Elm Road Express
November 2017
Letter from the Principal
Thank you for your recent participation in student/parent/teacher conferences. This important time allows our teachers the opportunity to share student progress with families and reinforce needed assistance at home. Please take advantage of the information shared regarding free computer programs available to your child. The programs are aligned to grade level standards and are geared to the instructional needs of your child.
Safety is important at Elm Road School. The students have participated in all necessary drills so far this school year. The drills serve as a reminder to all of our staff and students and prepare us in the event we have an emergency. As our morning arrival becomes darker, I remind parents to please be cautious when dropping off students. Parents are to pull forward as much as possible along the curb and remain in a single file line. Please remain in your vehicle, unless you use our parking lot and escort the students into the building. As you pull into the parking lot, please stay on the far right side, so staff members can enter in the morning and leave in the afternoon. Do NOT pass other vehicles. Thank you for helping keep all of our students safe.
Dates to Remember
Nov. 2nd - 1st Grade Vision at Bittersweet
Nov. 8th - Student Council to Feed My Starving Children
Nov. 16 - 4th grade to Symphony
Nov. 13th - 2:30 PTO Meeting
Nov 23-24 - Thanksgiving RecessThank You
Thank you to our wonderful PTO volunteers! The conference meal was a nourishing, relaxing, and sustaining treat. Who could refuse, Taco Tuesday?
Elm receives a Grade A from the IDOE!
Notes from the Office
· Parents, please call the school office in the morning before 9 am, when your student is absent for the day or will be arriving late. Otherwise, it will be marked unexcused (call 574-259-3743, press 1 for attendance).
· Please be aware that the front office is not able to make change for field trips, lunch accounts, fee payments etc. Families are being asked to pay with the exact amount that is required for payment.
· If you are a family needing duplicate copies of report cards and office notifications send a note to the teacher with the proper mailing information, so that we may get those items to you in a prompt manner.
Student Council Update
Wow! Our school really came together and stepped up to help the victims of the recent hurricanes. As a school, we raised over $300.00 to send to the American Red Cross. We could not be more proud of our Elm Road students and families! Thank you for your generous donations.
Student Council will be having their Annual Food Drive November 13-17.
Please send in nonperishable food items that will be donated to the Food Bank of Northern Indiana.
The class with the most donations will win a slushy party!!
We are the Elm Road Eagles
Website: elmroad.phmschools.org
Location: 59400 Elm Road, Mishawaka, IN, United States
Phone: (574)259-3743
Twitter: @ElmroadES
Students of the Month
Congratulations to the following
“Eagles” for their wonderful
“SOAR” behavior:
Macellari: Anna Gordenier and Alo Mokoma
Portolese: Deya Fey and Wrigley Tropp
Renz: Khamil Smith and Alex Zwicker
Bush: Avery Runyon and Brady McGillem
Clark: Wesley Tuttle, Emerald Allen-Palomin
Hinton: Abby Freeman and Connor Szakaly
Taylor: Emily Freeman and Luke Sobieralski
Gizewski: Katarina Obradovic and Jacob Crawford
Richard: Leyna Tropp and Matthew Tibbs
Tornquist: Ava Vanvynckt and Dominic Fey
Anderson: Evan Hertel and Channing Daniel
Miller: Alyssa Goss andMark Rauschenberg
Myers: Jade Santos-Barrera and Lucian Thompson
Pillow: J.J Cencelewski and Brianna Frost
Cook: Grant Spadafore and Kloe Klein
Fisher: Halen Doughty and Chance Cole
Kocsis: Dakota Cotter and Landen Neighbour
Newcomer: JaMarcus Porter and Londyn DuVal
Freeman: Karlee Russell and Mason McCain
Kertai: Dylan Fey and Addison Frederick
Mellor: Lucas Zwicker and Olivia Signorino
Shreiner: Aaron Pennington and Adalee Hoover
News from the Youth Service Bureau
The holiday season is just around the corner. There are several agencies that offer assistance for those in need.
Signups for the Christmas program at St. Vincent de Paul begins on October 30. This program provides food for a holiday meal and toys for children 12 and younger. Applicants need to provide:
∙ A Picture ID & Social Security card for everyone 18 and older in the home.
• Birth Certificates for everyone 17 and younger in the home.
• St. Joseph County proof of Address (Utility bills, lease, or other official mail).
∙ Custodial documents for all non-parent guardian applicants.
Dates: Oct. 30th – Nov. 3rd, 10am – 2pm ***With the exception of closing at 12PM on Nov. 3rd
You can only apply to one agency for Christmas help. Applications can be made in person at the following locations:
St. Vincent de Paul 520 Crescent Avenue South Bend, IN 46617
As the cold winter approaches, winter coats, hats and mittens will be necessary. If you need a referral for Christ Child, please contact Andrea Shell at 259-3743. All requests are confidential.
If interested in any assistance please contact Mrs. Shell to get more information.
Notes from the Health Office
SCHOOL NURSE NEWS……
P-H-M IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SAINT JOSEPH REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER
As colder weather and flu season approaches, here are some guidelines for when to keep your child home from school, until your health care provider can be contacted for his/her opinion:
· A fever of 100 degrees or higher- do not have the student return to school until the student has been fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medications.
· A “heavy cold or hacking cough” even without a fever (cough that disturbs normal activity)
· Diagnosis from physician of Whooping Cough/Pertusis-student should stay home from school until he/she has received 5 full days worth of antibiotic treatment.
· Vomiting- student should stay home until he/she can keep food down and is free of symptoms for 24 hours.
· Diarrhea-student should remain home until free of symptoms for 24 hours.
