Families,

I am amazed at how quickly the year has started. It seems like only last week we were greeting each other for the first time of the new school year. As we enter the month of October, students are deep into their academic coursework. I would like to celebrate the fact that they are learning new learning targets and working toward mastery of learning goals. With that in mind, I would like to encourage families to keep learning in their daily conversations with children. As we are now a Standards-Referenced Grading school in all grades K-5, our conversations at school start with student knowing the learning targets and from there, learning how to meet the learning targets. A great way to stay informed while also supporting the importance of children dedicating themselves to growing as learners is to ask them about their learning targets and their growth towards mastery. We are looking forward to reviewing evidence of their work toward mastery during our upcoming Conferences. As always, thank you for your involvement and support of social, emotional, and academic growth. Happy October!

Brubaker's school day officially begins at 8:45 AM. Students who arrive after 8:45, are counted as late and breakfast is no longer served to students at this time.

Doors open promptly at 8:20. Please remember that there is no adult supervision available before 8:20 AM. Parents and guardians are responsible for children before 8:20 AM. Please do not send students before this time to school. As the weather becomes cooler, there is not a warm place for students to wait before the doors open.

Breakfast is served from 8:20-8:45. Students who arrive before 8:45 will be able to get a school breakfast.

Brubaker Elementary School participated in the 2017 annual walk on Monday, October 2nd. This is a short, 30-minute walk for all students and teachers, through our neighborhood and community!

The Healthiest State Walk encourages Iowans to be active and walk every day for:

• Physical Activity
• Teaching safe pedestrian skills to kids
• Awareness of how walkable our community is and where improvements can be made
• Concern for the environment
• Reduce traffic congestions, pollution and speed near our school
• Sharing time and connecting with our community, parents and children

This walk is also our official kick-off of Fuel Up to Play 60, this is an online program, which encourages kids to fuel up to play for 60 minutes per day.

For more information, visit http://www.iowahealthieststate.com and https://www.fueluptoplay60.com/about/about-the-program

Thank you so much for contributing to our very successful fall fundraiser! This year, our students sold close to $20,000 worth of items! Thank you for taking the time to encourage your child(ren) to fundraise for our amazing school! The money we've raised goes toward the purchase of many things that benefit our students, teachers and school community:

• New Recess Equipment
• Student Take-Home Folders
• Positive mindset quotes posted around the building
• Busing for field trips
• Pencil sharpeners for classrooms
• Coping materials
• Student Memberships to Academic Websites
• Recorders for Music classes
• Scholastic News subscriptions
• Classroom rugs

Brubaker Elementary School and Hoyt Middle School, in partnership with Hope Lutheran Church, can provide families with holiday meals. Please contact Lisa Beving at 515-242-7557 for more information.

The Food Bank of Iowa’s BackPack Program™ is designed to increase access to easy-to-prepare, single servings of food to school-aged children on weekends when school breakfast and lunch is not offered. The Food Bank of Iowa and Brubaker Elementary would like to invite your child to participate in this exciting program!

Here's how it works:

1. Every Friday, your child will receive a sack filled with kid-friendly foods.
2. There is no fee for participating in the program. Families are only asked to provide feedback on the program by filling out annual surveys sent home with their child.
3. The program operates during the 2017-18 school year.

Contact Sarah Walljasper, Counselor, at 515-242-8405 for more information.

Healthy Students, Healthy School

It's that time of year again, the weather is getting cooler and winter will be here soon. Here are a few notes to help us keep illnesses at school at a minimum and our students as healthy as possible during the fall and winter months.

Please keep your child(ren) home from school for 24 hours (without medication) when:

• they have a fever of 101 degrees or above
• they are vomiting and/or have diarrhea

Please remember to send your child(ren) to school with a coat, hat, gloves/mittens and boots when necessary. It is recommended that students wear a coat or jacket outside to recess when the temperature is 50 degrees or less.

Vision Screening - Updated 10/9/17

All students at Brubaker will have their vision screened the week of October 23rd either by Lions Club or Vision to Learn. If you, for any reason, do not want your child to be screened, please submit your decision to opt out, in writing, to the school nurse, or email, angella.gonzalez@dmschools.org.

Vision To Learn is a nonprofit organization that helps overcome obstacles to vision care by bringing a mobile clinic to schools and providing exams and glasses for free. The organization operates mobile eye clinics and visits schools and organizations that serve children.

Breakfast in the Classroom

Breakfasts brought from home are not allowed to be eaten in the classroom, due to food allergy concerns. For more information visit https://www.dmschools.org/breakfast-classroom-faq/.

Needs

If you are willing to donate, the nurse is in need of the following items:

• New packages of underwear - small sizes are most needed (boys & girls)
• Gently used, easy-to-pull-up pants (boys & girls)
• Gently used shoes - sizes 11-2 are most needed (boys & girls)

Students can drop off donations in the main office. Thank you for your support!

Tonight at dinner, ask your kids...

How will you stay safe during fire and/or severe weather emergencies at school?

Fire Prevention Week is observed during the month of October. Do you have a plan for fire and severe weather emergencies at home? It's best to be prepared! Check back next month for more information on Brubaker's emergency plans!

Unleash your inner BARK!

Last month your child(ren) shared with you, information on Brubaker's B.A.R.K. expectations. Brubaker exists to create a safe and nurturing environment where all students learn at high levels. In order to be successful, Brubaker Bulldogs follow B.A.R.K. expectations, our version of school-wide expectations. It stands for:

B - Believe in Myself

A - Achieve Positive Goals

R - Respect our Community

K - Keep it Safe

Students have been working hard to practice BARKing in and around our school during the first month. Students were taught (or reviewed) what our B.A.R.K. expectations look like throughout different parts of our school through lessons, class discussions and videos. Keep up the good work!

