Evening Star Elementary
March 2023-2024
A Note from Principal Williams:
March is officially here! This means the end of the 3rd Quarter is near. Therefore, our homeroom teachers will be reaching out about our upcoming Parent-Teacher Conferences. Parent-Teacher Conferences will take place after school hours during the week of March 11th. Be on the lookout for more information from your child's teacher.
As we finish up the 3rd Quarter and head into the 4th Quarter, we want to reiterate every instructional minute for the entire 420 minutes of the school day matters. As we shared in February, our goal is an attendance percentage of 98% or higher. Our attendance percentage for the month of February is 94.21%. It was 96.51% in January. Our 4th Grade students are leading the nest with 95.07%, and our Kindergartners are not far behind at 94.26%, with 1st Grade right behind them at 94.13%. Speaking of attendance and student instructional days, I'm pleased to share a revised academic calendar approved by the Bentonville Schools' Board of Education.
Key Takeaways:
- Students will attend school on Friday, April 19.
- The last day of school for students will be Thursday, May 30.
- Should we incur additional snow days, students will attend school after May 30 to offset each new snow day.
We want to thank everyone for participating in All Bentonville Reads! A Boy Called BAT was a fantastic little read. We hope the end of the book captured your little one's interest so much that they want to read the next book in this series, BAT and the Waiting Game. We hope your family can join us this Sunday at Crystal Bridges for our All Bentonville Reads culminating event from 12:00-4:00 p.m. If you are looking for more ways to continue to foster reading at home, check out the March 2023 RISE Newsletter linked HERE. It contains some fantastic reading tips. Information about multisyllabic words and syllable types and additional information about the Science of Reading, vocabulary, morphology, and more are linked throughout the newsletter.
As we shared in our PTO meeting on Tuesday, our Evening Star Teacher Appreciation Week was an incredible success! Thank you for loving our teachers well and making them feel special. Also, a huge THANK YOU to Kelley Hickey and Jordan Watkins for all of their hard work and preparation for Teacher Appreciation Week. Additionally, thank you, Molly Morgan, for donating the large yard sign banner.
We want to thank you for allowing us to be part of your child’s educational career. It's been an amazing 2023-2024 school year and we are looking forward to GREAT things for the 4th Quarter.
Principal Williams
💙 What I love most about ESE? 🦉
Student Voice Matters!
"I have the best teachers and my teachers treat me right. When I am really good they recognize me and I learn from my mistakes. I get feedback on my work so I know what I need to work on. It's the best place ever!" ~ John Baumeister, 3rd Grade
"I love the energetic spirt in the school. There's so much, it's hard to pick one or two. The way the teachers teach is inspiring. I am going to miss all the people who work here when I go to middle school." ~ Kamryn Gardner, 4th Grade
" I like my classmates and my teachers. My teacher helps me understand stuff. I look forward to playing with my friends and I am enjoying our literacy knowledge unit on space. I love to read so I look forward to our literacy small groups." ~ Anna Stacey, 3rd Grade
"Evening Star is a great place to make friends and it has the very best teachers. It's a beautiful place. It is a GREAT school." ~Lailah Connor, 3rd Grade
" I love the teachers because they help me learn a lot. I really like the activity classes. Art is my favoirte because I enjoy being creative. The teachers help me push through, they encourage me, and they say I can do it and productive struggle is just right." ~ Addison Marley, 3rd Grade
K-12 General Enrollment 2024-2025 for NEW students:
We are excited to share that our General Enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year will begin March 4th at 8:00 a.m. To register your child, please use the K-12 Online Enrollment Form link and complete the Enrollment Form as well the Confidential Documents Upload. Check out our Student Services Link for more information - Click HERE.General Enrollment is for students who are new to our district. Do not complete this form if your child is currently enrolled in Bentonville Schools.
Nominate School Personnel for the District's Extra Mile Award!
