CHEETAH BYTES NEWSLETTER
DECEMBER 2019
PRINCIPAL'S CORNER:
Hello Natoma Station Families!
A Huge Thank You
November was a great month to reflect and express our gratitude. We have so much to be thankful for at Natoma Station.
- Thank you to our amazing parent and grandparent volunteers who volunteer countless hours in our classrooms, our garden, at our school events and are ready and willing to support our school in any way!
- Our Fall Into The Season of Gratitude fundraiser was a huge success! All 42 leaves with classroom requests were picked up by our families and the classroom supplies were delivered to the very grateful teachers of Cordova Meadows Elementary before Thanksgiving Break. Thank you for your incredible generosity!
- Our Usborne Book Fair was also a big success! We raised over $1500 in books for our library and the students were so excited about the unique books that are part of this collection.
- Thank you to Levin Hughes and the Sacramento Police Department for coming to our campus and giving a presentation to our 4th and 5th grade students about making healthy choices. The students enjoyed interacting with the officers and learning more about staying safe and making good choices. Having the police helicopter fly over our campus was super cool!
December Events
It's hard to believe that December is here! Check out the many events that are happening:
- We are kicking off the month of December with our 4th Annual Warm and Fuzzy Drive in partnership with the Without A Roof Foundation. This year, we are supporting the students of White Rock Elementary in Rancho Cordova. Collection boxes for new or gently used socks, mittens, coats, hats, etc. will be placed in all classrooms and in the front office.
- Please join us on Wednesday, December 4th for our Family Math Night. There will be fun family games and activities for children from kindergarten to 5th grade!
- Wednesday, December 4th is our Family Spirit Night at Habit Burger Grill between 4:00 - 10:00 PM. Stop by and grab a bite to eat before or after Family Math Night!
- Friday, December 6th is our next Fabulous Friday! We will give students a warm welcome on Ashcat Way and on the blacktop as they arrive in the morning (weather permitting). This is also our student council spirit day. Show your school spirit by wearing red, green, blue or our school colors/cheetah print.
- Another tradition that we are continuing this year is our Annual Fundraiser at Barnes and Noble Bookstore in The Palladio in Folsom on Saturday, December 7th from 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM. A percentage of all book sales will support our school library. Our student council representatives will sing holiday carols from 11:00 – 11:30 AM and teachers will read books aloud during various story times that are scheduled throughout the day. If you want to help out at our gift wrapping station, please sign up here Volunteer Sign Up at Barnes and Noble - Saturday, December 7
Congratulations
Congratulations to the 81 students who received an award at our First Trimester Character Counts Awards Assembly on November 19th. Students were recognized for being Upstanders and/or for showing improvement. The awards recipients were invited to a special pizza lunch with the principal. Thank you to the volunteers who baked cookies, picked up the pizzas and helped serve lunch to all 81 students! A great time was had by all!
Announcements
Non-emergency Evacuation Drill: We had a non-emergency evacuation drill on Friday, November 22, during our morning drop-off time. Thank you for trusting our staff and allowing us to follow our emergency evacuation procedures. This was not a planned drill, and our staff and students responded with in a safe, efficient, and caring manner. Our campus safety team will be meeting this month to debrief. If you have any questions or would like to provide input, please contact our school office 916-294-9145 or email me directly mailto:vboudour@fcusd.org.
Help Wanted: We are still in need of people who are interested in working as yard supervisors. If you like to be around kids and are looking to work part time hours, please come in to the office for additional information or call us at 916-294-9145.
Changes to School Lunch Accounts
Effective Monday, Dec. 2, the Food Services Department will begin using a new software program called Titan School Solutions for both our meal services and payment program. What this means for parents is a more efficient and one-stop program. Parents will be able to make online payments - including setting up recurring payments - check their student’s account, set up a low balance notification or apply for free/reduced meals, all from one program.
On Friday, Nov. 22 after lunch, all remaining student balances will be transferred to Titan. This means our current payment program, EZSchoolpay, will no longer be in service as of Thursday, Nov. 21. If you have recurring payments with EZSchoopay, they will automatically end. The only thing you as a parent will need to do, if you wish to pay online, is set up an account with Titan, which you can do by going to family.titanK12.com. Online payments with Titan can be started on Tuesday, Nov. 26. You will only need to set up a Titan account if you wish to put money on your student’s account.
Whatever your student’s status is at this time - free, reduced or paid - will stay the same.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call Food Services at 916-294-9011 or go to our District website, www.fcusd.org and in the Quick Links section, select on “All about Lunch.”
