Wednesday Word
September 7th, 2022
From the Principal:
Dear Sunflower Families,
September is Attendance Awareness month. Missing 10 days of school a year is considered chronic absenteeism, whether they are excused or unexcused. At Sunflower we have a team dedicated to student attendance. Our team meets weekly to review attendance data. Currently we have 63 students who have already missed 3 or more days of school within the first month. This greatly impacts student learning. We know it is a fine line with Covid still a reality in our community, however we ask that you make every effort to avoid taking students out of school for reasons unrelated to illness. If students miss 10 days of school, whether excused or unexcused, they will need a doctor's note to excuse future absences. If you feel school attendance is a concern for you, please reach out to the school so we can work together!
We have begun our fall screening assessment for math and reading. We use FastBridge as our screening assessment. The assessments given provide us information that helps us to determine what remediation and/or enrichment each scholar is in need of in the areas of reading and math. Using this data we will form our WIN (What I Need) groups. These groups are skill based and meet for 30 minutes 4 days a week in both reading and math. While students can change groups at any time, we revisit the groups and their progress every 6 weeks. Scholars needing tier 2 and 3 supports will be progress monitored bi-monthly and weekly. Once we have all assessments completed and our groups have been created, parents will receive communication form the classroom teacher regarding which skill group your scholar is in and who they will be working with.
You may have heard that USD497 elementary schools adopted a new ELA curriculum resources called Benchmark Advance. This systematic, spiraling resource supports the district's implementation of structured literacy. Structured literacy is the explicit and systematic teaching of all important components of literacy including phonological awareness, phonics, syllables, morphology, syntax, semantics, vocabulary and comprehension. This is a shift from our former balanced literacy approach. You can read more about structured literacy in the article linked below and learn more about our Benchmark resource by watching the video below.
Lastly, we are having an increase in adverse bathroom behaviors, such as peeking under stalls and urinating on the floors and walls. We review expectations daily and today during morning community I addressed this issue with all scholars. I have added our bathroom expectations below so we have common language between the school and home.
As always it is an honor to serve as the Principal of Sunflower Elementary.
Melissa Blevins
Lunch Volunteers
We are looking for lunchroom monitor volunteers for Wednesdays from 11:00-1:00pm. If you are interested in helping out please click on the button below and sign up for a shift or a few.
Sunflower Food Pantry
Sunflower families are encouraged to take advantage of our Food Pantry if you are in need. Please reach out to Allene Schworm at aschworm@usd497.org to arrange a time. You can also reach out to the front office, Ms. Heatwole, or your teacher, if you would like to take advantage of this service we offer our families.
Just Food, our main source for donations, is currently struggling with supply. If any of our Sunflower families are able to donate to our pantry it would be very appreciated. We accept non perishable items any time during the hours of 7am -6pm. Please drop donations off in the blue barrel in the foyer.
Some items needed are: Canned Chicken or Tuna, peanut butter, jelly, canned soups, pastas, spaghetti sauce, canned fruit, rice, juice and cereal.
Individual serving items are also very appreciated (mac n cheese cups, oatmeal cups, etc) . Personal hygiene items are also welcomed, toothpaste, tooth brushes, shampoo, body wash, laundry detergent, deodorant, toilet paper and feminine products.
From the Nurse
The Health Office is in need of boys shorts/sweats - all sizes, but preferably smaller sizes and girls t-shirts - all sizes. If you would like to donate items (new or gently used) please drop them off at the front office.
Dental Clinic
Healthy Futures Dental Clinic will be coming to Sunflower Elementary on October 17th, 2022 & April 20th, 2023!
Sunflower is excited to announce that we will be having the Healthy Futures Dental Team come out to schools again this school year 2022-2023. Healthy Futures provides the highest quality of care when it comes to comprehensive and preventative dental services. Enroll your scholar/s for FREE school-based dental program, Dental Exams, X-rays, Dental cleanings, Dental sealants, fluoride and fillings are all included. This program is optional for anyone without a primary dentist or anyone who has not been seen by a dentist in the last six months for regular routine dental care. We accept enrollment forms all year, but to ensure they receive services at the upcoming clinic, please submit consents as soon as possible to ensure your kiddo is seen at the next date. Forms are available in the counselor's office or through the online secure forms at the following links:
(English) https://app.formdr.com/practice/Nzk1MQ==/form/b0eJ6CwAFz01N33LKxYJX6ZPa0JSgghO
(Spanish) https://app.formdr.com/practice/Nzk1MQ==/form/v-I_SD5bKN-MCAvSsXj8yBefF-qoYT2
You may also print the attached form and return to the school counselor (Julie Heatwole) or directly to the Healthy Futures Coordinator, Amanda, at the following email: healthyfutures@heartlandhealth.org.
Healthy Futures accepts Medicaid, Commercial Insurance, and the uninsured. There is NO COST to you even if your child is uninsured or not fully covered through commercial insurance. This program is open to all students, no restrictions.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Julie Heatwole at jheatwol@usd497.org or #785-330-4860. Thank you!!!
From Sunflower PTO:
PTO Meeting
Save the Date for the first PTO meeting of the year!
Tuesday, September 13 @ 7pm
Sunflower library and Webex
Volunteering/Committees
Interested in volunteering with the PTO? We have lots of activities and committees available! Please fill out this Google Form to let us know what you are interested in and we'll be in touch!
Sunflower Marathon Club
The Sunflower Marathon Club Committee is starting to make plans for the 2022-2023 club year. Before we start, we are looking for adult volunteers that would like to join our Marathon Club Committee. The Marathon Club Committee determines start and stop dates, tracks runners progress, decides t-shirts and prizes for finishers, gathers and coordinates volunteers, and communicates to club members and volunteers. If you are interested in joining the Sunflower Marathon Club committee, please email: sunflowermarathonclub@gmail.com
Important Dates:
September 13- PTO Meeting @ 7:00
September 15- Hispanic Heritage Month Begins
September 26- Picture Day!