Rocket News
October 2021
A letter from your Principal
Happy October Rockets!
If you are a fan of fall like I am you know that October is a great month. I love the cooler weather and changing colors. I hope your family has the opportunity to enjoy fall in Wisconsin this year.
It has been another great start to the school year with many great days; however, this past Friday, the day of our 9th Rocket Run was one of the best of the year so far. Thanks to all the volunteers that made this event run as smoothly as it did. Thank you for all your support cheering on students and supporting the run financially.
As we roll into October, it is clear to me that we are hitting our stride with academics. As I walk through classrooms, I see student book boxes packed full of “just right books” for students to read. I see students engaged in math lessons and stations. I see Number Corner charts up with good math thinking. I see anchor charts on interactive read a louds like Home of the Brave and Tiger Rising. I see teachers and students exploring letters and sounds in our lower grades. I see teachers sitting with students listening to their reading, gauging where instruction needs to be for each and every Rocket. It is really a work of art.
One of the great things about what I am seeing is that you can come see it all at our Family Learning Night on Thursday, October 24 from 5-7. Family Learning Night is a night designated for your child to show you around his/her classroom. It’s a chance to see what goes on here each and every day. It is not a parent teacher conference….we have those in early November. This is a chance for the whole family to come to school and experience what goes on in the day in the life of your Rocket. We hope you can join us—stay tuned.
Lastly, I want to thank you for your attention and diligence around Drop Off and Pick Up times. I have noticed an improvement with patience and care. Thank you. Safety is a priority.
As always feel free to reach out to us with any questions.
Have a great October and GO ROCKETS!
Rocket Run 2019
Thank you to everyone who made the Rocket Run a success! Please remember to turn in cash and check pledges by Monday, October 7. If you are using the link, please have electronic pledges in by Friday, October 4. Here's the link:
https://funrun101.pledgebrite.org/fund/rocketrun2019
Thank you again for all your hard work! We still have time to reach our goal of $35,000! Please stay tuned for pictures from this years run!!
Fall Festival
This years Fall Festival will be held on October 25th from 5-7 in the gym. There will be games and trunk or treat in the Gym. The decorated pumpkins that will be created by Classroom will also be on display. There will be Chick-FIl-A sandwiches, chips, and sodas to purchase. Come and enjoy a fun family evening at School!
Vision and Hearing Screening
On Wednesday, October 23rd from 8:30-12, we will be doing our annual vision screening for Kindergarten, 2nd and 4th grades. We will also be testing hearing for Kindergarten. If you have a student in another grade who you would like to be tested, just call the nurse's office to get you on the schedule. If your child usually wears glasses, please remember to make sure that he or she has them that day. It takes about 8-10 volunteers to run this smoothly. Watch for a sign up coming soon and sign up if you are interested in volunteering!
Club Reminders
Spanish Club (2nd grade) Mondays from 3:15-4:00 in the LMC
Girl Talk (3rd&4th grade) -Tuesdays from 3:15-4:00 in the Science Room
Rocket Kids (5th grade) Tuesdays from 3:15-4:00 in the Pit
Art Club (4th&5th grade) Mondays from 3:15-4:00 in the Art room
Chorus Club (4th&5th grade) -Tuesdays from 7:30-8:10 in the Music Room
Orchestra (5th grade) Mondays from 7:50-8:10 in the Pit
Safety Patrol (5th grade) Oct 8th, Dec 10th, Feb 11th, May 12th from 7:45-8:10 in the Pit
Fitness Club (5th grade) Tuesdays from 7:30-8:10 in the Gym
Lego Club (5th grade) Wednesdays from 3:15-4:15 in the LMC
Writing Club ( 4th grade) Mondays from 3:15-4:00 in the LMC
Math 24 Club (3rd/4th/5th) Thursdays from 7:30-8:15 in the Science Room
PARENTS: All after school clubs end at 4:00 PM and the office closes at 4:00 PM. Please be prompt when picking up your child. ~ Thank you~
A letter from our School Counselor
What your children are learning in Guidance Class
I am Tammy Olson, School Counselor. I am starting my 22nd year as a school counselor and have been at Royal Oaks for 20 of those years.
Your child will have Guidance Class every other week for 30 minutes with me. Guidance classes involve whole child learning with focuses on social/emotional skills. But, that is only one part of my job here at Royal Oaks.
Small Groups (Social Academic Instructional Group, SAIG) are booster sessions to focus on specific skills that students may need extra support in. The SAIG are co-lead between myself, Kaitlyn Curtin, School Social Worker, and Andrea Carpenter, School Psychologist. We average between 130 - 150 students that are involved in SAIG each year.
Students also can be seen by me individually for various reasons. Those meetings might be to work on specific skills, or just give a student the opportunity and space to calm down or talk through problems that might have arisen. Many students come in with friends to eat lunch, play a game, and have a little social time.
Classroom guidance themes your child will be learning throughout the year are:
Kindergarten - Attending skills, Self-Control (Zones of Regulation), Social Skills (teasing, bullying, friendships), and Career Awareness.
