Moreau Heights Principal Newsletter
September 2017
Contact Information
Email: suzanna.haugen@jcschools.us
Website: www.jcschools.us
Location: 1410 Hough Park Road, Jefferson City, MO, United States
Phone: (573)659-3180
Twitter: @JCMH_tweets
Message from the Principal
Charger Families,
We have had a great start to the school year. Thank you for your support of our students and our staff. We have certainly felt supported by our families and our community!
Our theme for the year is Building a Better World. We look forward to working with you AND our students to build a better world, one child at a time!
Follow us on Twitter at @JCMH_tweets
Introducing . . .
Shannon Gann is our counselor. She is connecting with students and teachers to help support in our school community.
Jessica Yates and Hannah Lenger are new members to our first grade team. Sammi Strange is our newest member of the third grade team. The fourth grade team has added Katie Paul. Joining the fifth grade team are Katie Dunham and Beth Yaeger.
Thank you for welcoming the newest members to our Moreau Heights team!
Calendar of Events
Monday, August 27 - September 7
iReady testing for all students
Wednesday, August 29
*Early Release - students dismissed at 1:15
Thursday, August 30
*Back to School Night for grades 3-5 6:00 - 7:30
Monday, September 3
*No School - Labor Day
Thursday, September 6
*Fall Pictures
*Back to School Night for grades k-2 6:00 - 7:30
Tuesday, September 11
*MOMs volunteer group Kick-Off 6:00 pm in gym
Thursday, September 13
*Watch DOGS program Kick-Off 6:00 p. in gym
Tuesday, September 18
*PTO Pizza Sale Kick-Off
Friday, September 21
*PBS Assemblies
- 8:30 grades 3-5
- 9:40 grades k-2
Wednesday, September 26
*Early Dismissal, students dismissed at 1:15
Friday, September 28 and Saturday, September 29
*PTO Pumpkin and Mums Sale
Wednesday, October 3
*Pizza Orders due
Positive Behavior Supports
When we see a child struggling to demonstrated the expected behaviors, we provide additional support (student conversations, more teaching, family/school conversations, behavior plans).
Our goal is that EVERY child is successful, academically and social/behaviorally. Thank you for your support of your child or children and our staff as we focus on this goal together!
Be "In the Know!"
Make sure you are up-to-date on all the happenings at MH!
Join the PTO by filling out this Google form! You can also make a $10 per family donation that will help us fund school and classroom celebrations. You may send your donation to School in an envelope labeled PTO.
Thank YOU!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeME1BylaQ16QbArcDLlkjSmi2GlDcW0pcwxxjvKDLXrlU76w/viewform
Important Information
- Please follow our procedures for morning drop-off and pick-up that have been created to keep our students safe. We use the lower driveway, of off Carol Street. Staff will be present to help with unloading and loading cars.
- If you need to change transportation plans for the day, please contact the office, 659-3180, by 2:15.
- We believe in supporting our students as a COMMUNITY, which means we value working with families to see that students are successful.
- Feel free to join your child for lunch any day! Talk to your child's teacher about specific lunch times.
Mark your Calendar!
Grades 3-5 - Aug. 30 from 6:00 - 7:30
Grades k-2 - Sept. 6 from 6:00 - 7:30
We hope you will join us for Back to School Night for your child's grade level!
Attendance Matters!
- Having students at school by 8:10
- Scheduling appointments around school hours (8:15 - 3:15) when possible
- Making on time arrival at school a priority by having a morning routine
- Seeing that students are getting to bed at a reasonable time and are allowed a restful night of sleep
Thank you for your help by letting your child know that school is important to you!
Picture Day!
Music with Musselman
Welcome to music class, Charger families! I’m so excited each day to teach people through music. At the beginning of the school year, my goal is to introduce myself and work to get everyone feeling comfortable in music class. After this I get a baseline of student knowledge so I can build a foundation for the year ahead.
In August/September kindergarten and first grade focus on steady beat, use of singing voice, and musical opposites (loud/soft, high/low, fast/slow, etc.). Second grade focuses on the staff and rhythm reading. Third grade has a large rhythm unit that will be the primary focus until late November. Fourth and fifth grade focus on music reading (including solfege) and more complicated rhythm reading.
I consider it a great responsibility to be an influence in the life of each student both socially and musically. I’ll leave you with a quote from Zoltan Kodaly, a Hungarian fellow who has a music instruction style named after him. “It is far more important who the elementary music teacher is in a small town than who the director of an opera house is because if the opera house director is not good, he will be dismissed in a year, but a poor music teacher in a small town can kill off the love of music for thirty years from thirty classes of children.”
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at matthew.musselman@jcschools.us.
Art Blurb from Boyd
It’s so good to be back at school and see my students.
In art, students have been creating drawings to demonstrate what they know how to draw, and what they would benefit from learning this year. I’ve had some great conversations with them about what they are drawing. Each year students are at Moreau Heights, they make these drawings. I save and compile them to send home as books in May of each student’s 5th grade year. They have the best time laughing and looking over these drawings to see their growth over the years.
Artsonia: If you have not signed up for Artsonia, and you have an updated email on Infinite campus, please check your email for a message from Artsonia. You will also be sent a printed invitation to join Artsonia through your child.
I love Artsonia. Artsonia is an on-line art museum of children’s artwork. It’s safe and free to use. Artsonia helps families celebrate children’s art. Activate your child’s account to see their works of art as I upload them. Share the artwork with close friends and family, inviting them to become your children’s fans. Fans may leave positive comments for the children. Parents get to approve the comments before they become published to the account. Artsonia is also a fundraiser opportunity for the art program. If you wish, you may purchase keepsakes with your child’s artwork printed on them. We earn 20% of the sales for the Moreau Heights art fund.
Focus on Parenting
What’s going to best prepare them for tomorrow’s extremely competitive workforce? Will it be high grades because they only took the easier classes… or will it be somewhat lower grades earned by finishing a more challenging course of study?
What’s most important: stellar grades or solid perseverance and skills?
As this school year begins, let’s give our kids the gift of seeing that satisfaction and growth come from facing challenges.
• Focus on the strains rather than the brains
Instead of praising, “You are so bright,” notice their successes and ask, “How did you do that?”
• Help them blame their success on effort and perseverance.
Most kids will respond to “How did you do that?” with “I don’t know.” When this happens, ask a question: “Did you work hard or did you keep trying?”
Both of the options embedded in this question point directly to strains… not brains.
• Avoid placing them on a pedestal.
Capable kids often get so much positive feedback about their successes they begin to fear taking risks. It’s as if they think, “If I try something challenging, I might not live up to what everybody thinks about me. I’d better take the easier route.”
• Show them that failure is not final… it’s informative.
Many children develop a perfectionistic orientation by watching their rather perfectionistic parents. I’ve been guilty of this. Sadly, doing so leaves many kids fearful of taking healthy academic risks.
Give your kids… and yourself… a gift. Do your best to laugh about your blunders, while allowing your children to hear you say, “I sure learned a lot from that!”
• Love them unconditionally.
When our kids know that we love them… not what they do… they feel safe to make the mistakes required to become truly exceptional people.
*Taken from Love and Logic