Website: https://www.ksb.kyschools.us
Location: 1867 Frankfort Ave, Louisville, KY 40206
Phone: (502) 897-1583

Fax: (502) 897-2850
Facebook: facebook.com/KYschoolfortheblind/
Twitter: @KSBWildcats

Happy Friday Wildcats!

Our school year is in full swing and we have lots of upcoming events to look forward to. Our Fall Break will be Thursday, September 29, Friday, September 30, and Monday, October 3. I hope you use this time to recharge and return ready to dig back in to learning here at KSB.

On Wednesday, October 5, KSB will host the 45th Bill Roby Track and Field Games for KSB students and students from other schools that are in pre-school to age 14. This event was started in 1977 as Junior Olympics and was later renamed after former Clifton businessman and KSB Advisory Board member Bill Roby. Mr. Roby was an avid supporter of KSB. He was also the owner of the Convenient Store on the corner of Haldeman Ave. and Frankfort Ave. Mr. Roby was also the recipient of the 1999 Paul J. Langan Award. Parents are welcome to come and see your child compete! Look for specific information on times, etc to go home closer to the date of the event.

Also the KSB Fall Festival will be Thursday, October 20. More information to come!

Have a great weekend!

• Tuesday, Sept 20-Informational Meeting about EXTREME MOBILITY CAMPS XMO WINTER 2023. Join Dr. Amanda Lannan, from the University of Kentucky, Visually Impaired Program, and founders of XMO, Bryan and Mindy Schwarz, to learn how you can be a part of the 2023 adventure. Click here for more Info
• Thursday, Sept 22 - How a Paycheck and a Government Check Can Work Together Online Workshop (10am or 5:30pm EDT) Do you know about Social Security’s Student Earned Income Exclusion where a student could earn up to $2,040/month and have no reduction in the SSI payment unless they earn over $8,230/year? The truth about what will happen to one’s bank account when working can set your students free! Learn More and Register Here
• Fall Break-Thursday, September 29-Monday, October 3
• Bill Roby Games-Wednesday, October 5

If you have any change in phone numbers, home address, a change in bus routine or you need someone added/removed from your child’s safe pick-up list; please contact Beth or Linda in the front office.

Are you signed up for OneCall? KSB uses OneCall to send school information, including our Weekly Wildcat. If not, please contact Beth Baker at beth.baker@ksb.kyschools.us or 502-897-1583

A parent/guardian should call the KSB Office (502-897-1583, ext. 0204) for each day their child will not be at school to report the nature of their child’s absence. If possible, please call the school before 7:45 am. A student’s absence can only be reported to the KSB Office.

Excused absences:

• Medical appointments which cannot be scheduled at non-school times
• Death in the family
• Student illness
• Unavoidable transportation issues
• Other just and legitimate causes, as determined by the Principal

Our younger students are working on letters and sight words and applying them to stories and writing sentences using their new sight words. They are also strengthening their listening comprehension skills through a higher level text. Second grade is currently reading Lawn Boy Returns by Gary Paulsen, which connects to their social studies unit on economics.

Older elementary students are working on poetry unit and reading Love That Dog by Sharon Creech. They are also reading and analyzing other well known poems. Students are utilizing their writer’s notebooks and writing every single day.

Middle School:

Middle School students are reading Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. The Lightning Thief is a light-hearted fantasy about a modern 12-year-old boy who learns that his true father is Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. Percy sets out to become a hero by undertaking a quest across the United States to find the entrance to the Underworld and stop a war between the gods. The novel provides a high-interest, humorous introduction to the Greek myths. Rick Riordan, the author, was himself an English/language arts teacher at the middle school level! Maybe Mr. Johnson will be an author soon! 😊

High School:

This week in high school English classes students are learning new vocabulary words (9th and 10th grade are learning root words; 11th and 12 grades are learning SAT vocabulary words). We are also practicing using Thinking/Reading strategies. Students are reading short passages and answering questions about vocabulary, giving evidence for their answers, and inferencing. Students are watching a short video about Louis Braille and applying the Thinking strategies. What can your recall? Did you make any connections? What inferences can you make? What questions are you asking as you watch? How are you using your senses? What is the purpose of this video?

In 6th and 8th grade computer class, students are learning the benefits of touch typing. We are using an online program called Typing Club that provides our students with many accessibility options, such as a screen reader and visual customizations like font sizes and inverted colors. We have also started learning and reinforcing skills within the Windows environment. Be sure to ask your students some of the keyboard shortcuts they learned in class.

The World of Work program has recently gotten its first student hired for the school year. One of our seniors has started working at Kroger on Brownsboro Road. We hope for many more student-workers as the semester progresses.

The KSB School Store is now open! Students working in the store have performed tasks such as market surveys, inventory management, pricing, and customer service.

In addition to academics, your middle schooler is learning and practicing all kinds of ECC skills now that they are back in school. Here are just a few things they have been doing.

• Traveling independently from food service to the classroom building and to each of their 7 period classes.
• Learning to keep their technology with them and charged.
• Learning new passwords and remembering how to log on to their technology device.
• Finding new locations for student supplies like braille writers, braille paper, large print paper, and sharpies, dry erase markers, manipulative, fidgets and more in multiple classes.

Small improvements in nutrition, sleep, exercise and other coping skills can help us to better manage stress and achieve mental health. Have your child try a few of the strategies listed below when they are feeling overwhelmed.

• Take a walk
• Exercise
• Draw/Write
• Cuddle with a pet
• Listen to music
• Read
• Meditate
• Bike ride
• Talk with trusted people

The Residential Program is in need of some items for the kids’ craft projects that many of you may have laying around the garage or house:

• Toilet paper and paper towel cardboard rolls
• Felt (all colors)
• Tissue Paper (all colors)
• Left over wrapping paper pieces,
• Clear and patterned contact paper
• Flat palm sized rocks (for painting)
• Shoe boxes
• Clean tin cans (labels removed)
• Buttons
• Thread and yarn and ribbon and lace
• Wire coat hangers
• Left over ceramic tiles
• Terra cotta pots
• Terra cotta base pieces for pots
• PVC pipes, T connectors, End caps
• Clean old white t-shirts- various sizes (will be dyed so okay if not quite white anymore😊)
• Beads
• Coffee filters
• Clothes pins
• Balloons
• Batting
• Poly-fil (pillow stuffing)
• Chop sticks or shish-kabob sticks
• Various colors of Duct Tape
• Old CD’s (compact discs)
• Clean plastic jars (with and without lids) with labels removed

The KSB Varsity Running Wildcats will compete at the 2022-2023 Tennessee School for the Blind Invitational Track and Field Competition on Friday, September 16 and Saturday, September 17. Our Running Wildcats will return to KSB on Saturday night. Good Luck to our Running Wildcats!

Varsity Track Practice will take place Monday, September 19 through Wednesday, September 21. There will be no practice on Thursday, September 22.

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