Riverside Roadrunner
Sept. 2019
News from Dr. Holcomb
Welcome back Roadrunner families! Thank you to everyone for making the beginning to this school year a great one. It was so wonderful to see so many of you at our Back to School Night. Your Roadrunners have been getting to know their classmates, teachers and routines of their new classrooms. Teachers are busy building relationships and building their classroom community because we know that is just as important as rules and expectations. We are excited to have a great school year!
Visitor Management System
Thank you to everyone for their help and patience with the new visitor management system. Many folks came in early to have their ID scanned. The initial scanning of the ID takes about 30 seconds from start to finish. Once the ID has been scanned, we can just enter your name cutting the time down to about 15 seconds. We are excited about this new system and the greater level of safety and security that it provides for our students each and every day. We might experience a little longer wait once preschool starts but we know that will cut down quickly once we have everyone in the first time. If you ever have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask us!
Building Goals
Our goal at Riverside is for our students as a learning community to believe they can learn to read, read to learn, and become independent, competent writers. We are also focused on building confident, compassionate, productive citizens that are able to effectively communicate and demonstrate leadership.
In addition, the District identifies goals for each of the schools. This year Riverside has two District goals.
Goal 1: Riverside Elementary will increase the FAST Literacy scores 10% from Fall to Spring in 2019-2020.
Goal 2: Riverside Elementary will increase the FAST Math scores 10% from Fall to Spring in 2019-2020.
Look for additional information throughout the year on ways you can help support your Roadrunner as we work to reach all of our goals.
Art curriculum
We are excited to announce a new Art curriculum this year. Read more below to see the changes that you can expect to see throughout the year.
Idea Plan Create Reflect Share
- This year in art we will be cultivating creative thinkers.
- We want art class to be a time for students to become real artists.To do this they need to be comfortable in their art studio. Our art rooms will be set up in studios with different media choices.
- Throughout the year, students will be challenged with several Teacher Instructed Art Ideas in which students will learn and practice a "Must Do" lesson. Following the lesson, students will have choice on how to explore the idea further.
- There will also be opportunities for students to practice skills, in which they will come up with an Idea, Plan it, Create, Reflect, and finally Share.
- A part of the art process is practice and experimenting. Some things your artist may make will not necessarily appear "finished" but that is okay because we want to experiment and create things confidently in the art studio.
- This means your artist will learn to trust his or her ability to learn and be an innovative thinker. Our goal is that your student will be prepared for the future equipped with "thinking outside the box" creativity skills
What is Choice Art?
At the Elementary level, students will come up with an Idea, next they Plan their idea and how to make it, and then use their art time to Create their idea. The process is not done yet- a critical component to become a future ready individual is the ability to Reflect on their process and work and finally Share by discussing, writing about, and displaying their art.
Choice Instruction focuses on an artistic theme or idea and students have choice about how they demonstrate understanding of the idea whether it is through experimentation or a final art piece. During their art time there is a "Must Do" lesson that the whole class participates in to learn an idea. When finished they may choose to explore the idea further on their own utilizing their Choice of materials and their own idea.
District News
September Awareness Month
The Sioux City Community School District recognizes that good attendance is essential to academic success. So, we’ve joined a nationwide effort to celebrate Attendance Awareness Month in September. Nationwide, far too many students are at risk academically because they are chronically absent. Chronic absence is described as missing 10 percent of the school year—or about 18 days – for any reason, excused or unexcused. Research shows that’s the point at which absenteeism begins to affect student performance.
During Attendance Awareness Month, we are asking you to help us reduce absenteeism locally by taking these steps:
• Build a habit of regular attendance.
• If there are challenges that make it difficult for your student to attend school, let us know so we can help.
Mes de Septiembre de la Conciencia
El Distrito Escolar de la Comunidad de Sioux City reconoce que la buena asistencia es esencial para el éxito académico. Por lo tanto, nos hemos unido a un esfuerzo nacional para celebrar la conciencia de Asistencia en septiembre. A nivel nacional, demasiados estudiantes están en riesgo académicamente, ya que están crónicamente ausentes. La ausencia crónica significa que los estudiantes están ausentes el 10 por ciento del año escolar- o alrededor de 18 días - por cualquier razón, con o sin excusa. La investigación muestra que es el punto en el que el absentismo comienza a afectar el rendimiento del estudiante.
Durante el Mes de la Conciencia de Asistencia, le pedimos que nos ayude a reducir el absentismo tomando estos pasos:
• Construir un hábito de asistencia regular.
• Si hay dificultades para que su estudiante asista a la escuela, háganoslo saber para que le podamos ayudar.
