Thayer Tiger Thoughts
Parent Newsletter Fall 2023
Calendar Review and Upcoming Events to Save the Date!
November 2nd - Coding and Robotics; 3:30 - 4.45.
November 3rd - Helping hands; PTO will be helping make copies, laminate etc.
November 7th - Third grade dress rehearsal for Veteran's Day program.
November 9th - Coding and robotics; 3:30 - 4:45.
November 10th - No School. Veteran's Day, thank you to all who have served!
November 13th - 3rd grade Veteran's Day program at 2:30 in the gym. 3rd grade parents invited.
November 14th - 4th grade dress rehearsal at 2:30 in the gym.
November 15th - 5th grade dress rehearsal at 2:30 in the gym.
November 16th - 4th grade concert 5:00 - 5:30, 5th grade concert 5:30- 6:00,
Coding and Robotics
November 20th - 24th - No school. Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your break with family.
Upcoming Events pending final dates/times:
This year we will be hosting a Gratitude for Grown-ups event on December 1st versus the typical Family Feast Lunch for Thanksgiving - Be on the the lookout for more details to this special event.
December 5th Multi-Cultural Event - We will need parent volunteers to sign up to represent a country or make food for us. More details will be sent home in a few weeks. 4:30 - 6:30 pm.
December 5th -- Scholastic Book Fair in the Library.
December 8th - Popcorn Friday!
December 20th -- Holiday Parties; Dismiss at 1:00.
December 20th - January 3rd -- Winter Break.
January 4th -- Students return to school.
From the desk of Mrs. Justice
Each week we all discuss the 7 habits and being respectful to all adults in all settings. I think we have a wonderful school community and the students are meeting their Wildly Important Goals (WIGS)This picture shows our staff in August preparing for a successful year. We have 4 new staff members who are with us this year.
A few reminders about procedures as we welcome many new families this past month:
- We welcome all our new families to the Thayer School Community.
- Parents cannot park in the front drive in the mornings until after 8:35. This area is only open to our staff for parking. Our buses need that space to drop off students.
- We have 2 buses that will drop off students daily and a third one coming from Partridge that arrives at 8:30 every day. This is why we do not allow parents to drive around to the front of the building. We pull the barriers across the road to promote safety for all our students who are walking to school.
- Parents wanting to drop off students in the morning can use our parent drop off/pick up location in the circle drive. If parents want to use the front, we just ask that you park and walk your child inside if they are late (anytime after 8:30 am M, T, Th, F and 9:00 am on Wednesdays).
- All students will enter through the front doors.
- Breakfast begins at 8:00 am and ends at 8:25 when school announcements start. Your child needs to be on time for school if they are planning to eat breakfast.
- Whole group instruction begins at 8:30. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR CHILD IS ON TIME.
- Thayer is also conducting a PERFECT ATTENDANCE CHALLENGE, this means arriving to school on time, stay at school all day. We are working to achieve our 90% attendance each month.
- We are tracking students with 100% attendance each month. If your child is tardy, checked out for an appointment, or checked out prior to 3:30, each minute is tracked to ensure perfect attendance.
Our students are focusing on our three school-wide expectations, which we call showing our Thayer Tiger Traits: Be respectful, Be responsible, and Be a safe learner. They have also been learning the Leader in me Habits at school during Lead Time on Wednesday mornings and classroom instruction.
Discipline Issues at school
When your child is at school, our primary role is to teach. Students should be learning. If your child comes home and reports a behavior issue to you, please ask your child what happened and if they reported it to a teacher. If they did not, please call or e-mail your teacher to find out more information. We cannot protect your child if we do not know about the problem. Communication is crucial to your student's success!
We use Positive Behavioral Support for our students in all settings. The students should be following our Leader In Me Matrix to ensure they are following the rules in all settings. The teacher is the first person you need to communicate with about your child's behavior. We have systems in place to support your child if they should need more interventions in this area.
District Parent Survey
This survey link was sent out this morning. We would appreciate if our Thayer families would take the time to fill it out.
We want to know your thoughts and opinions about your child’s school and educational experiences. Would you please take a moment to complete our annual 2023-24 Parent Survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/wsdparent2023.
Or you may use the QR code:
The first question will ask you to select ALL of the schools that your children attend.
The next question will invite you to complete the survey about ONE of your children’s schools. The survey closes on Friday, Nov. 3.
Kindergarten - 2nd grade Perfect Attendance for September!
Perfect Attendance for 3rd - 5th grade for the month of September!
Diversity Club
We have a great team making sure all our students feel safe and loved in their school environment. Please reach out to us if your child needs any assistance with social or academic success. We are here to help in all ways.
Our Military, Life and Family counselor, Mrs. Reed is no longer with us at Thayer. This organization is currently looking for another replacement to help us at school.
Tiger Pride!
Student Lighthouse Leaders
Student Led Conference at Thayer
Attendance Matters!
Our goal this year is to ensure that every student attends school regularly.
Showing up for school has a huge impact on a student’s academic success starting in Kindergarten and continuing through High School. Even as children grow older and more independent, families play a key role in making sure students get to school safely every day and understand why attendance is so important for success in school and in life.
We realize some absences are unavoidable due to health problems, family leave due to deployments, etc. But, we also know that when students miss too much school— regardless of the reason – it can cause them to fall behind academically. Your child is less likely to succeed if he or she is chronically absent—which means missing 10 or more days over the course of an entire school year. Missouri requires that each student be at school at least 90% of the time. Thayer's attendance goal for the year is 90%. At the present time, we are at 94% attendance. Mrs. Vega and myself will be reviewing attendance and sending home attendance letters to those students who have missed school.
Research shows:
- Children chronically absent in kindergarten and 1st grade are much less likely to read at grade level by the end of 3rd grade.
