The Sequiota Scoop
Monthly School Newsletter - August 2021
Our Updated Mission Statement
"Sequiota is a school family of respectful, safe, and responsible learners growing together to build a positive community"
A Note from Mrs. Wagner
I sure hope you had a lovely Summer break! I personally helped coordinate Artworks Summer School which, minus the initial car line, was a delight! My husband and I also traveled to Colorado and Utah for a short vacation. We love the mountains and enjoyed our time at Arches National Park as well. I also got in a lot of extra cat snuggles this Summer as well.
We are becoming so excited for the start of the 2021-2022 school year! Although we will still need to abide by our COVID protocols from last year we are excited to have all students in class 5 days a week starting on the first day of school.
This newsletter is jam-packed full of information for the start of the year. Please take the time to read through it carefully and click on the hyperlinks for additional information.
We can't wait to see your kiddos at Meet the Teacher and the first day of school!
-Mrs. Wagner
Upcoming August Dates
Aug 10th - All About K (Kindergarten Orientation)
-Families can sign up for one of the following time slots:
- 4:30-5:15
- 5:30-6:15
- 6:30-7:15
- Please sign-up at this link: https://bit.ly/AllAboutK
Aug. 16th - Class Lists posted AND emailed
- Emails will be sent at 5:00 pm to all families
- These will also be posted on the windows facing the south parking lot. Kindergarten will start at the office windows and each grade level will be spread out moving towards the playground. We will post bright signs that state K, 1, 2, etc to identify the grades.
Aug. 19th & 20th - Meet the Teacher
-Kindergarten Families: Aug. 19th, 4:00-6:00 pm
- via a Sign-up Genius that will be sent on Aug. 17th for each individual classroom.
- Please bring your child's school supplies in a bag labeled with their name on it and individual supplies labeled (or not) per the supply list.
-1st-5th Grade Families: Aug. 20th, 7:30-10:30 am --See specific grade level schedule above
- Families with last names beginning with A-K please plan to attend during the 1st half of their grade level allotted time slot.
- Families with last names beginning with L-Z please plan to attend during the 2nd half of their grade level allotted time slot.
- Please bring your child's school supplies in a bag labeled with their name on it and individual supplies labeled (or not) per each grade level's supply list.
Aug. 23 - First Day of School
-School starts at 8:30 am
Previously we've allowed Kindergarten parents to walk their child to class on the first day of school. This year we are unable to invite parents into the building to walk students to class due to visitor restrictions and safety and health guidelines amidst COVID-19.
Staff updates:
Here's the updated breakdown of our grade level teachers for the 2021-2022 School Year
-Kindergarten:
- Mrs. Hoing
- Mrs. Hubbell
- Mrs. Slominsky
-First Grade:
- Mrs. Hunton
- Mrs. Rader
-First/Second Grade Combined Classroom:
- Mrs. Nichols
-Second Grade:
- Mrs. Kilburn
- Mrs. Wadsworth
-Third Grade:
- Mrs. Griffin
- Mrs. Olson
- Mrs. Zay
-Fourth Grade:
- Mrs. Schofield
- Mrs. Nelson
-Fifth Grade:
- Mrs. Call
- Mrs. Duncan
- Mr. James
Specialty Staff:
- Art: Miss McAllister
- Music: Mrs. Wright
- P.E.: Coach Hill
- Computers/STEAM: Mrs. Morris
- Counselor: Mrs. Verfurth
- Library: Mrs. James
- Library Clerical: Miss Arcindino
Special Education Staff:
- Cross Cat Teacher: Mrs. Seidel
- Cross Cat Teacher: Mrs. David
- Speech Teacher: Miss Lohman
- Cross Cat Paraprofessional: Mr. Cataldo
Support Staff:
- Secretary: Miss Sara
- Nurse: Nurse Jessie
- Custodial: Mr. Bruce, Miss Rayma, and Miss Susan
- Instructional Support Aide: Mr. Sharkey
- Nutrition Services: Mrs. Kenda & Mrs. Bobbie
Arrival and Dismissal Procedures
Arrival
- Students must wear a mask when entering the building
- If they choose to eat breakfast they will pick up a grab and go meal from the cafeteria and eat it in their classroom.
- All students will report directly to their classroom upon arrival.
- Staff will be available to assist students to their classrooms (especially our kindergarten students).
Dismissal:
- Students will remain masked until in their vehicles or off school property (if walking).
- The pick-up/dismissal options this year include: Bus (if eligible), Walkers (East & West), Prime Time, and Car Riders.
- We will NOT allow parents to walk-up to pick-up their child from under the awnings outside the cafeteria via the blue cards as we have in years past. This is due to the need to socially distance everyone and reduce the amount of contact that would transpire through the blue card system.
- All students will remain in their classrooms until their name is called for pick-up. This may slow down our carline initially, please be patient as the students and staff adjust to the new system.