First Grade - Social Skills (Filling Buckets, teasing, bullying, friendships), Recognizing emotions (Feelings Journal).
Second Grade - Multiple Intelligences, Self-Control (Zones of Regulation), Individual Differences, Social Skills (bullying, teasing, friendships).
Third Grade - Growth Mindset, Self-Awareness (they will each make a “Humanual” which is a manual about themselves), Social Skills (friendships, bullying, learning from mistakes)
Fourth Grade - Self - Control (Zones of Regulation), Communication, Conflict Resolution, Career Awareness and Dreams for their future.
Fifth Grade - Personalities (colors), Career Inventory, Learner Resume (make their own resume for their Individual Learning Plan (ILP) and Academic Career Plan), Middle School Transition ( peer pressure, cliques, bullying). In the Spring I will be meeting with you and you child for their 5th grade ILP conference. You will be receiving a letter about the conferences the first of the year. In late February, I will send out a sign-up genius for you to choose times that work best for you.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns at 834-7266 or tlolson@sunprairieschools.org
ROSCO- All are Welcome
ROSCO (Royal Oaks School Community Organization) is our school’s parent group that supports the staff and students. Serving as the school’s booster club – they are a non-profit organization that functions independently of the school and the district. Any parent or guardian of a child at Royal Oaks can join. Meetings are held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 6:30 pm in the Science Room. Free childcare is available for children 2 and up.
2019– 20 Officers
President: Diana McFarland, roscorocket@gmail.com
Vice President: Jen Brandt, vprosco@gmail.com
Secretary: Stephanie Nichols, roscorocketssec@gmail.com
Treasure: Amanda Dean, roscofunds@gmail.com
2019-20 ROSCO Meetings (6:30 pm)
- September 10, 2019
- October 8, 2019
- November 12, 2019
- December - no meeting
- January 14, 2020
- February 11, 2020
- March 10, 2020
- April 14, 2020
- May 12, 2020
November Save the Dates
Tuesday, November 5 End of First Quarter
Tuesday, November 12 ROSCO Meeting 6:30 pm
Thursday, November 14 Parent/Teacher Conferences 4:00-8:00 pm
Friday, November 15 No School Parent/Teacher Conferences
Wednesday, November 27 No School
Thursday, November 28 No School
Friday, November 29 No School
Crayola ColorCycle
We are excited to tell you about a very special program we are coordinating at our school in conjunction with Crayola. It’s called Crayola ColorCycle – an amazing program devised to re-purpose used markers rather than sending them to landfills!
The ColorCycle program has re-purposed more than 70 tons of expended markers in the United States and Canada since 2013, and uses the most advanced plastic conversion technologies available today to make wax compounds for asphalt and roofing shingles as well as to generate electricity that can be used to heat homes, cook food, and power vehicles.
All around Royal Oaks, students and teachers will be collecting used markers that are ready to be discarded. Please help support our efforts by sending your kids in with any used markers you may have around the house- even non-Crayola brands! Highlighters and dry erase markers can also be included. A Crayola box will be located in the LMC for all donations. Thank you in advance for participating! With the help of parents like you across the country, the Crayola ColorCycle program can continue to keep tons of plastic out of landfills each year.
Business Education Partnership
Does your 4th or 5th grade student have G.R.I.T.? We think so and we’re hoping to see it this year. G.R.I.T. is a Business Education Partnership program that recognizes students for showing specific skills and characteristics each quarter of their fourth and fifth grade years. Frontier Communications and Woodmans are our business partners that sends employees each quarter to give out the G.R.I.T. awards.
G.R.I.T stands for:
G - Giving It Your All
R - Responsibility
I - Initiative
T - Teamwork
A letter from your PBIS team
Advanced Learner Program Update
Communication
In an effort to ensure that the majority of our time is spent with students, the ALP teachers will be communicating with parents via monthly school newsletters. In the newsletter, we will be giving information about upcoming events and information to support your children at home.
Math 24 Club
Starting Thursday, October 10th, Math 24 Club will be offered to 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students. Students in 4th and 5th grade will have the opportunity to compete at our local Math 24 meet and the Dane County Regional Math 24 tournament in the Spring. If your child is interested, please have them grab a flyer from the Club Table set up by the Science Room. This club will be capped at 24 students, with priority given to 4th and 5th graders.
Yahara River Writers
This is an opportunity for 5th grade students to enter a writing competition! Students can create short stories, poetry, editorials or editorial cartooning. There are also opportunities for students to submit artwork for the cover and divider pages. I will be introducing this to students the week of October 7th. Students that are interested will be asked to complete a form with their intent. A rough draft will need to be submitted by December 2. I will work with students to edit and finalize their pieces and prepare them for submission. In early January we judge the local pieces and select the top 10 pieces per grade level, per category to continue on to the regional competition.
Please remember to access our ALP webpage on the district website. It is a new site so the information is still under construction. It has information pertaining to all levels for ALP and it will give you helpful tips including websites relating to many areas for our Advanced learners, calendar events, and other helpful information.