Morning Meeting

Morning Meeting is an engaging way to start each school day, build classroom community and is an opportunity to practice both social and academic skills. Morning Meetings last about 20 minutes and include the following four components:

1. Greeting - students and teacher(s) greet each other by name.

2. Sharing - students take turns sharing information about themselves. Listeners practice responding appropriately and/or asking clarifying questions.

3. Group Activity - all students participate in a group game or activity that reinforces social and/or academic skills.

4. Morning Message - students read a short message written by their teacher. This message helps identify a specific learning focus for the day.

National School Lunch Week was created in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy and celebrates all the benefits of the National School Lunch Program. This year, National School Lunch Week will be celebrated October 9-13 with the theme, School Lunch: Recipes for Success.

Students will be given coloring sheets to color their favorite school lunch. Pictures will be on display in the cafeteria.

For more information, visit https://schoolnutrition.org/Meetings/Events/NSLW/2017/.

2018-2019 School Year

PATRON NOTIFICATION

Between District Open Enrollment Iowa Administrative Code 281-17.3(2)

Parents/Guardians considering the use of the open enrollment option to enroll their children in another public school district in the state of Iowa should be aware of the following dates:

DEADLINES:

March 1, 2018 is the last date for regular open enrollment requests for the 2018-2019 school year. September 1, 2018 is the last date for open enrollment requests for entering kindergarten students and those students falling under the “good cause” definition for the 2018-2019 school year. To insure that the transfer of individual students does not adversely affect the diversity plan of the District, certain limitations to open enrollment have been established. Parents of kindergarten students are therefore encouraged to make application requests prior to March 1, 2018.

APPEALS:

Within 30 days of a denial of an open enrollment request by the DMPS Board of Education, a parent/guardian may file an appeal with the state board of education only if the open enrollment request was based on repeated acts of harassment or a serious health condition of the student that the district cannot adequately address. All other denials must be appealed to the district court in Polk County.

ATHLETIC ELIGIBILITY:

In most cases, a high school student who open enrolls is ineligible for varsity athletic competition during the student’s first 90 consecutive school days of enrollment in the receiving district. Some, but not all, exceptions to this general rule of ineligibility are as follows:

1. The sending district does not offer the sport in question.

2. The sending district was dissolved and merged with one or more other districts.

3. The sending district whole-grade shares with another district for the student’s grade level.

TRANSPORTATION:

Parents/Guardians of students open enrolled from another school district are eligible for transportation assistance if the household income of the parent/guardian is at or below the federal poverty guidelines for household size. The two districts must be contiguous. Assistance may be in the form of actual transportation or in the form of a cash stipend. Information regarding transportation eligibility and a complete copy of the District’s open enrollment policy and procedures may be obtained from the Open Enrollment Office, 2100 Fleur Drive, Des Moines, IA 50321

Año Escolar de 2018-2019

NOTIFICACIÓN DE USUARIOS

Entre la inscripción abierta de distrito Iowa Código administrativo 281-17.3(2)

Padres/tutores teniendo en cuenta el uso de la opción de inscripción abierta para inscribir a sus hijos en otro distrito de la escuela pública en el estado de Iowa los padres o tutores deben ser conscientes de las siguientes fechas:

PLAZOS:

01 de Marzo de 2018 es el plazo para las solicitudes regulares de inscripción abierta para el año 2018-2019. 01 de Septiembre de 2018 es el plazo para las solicitudes de inscripción abierta para estudiantes de Kinder y los estudiantes pertenecientes a la definición de "buena causa" para el año 2018-2019. Para asegurar que la transferencia de estudiantes individuales no afecta el plan de diversidad del distrito, se han establecido ciertas limitaciones para abrir la inscripción. Los padres de los estudiantes de Kinder por lo tanto animamos a realizar solicitudes de aplicación antes de 01 de Marzo de 2018.

APELACIÓN:

Dentro de 30 días de una denegación de una solicitud de inscripción abierta por la Junta de Educación de DMPS, un padre o tutor puede presentar una apelación ante la Junta de Educación del Estado sólo si la solicitud de inscripción abierta se basaba en repetidos actos de acoso o una condición de salud seria del estudiante que el distrito no puede responder adecuadamente. Todos otros rechazos deben apelarse ante el Tribunal de Distrito en el Condado de Polk

ELEGIBILIDAD ATLÉTICA:

En la mayoría de los casos, un estudiante de secundaria de inscripción abierta es inelegible para competencias atléticas de varsity durante primeros 90 días consecutivos de inscripción del estudiante en el distrito de recepción. Algunos, pero no todos, excepciones a esta regla general de inelegibilidad son los siguientes:

1. El distrito envíado no ofrece el deporte en cuestión.

2. El distrito envíado fue disuelta y se fusionó con uno o más distritos.

3. Las acciones de grado conjunto Distrito envía con otro distrito para el grado del estudiante.

TRANSPORTE:

Los padres/tutores de estudiantes abiertos de otro distrito escolar son elegibles para asistencia de transporte si el ingreso de los padres/tutores es igual o por debajo de las pautas federales de pobreza para el tamaño de la familia. Los dos distritos deben ser contiguos. Asistencia puede ser en la forma de transporte real o en forma de un estipendio de efectivo. Puede obtenerse información sobre la elegibilidad de transporte y una copia completa de inscripción abierta política del distrito y los procedimientos de la oficina de inscripción abierta, 2100 Fleur Dr., Des Moines, IA 50321