- By 6th grade, chronic absence is a proven early warning sign for students at risk for dropping out of school.
- By 9th grade good attendance can predict graduation rates even better than 8th grade test scores.
Clearly going to school regularly matters!
We don’t want your child to fall behind in school and get discouraged. Please ensure that your child attends school every day and arrives on time if they are healthy. Here are a few practical tips to help support regular attendance by being PROACTIVE:
- Make sure your children keep a regular bedtime and establish a morning routine.
- Lay out clothes and pack backpacks the night before.
- Ensure your children go to school every day unless they are truly sick
- Avoid scheduling vacations or doctor’s appointments when school is in session.
- Talk to teachers and counselors for advice if your children feel anxious about going to school.
- Develop back up plans for getting to school if something comes up. Call on a family member, neighbor, or another parent to take your child to school.
Let Mrs. Vega or Mrs. Justice know how we can best support you and your children daily. We want our students to show up for school on time every day. We want your child to be successful in school! If you have any questions or need more information please contact the office at 573-842-2200.
Waynesville District 2023- 2024 CALENDAR
The Science of Reading
Phonemic Awareness- The ability to identify and play with individual sounds in spoken words.
Phonics - Reading Instruction on understanding how letters and groups of letters link to sounds to form letter-sound relationships and spelling patterns.
Fluency - The ability to read words, phrases, sentences, and stories correctly, with enough speed, and expression.
Vocabulary - Knowing what words mean and how to say and use them correctly.
Comprehension - The ability to understand what you are reading.
Our dedicated staff members are teaching these skills daily to ensure your students have a strong foundation in reading. They collaborate daily to ensure interventions are in place for everyone to make a year or more growth in reading. Please reach out to your teacher if you need more practice for your child at home.
We want to make 80% or higher on our District reading standards. Please ensure your child is reading at least 20 minutes to achieve their A.R. goals in 2nd grade - 5th grade as well as make progress on their weekly reading assessments.
Accelerated Reader
All students in Grades 2-5 are participating in the Accelerated Reader program. Students choose a book at their reading level, read the book carefully, and take a quiz over the book. Each student has worked with their teacher to set a reading goal for the quarter. To help your students find books that have AR Quizzes, parents can us the following website: arbookfind.com, this will show you the book level (BL) and the associated points. If the book does not populate that means that no quiz is associated with that book. Please have your child read at least 20 minutes daily each evening.
Star Reading and Math scores
Student Led Conferences at Thayer Fall 2023
Mrs. Martin's 5th grade
5th grade student in Mrs. Chrisman's class
Kindergarten student in Miss Gordon's classroom
We appreciate all the families who came into school for this event. We are a team and it takes all of us to move students to academic success. Your efforts are noticed.
Morning Procedures
What if my child is absent?
Mrs. Vega can be reached at 573-842-2200. Our office is very busy, please keep these calls brief. We also will not transfer phone calls to your child's teacher during the day.
When Club Tiger is not in session, our school still requires parents to send a note in with your child to ensure their transportation has been changed. We do not just use the forms you turn into Club Tiger.
Be Proactive---- attend school daily!
What if there is a change for the end of the day?
We ask that you contact the school early in the day if you need to make a change to your child's after school routine. It is best if you directly contact your child's teacher with a note in the morning. If something changes during the day, you are required to come into the school to change your child's mode of transportation. We would like this done before 2:00 PM. It is also important to remember that you should not be changing their transportation each week. This becomes very confusing for your child.
What to do if your child has an issue with the bus
Instead, if your child has concerns about the bus, it is important for them to first seek assistance from the adult on the bus. Our bus drivers work on building relationships with students and establishing procedures on the bus. They are both very patient drivers, but want the students to follow directions, use an inside voice, and stay seated at all times.
Students who are being disruptive at the Bus Stop when the driver arrives will notify Mrs. Justice of the problem. I will talk to students and let parents know. Please remind students to be on their best behavior from the Bus Stop to the arrival of school.
The bus driver will file incident reports with the school when the situation cannot be handled on the bus. If a child gets a bus referral from the driver, the first consequence will be reteaching the expectations and practicing with an adult at the school. For making a wrong choice they will lose recess and complete a think sheet. The second referral could result in a one day suspension from the bus. Further bus referrals will result in longer suspensions and could even mean the remainder of the school year. Please discuss good behavior on the bus with your students.
If there are concerns about the bus, please call the Transportation Department at:
573-842-2194. Aaron Tronstad is the Transportation Director.
Notes from Nurse Jordan
I am Ms. Foster, and I am the nurse at Thayer Elementary. It's my pleasure to take care of your students at Thayer and it is my job to maintain a safe and healthy learning environment for all our students.
Flu season is upon us. Help us WHACK the flu at Thayer Elementary. W- wash your hands often, H- stay at home if you're sick, A- avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth, C- cover your coughs and sneezes, K- keep your distance from others who are coughing and sneezing. By following these basic steps, along with receiving your annual flu vaccine, you can help us keep our students healthy.
Also, at Thayer Elementary we follow best practices for minimizing allergens in the classrooms. This includes restricting peanut products in some of our classrooms. We ask parents to help keep our students safe by sending in store bought and sealed items for birthdays or other celebrates to school for lunch or snack time.
Parents please remember that if your child has a fever (100.0), they must remain fever free (without medication) for a 24 hour period before returning to school. We understand that attendance is important, but the health of our students and staff are equally important.
Thayer Elementary
Email: rjustice@waynesville.k12.mo.us
Website: waynesville.k12.mo.us/Domain
Location: 15342 Thayer Road, Fort Leonard Wood, MO, United States
Phone: 573-842-2200
Facebook: facebook.com/thayerelementary
Twitter: @rjusticeprin