School Safety
Student and staff safety is of paramount importance in the Sioux City Community School District. For this reason, the District exercises a host of crisis prevention and planning tactics. During the year, our school has fire, tornado, and intruder drills. The drills ensure our students and staff are prepared for potential emergencies. Watch for future newsletter updates that give you information on our drills, so you can continue the safety conversations with your child(ren) at home.
Should an emergency occur, the school notifies you through our Blackboard phone system. In an emergency, the system calls every phone number associated with your child in order to reach you. The message will give you details about the emergency and provide directions on when/where to pick up your child if the normal school day is altered.
For more information about school safety, visit our website at: http://www.siouxcityschools.org/safety/ or speak to our principal.
Seguridad Escolar
La seguridad de los estudiantes y del personal es de suma importancia en el Distrito Escolar de la Comunidad de Sioux City. Por esta razón, el Distrito ejerce una gran cantidad de tácticas de prevención y planificación de crisis. Durante el año, nuestras escuelas tienen simulacros de incendio, tornado e intruso. Los simulacros aseguran que nuestros estudiantes y el personal estén preparados para posibles emergencias. Esté al pendiente del boletín de noticias para futuras actualizaciones que le proveen información sobre nuestros simulacros, para que continúe las conversaciones de seguridad con su hijo(a) en casa.
En caso de una emergencia, la escuela le notifica a través de nuestro sistema telefónico Blackboard. En caso de emergencia, el sistema llama a cada número de teléfono asociado a su hijo con el fin de llegar a usted. El mensaje le dará detalles acerca de la situación de emergencia y proporcionar instrucciones sobre cuándo / dónde recoger a su hijo si se altera el día escolar normal.
Para obtener más información acerca de la seguridad escolar, visite nuestro sitio Web en: http://www.siouxcityschools.org/safety/ o hable con nuestro director.
Paying School Fees is Quick and Easy Online
Do you have school fees that need to be paid? Visit www.siouxcityschools.org and click on the “Parents” tab to pay your fees online. On the drop-down menu of the “Parents” tab, you can select either “Pay Curriculum Resource Fees” or “Pay Lunch Balance.” Both links will take you to “My School Bucks” to complete the payment transaction. Payment for curriculum resource fees can be made under the “School Store” by selecting “Categories” and then “Curriculum Fees.”
If you have any questions, please contact our school’s bookkeeper. Thank you.
Let's Talk
An engaged community makes our District stronger. That is why we have made it easy for you to connect with us whenever it is convenient for you. We encourage you to take advantage of Let’s Talk!, our 24/7 online submission site. Reach out with your ideas, questions, concerns, and praise. To make a submission, please visit http://www.siouxcityschools.org/lets-talk/.
Hablemos
Una comunidad comprometida hace a nuestro distrito más fuerte. Es por eso que le facilitamos la conexión con nosotros siempre que sea conveniente para usted. ¡Lo animamos a que aprovechar ¡Hablemos!, nuestro sitio de comunicación en línea 24/7. Comuníquese para compartir sus ideas, hacer preguntas, expresar sus preocupaciones y elogios. Para enviar un correo, por favor visite http://www.siouxcityschools.org/lets-talk/ .
Important Dates
Sept. 2 No School--Labor Day
Sept. 25 Parent/Teacher Conferences (3:40 PM-6:20 PM)
Sept. 26 Parent/Teacher Conferences (8:00 AM- 8:00 PM)--No School for students
Sept. 27 No School
Oct. 3 Fall School Pictures
Oct. 25 No School---All District Professional Development Day
Oct. 31 Halloween Parade and Parties--more information to come
Riverside Elementary School
Website: siouxcityschools.org/riverside
Location: 2303 Riverside Boulevard, Sioux City, IA, USA
Phone: 712-279-6811
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Riverside-Elementary-School-273195942712223/
Twitter: @riversidek5
Non-Discrimination Statement
The Sioux City Community School District offers career and technical programs in the following areas: Business & Marketing, Family & Consumer Science, Health Science, and Industrial Arts, Technology, & PLTW.
The Sioux City Community School District is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. It is an unfair or discriminatory practice for any educational institution to discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information (for employment), national origin, religion, age (for employment), disability, socioeconomic status (for programs), marital status (for programs), or veteran status (for employment) in its educational programs and its employment practices.
Inquiries or grievances, including Section 504 grievances and grievances under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, may be directed to Jen Gomez, Director of Student Services & Equity Education at 627 4th Street, Sioux City, IA 51101, (712) 279-6075, gomezj2@live.siouxcityschools.com. Please see District Board policies 103 and 504.4 for additional information on available grievance procedures.