Fryelands Falcon Flyer
January 21, 2021
From the Principal
Dear Fryelands Families,
Parking in the Car Drop Off Area
Parents and guardians, please use the Car Drop Off Area for dropping off students ONLY. Some drivers are parking and getting out of their cars to walk students up to school building doors. This creates safety and backup issues in the line up. Families that want to walk students up to the door, please park your car in the parking lot. Only those cars that are going to truly "drop off" their child from the car should come up to the "car drop area." Thank you for your support of this expectation.
I will be including some research-based best practices in our weekly newsletters to help parents and other adults in their interactions with their children and all children.
This week our focus is “PRAISE.”
PRAISE- How to make praise more effective
Praise is an important way to let our children know how much we appreciate their efforts. When children receive praise and feel appreciated, they are more motivated to work hard. The average mother praises her child about once every 90 minutes. The majority of parents are making critical statements much more frequently than this. Strive to use praise and interact positively with your child 4 times for every criticism or punishment you use.
Advantages of Praise:
- Helps to develop healthy self esteem
- Children love being the center of positive attention from their parents
- Kids will want to spend more time with you
- Frequent use of praise increases the effectiveness of other things you do as a parent
How to use:
- Use praise immediately
- Use a sincere, enthusiastic tone of voice
- Be specific; being specific makes praise more effective
- Use non-verbal signs of approval (smiles, a wink, a pat on the back, giving a hug, or a high five)
*You can double the effectiveness of your praise by pairing Verbal and Non-Verbal Praise together
There are three types of praise that have shown to be particularly effective in helping children to be more cooperative:
“That was very clever or smart.”
“I know you can do it.”
“You are important to me because…”
Research has shown that increased use of praise leads to substantial improvements in performance. Some people find it difficult to give praise without adding a critical comment. For example, “I really like it when you pick up your toys. Why can’t you do this all the time?” The added criticism does not accomplish anything and reduces the power of the praise.
What should parents do if their child does not respond well to praise?
For children who are not used to this kind of positive attention, parents should increase the children’s exposure to praise. One way to do this is by letting their children overhear parents praising the child while speaking to someone else.
Thank you for bringing your students to school on time and prepared for learning each day. If you have questions or concerns, please contact me at presleyj@monroe.wednet.edu or at 360-804-3400.
Sincerely,
Jeff Presley
Upcoming Events
- Jan. 25 - Learning Material Hand-out Day 11:30am-1:30pm
- Jan. 28 - School Picture Retake Day 3-5pm
- Jan. 29 - Semester Break ~ No School
- February - Black History Month
- Feb. 1-5 - National School Counseling Week
- Feb. 3 - Principal Chat 6-7pm
- Feb. 8 - Learning Material Hand-out Day 11:30-1:30pm
- Feb. 12-15 - President's Day Break ~ No School
School Picture Retake Day
Did you miss out on getting school pictures taken earlier this year? Our picture retake day is scheduled for:
Thursday, January 28th
3:00-5:00pm
In the Fryelands Library
An appointment is required.
Please sign up for a time slot using SignUpGenius: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4BAAA62BA2F9C43-fryelands.
If you are getting a retake of your original picture, please bring your original package with you to the retake. On the day of pictures, please come to Fryelands Elementary at the time you have scheduled. Face Masks are require until the photo is taken.
You may order pictures online at www.dorianstudio.com prior to the picture day and up to four days after picture day. We also have paper order forms available in the office.
Important Assessment Information
As we head into January, all students will be spending time this month on some important assessments to help us track your student’s growth this school year. In addition to the ongoing assessments - formal and informal - that happen in each classroom, there are three formal district-level assessments that will happen this month:
- All students in grades K-5 will be completing their Winter iReady Diagnostic in both Math and Reading by February 12th. Teachers will send your child’s class’s specific iReady diagnostic schedule, but this assessment helps to measure overall progress towards standards in both Math and Reading. Find more information about the iReady Diagnostics for Families here.
- Students in grades 3-5 will be completing their Whole Child Survey through BrightBytes by January 28th. This survey will help us be able to better identify student's needs in the areas of Social and Emotional Learning, Safety, Engagement, and Environment. Your child’s participation is essential in helping our schools make informed decisions about how to better support students.
All 2nd & 4th grade students, as well as referred students in other grades will be completing the CogAT Screener for highly capable assessment between January 19th and January 28th.
We appreciate your partnership in supporting your child(ren) with these assessments. We know that any sort of testing can sometimes cause worry for children, but truly our goal is to gather important information to better help your child in their learning. To this end, it’s important that we get data around what your child can do independently.
Birthday Bucket
Fryelands Falcon Pictures of the Week
Update Your Contact Information
It is very important that all families make sure all of their contact information is up-to-date with the school office. In the event of school delays and cancelations, or other emergencies, we need to be able to contact all of our families. When there are urgent messages to share with families, they are sent out via email and phone call. Messages are also posted on the district website, Facebook and Twitter.
If you would like to opt-in to also receive text messages, please send a text message of "Y" or "Yes" to our school's short code number, 67587. You can opt out of these messages any time by simply replying to one of our messages with "Stop".
Inclement Weather Procedures Reminder
Now that winter is upon us, we wanted to remind you of our inclement weather procedures. Even though it is an unusual school year, we will be following our typical inclement weather procedures just as any other school year. This means that if road conditions are deemed unsafe, we will be delaying or canceling school for that day, including distance learning. Canceled school days may need to be made up at the end of the school year.
While the majority of our students are currently in a distance learning model, we have many staff and students reporting to our buildings every day. Buses are running daily, transporting our preschool, kindergarten and other small groups of students to and from school; many of our teachers continue to work onsite in order to utilize district technology & internet; and many more employees report to work daily in order to provide necessary services to students. Our top priority is always the safety of staff and students when making decisions related to inclement weather and upholding our typical procedures will allow us to keep staff and students safe in the event of unsafe road conditions.
