Central Hub
April 2016 Edition
Message from the Principal
Dear Central Parents,
It's hard to believe that we are approaching the end of the school year already! We have many exciting events coming up. On Monday, April 18th the fourth and fifth grade students will begin ISTEP testing online. Our third grade students will begin testing on April 19th using paper/pencil. Please make sure your children get plenty of rest the nights before testing.
Another annual event we are all looking forward to participating in is the Walk-A-Thon. This is our elementary school fundraiser, which among many things allows for us to have field trips free of charge or at a reduced cost to our students. We hope you will participate and be sporty and raise $40!
I have had a few inquiries about whether parents can request a teacher for their children for next school year. Just as this has been in the past, we do NOT accept teacher requests. However, I feel strongly that you know your child best and may have information that would be helpful in finding the best placement. Many students are able to learn and grow effectively with a variety of teachers' styles and because we have such an outstanding staff, most students could be placed anywhere and thrive! However, if you know that your child is particularly successful with a particular learning style, you are welcome to send me a short letter detailing what you know about your child. Submission of this information in no way guarantees a particular placement; there are many factors that go into dividing students into classrooms. However, I would be happy to review any input received prior to May 4th and consider it as we begin making these decisions. All such letters should come to the main office in a sealed envelope to my attention or by email to jthacker@plainfield.k12.in.us
In the past several years, students have been given the name of their new teacher for the following year toward the end of school and participated in "Step-Up" where they went and were able to meet that teacher. This worked fairly well on most occasions, but certainly had its downfalls. We had begun discussions last year about restructuring Step-Up, and all of the elementary principals have made the decision to follow the model that Van Buren has used for the past few years. Instead of students meeting one specific teacher at the next grade level, they will "step-up" to meet all of them. Students interact with all of the teachers in their grade level, to different extents, depending on the grade, so this should be helpful. Classroom rosters will be released one week before school begins. Students will still have a chance to see the class rosters. Since we will be under construction, with limited access to our building, I imagine this will happen at Van Buren. I will let you know as we get closer to the start of school. We believe this will help us maintain the best balance of students in classes since we have many students move in over the summer and will help us avoid any issues with students believing they will have one teacher but later being assigned to another. We will share this information with students, but your communication of this change in a positive light to your child will be helpful. Kids are often much more open to change than we are as adults!
Although we are talking with excitement about next year, we will continue to remain focused on the great deal of learning which will happen over the next two months.
Sincerely,
Julie Thacker
Plainfield Food Service Is Hiring
The Plainfield Schools Food Service Department is hiring.
If interested please call the Food Services Office 838-3662 or
Apply online at WWW.Plainfield.k12.in.us under employment.
Spring Assessments
- ISTEP Part 2 Window April 18-May 6, 2016 (all students grades 3-5)
- Look for specific information from your child's teacher's newsletter or email updates
High School Helpers
Mrs. Kuhne's Taste Testing Books
Kindergarten Registration
IMPORTANT DATES
Dickey's 4/26 4-9 pm. No flyer needed and 15% of profits go to our school
- May 9th Parent Orientation in the PCMS Auditorium 6-7 p.m. (5th Grade Parents)
First Grade Children's Museum
Third Grade Capacity
Jelly Bean Math
Time Schedules for Schools 2016-2017
Below are the board approved school start times for the 2016-2017 school year.
Student Day: 8:50 a.m. -3:50 p.m.
Middle School
Student Day: 7:50 a.m. -2:50 p.m.
High School
Student Day: 8:05 a.m.- 3:05 p.m.
School Breakfast
Kids need Breakfast to refuel their brains and bodies. By recharging the brain and body, kids will be more efficient in just about everything they do. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Short on time in the mornings? Have your child eat Breakfast at school. Breakfast is 8:20-8:40 each morning in the school cafeteria. Breakfast is $1.30 (.30 for eligible students). Please discuss with your child if they are to eat breakfast at school. If you have any questions regarding breakfast please contact our Food Service Director 317-838-3662
Thank you
Kelly Collins
Food Service Director
Plainfield Community School Corporation
317-838-3662
SAVE THE DATE
The walkathon will be on Friday, April 22nd from 9:00 a.m. until approximately noon. The theme this year is to "Be Sporty and Raise Forty."
Funds raised are used largely for student field trips, grade-level t-shirts, and other student activities like all-school convocations. Thank you all, in advance, for your support of our school!
Moving to Middle School
Fifth Grade Parents, Mark Your Calendars!
There will be a fifth grade parent meeting at PCMS on May 9th at 6:00 p.m. This meeting will be held in the auditorium.
