Rainbow's Instrumental Music Department
If your student participated in band or orchestra last year, they already signed up for lessons for the '22-'23 school year! If your student would like to change their instrument this year, then you will receive communication from Ms. Dulaney about next steps in the coming weeks.
Students in 4th and 5th grade who are interested in joining the band or orchestra will have the opportunity to test out and choose an instrument in the first two weeks of the school year. Once every student has chosen their instrument, you will receive information from Ms. Dulaney including their instrument choice, how instrument lessons work, and more! This will include a permission slip to be signed and returned before they can start their lessons. Instrumental music is a fantastic way to get your child involved in their school and is proven to help students in other topics such as reading, math, science.
If your student participated in band or orchestra last year, then they already signed up for lessons for the '22-'23 school year! Ms. Dulaney does not need anything from you in order for them to continue this year! If your student would like to change their instrument this year, then you will receive communication from Ms. Dulaney about next steps in the coming weeks. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to Ms. Dulaney at dulaneya@casdschools.org
Lexia Core 5
This year, your child will be using Lexia® Core5® Reading—a fun, computer-based program that has helped millions of students improve their literacy skills. The activities in Core5 support and build on your child’s classroom curriculum and focus on developing reading skills in six areas: phonological awareness, phonics, structural analysis, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.We will welcome parent feedback as the year progresses. Please see the PDF below for more information
Healthy Kids Running at Rainbow
Message from the School Nurse
CASD 2022-2023 Elementary Code of Student Conduct
Title Information
Your child attends Rainbow Elementary School, which receives Federal Title I funds to assist students in meeting state achievement standards. Throughout the school year, we will be providing you with important information about this law and your child’s education. Please review the attachments informing you about your right to request information about the qualifications of the classroom staff working with your child.
In Case you Missed it!
Free Breakfast and Lunch
A few important reminders are listed below.
- School times are 9:15 am -3:45pm. During the first week of school, we expect the traffic to take longer and appreciate your patience to drive slowly and carefully in the school zone. Please remember to remain in your vehicle when dropping students off and picking students up from school.
- Main Office Hours: The main office hours are 8:00 am -4:30 pm.
- Early Dismissal: A note/email should be sent in the morning to RBattendance@casdschools.org The note for early dismissals should contain:
Student Name/Teacher/Date and Time of Dismissal/Reason/Name of Adult picking up and relationship/Parent Signature and parent daytime phone#
All early dismissals should be completed at the main office by 3:00. Students must be signed out. Dismissals after 3:15 will be in the parent pickup line.
The adult picking up must bring a government issued Photo ID (preferably a driver’s license).
Refillable water bottles:Rainbow has transitioned to bottle filling stations. Water fountains have been turned off. Students should bring a refillable water bottle to school..
Transportation: A nationwide bus driver shortage is impacting many districts, including Coatesville, and may lead to increased delays. Buses normally run late the first two weeks of school as students and drivers become accustomed to their routes. We appreciate your patience. If your student is riding the bus, please have them at the bus stop 10 minutes prior to the arrival of the bus.
Parent-Pick-Up Notes: Thank you for having patience with us as we work to make our afternoon dismissal more efficient. Please help up with this by sending a parent pick up note into school with your student. You may send in a handwritten note or download and print the form below.
Message About Birthday Treats
At Rainbow Elementary, we enjoy honoring students on their birthday. Please know that you do not have to send treats or gifts with your child on his or her birthday. Teachers take great pride in making your child feel special on their birthday. If you do feel the need to send something for your child to enjoy with her or his classmates, please follow the birthday guidelines below.
Treats must be peanut free and store bought. Please do not send sheet cakes for your child’s birthday treat. Individually wrapped Items such as pencils, stickers, etc. are acceptable too and last longer than edible treats
Coatesville Area School District District-wide Multi-tiered Disciplinary Support Structure
ALICE
The CASD like every district in the nation, has spent a lot of time examining school safety and security, and the district has made investments to help ensure a secure, nurturing learning environment.
