KES 2024 February Newsletter ☃️
Building a Community of Belonging
MESSAGES FROM CRISTY AND KWEON
Weather Reserve Days
- School is now in session on 3/28 and 4/8. (Those days were used on 12/18/23 and 1/16/24.)
- Two more weather reserve days remain: Weather Reserve Day # 3 is 5/28 and Weather Reserve Day #4 is 4/23.
Attendance
As part of our ongoing efforts to support student attendance, students who accumulate 10 days and subsequently 20 days (or more) of absences from school will receive a letter home.
For support, please reach out to KES Social Worker, Jessica Fulton at jfulton@klschools.org.
The PTO is supporting the following enrichment this month!
Kindergarten: Challenge Island
Grade 2: Visit from Abraham Lincoln- Lou DelBianco
Grade 4: BOCES Program Nocturnal World of NY
Grade 5: White Plains County Legislature for Mock Trials
Incoming Kindergarten Orientation for Parents
Families with a child turning five years old on or before December 1, 2024 are invited to attend our Kindergarten Orientation, held at KES on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at 7 p.m. Snow Date: Monday, March 11. Information about Kindergarten Registration will be provided. This evening presentation is for parents/caregivers only.
KLSD Facebook and Instagram
BUILDING A COMMUNITY OF BELONGING
Valentine's for Veterans Program
We will once again this year participate the 'Valentine's for Vets' program. The Valentine's for Vets program gives school children an opportunity to create Valentine’s Day cards for our local veterans, letting them know we appreciate everything they’ve sacrificed, and that they aren’t forgotten. The Valentine’s Day cards will be delivered to local Veteran’s organizations and the Montrose VA Hospital.
Celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
4th grade students highlighted MLK at our January Sharing Assembly. They created an audio and visual presentation how MLK led with dignity and in peace. We were asked to consider how we can follow in MLK's footsteps- by helping the community, standing up for what is right, being fair and treating everyone with kindness.
Honoring Black History Month
February is Black History Month, and we are celebrating the achievements of African Americans and recognizing their central role in U.S. history; their achievements, contributions, resilience, sacrifices and cultural signifance that have helped shape the nation. Throughout this month, we will honor the past and inspire the future where diversity is celebrated and equality is embraced.
5th Graders introduced historian Carter G. Woodson as the "Father of Black History Month" at January's Sharing Assembly to kick-off Black History Month at KES.
Black History Month: Incredible Children
Thanks to KES COMPACT members, our students will learn about "Incredible Children" including: Marley Dias, Misty Copeland, Chloe and Halle Bailey, Egypt Ufele, Claudette Colvin, Jahkil Jackson, Nyeeam Hudson, Mo'ne Davis, Mari Copeny, Ruby Bridges, Mikaila Ulmer and Birmingham Chidren's Crusade. (See picture of Bulletin Board.)
These "Incredible Children" played an influential role in the areas of literacy, performing arts, clothing design, and sports. They made a difference through their activism and service in the such areas as homelessness and by breaking down boundaries as young inspiring entrepreneurs. We are hopeful that our students appreciate the significance of these incredible children and are inspired by their stories and actions.
Lunar New Year
For those of you celebrating the Lunar New Year, we wish you a very prosperous 2024! We will learn about this festival through a special segment of our "Good Morning, KES" program.
Commitment to Kindness: Words Matter
Kindness is a guiding value at KES throughout the year, and we’ll be shining extra light on it this month of February. Our Community Read, Stacey's Extraordinary Words, has us re-committing to kindness with a focus on "Words Matter." By making simple changes to the words we use, we can shift our mindset and approach to life, creating a more positive, healthy and empowering experience.
We hope you’ll take this opportunity to focus on kindness in each of your own homes as well!
On KES Kindness Day (Saturday, February 10), the Kindness Committee has organized fun and meaningful activities to promote kindness throughout and beyond our community. More information will be available through the PTO and we hope you’ll join us in the fun!