· Pink eye (conjunctivitis)-there can be many causes for red eyes, not all of which are communicable. Refer to your health care provider for an evaluation. The Academy of Pediatrics advises that children with purulent conjunctivitis (defined as pink or red conjunctiva with white or yellow discharge, often with matted eyelids after sleep and eye pain or redness of the eyelids or skin surrounding the eyes) be excluded until examined by a health care provider and approved for readmission. With bacterial conjunctivitis, health care providers usually recommend exclusion until 24 hours after starting topical antibiotic therapy.
· Strep throat-student can return to school after they have been on antibiotics for at least 24 hours and are fever free.
· Chicken pox-exclusion from school for one week after the first eruption appears or all lesions are dry and crusted
· Unexplained rash, blisters, or draining sores-student should see his/her health care provider for a diagnosis.
Many illnesses are most communicable at the beginning. If your child is kept home, fewer children will be exposed to the illness. Allowing your child to stay home and get well at the beginning of an illness will actually help him/her to be more successful in school and lose less school time in the long run.
Remember- good hygiene and good hand washing techniques can help to prevent many illnesses! Please get a flu shot!!!
***Any medication, even cough drops need to be in the original container. It must be a child’s dosage, and parent needs to fill out a form in order for it be administered. Please do not send any form of medication in with the student without all the above as it will be returned home without it being administered.
Call your health care provider with any concerns during an illness!
Library Lines
Thank you to the many volunteers, Deana Shinall and Leah Runyon for co-chairing the Scholastic Book Fair. The Book Fair was a huge success! Our Library receives many new books to add to our collection. Many thanks to all of you for your purchases!
The students have been enjoying their books. Please ask them about the books they've been reading. Set an example, let them see you read. When children read independently for pleasure, they are building a strong foundation for future success in school and in life.
Thank you to the many Library Moms that help with classes in the library every week – you are very much appreciated.
Mrs. Knapp
Mrs. Creighton's Reading Corner
It is difficult to believe that we are already in the second quarter of the school year. As we move into the next quarter, I wanted to share some ideas on how to help your child in becoming a successful reader. At school we work on improving literacy, but family involvement is crucial in ensuring student success.
There are many ways in which you can support your young reader at home. Just because your child has learned to read, does not mean that they no longer would appreciate or benefit from being read aloud to at home. Children of all ages enjoy hearing stories read aloud. As you read aloud to your child, take time to ask your child questions about the book. If you are reading a book to your child, try to pick a high interest book that is up to two years above his or her reading level. By doing this, you will expose your child to new vocabulary and to higher level concepts. A broad, rich vocabulary is important in supporting reading comprehension. Visualizing events in a story will also aide in comprehension skills. As you read aloud to your child, have them draw what they are visualizing in the story. You can ask them how they visualized characters or settings in the story.
Reading practice is essential in becoming a successful reader. The best way to encourage reading at home, is to set up a routine for family reading. Keep a supply of books within reach of your child. There are many places to purchase inexpensive, high interest books. Try going to a library book sale, or check out your local Goodwill. You can stock a family library for a few dollars.
Happy Reading,
Mrs. Creighton
Title I Teacher/ Reading Specialist
What's Happening in PE
Dear Families,
Happy Autumn! During the month of October, your child has practiced the following fire safety procedures during physical education: calling 9-1-1, stop-drop-and roll, staying low and crawling, opening and closing doors and windows, and learning that fire fighters are our friends (not to be scared or hide from them). We also appreciate Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Laidig, Mr. and Mrs. Logsdon, Mr. Dawson, Mrs. Tropp, Mrs. Lapkiewicz and Mr. Juarez for being our 9-1-1 operators so students could practice making a 9-1-1 call and recite their address! Please continue to work with your child(ren) on knowing address and a fire safety plan.
In addition to fire safety, all grades closed the month of October with discussing intensity and heart rate through our “Haunted House” game and applied some soccer skills to our game of Ghostbusters. We have learned about the importance of the skeletal system and how to keep our growing bones strong and healthy.
Grades 3-5 have been learning about the components (parts) of fitness (cardio endurance, flexibility and muscular strength) through fitness testing, in November they will identify a fitness goal for themselves. All grades will also be celebrating Veterans' Day and Thanksgiving with games in the gym as well as a visit from our martial artist and Mrs. Jodarski will be teaching a “pound” aerobics class to our 1st-5th grade students.
All grades have been practicing their jump roping skills. A number of students have expressed interest in being a part of our jump team. This is limited to about 24 students in grades 2nd-5th. (So only about 6 or less per grade level) We have been spending some time in gym practicing skills needed to be a member of the team. Please encourage your child to keep practicing if they are a 2nd or 3rd grader as we add new members to the team each fall. I have 5-7 spots to fill and have shared jumps/skills students can practice to be closer to becoming a member of the team.
A focus during gym has also been placed on basic locomotor skills. Please help your child practice tying, hopping, jumping, skipping, throwing and catching when there is opportunity. Many kindergarten through second graders are needing lots of help with tying!
Thank you to Mrs. Zumbrun, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Werntz, and Mrs. Kousky for monitoring our 4/5 mileage club runners at recess on Wednesday and Thursday!
Debbie Parisi & Michael Phipps
Greetings from the Elm Road Music Room!
1st: The Musical Staff, So and Mi, Keeping a Steady Beat on Instruments
2nd: The Musical Staff, So, Mi, and La, Xylophones
3rd: Sixteenth Note Rhythms, Rounds, Do, Re, Mi, So, La
4th: The National Anthem, Patriotic Music, 3/4 time signature
5th: Finishing Class Compositions, 3/4 time signature, Begin Program Pieces
Please email me with any questions!
Mrs. Nakayama