Hoofbeat News
Springfield Elementary School
Dates To Remember
May
- 3 - 10. BOGO Book Fair
- 6 - 10, Teacher Appreciation Week, see flyer below.
- 8 - 24, State Testing (please see below for additional information)
- 9, The school store will be closed due to the Scholastic Book Fair. We will only be open two more Thursdays, the 16th and 23rd. Keep an eye out for a special sale on the 23rd!
- 10, Blue Pops
14, Spirit Night @ Empire Pizza
29, Spirit Night @ Brusters
31, Field Day (See Related Arts Column below)
A Message From Our Principal
It is hard to believe that summer is fast approaching! Although the end of the school year is near, we have several exciting events coming up. Please be on the lookout for information within the newsletter and from your child's teacher for these events and dates.
The state testing season is here! Our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders will be testing on specific days over the next three weeks. 3rd grade started today with 4th and 5th grade beginning next week. Your child's teacher has shared their specific days of testing. Each year before testing, I spend time visiting classrooms to thank them and their teacher for a year of hard work. I also share four test taking tips to help them. These are: get a good night's sleep, eat a good breakfast, try their best, and have a good attitude. I also share that testing is nothing for them to be anxious about. Our staff encourages them to do their best, take their time, and all will be fine.
As many of you know, I have been named principal of the new River Trail Elementary School in the Fort Mill School District that will be opening in the fall of 2020. It is definitely bittersweet for me. Springfield Elementary has been my "home" for the past eight years, and I treasure the relationships that have been built with families, students, and staff over this time. I will miss this school community greatly, but also look forward to this professional opportunity to support our ever growing school district.
Currently the plan is that I will continue as principal of Springfield Elementary until winter break next school year before leaving to focus on the opening of River Trail. The district has announced today that Adam Fantone will be the new principal beginning in August 2020. He is currently an assistant principal at Doby's Bridge Elementary. There will be an interim principal for the spring semester of the 19-20 school year. I assure you that I will be supporting both of these transition periods to make them as successful as possible. I am happy to talk with you if there are any questions about these future transitions.
This year has been a great and successful year! I want to thank you all for your support for your child's education and Springfield Elementary. This is a special school with great families. We will be celebrating our 5th graders more at their promotion ceremony on June 4, but I wish all of them much happiness and success as they move on to middle school. They will be greatly missed! I wish all of you a safe and exciting summer break. We will see you back in August, ready to learn!
Sincerely,
Peter Olinger, Principal
Teacher Appreciation Week
State Testing
Notes from the Nurse
I would like to share with you some information gathered from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) regarding measles – see attachment.
Here is a link you may find helpful from the CDC website regarding the MMR (Measles-Mumps-Rubella) vaccine: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/mmr/public/index.html
The end of the school year is fast approaching! The last day to pick up your child’s medication (prescription and over the counter) is Wednesday, June 5th at 11:00 a.m. No medication will be sent home with students. After this date, any unclaimed medication will be disposed of in accordance with district policy. Please call 803-548-8160 if you cannot get to the health room by June 5th and need to make other arrangements. Also, if you have indicated that your child has a medical condition that may require management in the school setting please have all necessary paperwork completed during the summer before the start of the new school year. Please be on the lookout for a red packet coming home with your child. The intention is to make it easier to obtain necessary physician signatures and have the plans/medication forms in place by the first day of school. All paperwork must be updated by the physician annually. Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.
I hope everyone has a fun and safe summer break!
Nurse Sova
Counselor's Corner
For our spring outreach project, 5th Grade Trailblazers will be making Summer “Trail” Bags to donate to the Fort Mill Care Center. These bags will be given to families in our area who are in need of summer supplies. We will be collecting the following items between May 20th and 24th:
-sunscreen
-bug spray
-hats
-sunglasses
-flip flops
-reusable water bottles
Items can be dropped off in the Carolina OR Clemson bins which will be located at the school entrance May 20th-24th.
If you have any questions, please reach out to our school counselors, Ms. Cahill or Mrs. Perrone.
Related Arts Messages
Media Messages:
Did you know that April showers bring May Bookworms??! It's true! The readers are out and in full force. But sadly , the school year is coming to a close for our readers in the SFES library. Last day for student checkout is Wednesday May 15, and all books will need be returned or settled for by the last day of school in June!
Even though we are at the end, the library continues to collect the following:
starburst candy, 24 and 100 piece puzzles, new or used greeting cards, and book donations from home. Thank you for all your continued support this year..
Please remember to keep your students reading over the summer. If you need suggestions for good reads, check out this website:
https://sfesmediacenter.weebly.com/what-to-read.html
Until August, happy READING!!!