Social Emotional Learning
In January, students in grades 1, 3 and 5 received lessons in emotional regulation- dealing with big feelings. These lessons included recognizing and identifying what you are feeling, determining the size of the problem, and applying coping skills.
Zones of Regulation:
Recognizing your 'zone' helps you choose what coping skill is needed
Red and Yellow Zones need 'Calming Down' Skills
Blue Zone needs 'Alerting' Skills
Green Zone is where we want students for optimal learning.
How Big is My Problem?:
The size of your problem should equal the size of your reaction.
The ability to name the size of your problem helps to determine how you can problem solve.
BULLYING vs. TEASING
Good natured teasing can be fun and even help people bond. This is when everyone is in on the joke and thinks it's funny. If someone is upset, there is an apology, and it stops. Everyone has the same amount of power and feels comfortable speaking up for themselves. The acronym BOO is used to explain bullying.
Being mean
On purpose
Over and over
With bullying there is an imbalance of power, and typically the victim is afraid to speak up.
Students review the important concepts of bystander and upstander.
- Bystanders witness bullying and do nothing to help.
- Upstanders witness bullying and get involved.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Head Lice Information for Parents
You should examine your child’s head, especially behind the ears and at the nape of the neck, for crawling lice and nits if your child exhibits symptoms of a head lice infestation. If crawling lice or nits are found, all household members should be examined for crawling lice and nits every 2–3 days. Persons with live (crawling) lice or nits within ¼ inch or less of the scalp should be treated.
To eliminate head lice successfully, it is very important that all treatment instructions and steps be carefully followed and completed.
CDC does not make recommendations as to what specific product or products should be used to treat individuals. Both over-the-counter and prescription products are available. You may wish to contact your doctor, pharmacist, or health department for additional information about which product they recommend.
Children diagnosed with live head lice do not need to be sent home early from school; they can go home at the end of the day, be treated, and return to class after appropriate treatment has begun. Nits may persist after treatment, but successful treatment should kill crawling lice.
Head lice can be a nuisance but they have not been shown to spread disease. Personal hygiene or cleanliness in the home or school has nothing to do with getting head lice.
Head Lice Management in Schools
We are seeing a rising number of students coming down with illness. New York State reminds us to stay home when sick, stay up-to-date on vaccines, wash hands often with soap and water, cough and sneeze in your elbows, and wear a mask for 5 days when returning from being Covid positive.
Please be sure your child comes to school in clothing that is appropriate for outdoor play. Children not dressed appropriately for the weather will be unable to participate in outdoor recess. If the temperature, including the wind chill, falls below twenty degrees, the students will stay inside for recess. Dr. Louis A. Corsaro, the school district physician, has advised us in these matters.
CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT
Winter Benchmarking
As per our Response to Intervention District Plan mandated by New York State, benchmarks, or screenings, will begin in mid-January for students in grades K-5. The assessments are administered as a whole group and individually, depending on the grade and subject area. The results of the AIMSweb screening, along with other school data (Running Record, Topic Assessments, etc.) will be reviewed by the KES RTI Team (Principal, School Psychologist, Interventionists, Classroom Teachers). If your child qualifies for services, changes level of services, or exits services based on the criteria outlined across the district, you will receive a parent communication by February 13.
Elementary Progress Reports K-5
Classroom Teachers and Special Area Teachers are completing progress reports for our students. Progress Reports will be made available on February 15 via the Parent Campus. You will receive a Connect Ed message when the reports are available for viewing. The Progress reports were updated and you will see many changes.
The progress report reflects your child’s progress in relation to the current NY State Standards. Student performance is reported on a continuum from beginning to secure for the specified time of year. As the year progresses and as children move from one grade level to the next, schoolwork becomes more challenging, and expectations increase accordingly. Therefore, the assessment indicators -beginning, developing, and secure- may vary as the student moves from semester to semester, or from year to year. Thus, a rating of “secure” may change in a particular area over time. Due to the pacing and/or complexity of the curriculum, some indicators may not be expected at the beginning or middle of the year, therefore, you may see NE, indicating a standard is not expected for that time of year. (See Progress Report Rating Scale below.)