The district will roll out ALICE to all staff. ALICE (which stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter, evacuate), is a training method that teaches techniques that can reduce injuries and casualties in the event of a serious incident. Students will be introduced to safety drills in an age-appropriate manner.
ALICE empowers staff and students to make informed decisions about how to best ensure their own safety during a serious incident.
Rainbow places the highest priority on keeping our students and staff safe. While we hope that our community never has to utilize this training, it is important for us to be prepared.
Zones of Regulation
This year, your child will be participating in the Zones of Regulation social-emotional learning curriculum. The goal of the curriculum is to teach children about self-regulation and how to strengthen their self-regulation skills. Self-regulation can go by many names such as self-control, self-management, and impulse control. Self-regulation is an essential skill in life and in all learning environments. Children who can regulate their emotions and attention are better ready to learn and thrive.
The lessons and learning activities are designed to help the students recognize when they are in the different Zones as well as learn how to use strategies to change or stay in the Zone they are in. In addition to addressing self-regulation, the students will gain an increased vocabulary of emotional terms, skills in reading other people’s facial expressions, perspective about how others see and react to their behavior, insight into events that trigger their behavior, calming and alerting strategies, and problem-solving skills.
Zones of Regulation groups the ways that children feel and act into four “Zones”.
Blue Zone—when your body is running slowly, such as when you are tired, sick, sad, or bored.
Green Zone—when you are “good to go.” You feel happy, calm, and focused.
Yellow Zone—when you feel your engine running high, such as when you are frustrated, overwhelmed, silly, wiggly, excited, worried, anxious, or surprised.
Red Zone— when you have “have extreme feelings such as terror, uncontrolled anger, aggression, or elation.
In the first half of the curriculum, students will learn about how their emotions and attention are connected, and then how to recognize emotions and attention in themselves and classmates. They learn that they move through their Zones throughout the day, and that they can improve their control over their Zones through practice.
The second half of Zones of Regulation curriculum, teaches students about tools for changing from one Zone to another, and encourages each child to build a repertoire of self-regulation tools. The goal of the curriculum is for children to gradually become more able to call upon their toolkit, rather than needing adults to regulate them.
Information, including this letter, regarding Zones of Regulation can be found on Rainbow’s website and teachers’ Canvas pages. It is very important to know that no Zone is “bad” or “naughty.” All of the Zones are expected at one time or another. As the curriculum progresses, children will practice identifying what Zone is expected, and how to change Zones to better match their levels of alertness and emotions to their situation.
A critical aspect of this curriculum is that all team members know and understand “The Zones language”. This creates a comfortable and supportive environment for the student to practice his or her self-regulation skills. It also helps the student learn the skills more quickly and be more likely to apply them in many situations. You can support your student at home during this process by doing the following.
Using the language and talk about the concepts of The Zones.
Helping your child gain awareness of his or her Zones and feelings by pointing out your observations.
Validating what Zone your students are in and help them brainstorm expected ways to self-regulate so their behavior is expected for the context.
Helping your child become comfortable using the language to communicate his or her feelings and needs by encouraging the student to share his or her Zone with you.
Asking your child to frequently share his or her Zones Folder with you and talk about what he or she has learned.
Acadience Universal Screener
Over the next few weeks, our staff will be meeting individually with each student to complete a brief assessment as a progress check on students’ reading skills by administering the Acadience Universal Screener. Much like measuring a child's height and weight, this assessment provides an indicator of a child's overall growth in reading. The purpose of this assessment is to obtain baseline data on the strengths and weaknesses of individual students in reading and to guide the teacher's classroom instruction. Your student will be assessed by a team of trained reading specialists.
Acadience Reading tests skills that are necessary for learning to read. Children who learn these skills become good readers. The skills are:
• Phonemic Awareness: Hearing and using sounds in spoken words
• Phonics: Knowing the sounds of the letters and sounding out written words
• Accurate and Fluent Reading: Reading stories and other materials easily and quickly with few mistakes
• Reading Comprehension: Understanding what is read