We recognize that canceled school days may disrupt family schedules and that the school year may have to be extended. The decision to close schools in the event of inclement weather is not an easy one and many factors are taken into consideration when making such a decision. It is important to understand that the road conditions of our entire district are taken into account when a delay or closure decision is made. The roads in one part of our district may be clear while other areas are struggling with snow and/or ice and we are unable to close some schools in the district while leaving other schools open.
How the decision to delay or close schools is made:
To help make the best possible decision, weather forecasts are consistently monitored and district staff drive our bus routes to evaluate road and parking lot conditions. We make every effort to make decisions regarding closings or delays in the evening, understanding that parents need time to make arrangements for the following day. However, if the forecast is uncertain and still developing, we wait to get the latest forecast and assess actual road conditions early in the morning. Morning decisions will be announced by 5 a.m. Additionally, if a delayed opening has been announced the night before, and the forecast or conditions worsen overnight, we may need to update the status in the morning and announce that all schools will be closed for the day.
Depending on the winter weather conditions, one of the following four options is decided:
- Schools start on time (no messages will be shared)
- Schools start on time with limited bus service
- Schools start two hours late (no a.m. preschool, no out-of-district transportation) - a delay would only be utilized if/when students and staff return to full days of in-person learning
- Schools are closed (When schools are closed, all after school activities and evening facility use are also canceled.)
If schools are delayed or closed, information will be shared through the following communication channels:
- Email and robocall: An email and automated phone call will go out to all staff and families. Please make sure your contact information is up to date in Family Access to ensure you receive these notifications. Families who have 'unsubscribed' from district emails and/or automated calls will not receive these notifications.
- Text message: A text message will be sent only to those families who have opted-in to receive texts from the district. Learn how to opt-in here.
- District website: A message will be posted to the front page of our district website.
- Social media: Messages will be posted to the district Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.
- School schedule hotline: 360-804-2950
We will not send or post messages if schedules are normal. No news means that schools are open.
Snow bus routes are posted on the district website, here. If you have questions, please contact the district administration office at 360-804-2500.
Library Book Check-Out
Counselor's Corner
Welcome back and Welcome 2021!!! I hope you all had a nice and restful break!!!
Today I wanted to share something that I saw that stood out to me. It is creating a It's New Year. Let's make it Great planning sheet. I'm going to try it for myself as we start this new year.
Write down:
2: Two things I will get better at ___________ ___________
0: Something I will do less of ____________
2: 2 things I will try to learn __________ ______________
1: One new thing I want to try ___________
Free Meals Program
Student lunches are available for pickup at all elementary schools, Monday-Friday, from 11:30am-1:30pm daily. These meals are free for all children under age 18. Children do not need to be present at pick-up. Each grab-and-go bag contains lunch and a breakfast for the next day. You can view daily or weekly menus here: LUNCH MENUS
We are excited to announce that our free meal program has expanded to include an option for a free, pre-order, weekly meal kit! If you would like more information about our Free Meal Programs, go to our district website for the most up to date information.
https://www.monroe.wednet.edu/covid-19/free-meal-program
*It is important to note that duplicate meals are not allowed in the free meal program. Please choose to pick up either a weekly meal kit or daily meals, not both.
Attendance Matters
Students have many ways to engage during the day: Attend daily Zoom meetings, be active on Canvas, turn in an assignment, attended office hours or other small group supports, do iReady, or provided some other evidence that they have engaged in some way during that day.
If you know your child will be absent, please call our 24 hour attendance hotline at (360) 804-3401 to excuse them. Thanks!
Family Help Desk
Office Hours
Amazon Smiles
Do you shop at Amazon? Did you know that you can help our school by shopping through AmazonSmile?
We have an account that each time you purchase on the site, our school will earn 0.5% of funds back on your purchase!
Charity Name: Fryelands PTA 7-6-14
To shop at AmazonSmile simply go to smile.amazon.com from the web browser on your computer or mobile device. On your first visit to AmazonSmile smile.amazon.com, you need to select a charitable organization to receive donations from eligible purchases before you begin shopping. We will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make at smile.amazon.com will result in a donation.
INFORMATIONAL LINKS:
ABOUT US:
Austin Talbott, Counselor
Julee Baca, Office Manager
Cindy Snider, Office Support
Sherah Bustamante, Nurse
Kathy Jackson, Family Engagement Liaison
360-804-3517 - jacksonka@monroe.wednet.edu
Fax: (360) 804-3499 | Attendance Line: (360) 804-3401
Email: bacaj@monroe.wednet.edu
Website: https://www.monroe.wednet.edu/fre
Location: 15286 Fryelands Boulevard, Monroe, WA, USA
Phone: 360-804-3400
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FryelandsElementary/
Twitter: @monroewaschools
MSD NOTICE OF NON-DISCRIMINATION
The Monroe School District does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, honorably discharged veteran or military status, sexual orientation including gender expression or identity, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following employees have been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination: Title IX and Civil Rights Coordinator, Joanne Dickinson, (360) 804.2539, dickinsonj@monroe.wednet.edu Section 504/ADA Coordinator, David Paratore, (360) 804.2603, paratored@monroe.wednet.edu. The Monroe School District will also take steps to assure that national origin persons who lack English language skills can participate in all education programs, services and activities. For information regarding translation services or transitional bilingual education programs, contact: Kim Whitworth, (360) 804.2558, whitworthk@monroe.wednet.edu .Mailing address for all of the above: 14692 - 179th Avenue SE, Monroe, WA 98272