Southeastern Scene
Weekly Happenings at Southeastern Elementary
Principal's Postings
Welcome to the September 3rd, 2021, edition of Southeastern Scene.
Dear SES Families,
We want your child to be successful in school and that means supporting and encouraging their whole development. While excelling in academic classes is important, children also need skills to take on learning challenges, make good decisions, manage strong emotions, and get along with others.
Beginning the week of Sept. 13th, we will begin Second Step, a researched-based social-emotional learning program designed to improve children’s social-emotional skills. Second Step skills and concepts are designed to help children both in and out of school. Four units will cover the following:
Growth Mindset & Goal Setting: Children learn how to pay attention and manage distractions, develop a growth mindset, and apply goal-setting strategies to their social and academic lives.
Emotion Management: Children learn how to identify and label emotions and use emotion-management strategies-including stress management for older students, to calm feelings down.
Empathy and Kindness: Children learn how to recognize kindness and act kindly, have empathy for others and take others’ perspectives, and recognize kind acts and empathy as important elements of building and maintaining relationships.
Problem-Solving: Children learn how to identify and state a problem, recognize if a problem is an accident, and use the STEP problem-solving process:
S: Say the problem
T: Think of Solutions
E: Explore the outcomes
P: Pick a solution
We are also implementing Mind Up Curriculum (brain science for emotional regulation, mindfulness for tasks and emotional support), and Common Sense Media curriculum to support digital citizenship to support safe and secure use of online technology.
You will receive bi-weekly communication from us to help reinforce Second Step, Mind Up and Common Sense Media language, skills, and goals at home. If you have any questions about our social emotional learning curriculum, please don’t hesitate to contact, Jennifer Smith, School Counselor. Thank you for your support as we work to build a safe and supportive school community.
Yours in education,
Danielle Chastain
Principal
Counselor's Corner
Snack Attack
Southeastern Elementary is pleased to announce the return of the Snack Attack program for those students in need. This program, supported by the Fishers Youth Assistance Program, is designed to provide students a little extra nourishment for the weekend until they can receive a hot meal at school on Monday.
Here's how the program works. Your student will pick up a small sack of food on Fridays to be taken home and enjoyed over the weekend. The sack is filled with individually wrapped snacks such as granola bars, fruit cups, pop tarts, peanut butter/crackers, Goldfish crackers, etc. The type of snacks will vary each week. Please let me know if your child has a peanut allergy as he/she will receive a special bag of peanut-free snacks. There is no cost to you or our school. If you are interested in having your student participate in FYAP's Snack Attack please sign him/her up at this link. If you have questions, please contact me, Jennifer Smith, at jensmith@hse.k12.in.us, or 317-594-4340.
Brooke's Place
Has your child or teen experienced the death of a significant person(s) in their lives? Brooke’s Place provides support groups, therapy services and community education to empower children, teens, young adults and their families to thrive in the midst of grief.
Brooke’s Place also offers the BP8 Program, an 8-week peer-based grief support group to be conducted at school during the school day. This group offers an opportunity for grieving young people to build supportive relationships and learn how to cope with the death of a significant person(s) in their lives.
SES school counselor, Jen Smith, will co-facilitate these groups with a Brooke's Place bereavement specialist. There will be a K-2 and a 3-4 group. As soon as there are at least 3-4 students signed up for a group, we will get things started. If you would like to sign your student up for one of these groups, please email Mrs. Smith at jensmith@hse.k12.in.us. If you would like more information you can visit the Brooke's Place website: www.brookesplace.org
Jen Smith
SES Counselor
News From the Treasurer
Cafe Counter
Next week is week 3 on the menu (Please see menu below).
What's new in the cafeteria?
FRIDAYS
Third and fourth grade students can purchase snacks on Fridays.
Chips $1.00
Fruit Snacks $1.05
Cookie $0.80
Students MUST have money in their lunch accounts to purchase snacks.
First Friday of the Month
Ice Cream is available for purchase on the first Friday of the month for all students: Vanilla, Chocolate, and Non-Dairy, $1.25
Must have money in account or bring money in to purchase ice cream.
If you have any questions, please contact Beth Verhoestra, SES Cafeteria Manager, at bverhoestra@hse.k12.in.us
Nurse's Notes
Please remember to send your student to school healthy. If a student is ill and has any of the symptoms of Covid listed below, we encourage you to get your student tested using a PCR test, which is available via Fishers Health Department (COVID Vaccine | Fishers, IN - Official Website) or the Indiana Department of Health (ISDH - Novel Coronavirus: COVID-19 Testing Information). PCR tests are the most accurate and provide less risk of a false positive or negative result. A visit to your physician is also suggested if you feel this is not Covid-related, then a doctor's note would be needed for your student to return to school. Please do not send your child to school ill or while waiting for Covid test results.
Symptoms to monitor for:
- Fever or chills
- Cough
- Shortness of Breath or difficulty breathing
- Fatigue
- Muscle or body aches
- Headache
- New loss of taste or smell
- Sore Throat
- Congestion or runny nose
- Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea
Linda Brown, SES Nurse
Fall Pictures
Important Upcoming Dates
- Monday, September 6th, Labor Day, No School.
