PSE Weekly Howl
Week of September 6th!
Greetings from Stacey
The district is keeping a COVID dashboard again this year that you can find here. If there is a positive case identified in your child's classroom, you will receive a low-risk letter alerting you. If your child is deemed a close contact, then you will get a phone call from Nurse Lori, myself, or a Blue Valley health liaison letting you know to come and pick up your student, and testing options for returning to school.
If your child is ill with any COVID-like symptoms, please report their absence via one of the three ways below, and also email Nurse Lori, with symptoms, and she can help talk through if testing is required before returning to school. As we have learned, every situation is unique, and the guidance that is given is based on the symptoms and other possible exposures. Please know we do our best to follow up and keep everyone healthy.
Note: There are lots of testing options available, but a PCR test is what is needed to return to school if your child is showing one primary symptom or two secondary symptoms of COVID.
We know none of this is easy, and we truly appreciate everyone's support as we continue to navigate our pandemic reality.
A reminder that there is No School on Monday or Tuesday next week. We will see all our students back on Wednesday, September 8th.
I hope everyone enjoys the extra-long weekend!
~Stacey
No School- Monday and Tuesday
We will have no school on Monday, September 6th, and Tuesday, September 7th. All staff and students are off on Monday for Labor Day, and Tuesday staff will be in professional learning meetings.
School will resume Wednesday, September 8th!
Justice Grove Picnic – 2021
Justice Grove Picnic – 2021
Prairie Star Elementary
Thursday, September 9th
5:00 – 7:30 p.m.
After a couple of years off we are looking forward to hosting our PTO-sponsored back to school event!
This year’s picnic will feature your choice of fresh grilled hamburgers, cheeseburgers, veggie burgers, grilled chicken and hot dogs along with a bag of chips and a water. Food will be served from 5:00 - 7:00 pm.
In addition we will be providing musical entertainment for the kids. The DJ will play from 5:30 - 7:30 pm.
Tickets are $8.00 per person and will be available at the door.
Tickets can be purchased with cash or a check made payable to ‘PSE PTO’.
The picnic will be held behind the school next to the playground.
Feel free to bring lawn chairs. No one will be allowed in the building, so please plan accordingly.
Volunteer Sign Up - https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0F4BAFAF2EA0FF2-justice1
Wolf Walk
Wolf Wellness Week (September 13-17)—Students engage in fun, health-related activities and exercises while raising money to help fund the enhancement of the playground and an all school reading program.
Fundraising Pledge Packets: Please note: All students will go home Friday, September 10, with their Wolf Walk Pledge Packets. Be sure to look for information on Friday and discuss with your child how they can secure pledges over the weekend and through next week! Donations are due no later than Friday, September 17 at 8:00am to be eligible for the top prizes.
Donations will be accepted online at
https://prairiestarpto.membershiptoolkit.com/fundraiser/1062 . You will be able to share this on social media and send emails to friends and family! If you would like to send a check for your donation, please ensure your student’s name is on it and send it in an envelope marked Wolf Walk. Thank you!
Wolf Walk (Tuesday, September 14): Every student will participate in the Wolf Walk, so please help encourage students to gather pledges and receive prizes. Students should wear their PSE Class Color shirts, if they have them, on this day
PSE Beautification
Calling all local troops and service groups!!!
We could use your help preserving and restoring Prairie Star’s playground garden including refreshing the garden with pollinator and native plants, repairing rocks paths, weeding, updating pebbles, and refreshing the bridge painting. Please contact PSE PTO for troop availability (dates, group size, etc.) to provide and lend your support to this important school initiative.
What is The Science of Reading?
The science of reading is a body of research conducted by experts across many fields, including education, cognitive science, neuroscience, linguistics, and speech and language among others. This exhaustive body of research includes years of scientific knowledge and provides us with the information we need to gain a deeper understanding of how we learn to read, what skills are necessary for reading, how these skills work together, and which parts of the brain are responsible for reading development.
What Does Learning to Read Entail?
Language comprehension and decoding, or word recognition, are two essential skills to reach the end goal of successful reading comprehension. Included in language comprehension is vocabulary, background knowledge, and an understanding of the structure of the English language. This explains why it is important to teach vocabulary, read to students, and support them in making connections to their experiences or previous learning throughout their education.
The second essential set of skills to be developed facilitate word recognition. Phonological awareness, the ability to distinguish sounds and syllables in spoken language, is an early skill set in this area. Students also need to develop sound-symbol relationships in order to connect the sounds of English onto the symbol or letter. Learning in these areas needs to progress from the most simple skills to most complex and provide ample opportunities for practice allowing students to achieve near automatic recognition. Learning experiences which utilize a multisensory approach support deep and lasting learning.