Future ESE Events:đź“…
March:
- Women's History Month, National Nutrition Month, Music in Our Schools Month
- 2nd - Read Across America Day
- 3rd - All Bentonville Reads Event at Crystal Bridges from 12-4 p.m.
6th - Annual ESE Color Wars
6-14 - ESE Scholastic Spring Book Fair
11th - Spring Individual & Class Pictures
11th, 12th, and 14th - Parent/Teacher Conferences (Watch for an email from your child's homeroom teacher.)
12th - ATLAS Testing - Writing 3rd & 4th Grade
14th - Bus Driver Appreciation week
15th - ESES Down Syndrome Awareness Day-Wear BLUE & YELLOW and/or brightly colored socks
18th-22nd - Spring Break (School is not in session.)
25th - ESES Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day- Wear GREEN
25th - 29th - PTO Coin Drive (more information below)
26th - PTO Meeting 8:30 a.m.
April:
3rd - Para Appreciation Day
4th - Librarian Appreciation Day
10th - Kindergarten Cap & Gown Pictures
11th - Screen Time and Development: What Families Need to Know webinar 6:00 p.m.: Registration Link
11th -15th - Bus Driver Appreciation Week
15th - ATLAS Testing - Science
16th - ATLAS Testing - ELA
18th - ATLAS Testing - Math
22nd - 23rd - 1st Grade MAP Testing
23rd - PTO Meeting 8:30 a.m.
26th - Gold Rush @ Old Tiger Stadium 6:30 p.m.
29th - 30th - Kinder, 3rd, & 4th Grades MAP Testing
May 1st & 2nd - 2nd Grade MAP Testing
🏆 ESE Annual Color Wars 🎨
Our Annual Color Wars is Wednesday, March 6th.
Picture Day:
Spring and Class Pictures are scheduled for March 11th. For Spring Pictures, a proof or portrait package will be sent home from the school with information on how to order. (Allow 3 to 4 weeks.) To order a class photo online, visit www.strawbridge.net. Click Order Pictures and enter the following code: FM427130. There will be no retakes for Spring or Class pictures.
ESE PTO News:
Start collecting your spare change!! We’re gearing up for a school-wide challenge- our Be the Change COIN DRIVE, beginning March 25th! This year we’ll be raising funds for a literacy climbing wall in our gym.
Totals will be announced daily! The top 3 classes that bring the most money in by the end of the week will earn a class pizza party! Plus, every day, we will count totals to give a daily prize to the top class in each grade that day!
Let’s gather up our change and bring it in for our ESE activity classes!! ALL money counts toward your class goal- coins, dollars, checks- it all works! Start collecting now- we can’t wait to share our totals next week!!
Our ESE Spring Spirit shop is open!! We’ve got some super cute new t-shirt designs and some awesome new caps for those sunny days ahead! Check out the following link: https://tc-screen-printing.printavo.com/merch/ese-spring-spirit-store/
Counselor Corner:
Spring is around the corner, and so is Spring Testing for Grades 3 and 4! We cannot wait to see how much our Owls have progressed! Please mark your calendars for the upcoming Spring Testing Dates below:
Grades 3 and 4 will both take the Atlas test this year. During the month of March, 3rd and 4th Grade will take the Atlas Writing State Assessment. During the month of April, each content area will be tested on a separate day.
- 15th - 3rd & 4th Grade Science
- 16th - 3rd & 4th Grade English Language Arts
- 18th - 3rd & 4th Grade Math
To help your child be successful, it is very important that they be at school on these dates. Students do much better and are less anxious if they take tests with their grade cohort. If at all possible, please make all appointments after school and refrain from checking your child in or out early. Once testing begins, the class cannot be interrupted until the designated break time. Therefore, please help us by checking appointments/calendars and rescheduling if possible. With your help and encouragement, we know that our Owls will do their best on their tests!
Our Guidance lessons this month will focus on setting goals/testing strategies, and we will highlight the word of the month, “Perseverance”.