The grade reporting system includes information about your child’s approach to learning as a whole (work and study habits), and their progress in academic areas. Within each academic category, there is an ‘At-a-Glance' description of the content area topics that are addressed at that time of year, as well as the standards that are being assessed. Teachers use a variety of methods to determine strengths and areas that require attention and support. The teacher comments section aims to give you a holistic view of your child as a learner and address specific learning goals.
Katonah-Lewisboro values ongoing communication between home and school. While there is one dedicated parent-teacher conference in our school calendar, families and teachers can reach out at any time to set up additional communication. This report may be a resource for helping students set goals as they seek to advance to the next level. We will continue to help all children grow at their own level of ability and readiness. We remain committed to your child’s success and creating a positive elementary school experience.
Progress Report Rating Scale
Beginning (B): Not yet demonstrating any independence in meeting standard expected at this time of year.
Developing (D): Demonstrating some independence in meeting standard expected at this time of year, however, is not yet consistent.
Secure (S): Independently and consistently meeting standard expected at this time of year.
Additional Information:
- The progress report includes sections for ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies, Visual Arts, Music and PE all in one multi-paged document. The same rating scale is applied throughout.
- The progress reports will continue to be evaluated next year to consider additional opportunities for assessment in the areas of Science and Social Studies.
- If you have questions about the content of your child's progress report, please reach out directly to the classroom teacher(s).
- If you have comments related to the new format of the progress report, please email administration at charris@klschools.org.
K-5 Curriculum Updates
Each month, we will be providing curriculum highlights from each grade level. Please know that these are snapshots and do not reflect all the curriculum and learning in the classroom.
Students in kindergarten continue to strengthen their 'reading powers' as they read and reread to build fluency and comprehension. This work will be supported as children further develop their phonemic awareness skills by listening for individual sounds, or phonemes, in words. They will not only blend (put together) and segment (separate) phonemes, but will also work on adding, deleting, and substituting phonemes in words. Writing personal narratives has given kindergartners the opportunity to closely explore the writing cycle. They are learning to independently choose special topics, plan books, write and illustrate the parts, and even sit with a friend to celebrate and share feedback with one another. Over the next few weeks, kindergartners will practice modeling with math as they continue to explore addition and move on to subtraction. They will represent and persevere in problem solving by using objects, fingers, drawings, acting out situations, or creating written equations. In science we will explore Forces and Motions using a variety of hands-on activities which will allow students to investigate and build their own knowledge about what happens when forces are exerted on objects.
Students in first grade will continue working with nonfiction text sets during the reading workshop. Each day, students will read and talk about the books in their text set with a partner. After spending time writing about their experiences in the classroom and their identity books, students will use the classroom library to explore topics they are interested in and could write about during a writing workshop. Students will continue building their spelling toolbox by using the Word Wall to help them write words that they will use in their topic books. In math, students will learn strategies to count beyond 100. These strategies include counting by 10s, counting on a number chart to 120, and counting on an open number line. This knowledge will be helpful to prepare for our Rocking Through the 120 Day Celebration in March. In science, students will explore light sources and shadows. This work will lead into some fun exploration work around Groundhog Day. The short, but busy, month will also include fun celebrations such as “Football Friday” the Friday before the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day.
Students in second grade have been learning how to write an opinion letter in writing workshop. For Valentine’s Day, the children will be writing letters to special people in their lives. These letters will be filled with kind thoughts, happy memories, and loving words- as well as clear opinion statements with evidence to support their feelings. We look forward to Valentine’s Day when students will read their letters to their special guests after a musical performance in the gym. In reading skill, students have been working on fluency- including intonation and inflection. We are grateful to have so many amazing books in our classrooms to help us practice! Students are using these same helpful reading skills in solving word problems in math. Solving multi-step addition and subtraction stories is the goal. Students have also been rolling up their sleeves during science in exploration of landforms and how they change over time. Second grade geologists are always eager to ask questions and investigate!
