GRAND AVENUE NEWSLETTER
DECEMBER 2015
Grand Avenue Elementary
Attendance - 608/643-1991
Email: contact@saukprairieschools.org
Website: www.saukprairieschools.org
Location: 225 Grand Ave., Prairie du Sac, WI 53578
Phone: (608) 643-1900
VETERAN'S DAY
FOOD PANTRY DONATIONS
AFTERSCHOOL TRANSPORTATION
If your child will have a change regarding someone picking them up, they are biking or walking home, the information can be sent in on a separate note or put in their assignment notebook. We do not need the dismissal change/bus request form filled out for these changes.
If you have questions, please contact the office. Thank you.
5TH GRADE CONCERT
Please ask your child to wear their Sunday best when they come to perform on Monday evening. Thank you.
GUIDANCE INFO
Counselor Connection
In November, third graders participated in three lessons on the topic of communication. The lessons focused on the problems nonverbal and verbal communication can cause. Through these lessons, we talked about sharing our feelings nonverbally and verbally, so that we don’t cause conflicts with friends. We also learned about using an I-statement to let others know how we are feeling. A friendship skills group will be offered in December to address other aspects of friendship. Please let Miss Sadie know if you would like your child to participate in this group.
Fourth graders participated in lessons on perspective and problem solving. They learned why it is important to think about another person’s perspective, to demonstrate I-Care Listening when someone is trying to communicate with them, and to use I-Statements when discussing a problem with someone.
Fifth graders learned about the 6 Errors in Thinking and how they can lead to poor decision making. We also discussed how to resist negative peer pressure now and in the future by setting personal goals.
Please mark your calendar to preview the bullying program Act Now!, which will be offered to all Grand Avenue parents Tuesday, January 5th @ 5:30 in the Little Theater. This program is used with 4th and 5th graders in January.
Miss Sadie
School Counselor
Ponder Parenting
· There is never a need to blame our children for anything. We can, of course, correct them. We can guide them gently and with wisdom. But blaming our children for their faults is not the only problem. Monitor your conversations for a seven day period. Make a note each time that you complain or blame concerning anything. Your children listen. Are they learning to blame others, or to take constructive action? (Martin, William; The Parent’s Tao Te Ching: A New Interpretation, 1999)
E-mail Miss Sadie if you have thoughts or questions about how to accomplish this task.
School Breaks Food Assistance
Every year around the school break times (Thanksgiving, Winter Break and Spring Break), families from the Sauk Prairie School District have the opportunity to receive food items to help with the financial burden of needing to provide more meals during those break times. This opportunity is similar to the GSPIE snack packs, but includes items to make meals, not just snacks. The district social worker, Susan Baumann-Duren, receives food donations from the community to equally distribute to families in need throughout the district.
We try to fairly distribute these items so the same families don’t receive the assistance at every break time; however, some families do receive the food more than once during the school year. The food items are brought to Grand Avenue and can be picked up by the family, or sent home with the students (this option can be very difficult for the students).
If your family would be interested in receiving meal assistance at the upcoming break, please contact Sadie Sutter at 643-1954 or suttesa@saukpr.k12.wi.us by Tuesday, November 17th.
H.E.L.P. (Help Excite Little People)
UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER
December 14, 2015 - 7:00 pm - Middle School
No School
December 23-January 3 - Winter Break
PLC/Early Dismissal
Wednesday, December 9 - 1:35 and 1:40 pm
Field Trips
December 2 - 4th Grade - Moely & Markley - State Capitol
December 3 - 4th Grade - Steinmetz & Wirtz - State Capitol
December 4 - 4th Grade - Backeberg & Liedtke - State Capitol
NURSE NOTES-FOOD ALLERGIES-PAM FREY, RN, SCHOOL NURSE
Food allergies are becoming a more frequent health concern in our classrooms. As a result, parents notify teachers of their child’s allergies, and the teachers use that information to provide a safe snack list to be followed for the year in their classroom. We ask parents who received a safe snack list at the beginning of the year to monitor the shared snacks they are sending to their child’s classroom. If you are unsure, please contact your child’s teacher.
