Moran Prairie Messenger
Weekly Moran Prairie Family and Community Newsletter
Friday October 20th:
Highlights for the week:
- First graders are learning digraphs "ch," "sh," and "th" at the start of a word!
- Ms. S's kindergartners drew pictures of their friend and student of the week!
- 4th and 5th grade had an impromptu sing along at lunch!
- The whole school had our first Earthquake Drill!
- 2nd grade students with Mrs. Walther wrote and shared their informational writing about bats!
- Our therapy dog Charlie and her owner Luann visited seven classrooms this week! Wow!
- We had our annual Family Dance tonight!
Principal Update
It's that time of year during which we build our School Improvement Plan. Staff has begun this work already by reviewing last year's goals and providing input on priorities for goals and action steps this year. As we build our school improvement plan, we include goals around literacy and math group, our overall school climate and student life skills, student engagement through extracurriculars, kindergarten readiness, and attendance.
We then develop a work plan specific to the needs and priorities of our building that are aligned to the district priorities and set goals that identify areas in which we are growing, that highlight work currently being done in our building, and that guide our professional development and collaboration goals. We share our work with families and get input as well!
Ultimately, our School Improvement Plan would be driven by our Mission and Vision as well as data from the building. To this end, we are starting a Mission and Vision workgroup to begin soliciting feedback from all stakeholders and working to draft a new Mission & Vision that reflects the school we are now. We are seeking family involvement, so if you are interested in being a part of this work group please reach out to me by emailing katehe@spokaneschools.org or calling at (509) 354-3688!
Ongoing Reminders
- Our lost and found is getting full! If your child is missing something, that's the first place to check. We had items set out at the Family Dance for families to look through, and we will also have it out during the book fair in early November. Unclaimed items by winter break are donated to a local charity! (we will continue with reminders for families)
- Thank you for continuing to park in other spots in the lot rather than in our bus and Zum zones. We appreciate your attention to this!
- If your child is biking to school, please remind them to lock their bike. We have quite a few unlocked bikes, scooters, and at times an unlocked e-bike. We can help provide locks if one is needed, just let us know!
- When letting your students out of the car, please have them exit the car on the curb side not the street side. We have many cars driving past, exiting the curb side keeps everyone safe!
- Please continue to provide input on our school community and your hopes for our students using this survey: Survey for families and students.
Find our new Moran Prairie Instagram and follow us for regular updates of the amazing things we're doing this year!
Cross Country Update - ALL CITY
Today, All City qualifiers were sent home with an envelope that contains your parent wristband. You must have this wristband on you on Tuesday to be able to pick up your runner. Please check your child's backpack for this and reach out to coaches or the office if you cannot find it.
Good luck to all our runners!
Counselor Corner
This week in counseling lessons, students are learning about solving problems using Kelso’s Choices. Students have a wheel of 9 choices to resolve their “small” or “kid-sized” problems. In order to figure out if it is a small or big problem, they need to ask themselves, "Is someone hurt or in danger?". If the answer is “Yes”, they need to go to an adult right away. However, if the answer is “No”, they can solve the problem themselves.
A student uses 2 Kelso’s Choices to solve their small problems. If 2 Kelso’s Choices do not solve the problem--or anytime they are afraid--then it becomes a big problem. A BIG problem is one that students should ask an adult for help to solve. This helps students become empowered to solve their own problems and also learn when it’s appropriate to ask an adult for help. You can encourage your child to use Kelso's Choices at home, too!
Extracurriculars: After School Programs and Athletics
Want to lead a club or other after school activity? Reasearch shows that having a robust after school program with diverse extracurricular offerings improves student attendance at school, supports positive social development, develops a greater interest in community involvement, can lead to greater academic success, increases character development around leadership skills and self-esteem, and deepens students' sense of belonging in their school community.
Last year we had nearly 50% of our students participate in at least one extracurricular, whether that be sports or the various clubs we offered. We are hoping to increase that number by providing more diverse opportunities for students to engage with and by soliciting student voice in the types of extracurriculars they would be interested in participating in!
We are looking for any staff who may be interested in running a club or activity this year! Also, running an after school club or activity is paid, even for family and community members who want to run one! Please reach out to me if there is a club you're thinking about; we will work with our building extracurricular leads to figure out the following in the way that fits best with your schedule:
- When you want your activity to run (days of week and start/end dates)
- How many students you'd like to be able to participate
- Age levels of students
- Any materials or supplies needed
Last year we had art clubs, homework clubs, Math is Cool, a student-led service club, and some STEM and coding clubs along with cross country, Hooptown, World Languages, and Fit for Bloomsday. In the past I've also seen chess clubs, drama clubs, Dungeons & Dragons clubs, yoga and mindfulness clubs, inventors clubs, and so much more!
Chase Middle School's CCTV
Upcoming Dates
- Monday October 23rd: Student late start at 9:30 for staff collaboration, Prairie Dog Monday
- Tuesday October 24th: All City Meet for qualifying runners after school
- Friday October 27th: Virtual Top Dog Awards, ASB Spirit Day
- Monday October 30th: Student late start at 9:30 for staff collaboration, Prairie Dog Monday
- Tuesday October 31st: Halloween Parade @ 1:30 pm, Halloween Class Parties 2 - 3 pm
- Thursday November 2nd: PTG Executive Board Meeting @ 8:40 am
- Friday November 3rd: Picture Retakes
- Monday November 6th: Student late start at 9:30 for staff collaboration, Prairie Dog Monday, Book Fair, National School Psychologist Week Starts, ASB meeting after school
- Tuesday November 7th: Election Day, Book Fair
- Wednesday November 8th: Fire Drill #2, Book Fair
- Thursday November 9th: Hearing & Vision Screening, Veteran's Day Assembly @ 2 pm
- Friday November 10th: No School for Veteran's Day
You can find the calendar for the 2023-24 school year here. This may help with planning for next year!
Grants funded!
Thank you to all families! Your support of the PTG and Moran Prairie helps fund grants and projects just like these!
Stay Connected
- Email us: mrnprairie.ptg@gmail.com
- Moran Prairie PTG Website: www.moranprairieptg.org
- Like us: www.facebook.com/MoranPrairiePTG/