It's Elementary - DES Newsletter
November 19, 2021
Dates to Remember
November 29 - Classes Resume
December 1 - Mid-terms
December 17 - Students leave for Winter Break
January 2 - Boarding students return
January 3 - Classes resume
Dr. Heidi's Happenings
It's November, and at this time of year, our minds naturally turn to gratitude. On behalf of Deaf Elementary School, I would like to share how grateful we are to our families. It takes a lot of trust to send your child(ren) to use every day, and we take that trust very seriously. Our mission will always to be do more, be more, and achieve more in our service to families and our school community. Our Five Core Beliefs will always guide this work for us. As a reminder, Our Five Core Beliefs are: We believe children are our first priority; We believe a positive, friendly, and fun school culture promotes student growth; We believe the learning and living environment should be physically and emotionally safe; We believe all students are capable of learning; We believe everyone matters and deserves respect.
This month we learned about Citizenship, and exercised one way to be a good citizen when we voted for Dr. Heidi's helper! Congratulations to Minaal for being elected. Also, congratulations to Grace for an excellent campaign, and for leading our First Quarter Honor Roll assembly in Minaal's absence earlier this month!
Traditionally, we hold a Kindness parade on World Kindness Day. However, this year World Kindness Day fell on a Saturday, and we had a very full day of Character Education the previous day. So we celebrated World Kindness Day with a quick playground meeting and reminders to one another to show kindness.
Finally, we celebrated Ms. Marissa Harrer! Her peers selected her to represent our school as the Teacher of the Year next school year. This is a great honor, and well-deserved. Ms. Marissa is student-centered, positive, friendly, and she approaches things with a problem-solving attitude. Congratulations to Ms. Marissa!
A Note From Deaf Department Principal Angela Saunders
Dearest FSDB families-
Next week, we begin our Fall break. Just a quick note to wish you and your loved ones a restful time to give thanks together. When we come back, we will have three short weeks and then school will be closed for the holidays the weeks of December 20th- December 31st. If you aren’t already following us on Facebook, make sure you go in and do so. This week was a fun week with the basketball homecoming games and our “Out of this World” themed spirit week. You can see some of the pictures on our Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind Facebook page. You can also view the skits, the parade, and keep up with the events that are taking place on campus. We hope to see you on our pages!
Have a blessed Thanksgiving week,
Angela Saunders
Updates from Vaill Hall
Greetings from Vaill Hall!!
Citizenship is our PBS character trait we will focus on this month.
Staff and Students shared a Thanksgiving Dinner together. We are thankful to our Administrator for providing this opportunity to share this time with our students! We all dressed up to show our respect and appreciation for the Cafeteria Staff. We have also used this opportunity to teach students to cooperate in a shared activity and model the behavior we wish to see in our students.
Our 5th grade girls created a beautiful Thank You card, signed by all of our students that will be delivered to the wonderful volunteers who made the quilts for our students in the dorms. These quilts help to make our dorm feel more like home!
We are thankful to our 5th grade boys and girls who continue to collect garbage from all the pods every night!
Elementary Dorm activities include Dance, Tutoring, Kick Ball, Swimming, 4 Square, Chalk, Outside Play, and Riding Bicycles. We have also enjoyed going to see Basketball games.
It is getting cold here in Saint Augustine, please ensure that your child has warm clothes when they return back from Thanksgiving break. Please check with your student and/or Residential Instructors as to what personal items they need replenished. Please have a safe, wonderful Thanksgiving.
When we return on Sunday, November 28th, our 2nd floor North and East pods will be relocating to the Vaill Hall Annex.
The dorm staff will begin to decorate their dorms for the holiday season. Donations are welcome.
Your Vaill Hall Family
Spotted in Each Grade Level
Every month we ask grade level teams to tell us something special they spotted in Gore Hall. Here are their responses!
Kindergarten: Students helping others with their bike helmets.
First Grade: First Graders are showing more responsibility with procedures in the classroom, such as returning and charging their iPads.
Second Grade: Second graders went on a nature walk to find patterns in nature!
Third Grade: Students have been enjoying writing “how-to” guides. We’ve learned how to make tacos, how to make juice popsicles,
Fourth Grade: Fourth graders teaching each other how to do cartwheels and back flips during recess!