- Thursday, September 9th, 6:30 p.m., PTO Meeting.
- Monday, September 13th, City BBQ Dine-to-Donate (Please see PTO newsletter below for more information).
- Tuesday, September 21st, school pictures.
- Wednesday, September 22nd, 11:00 to 1:00 and 6:00 to 7:30, Fall Flower Pickup.
- Wednesday, September 22nd, 6:00 to 7:30, Popsicles in the Park (SES playground) and Samano's Food Truck Dine-to-Donate.
- Friday, September 24th, eLearning Day/Staff PD, no students in building.
- Friday, October 1st, Explorer Day
- Thursday, October 14th, 6:30 pm, PTO Meeting.
- Monday, October 18th, through Friday, October 22nd, Fall Break.
Lulu the therapy dog
Lulu is an almost 2-year-old Standard F1 Goldendoodle. She is a Certified Therapy Dog through the nonprofit Paws and Think, Inc. of Indianapolis. Their mission is to improve lives through the human-dog connection. Lulu will visit SES classrooms this year to teach dog safety and to bring joy to the students. Lulu is also a certified Reading Education Assistance Dog (R.E.A.D) and will provide weekly services to a select group of children chosen for the program. She is very excited about her new “job” as an SES Explorer and can’t wait to meet your children!
Food For Thought: Turnover Hunger
The Hamilton Southeastern Education Fund (HSEF) recently established the Food For Thought Community Fund in partnership with the Fishers Youth Assistance Program (FYAP). The fund will address a broad array of food insecurity needs in HSE Schools, including:
• Outstanding lunch account balances for low to middle income families in need
• Food pantries housed in HSE schools
• Community food pantries serving HSE students and families
• Transportation and storage assistance related to food drives
• FYAP Snack Attack and Summer Meals Programs
• FYAP courier/transportation needs for food delivery
As part of this new initiative, HSEF is pleased to continue our traditional food drive during the
week leading up to the annual Mudsock football game by introducing our Turnover Hunger food drive.
What is Turnover Hunger? Through Turnover Hunger, we are asking all 22 HSE schools to help fill the shelves of FYAP and local food pantries with targeted food donations by students and staff. Between September 7-10, we are asking the following breakfast, snack and dinner items to be brought in by building type:
• Elementary Schools – oatmeal or mac & cheese cups
• Intermediate and Junior Highs – granola bars, peanut butter crackers or cheese crackers
• High Schools – pasta
Every food donation is much appreciated, but we understand some would prefer to make
monetary donations. For those interested in donating directly to the fund, you can visit:
www.hsefoundation.org/foodforthought
Why is Turnover Hunger important?
It is estimated that 1 in 7 HSE students struggle with hunger. Turnover Hunger raises awareness for the 3,000 local children struggling with food insecurity. Donations will assist FYAP in meeting HSE student needs and assist local food banks.
• Donations can be brought into schools between September 7-10
Thank you for your support!
Hamilton Southeastern Education Foundation
Masks and Return to Instruction Plan
Just a reminder that face masks are required at this time for all staff, students, and visitors to the building, regardless of vaccination status. Please be sure to include an extra mask in your child's backpack.
HSE has updated our return to in-person instruction plan. Please access it by clicking this link.
Reviewing this will help you understand the guidelines that will be followed for school.
PTO News
Parents, please check the latest PTO newsletter by clicking this link.
Stay connected with Southeastern PTO
Email: SoutheasternElemPTO@gmail.com
Instragram: @Southeastern PTO
Twitter: @Southeastern PTO
SES Handbook
The Southeastern Elementary handbook has answers to many of your questions regarding policies and procedures for our upcoming school year. The handbook can be found on our website at ses.hseschools.org, or by clicking here.
Mudsock Youth Sports Information
Mudsock Youth Athletics Updates
Recreational Basketball: Play with us this winter! Registration is open for boys and girls interested in skill development and building a love for the game. Beginning September 1st, a $10 late fee will be added to every registration and waitlists may form for some divisions. Open to kindergarteners through 8thgrade. Information and registration can be found here. *High school intramural basketball information will be released in November.
HSE/Fishers Girls Travel Basketball: Find tryout information for travel basketball for girls in 3rd – 8th grade here. Athletes must be registered to attend at www.myathletics.com.
HSE/Fishers Boys Travel Basketball: Find tryout information, including parent meetings, for travel basketball for boys in 3rd – 6th grade here. Athletes must be registered to attend at www.myathletics.com.
Everyone Plays. Registration scholarship opportunities are available for families on free or reduced lunch within the district. Families can apply for one per season per child and must apply and be accepted during our open registration period. For winter sports these dates are 8/1 – 8/31. Email info@myathletics.com for more information.
SafeVisitor
Anyone wanting to spend time in the school or chaperone a field trip must have a SafeVisitor ID badge. If you have not yet completed the background check, please click below to get started.
Community Insider
HSE Report It!
Southeastern Elementary Explorers
Email: dchastain@hse.k12.in.us
Website: https://ses.hseschools.org/
Location: 12500 Cyntheanne Road, Fortville, IN, USA
Phone: 317-594-4340
Twitter: @SoutheasternEl1