Students in third grade will begin the Reading and Writing test prep units. In addition to preparation for the NYS ELA Test, these units will provide opportunities to learn and practice skills that keep students on the trajectory of becoming life-long, confident readers and writers. Additionally, character study will be an important area of focus, including describing characters’ feelings and traits, describing the relationship between characters, character motivations, and the problem and the solution. In math, this month students will use several strategies to assist in adding and subtracting within 1,000. They will use partial sums and differences as well as regrouping and mental math. Students will begin a new unit in science called "Environments and Survival." This unit focuses on the diversity of traits among organisms living in various environments on Earth and explores how these traits influence their chances of survival and what happens when their environment undergoes changes. Through the study of organisms' traits, biologists aim to understand their ability to evade predators and obtain essential resources like food and water.
Students in fourth grade are beginning to craft literary essays, studying short stories in small groups, and identifying character traits by examining character dialogue and action. They are using evidence in the text to support their claims about the characters. Students will soon identify themes in short stories and develop thesis statements about the themes that come up in grade level texts. In math, students are exploring equivalent fractions, and using models to help them compare, add, and subtract fractions. In their science unit, Vision and Light, students are using digital simulation models to explore how animal eyes work, allow them to see their prey, and help them to survive.
Students in fifth grade will be honing their ELA skills at writing powerful literary essays using short texts and the novel Esperanza Rising. In math, students will be starting a unit on computation with fractions. Students will start by adding and subtracting fractions and then move on to multiplying with mixed numbers. A trip to the Westchester Legislature in White Plains, has been planned for later in the month. This will augment the social studies unit on government and how laws are made. In science, fifth graders will continue their study of matter-- atoms, molecules, substances, mixtures—as they take on the role of food scientists.
Advancing Early Literacy Parent Workshop with Danny Wagner on March 14 at 9:30am @ KES
Focus on Grades K-2; however all parents are welcome!
Danny Wagner has been a New York City teacher for years and has recently begun working at Teachers College Advancing Literacy, supporting schools in New York City and beyond with foundational literacy instruction. With a background in special education and deep interest in phonics, Danny has been helping teachers consider their instructional choices for all learners at various levels of development, especially when it comes to their transfer of skills in phonics to reading and writing. Most recently, Danny has been thinking about ways that the home and school connection can be continuously supporting this work that students are engaging in when developing their foundational literacy skills. Relying on best practices and knowledge of how our brains truly learn to develop literacy skills is essential in this work.
FEATURED ART
Art Program Overview
Christine Eckler, KES Art Teacher, recently presented to the PTO General Membership. This Art Program Overview reflects a collaborative curriculum across the elementary schools. What is shown are samples of projects from each grade level with corresponding standards and/or skills. Please keep in mind that the slides do not include Mrs. Eckler's detailed explanation of the integration and process involved in creating the artwork. If you have any questions, you can reach out to her directly at ceckler@klschools.org.
How You Can Get Involved:
- Sustainability is a major focus in art and the program is in need of donations. Please see the slide below for specific items.
- Specific projects, including clay and Papier Mache will require Parent Volunteers. Class Parents will be supporting the arrangements for these volunteers.
- Mrs. Eckler will be seeking Parent Volunteers for hanging art for this year's Art Show on May 6th- stay tuned for more details!
Important to Know:
Students in each grade will experience clay or Papier Mache. These projects will involve Parent Volunteers. (K-5 experience will provide multiple exposures to each medium.)
Artwork is sent home; however, depending on the length of time it takes to complete and/or display in the hallways, the time between projects going home will vary.
Artwork that is sent home will have a "description tag" (most likely on the back of the art) that briefly explains the project.
Each month, we feature student artwork in the newsletter, so keep a look out for next month's edition!
DIGNITY FOR ALL STUDENTS (DASA)
Cristy Harris, Principal and KES Dignity Act Coordinator 763-7700 or charris@klschools.org
Kweon Stambaugh, Assistant Principal (designee) 763-7705 or kstambaugh@klschools.org
Jessica Fulton, Social Worker (designee) 763-7669 or jfulton@klschools.org.