- Car tags will be handed out at Meet the Teacher (if you don't attend they will go home with your children the first day they attend school). Please make sure your car tag is visible until your child enters the car.
- If you choose to park and meet your child for West walkers (off of Mentor) please park your car on a side street NOT on Mentor itself. This really jams up our carline when people park along Mentor.
- When approaching the parking lot for carline we recommend driving North on Mentor. When exiting our parking lot for carline we recommend turning right (North) out of the parking lot.
Changes in Arrival/Dismissal
8:15 a.m. - Doors open for students to enter the building
- When students arrive at school they will report directly to their classrooms.
8:30 a.m. - Tardy Bell rings and our school day officially begins
- All students arriving after this time must enter the building through the main office door
3:30 p.m. - Dismissal
- Students will dismiss directly from their classrooms - this will be a new process and may take a few weeks to perfect. Please be patient as the students learn the new dismissal procedures.
Prime Time will still be available 6:30 am - 6:30 pm - please visit their website to register.
Preparing for the First Day of School
We ask that all parents/guardians begin preparing their children for returning to school.
Re-establish bedtime routines: We know many of us have created different routines over Summer break. Now is the time to start re-establishing bedtime routines.
Practicing mask-wearing protocols with your children: We highly recommend you do so before we return to school on August 23rd. This will mitigate the safety concerns associated with improper mask etiquette (i.e. how it's being worn, when to remove it, etc.). All students in grades K-5 will be required to wear masks at school. We appreciate your help in preparing your student to wear a mask ALL DAY prior to the start of school.
Practice Social Distancing & physical interactions: Take the time to explain what this means and practice being aware of their proximity to others. As much as we want to hug and high-five our students please remind them that we all must practice hands-off interactions upon the return to school.
Breakfast and Lunch Updates
If your child is eating breakfast at school please have them there promptly at 8:15, they will pick up their breakfast from the cafeteria and eat it in their classroom.
All classes will be socially distanced from each other at lunch and the tables will be fully sanitized between classes. Students may pack a lunch but microwaves will not be available (please pack accordingly).
Breakfast and Lunch will be free for all families this year, but we still encourage families to submit their free and reduced lunch applications as it benefits our district to have these totals accounted for. If you have not yet submitted your application for free/reduced lunches, please click HERE - the application is easy to fill out and will help us ensure that our district receives all the supports provided for our free and reduced lunch students.
SCHOOL SUPPLIES UPDATE
Our Grade Levels have created School Supply Lists for you to use when shopping for school supplies.
Beyond the supply lists, we ask that each student have a full-size backpack, mask, and water bottle each day.
Please do your best to follow the list as provided as this helps support classroom structures and management. If you purchase from Amazon please have it shipped to your home and then bring it to school in one bag for Meet the Teacher.
If you need support with purchasing supplies please connect with your child's classroom teacher so we can support you.
Visitors & Volunteers
In order to increase safety the district has determined that all visitors into the building must be for educational purposes only (such as practicum students from the universities). Until further notice, no visitors will be permitted into the building.
With that said, the PTA is still going to think through some creative ways for our amazing Sequiota families to support our school community.
How we Communicate:
1. Teacher Newsletters - these will be emailed weekly
2. Yellow Folders sent home via backpack.
4. Principal Newsletters - these will be emailed/texted monthly & posted to the Sequiota website
5. PTA Newsletters - these will be emailed monthly and posted on the PTA Facebook page
6. PTA Remind App messages (sign-up with the PTA)
7. Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)
8. Email, calls, and texts through our SPS Blackboard alert now system.
Other ways to stay connected:
- Sequiota Twitter Account - @Sequiota
- Sequiota Instagram Account - @sequiota_elementary
- Springfield Public Schools Website
Additionally, all staff members can be reached by email or with a message left in the office. Many teachers may also set up their own lines of communication through Dojo, SeeSaw, Remind 101, etc.
Sequiota Behavior Expectations
CLICK ON THE IMAGE (to the left) TO ACCESS OUR BEHAVIOR MATRIX
This document outlines our behavior expectations for every area of the building.
Teachers will begin teaching these expectations to our students during the first week of school and will continue to reteach these expectations throughout the school year.
Feel free to review these expectations with your children to help reinforce positive choices at school.
Conscious Discipline
See the video below for a short explanation of what is Conscious Discipline.
You may find more information at https://consciousdiscipline.com/
- This is approach is both helpful at home and school.
Each Month in the Sequiota Scoop I will Highlight a skill or structure of Conscious Discipline for you to understand what we're focusing on at school.
Celebrate Sequiota Slips
Our hope with focusing on how our students are being respectful, safe, and responsible is to highlight for them what behaviors are helpful to our school family.
This student recognition system allows us to honor as many students as possible for their contributions to our school family.
About Us
Email: jlwagner@spsmail.org
Website: https://www.sps.org/sequiota
Location: 3414 South Mentor Avenue, Springfield, MO, USA
Phone: 417-523-5400
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SequiotaPTA/
Twitter: @Sequiota