Tips for Parents
As exciting and magical this time of year can be, children can also feel the stress and exhaustion brought on by this busyness. Please continue to support your child in his/her school success by ensuring a bed time is maintained at a reasonable hour. Adequate sleep supports learning, brain development, concentration, and mood and so directly affects children’s success at school.
Ten Ideas For Building and Improving a Child's Attention Span: Taken from the blog of Pediatric Occupational Therapist Loren Shlaes, this post focuses on home activities that can help develop focus and attention in children.
Supporting Your Child's Literacy Development at Home: A short and informative article.
Heartwarming Christmas Books for Kids
Ten Books That Celebrate Hanukkah
Attendance
This year, we have set a school wide attendance goal of 97%. For the month of November, most classes met our goal or came very close.
Mrs. Alpert - 97.62% ; Mrs. Buford - 98.41%; Mrs. Bridges - 97.5% ; Mrs. Cameron - 95.76 ;
Mrs. DeMarse - 97.39% ; Mrs. Doe - 97.46% ; Mrs. Fletcher - 97.58% ; Ms. Flynn - 97.63%;
Mrs. Gutierrez-Tucker - 97.14% ; Mrs. Hackert - 95.94% ; Mrs. Holley - 94.57% ;
Ms. Johnson - 96.11% ; Ms. McClure - 95.76% ; Mrs. Mefford - 97.44% ;
Mrs. Morales - 93.73% ; Mrs. Neil - 97.89% ; Ms. Porter - 93.06% ; Mrs. Prince - 98% ;
Mrs. Steele - 95.15% ; Mrs. Thompson - 96.97%
Connect With Us!
- Facebook: Natoma Station Elementary School Families
- School Website: https://www.fcusd.org/nse
Be sure to read over this newsletter to stay informed about the many great things happening during the month of December!
Thank you for your partnership!
Vickie Boudouris, Principal
Phone: 916-294-9145
Student Council Presenters
Honoring our Veterans
Making Healthy Choices with Sacramento Police Officers
FABULOUS FRIDAY!! (weather permitting)
Friday, Dec 6, 2019, 08:00 AM
ASHCAT WAY/ON THE BLACKTOP
PTO MEETING
6:00 - 7:00 PM
NSE Library
STUDENT COUNCIL MEETING
2:45 - 3:30 pm
Room 21
STUDENT COUNCIL SPIRIT DAY FOR DECEMBER
Wear Red, Green, and Blue, or School Colors/Cheetah Wear
POWER UP YOUR MATH SKILLS AT FAMILY MATH NIGHT
5:30 - 7:00 pm in the NSE Multipurpose Room
Come and explore the wonders of math with your children and enjoy an exciting evening of hands-on activities and games!
PTO SPIRIT NIGHT AT THE HABIT BURGER GRILL
Wednesday, Dec 4, 2019, 04:00 PM
1115 East Bidwell Street, Folsom, CA, USA
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
STUDENT COUNCIL WARM AND FUZZY DRIVE 2019
Natoma Station Elementary Student Council has once again partnered with Without A Roof to support a neighboring Folsom Cordova school with our 4th Annual Warm and Fuzzy Drive. Please donate new or gently used items that can provide relief as temperatures drop. This year we are collecting:
- Children's socks, pajamas, warm clothing
- Mittens, hats, scarves, jackets
- Blankets for children's beds
All donations are greatly appreciated. A donation box will be located in each of our classrooms and in the school office.
We are grateful for your generosity!
Natoma Station Student Council & Without A Roof
PTO BARNES AND NOBLE BOOK FAIR
Saturday, Dec 7, 2019, 10:00 AM
Barnes & Noble, Palladio Parkway, Folsom, CA, USA
HELPING OUT CHEETAHS GROW:
Kindergarten: Kinder students continue to please us with their progress in using their phonics skills to read and write. We are thrilled at the kindness, creativity and respect we see every day. We look forward to our Explorit Amazing Animals on campus "field trip" on December 6th.
First grade: will be reading several versions of the Gingerbread Man and writing beginning/middle/end narratives to compare them. On Friday, December 13th, they will be all early and they will get to decorate their own gingerbread house to take home!
Explorit Amazing Animals on Campus
The Gingerbread Man Story
Making Gingerbread Houses in 1st grade
MINIMUM DAYS
8:25 AM - 12:26 AM
REGULAR MINIMUM DAY: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2019
1ST - 5TH GRADES: 8:25 AM - 1:31 PM
KINDERGARTEN: REGULAR SCHEDULE
WINTER BREAK......SCHOOL WILL BE CLOSED!
SCHOOL WILL RESUME ON JANUARY 6, 2020