Please know that we are always here for your owls and you!
Pam Gaskin 479-360-7407 pgaskin@bentonvillek12.org
Paula Kaufmann 479-360-7408 pkaufmann@bentonvillek12.org
News from Nurse Crutchfield:
Spring is in the air! With the first signs of spring come allergies for many!! Please help your child by giving allergy medications consistently as prescribed. It can be challenging for children to concentrate at school when allergies are in full bloom! Also, remember not to send any medication with your child to take throughout the school day!
March brings us not one but two days to celebrate, support, and bring awareness to our students at Evening Star.
ESES Down Syndrome Awareness Day-Wear BLUE & YELLOW and/or brightly colored socks on Friday, March 15th.
March 21st is the official World Down Syndrome Awareness Day. This date was picked for its significance, as Down Syndrome happens when the 21st chromosome is triplicated – as in 3/21. Since we will be on Spring Break on this day, ESES will celebrate Down Syndrome Awareness Day on 3/15/24. Down Syndrome remains the most common chromosomal condition diagnosed in the United States. Each year, about 6,000 babies born in the United States have Down Syndrome. This means that Down Syndrome occurs in about 1 in every 700 babies. We celebrate to promote awareness and to empower individuals with Down Syndrome to live their best lives. Please wear BLUE & YELLOW and/or brightly colored socks on March 15th for World Down Syndrome Awareness Day at ESES!
ESES Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day- Wear GREEN on Monday, March 25th.
March is National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month, and National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day is March 25th! Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a disorder that affects muscle tone, movement, and coordination. CP is the most common motor disability in childhood. According to CDC estimates, about 1 in 345 children have been identified with CP. There are different types of CP. Some people have one type or a mix of various types. There’s no cure for CP, but early intervention and treatment can improve a child’s quality of life. Please join us in bringing awareness and showing support for our friends and family members with Cerebral Palsy by wearing GREEN on March 25th!
EDUCATE. ADVOCATE. If you’d like to know more about Down Syndrome or Cerebral Palsy, please check out the resources below.
Sincerely,
Nurse Dana Crutchfield RN, BSN, CPN
Math News:
Our mathematicians have been hard at work this semester diving into their Context for Learning units! Each unit is set in the context of students' lives, creating instant engagement and excitement in our math block! Here are a few pictures from past units.
1st graders experimented with how many jumping jacks they could do in a minute during their telling time unit.
2nd graders created timelines with their family’s birth dates to practice adding and subtracting.
3rd graders had to measure how long their materials were using fractional pieces of a ruler.
Whooo Loves to read? Your ESE OWLS DO!
I would like to congratulate our 4th Grade Robotics Team. These students competed in the Regional Vex IQ Tournament in Clarksville last Saturday. They all did an outstanding job! I couldn't be prouder of all that they have accomplished this school year.
The Scholastic Book Fair is Coming to Town! From March 6th - 14th, we will be hosting the book fair in our library. We will be open throughout each school day and have late hours during parent-teacher conferences. All of the funds earned from the book fair will be spent on the purchase of high-interest, student-selected books for library circulation. Please consider supporting the expansion of book titles in our library.
- Our ESE Video Team, 3rd Grade Robotics, and 4th-grade book club continue to learn and grow together.
- Kindergarten has been learning about including others even if they look or act a little differently.
- 1st and 2nd grades have been learning coding.
- 3rd and 4th grades are in the final stages of creating some fantastic projects! I can’t wait to share their finished products with you!
I hope you enjoyed The Boy Called Bat as much as I did! The Community Celebration is this Sunday, March 3rd at Crystal Bridges from 12-4 pm. This free event will provide many wonderful opportunities to spend time together! I hope to see you all there.
Please consider continuing to support our library programs with the purchase of a celebration book! Reach out to me for more information.