We also realize that many times children may want to share lunches and snacks in places other than just the classroom. For this reason, we are asking parents to talk with their children about the safety of this “sharing”. Please let your child know that some children could get very ill if they eat food that they are allergic to, and they may not even be aware that a certain ingredient that they are allergic to is in food accepted from a friend or acquaintance.
This same message may also be good to repeat when you are supervising a field trip as a chaperone. Remember, it takes a community to raise a child. Thank you for your help in this matter!
If you need access to a safe snack list, or have other questions, please contact me: Pam Frey, School Nurse pam.frey@saukprairieschools.org (608) 643-5509
2015-2016 ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE SCHOOL CLOSINGS
*WISC - Channel 3
*WKOW - Channel 27
*WMTV - Channel 15
*1070 AM; 104.1 FM; 1310 AM; 101.5 FM; 96.3 FM
*1400 AM; 104.9 FM; 102.9 FM; 94.9 FM; 105.5 FM; 105.1 FM
*98.1 FM; 94.1 FM; 106 FM; 93.1 FM; 1670 AM; 1550 AM
LUNCH INFO
LUNCH INFORMATION
Lunch times at Grand Ave are: 3rd grade-11:15 am, 4th grade-11:40 am and 5th grade-12:00 pm. If there is a day that you would like to join your child for hot lunch, please phone the office by 9:00 am that day (643-1900) to reserve a hot lunch. You will need to stop at the office to pick up a visitor badge. The cost is $3.55 for a visitor lunch, which comes off your family account. Also, if you send in lunch money that is cash, in an envelope to be dropped off at the office, could you please make sure that the student’s name is either on the outside of the envelope or a note inside the envelope with the student’s name. Please click on link below to view this month's lunch menu.
Breakfast - Student - $1.50, Adult - $2.45
Lunch - Student - $2.40, Adult - $3.55
Milk - 35 cents
NEW FOOD SERVICE FEATURES
Food Service is excited to announce some NEW features in Family Access. You have the ability to access your child’s meal statement, key pad number and set an Ala Carte limit. When you are logged into Family Access, click on the Food Service tab. In the top right corner is the Meal Statement. To set an Ala Carte Limit, click on it and you can choose an amount to limit per day or do not allow Ala Carte Purchases. Please realize at the elementary level, students do not have the option to choose an ala carte option. So, if you want your child/children to be able to purchase just a milk, please do not block the ala carte option. If you have any questions please call Tammy at 643-5983.
CLASSIFIED STAFF NEEDED
SUBSTITUTE TEACHING ASSISTANT & SECRETARY SUBS for support to all levels of students and schools. Assignments may include classroom, study hall, field trips, lunch room, playground, and bus duty. To be scheduled as needed and may occur on short notice. This is a temporary position with no guarantee of hours. Applications only accepted online at WECAN. $10.32/hour.https://services.education.wisc.edu/wecan/
GSPIE INFO
STAFF THANK YOU
GSPIE UPDATES
. Literacy Committee Book Drive - It is a great time to clean out your bookshelves! The Literacy Committee will be hosting a book drive in December to collect new and gently used books. Please consider donating to give the gift of literacy to our Bridges and Grand Avenue Elementary School classrooms and students. Thank you so much for your support!
WEATHER CHANGES
ATTENDANCE
If you call your child in with an illness, we would like you to please let us know the symptom/symptoms, i.e., a fever, sore throat, headache, cough, etc., that your child may have.
MEDICATIONS AT SCHOOL
For example, if your child suffers from migraine headaches, we will NOT be able to distribute medication to him/her without an AMA on file. The AMA form can be found on the District web site. In order for medications to be distributed, pills must be in a prescription bottle with proper labeling. Students may carry inhalers with them, however, an AMA form must be on file in the office.
If you have any questions regarding medication distribution, please contact Pam Frey, RN for the district at 643-5509.