Technology:
This year has flown by. We will have one week that all students should have an opportunity to experience Google Expeditions. We will tie up some loose ends with projects that we are almost done with and share some of our work. Then we head out for summer break. I love your students and look forward to a restful summer with some planning for next year. I hope everyone has a great summer.
PE:
Field day is coming!! Our field day this year will be on Friday, May 31st and our make-up day will be Monday, June 3rd. K-2nd will be from 8:15-10:30 and 3rd-5th will be from 11:30-1:45. Please be on the look-out for volunteer sign ups. This year, each class will be in need of a wagon so if you have a wagon you can donate to your child’s class please let your child’s teacher know! We are not announcing the theme of field day QUITE yet. We are going to have the students try to guess what the theme will be based on some clues! We are very excited for this years’ field day! Please help by making sure your child wears tennis shoes that day as well as weather appropriate clothing, sunscreen and a positive attitude!
Also, please note: This is a friendly reminder for your child to wear their tennis shoes to school to be sure they are safe playing in PE. THANKS!
Art:
Art students at SES participated in several art contests this year. We are proud to announce the following winners from each contest.
The Yearbook Contest
This contest was open to 5th Graders. The winners were:
· Belle Kolatis – Front Cover
· Catherine Kinley – Back Cover
· Reagan Newman - Autograph Page
· Sarah Kinley – Autograph Page
Litter Trashes Everyone Art Contest
This is an anti-littering contest that is sponsored by the Palmetto Pride Organization of South Carolina. Third thru Fifth grade students participated in this contest. One entry is sent from each school. There are 4 regional winners and 1 state winner. We are proud to say that Zakiya Williams is the SC State winner for 2019! Zakiya received a $500 scholarship. All students and faculty at SES will receive a t-shirt with Zakiya’s design on the back! The t-shirts will be presented on May 31st.
Solicitor’s Anti-Drug Calendar Contest
This contest is open to 5th grade students in York County. The purpose of this contest is to encourage students to stay away from drugs, cigarettes, alcohol and violence. It is designed to encourage students to make good choices as they move into their middle school and high school years.
There are 14 spaces on the calendar…The 12 months plus the front and back covers.
We are happy to announce that Springfield Elementary students won 6 of these places!
The winners are:
· Blake Manis – Cover Winner
· Hezekiah Brewer
· Catherine Kinley
· Ava Bagshaw
· Shrikka Akuraju
· Ethan Veeck
5000 of these calendars are distributed throughout York County. The winning students will be honored at a reception at the Arts Council of York County in Rock Hill, where they will each receive a $50 gift card.
Fort Mill Schools also feature an art show at the Fort Mill District Office. The show was held April 25th and 26th.
The following students’ art work was featured in the art show:
· Braylen Greene-Lowery – Kindergarten
· Layla Wetzel – Kindergarten
· Kyra Sonneborn – First Grade
· Surya Srisailas – First Grade
· Maddison Aldous – Second Grade
· Shane Roberts – Third Grade
· Lauryn Ponstein – Fourth Grade
· Kaleb Baron – Fifth Grade
· Hayden McGill - Fifth Grade
· Jocelyn Murray - Fifth Grade
PTA News
School Supplies for 2019-2020
The PTA is proud to announce a new program we are starting for school supplies for the following school year (2019/2020). We have partnered with 1st Day School Supplies to provide our families a no hassle and stress free way to purchase all of the school supplies their little one will need for the next school year. This will also includes items off of teachers wish lists as well as back packs, lunch boxes, and water bottles if they want. The supplies will be delivered to the school and the PTA will place them in each child's classroom before Meet the Teacher next August. Our families won't have to lug in countless Target or Walmart bags filled to the brim with school supplies and if they purchase a back pack, lunch box, or water bottle through this program they can take it home with them at Meet the Teacher. This program is being offered as a convenience for our families to save them the time of having to hunt through the mess of school supply shopping and having to go to 3 different stores just to find that last item on the list. All school supplies will be name brand, such as, Ticonderoga, Mead, and Crayola. The accessories offered are from the following brands: Jansport, Vera Bradley, and Under Armour.
To get started, go to the link below and enter in our schools zip code (29715). It will pull up all schools in that zip code that have signed up for this service. You will select our school and then just select the school supply kit and any additional kits/accessories you want. You can add on the teachers wish list (usually includes kleenex, clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, etc...) and backpacks, lunch boxes, and water bottles. There is also an option to donate a kit back to the school. We hope this program is able to save our Springfield families some time and stress this upcoming summer by checking this "to do" item off of their list.
Springfield Elementary School
Website: sfes.fortmillschools.org
Phone: (803) 548-8150
Twitter: @SESColts