Keep reading,
Mrs. Watson
"Gym Shorts":
We will continue our STAYING HEART HEALTHY unit by celebrating National Nutrition Month in March. Your 4th graders will kick off this month by learning how math fits into the kitchen with some hands-on cooking experience. Your little owls will also be gearing up for our March Madness celebration with demo ball, pokemon basketball, and finishing up with our annual scooter basketball.
Coach Kerkhover & Coach Jones
ART Studio:
We are kicking off March with some amazing art displays around our building as well as 3rd and 4th grade finishing their clay projects! This month we will be focusing on art displays in our building. Students will be designing and coordinating a variety of artwork that will be on display throughout the building. Please feel free to explore the displays during parent-teacher conferences.
Clay is also being sent home this month for 2nd- 3rd grade. Please be on the lookout for their fragile creations. Kinder and first grade will be starting clay in the middle of the month!
Mrs. Barber
Music Notes:
Congratulations, 4th graders, on an amazing performance and for representing our school well at the district music event “Musical Madness”!
Did you know that March is National “Music In Our Schools Month”? I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than with new instruments!! Last year, the 4th graders (now middle schoolers) sold tickets to their performance at a Naturals baseball game to raise money for our music department. Some of these proceeds went to the purchase of a class set of ukuleles. When we return from Spring break, all 2nd-4th graders will get to learn to play the ukulele! Yay!
Keep making music!
Mrs. Simpson
Global Connections:
Bonjour! We are traveling to Europe! I have really enjoyed hearing about the experiences that some of our students have been able to enjoy while visiting the many countries we will be discussing! Be proud of your owls, many are able to identify the three continents we have discussed on a blank map!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Schroeder
Digital Literacy
Digital Literacy has been focused on improving our typing accuracy, along with diving deeper into text editing (fonts, colors, alignment, etc…). We have also been discussing how we can define who we are, within our own digital footprint; and how it might have an impact on how others feel.
Mr. Henry
English as a Second Language:
Just wanted to share a student-led event that all four jr. highs and both high schools are arranging on April 18th. There will be groups of students performing cultural dances, reciting poetry in their home language, and performing fashion shows in their cultural dress. They will also have tables and tents set up in the parking lot with students talking about their culture and providing various things, such as artwork, recipes, books, clothing, etc. See the flyer for more details. I hope to see you there!
Sincerely,
Melissa Tomblin
Absences:
In the event that your child is absent from school, please use the following email address: esesattendanceclerk@bentonvillek12.org.
Teachers and front office staff may be out so we ask that you refrain from emailing staff directly. Rather we ask that you email the esesattendanceclerk@bentonvillek12.org and you are welcome to include the homeroom teacher. You can also use the esesattendanceclerk@bentonvillek12.org to send in doctor's notes. When parents email the esesattendanceclerk@bentonvillek12.org, both Mrs. Kendra and Mrs. Tammy receive the email. Thank you for your help with ensuring your child's attendance record is accurate and current.
SCHOOL BREAKFAST AND LUNCH MENUS:
To make a deposit for your child's breakfast/lunch account, log in to the Family Portal. You will need your student's ID to log in.
If you would like to see what our cafeteria will be serving for breakfast and lunch for the month of March, simply click on the following link: https://www.bentonvillek12.org/page/food-and-nutrition
UAMS Community Health & Research:
"Hello! Your Child Nutrition Department and the UAMS Office of Community Health and Research invite you to participate in a focus group. We want to learn more about parents' experiences and opinions of school meal programs in local school districts. If you are interested in sharing your feedback, please click the link and fill out the brief survey. Participants will receive $20 as a gift card. Focus groups will be offered in person and on Zoom to accommodate various schedules.
Best,
Sara Sorrell MA | MPH | CRS
Research Associate
(she/her)
UAMS Community Health & Research
2708 S. 48th Street, Springdale, AR 72762
www.uams.edu | www.northwestcampus.uams.edu
UAMS Northwest Regional Camps