Donations Needed for Wolf Walk
We have received some great donations for prizes for Wolf Walk ... i.e., Royals memorabilia, Urban Air Experience, and gift cards to local attractions. However, we are always looking for more items to auction and raise money for our awesome school. If your family or business would like to donate items towards the auction, please email Stephanie Hetherington, steph.hetherington@gmail.com
Because of the Rabbit-One School One Read- Coming Soon!
Our school is about to embark on a special project called #OneBookConnects. We’re all going to read the same book together, along with schools and families across the country. Reading this book together will enable your family to share and our school community to connect.
The book is Because of the Rabbit, by Cynthia Lord. You are going to love Emma and her stories of rabbit magic. You’ll be receiving a copy of the book, along with a tailored three-week reading schedule – reading starts on September 13th. Generally, you will be asked to read about 15 minutes per night together.
You will also be receiving a special Family Fun Pack that includes questions, activities, and resources so your family can engage with the book together at home.
Your family can also explore the virtual resources provided by Read to Them. There will be weekly trivia questions on Read to Them’s social media channels. There is also a Digital Resource Hub where your student can interact with other students on Kahoot! and Flipgrid, read posts on the #OneBookConnects Blog, and participate in a national contest to win book-related prizes.
I am thrilled to read together and connect with the PSE community!
— Stacey Sperry
Find resources and updates at readtothem.org.
Follow @readtothem on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook
And be sure to use these hashtags:
#OneBookConnects
#BecauseoftheRabbit
#ReadtoThem
PSE PTO
Please make sure your family has registered and updated your student's information on our PTO website https://prairiestarpto.membershiptoolkit.com/home. Here you will find our school directory, PTO calendar, volunteer opportunities, spirit wear information, yearbook order forms and lots more! In addition, join our PSE PTO Families private group on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/PSEPTO. Thank you for your help!
BV Substitutes
“How can I help?” It’s one of the most common questions we hear from our Blue Valley community these days and it is what makes our community so special: your willingness to lend a helping hand and provide support during difficult times. Our students need us now more than ever, and in order to support them in the best way possible, we need our community. We are currently looking for substitutes. If you have completed 60 college credits, you are eligible to apply for an emergency substitute license. If you are available one day a week, or even a couple days a month, consider applying to become a substitute. For more information, please contact Kaitlyn Drew at KMDrew@bluevalleyk12.org.
PSE PTO Fundraiser Nights
September 22 - Chipotle
October 28 - Papa John's
December 8 - Panera
Important Dates:
SEPTEMBER
3-PTO Board Meeting- 9:00 am-date and time change
6-No School
7-Professional Learning Day-No school for students
9-Justice Grove Picnic
13-Picture Day
17-Wolf Walk-PSE specialist will help run
21/22-Book Fair
29/30-Parent-Teacher Conferences-
Save the Date for Parent-Teacher Conferences
We are so excited to schedule time with each of our families to talk about their students and learning. This fall, we will be scheduling all conferences as Zoom conferences unless a family specifically requests an in-person option. (Please note: Families will need to email your classroom teacher when the signup links come out if you are requesting an in-person conference time instead of Zoom.)
The overwhelming feedback from last year informed us that utilizing Zoom for conferences was an effective and efficient way for teachers and parents to connect. As a parent, you didn’t have to leave work, didn’t have travel time, and didn’t have to worry about child care needs, especially with elementary students.
Please be looking for a signup genius from your classroom teacher the weekend of September 10th to select a time.
We are excited to share with you all the amazing learning taking place at PSE.
PSE Yearbook
Please don’t forget to order the 2021-2022 YEARBOOK! It’s an 80-page, hardcover book that makes a fantastic keepsake for your child to remember their time at Prairie Star! Ordering is easy and all online this year from the PTO Website!
https://prairiestarpto.membershiptoolkit.com/home
Pictures Needed: This year's book will include pictures submitted by both teachers and families because of our yearbook team's limited access to the building. We want to see your child and his/her friends so please continue to send us pictures! Currently, we are asking for pictures from Sneak-a-Peek and Back to School as well as requesting for any team sports, extra curricular activities and the Justice Grove Picnic that will be September 9. You can submit pictures using either of these two easy ways:
- Use the Balfour app called “Image Share” to download and upload pictures right from your phone. It’s called ImageShare Balfour, and our project this year is 127759.
- Email them to us at full size (you can do this right off your phone!) at prairiestaryearbook@gmail.com
If you have any questions please send to Sally Groesbeck and Abbie Moles at prairiestaryearbook@gmail.com!