Fifth Grade: Fifth graders are learning about the first Thanksgiving!
Learning Lab: A Kindergarten student pulled a chair out for an adult to sit, so respectful and polite.
McGruff the Crime Dog!
Turkey Art for Thanksgiving!
A turkey in disguise....shhh....
Favorite Moments From Each Grade Level
Every month we ask grade level teams to share a favorite moment. Here are their responses!
Kindergarten: A first grade student telling a second grader dress was beautiful!
First Grade: Students learned about the life cycle of a sunflower in reading and science. They made a bracelet with colored beads. Each color represented the stages in the life cycle and what the seed needed to grow
Second Grade: Students helped out some turkeys by making them disguises so they wouldn’t get caught for Thanksgiving! One student even came to school dressed as a turkey in disguise!
Third Grade: The homecoming parade was a favorite moment for third graders!
Fourth Grade: Fourth grade welcomed two new students recently!
Fifth Grade: Fifth grade staff members celebrated Spirit Week! The best was “dress like someone else” day, when they all dressed like PE staff!
Learning Lab: Walking on the sidewalk to Gore Hall, students from the dorm greeted me with warm hellos and hugs! The best way to start any day.
Dinner Table Syndrome - Resources for the Holiday Season
The links below provide more information about Dinner Table Syndrome. Please check them out!
Dinner Table Syndrome Impact Deaf and Hard of Hearing
A Place at the Table (a mother's story)
READ 30! CLICK BELOW TO LEARN THE BENEFITS OF READING 30 MINUTES A DAY!
Family Bonding Activity!
Go on a hike together! What types of interesting and fun things can you find in nature? How does the fresh air make you feel? Can you find a way to use math during the hike? How about journaling about the hike when you have returned home? A family nature hike offers so many possibilities for sharing discussions and bonding. This might be especially fun after a big Thanksgiving meal!
Lost and Found!
Title I Information
Please be sure to review the Title I Handbook, sign, and send in the Title I Compact at the back of the handbook! Thanks!
Title I, Part A is a component of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that provides supplemental funds to approved schools to meet educational goals, support professional development of staff and support parent engagement programs.
Friday with FDLRS Parent Webinar Series
2021-2022 Friday with FDLRS Parent Webinar Series
The FDLRS Administration Project and Associate Centers Network are proud to offer a series of parent webinars to take place virtually over the 2021-2022 school year.
Each 90-minute webinar will be conducted monthly during lunch hours from 11:30am-1:00pm, EST, on designated Fridays. All session will be recorded and posted to our Recorded Webinars page for access throughout the year.
These webinars are free of charge and open to all parents, families, and professionals working with children with disabilities or those with unique learning needs. Please register today for one or all the upcoming Friday with FDLRS Parent Webinars.
Family Guide for at Home Learning (December 17, 2021)
Smart Artificial Intelligence Devices at Home (January 21, 2022)
Supporting Writing at Home (February 18, 2022)
Including Children in Storytime (March 18, 2022)
Sensory Processing for Parents (April 15, 2022)
Summer Activities and Resources for Parents and Families (May 13, 2022)
Opt-in for Skyward Text Alerts
FSDB encourages parents/legal guardians of enrolled students to regularly log onto the Skyward Family/Student Access portal to keep their contact information up-to-date.
Skylert (School Messenger) is the system that FSDB uses to send out automated phone calls, text messages and email notifications families for general purposes ann case of emergencies.
Opting in for automated Skylert text notifications makes it possible for FSDB to quickly inform families about situations that may impact their child/family (e.g., weather, safety and bus alerts) as well as other school-related information. To opt-in, text "Y" to 67587.
Cutie Patootie Picture of the Month!
Links
Videos
Contact Us
DES Office
PH: 904-827-2520
VP: 904-201-4505
Health Care Center
PH: 904-827-2410
VP: 904-201-3910
Transportation
PH: 800-992-8747
Vaill Hall (Dorm)
PH: 904-827-2806
VP: 904-201-4461
Parent Services
PH: 904-827-2212
VP: 904-201-4527
Campus Police
PH: 904-827-2315
Email: jordanh@fsdbk12.org
Website: www.fsdbk12.org/deaf-elementary-school
Location: 207 San Marco Avenue, St. Augustine, FL, USA