EAST ELEMENTARY
JANUARY NEWSLETTER
NOTE FROM MRS. HIETALA
Happy New Year East Orcas!
I hope everyone had a wonderful winter break.
January is my favorite month of the school year. As a classroom teacher, January was the month that I saw the most growth in my students. Please help your student get to school every day! We need them here to help them grow!
- Missing a day of school here and there may not seem like much, but absences add up.
- When a student misses 2 days a month, they will miss 20 days a year and 1 year of school by graduation.
- When a student misses 4 days a month, they will miss 40 days a year and 2 years of school by graduation.
Attendance Matters!! Let us know how we can help you get your student(s) to school.
At school, your student is engaging in phonological awareness activities. These activities take place orally and are about having fun with language play. This is no need for any writing or reading during this practice. Just have fun with the sounds in words!
Consider using the following activities at home with your child:
- Wacky Words! Give your child a nonsense ‘wacky’ word and have them generate another nonsense word that rhymes with it. Say, “Tell me a wacky word that rhymes with zork?” Your child would then generate a nonsense word like --> lork, bork, etc.
- Other examples to use: gax, vob, zunk, tark, foop, sout
- Can you blend (put together) three sounds to make a word? Say the sounds n-e-t, your child will repeat those sounds back and then tell you the whole word, Child: n-e-t --> net.
- h-o-p --> hop, s-a-t --> sat, b-i-k --> bike
- Can you segment (separate) these words into their individual sounds? Say the word map, your child will repeat those sounds back and then segment the word into individual sounds, Child: map --> m-a-p
- Rope --> r-o-p, name --> n-a-m, feed --> f-e-d
- Books to enjoy together:
- Runny Babbit by Shel Silverstein
- Cock-A-Doodle-Moo by Bernard Most
Enjoy! Wishing you well.
Angie
Counselors Corner
Hi! I’m Ms. Amanda, East Elementary's School-Based Mental Health Therapist.
I am available full time to support the mental health of East Elementary students through a new partnership between Kodiak Island School District, Providence and Volunteers of America. I am available to meet with any student, regardless of insurance status. Your child has probably seen me at bus duty, in the lunchroom helping, or in their class teaching them a grounding exercise and talking about mental health. I also work with students and their families providing therapy.
How can we work together to make this school year a great one for your young learner?
Start with a routine! The nervous system dislikes the unknown. Provide your child a good foundation for mental health, not to mention the coming school day, by making evenings and mornings predictable. It doesn’t have to be complicated, just a routine they can count on.
Mental health matters and we want East Elementary to be a place where everyone feels safe and emotionally regulated so they are ready to learn!
If you are wondering if therapy might be right for your child and family, I am reachable at amanda.meyer@kibsd.org or 907-486-7423.
UPCOMING EVENTS
- FastBridge Assessments in classrooms
Monday, January 16
- District Inservice - NO SCHOOL
Wednesday, January 18
- PTA meeting in the commons at 5:00pm
Tuesday, February 7
- All District Spelling Bee at 7pm in the Drama Pod
Monday, February 20
- District Inservice - NO SCHOOL
East Orca Spirit Wear
KIBSD Meal Program and Account Payments
If you want to deposit lunch money with a credit card through your PowerSchool parent portal,
please remember that you will need to access the online version.
You can find that link on the www.KIBSD.org website, under the FAMILIES tab.
KIBSD does not support the PowerSchool App, so you won't be able to pay fees that way.
Even though some student info is viewable on the app,
it does not connect to our PowerSchool lunch or activity fee accounts.
We are also always happy to accept cash or checks for student lunch accounts in the office.
Call us @907-486-7492 if you have questions or need any help with parent portal access.