Hello Sandia Vista Families,

Students and staff had many things to celebrate in January. I have added a school events section that you can scroll to with photos from our "Roaring 20's Celebration". The kids and staff out did themselves and they all were amazing.

We have begun the planning process for Spring State Testing. Mrs. Watson has sent out initial communication and emails regarding the schedule of testing. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself and your family if your child is currently in grades 3-5.

Testing dates will also be placed on the school website calendar for your reference at any time.

Our main concern is that testing should be as stress free as possible for students. Please make sure to read over the information that is being sent out to ensure student are on-time, prepared and any appointments are scheduled outside of testing dates.

Transfer Applications for the 2023-2024 school year have opened. If you are have a student who is out of zone, out of district and/or new to the district you will need to fill out a student transfer form for the 2023-2024 school year. Please fill out your transfer forms for each student as soon as possible.

In this short month of February, we have plenty of learning in our school. Kindergarten is studying seasons and weather, first grade is studying the history of the Earth, second grade is studying insects, third grade is studying astronomy, fourth grade is studying contemporary fiction, and 5th grade is studying the Reformation. In math, kindergarten is working on number pairs, addition, and subtraction to 10, first grade is working on place value, comparison, and addition and subtraction of numbers to 40, second grade is working on addition and subtraction within 1,000 with word problems to 100, third grade is working on multiplication and area, 4th grade is working on fraction equivalents, ordering and operations, and 5th grade is working on multiplication and division of fractions and decimal fractions.

Please support students at home by communicating about their learning and allowing for discussions about topics covered in class. Communication is vital to helping our students thrive.

Montessori

To use a term coined by Dr. Montessori, the students in our Montessori program are busy building their “mathematical minds,” meaning they are learning to think with precision and logic. The students in the Montessori preK classroom are enjoying the Montessori bead material that aids in learning linear and skip count to the square of numbers one to ten. The K/1 classrooms are working toward addition fluency and telling time. The 2/3 classrooms are focused on fractions, multiplication math facts, lowest common multiples, and long division. The 4/5 classrooms have completed their introduction to geometric shapes and angles and are now excited to be moving on to plotting! In every Montessori classroom each new math skill is presented with a multisensory Montessori material that students can work with and repeat until they have reached mastery, leading students step by step from the most concrete representation to complete abstraction. Please refer to the February Montessori newsletter for more information about Montessori math here at SVE.

Please reference attendance policies and procedures by clicking the button below.

Just to remind:

• There are no excused absences for vacation.
• Calling in a student does not automatically excuse the absence.
• Please be as specific as possible when reporting an absence on the attendance line to ensure the absence is recorded correctly.

Attendance now has a button! It is on the main page in the middle next to the "counselor's corner" button. This is where parents can upload doctor's notes or other excuse notes and it will come directly to the SVE drive.

I am enjoying visiting classrooms and teaching lessons on emotions and emotion management! I visited all of the PreK through 2nd-grade classrooms in January and will be in 3-5th grade classes this month. The students are able to identify emotions in others and then discuss ways to practice empathy. We talk about how to identify the signals our bodies give us when we have strong feelings and then how to use these clues to help regulate our bodies using a variety of calm-down strategies. This lesson ties right into the conflict resolution lesson I taught in the fall utilizing Kelso's Choice and Character Strong curriculum. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Mrs. David, School Counselor

Reminders from Nurse Nina:

Few Reminder for student illness and return to school:

• Fever (temperature 100 or greater) - To minimize exposing other children and school staff to a communicable illness, your child must stay home from school until he/she is fever free for 24 hours (without the aid of Tylenol/Advil or other fever- reducing medication).

• Vomiting / Nausea / Diarrhea / Stomach ache. To minimize exposing other students and school staff to communicable illness, your child should stay home from school until he/she can tolerate a soft diet without vomiting, nausea, or diarrhea. Students may not come to school if they were vomiting or have diarrhea the evening before or the morning of a school day.

• Sore throat or headache. Students may return to school when their sore throat or headache has improved to the extent that they can participate in normal activities. Students may not come to school if they develop a fever. They must remain at home until they are fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medication such as Tylenol or Motrin.

THANK YOU to all the families who have donated supplies to the health office.

SVE Health Office Website

Lots of wonderful things are happening in the music room!

Kindergarten is learning about the steady beat in music and are taking turns singing by themselves!

1st and 2nd grade are listening to "the Carnival of the Animals" by Camille Saint-Saens and learning about the instruments of the orchestra.

3rd & 4th grade are learning about sixteenth notes. 3rd Grade is also working on learning folk dances from around the world, and 4th grade students are starting the recorders!

5th grade is preparing for their upcoming performance and getting started on the ukuleles.

SAVE THE DATES: Upcoming Performances

4th & 5th Choir: Saturday, March 4th - 5:00pm preforming at the NM Runners Soccer Game

5th Grade (and 4th/5th Montessori): Performance on Monday, April 24th 6:30pm at Cleveland High School

3rd Grade (and 2nd/3rd Montessori): Performance on Tuesday, May 9th 6:30pm at SVE

4th & 5th Choir: Concert on Thursday, May 18th 6:30pm at SVE

It's a new year. Let's learn about someone new project was a huge success! Working with partners, students chose a biography and created either a poster or a Lego creation that represented the person they chose. Finally, students shared their creations during a presentation for their class. We had a great time learning about many different people.

February is shaping up to be just as exciting! We will be celebrating black history month in the library. Our featured books will include both fiction and non-fiction titles. In addition, there will be a display of books written by black authors. Students will be learning about the Underground Railroad, Montgomery bus boycotts, Civil rights leaders, and other people who helped change the world.

In Art Class we traveled to Asia to celebrate Chinese New Year's (The Year of The Rabbit) and explore Japanese artists and traditions. We learned about Sarah Gonzalez an Illustrator and Katsushika Hokusai a printmaker/painter. Prek-1st Grade created Ramen Bowls and Lucky Rabbits. 2nd-3rd Grade created Lanterns and Koi Fishes. 4th-5th Grade created Lanterns and Cherry Blossom Landscapes. There is also a new art display featuring our Asian inspired artwork!

In February we will begin learning about Black History Month, featuring artists such as: Faith Ringgold, Reggie Laurent, and Alma Thomas. So far, students are creating Story Quilts inspired by Faith Ringgold. Students choose a favorite memory they have to create their very own Story Quilt.

Upcoming Art Event: March 14, Elementary Art Show (5pm-6:30pm) at the Rio Rancho District Office

100th Day of School "Roaring 20's"