March Value of the Month Students
Luke Alexander
Nathan Ballard
Benjamin Cai
Jazmin Edwards
Anna Elston
Rebecca Elston
Kylie Floyd
Hayden Gooding
Skylar Goodson
Alyssa Hamm
Claire Harris
Thomas Hutzler
Maverick Kegeris
Makiah Keith
Sophia Mason
Bryson Meyer
Dhanvir Rehal
Lily Rousch
Jackson Scharlau
Kylia Schwettman
Isabella Smith
Anya Sundar
Kyle Wiggins
Olivia Woodward
March Central Value Winner!
Kylie Floyd in Mrs. Mosier's class is the value winner for Reliability, Congratulations!
Attendance
We enjoy seeing your children every day. Although we understand that there will be times when your child is sick and needs to stay home, there is a direct correlation between student attendance and success. Here are a few ways we can work together to make sure your children have very good school attendance and don't feel like they are missing out.
- Schedule all doctor’s appointments outside of the school day, if at all possible.
- Share with your child how important it is to be at school.
- Make sure to communicate absences in advance, if possible, so the classroom teacher can ensure that your child still has opportunities to learn skills that he/she will miss when they are absent.
- Help to make sure that your child arrives at school on time each day. The doors open at 8:20 and students need to be seated in their classroom each morning by 8:40 or they are counted tardy.
- If you have a pattern of absences, we may call as well as send a letter to see if we can offer additional support.
Our teachers work hard to provide the best instruction and we want to make the most of each of our 180 days together. We look forward to seeing you at school!
Eating Lunch with Your Child-Immediate CHANGES to Current Practice
We welcome you to eat lunch with your child! Spending time with your child is so important toward healthy social and emotional growth. In addition, your presence here encourages a positive attitude toward school.
Some things to remember:
-Only people listed in PowerSchool when we check ID's will be allowed to eat lunch with students. These are parents and people you have listed in emergency contacts. IF you need to update your names, please send a note in with your child.
-We understand there may be a special guest in town, so you need to send a note in before sending the person to school to each lunch. They will not be allowed in the building unless we have parent permission or their name is in PowerSchool.
· We ask that you only eat lunch with your own sons and daughters. In our efforts to keep our students’ lunchtime as calm as possible, they are not allowed to have a friend to join them.
· Because we are always considering our students with allergies, please do not bring in food or snacks for children other than your own.
· Knowing that our teachers and students are busy with the process of learning, we ask that you not leave the cafeteria to go anywhere else in our building. The only exception would be if you have already signed up to volunteer in the building immediately following lunch.
· Please keep younger siblings from wandering around the cafeteria. This is for the safety of your little one, and our school-aged children.
Also, we ask that you not take pictures or record in the cafeteria.
Thank you for helping us to make this a positive and safe environment for our children!
If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Thacker 839-7707.
Central Elementary Media Center is excited to once again bring the book challenge to our students!
Find new worlds through reading!
Each Grade will participate by reading A.R. books in their level. Each Grade level will be able to sail through the “ocean of reading”, by the amount of books read and have a passing quiz. It does not matter how many points they have received. When a grade level has reached a certain number of books, they will be awarded with a surprise! Each student must read at least one book per goal to be awarded with his/her grade level. If the grade level completes the game, they will be awarded with a Sweet Celebration!! If we reach 10,000 books as a school, by the beginning of May, the students will enjoy a Teacher’s Variety show and the winning grade decides what Mrs. Crum does for the variety show!
Grade Level goals:
Funny Bone Island (200 books): Scratch and Sniff Bookmark and Pencil
Land of Undiscovered Books (500 books): Flashlight Library(Play, look and read by flashlight)
Adventure Island: 800 Books: Sit anywhere at Lunch ( with your grade) and enjoy a cookie!
Fantasy Island: (1100 Books): Popcorn and Movie in the library
Island of Knowledge (1500 Books): Extra Recess and popsicles as a grade
****You can always help your child with book choices by accessing the books that are available in our library by going to www.plainfield.k12.in.us. Click on Central Elementary. Click on Services tab at the top. Click on Media Services. Click on Library Catalog. Click Central elementary. Click catalog on top left corner tab. Click on Destiny Quest on the left. The students can look through the books that are in the A.R. level and even make a wish list!! Ask your 2nd through 5th grade student about this great asset!!
PTO Events
April 12th 5-8 p.m. Culvers
April 22nd 9am-Noon Walk-A-thon Central Elementary
April 26th 4-9 p.m. 15% of profits go to our school