Tiger Tales
September 2021
Fall Is Near!!
The beginning of a new school year has always had a special meaning and a sense of excitement. It is a time that marks a fresh start, exciting possibilities, and great promise. For children, it means new friends and teachers, new learning, discovery, and growth. I look forward to working with you as we educate your children in these primary years of school. These years are the most important because they lay the foundation for your child’s total school experience.
I appreciate that you recognize your child’s academic progress and enthusiasm for learning at this exciting time and I know you will encourage it to continue throughout the academic year.
In addition to engaging in an enriching curriculum, I expect your children will experience inner growth, with more self-direction, and greater understanding. Nothing could be more precious or more worthy than our collective attention to your children.
Please look for weekly classroom newsletters and frequent communication from your child's teacher. The home-school relationship is important to maintain. The foundation of this relationship is important and keeping those lines of communication open is essential. The use of e-mail, notes, and phone calls are welcomed and encouraged throughout the year. I look forward to a working partnership and a successful year.
Tisha Lewis,
Principal
PowerSchool Update
Prek News
Our Pre-K students have been working hard learning rules, routines, and procedures over the past few weeks. We are so proud of them! During the month of September, Pre-K will be completing math and literacy units with the following themes: All about My Family, The 5 Senses, Pets, and Apples. We have lots of fun hands-on activities planned this month. We will also focus of the letters C, D, E,F, and numbers 3,4,5,and 6.
Kindergarten News
First Grade News
Math
During the month of September, our first graders will be able to fluently add and subtract within 10. They will learn a variety of strategies like counting on, using doubles, using a ten frame, counting back, and learning about number families. They will be able to prove their answers by drawing pictures or using math manipulatives.
Reading
This month we will be working with our phonemic awareness skills. This includes being able to hear the sounds in a word, and manipulate those sounds to produce other words. We will also be improving our reading comprehension skills by identifying key details in a story and using visualization to understand a story. Families can help with this at home by reading stories together, and talking about what happened in the story.
Second Grade News
Math
We are working on fluently adding and subtracting within 20 using many different strategies.
Reading
We are practicing phonemic awareness daily using Heggerty. We are also implementing different reading strategies to build fluency and accuracy.
September Is Attendance Awareness Month
Nurse's Corner
Parents,
I know this is a trying time right now dealing with Covid. Our policy has changed from what we did last year, and I know many of you have questions and concerns. But please know that we are doing everything we can to keep your children safe and healthy!
Close contacts are described as being less than 3 feet apart for at least 15 or more minutes.
This year, close contacts are NOT required to be excluded from school. They are allowed to stay at school as long as they have no symptoms. The only students REQUIRED to stay home from school are students that have tested positive or ones presumptive positive. Those students will be required to stay home for 10 days, and those days will be excused.
If we are notified by a child's parent that their student has tested positive and they have been in school within 48 hours of being tested, we will send letters home to the close contacts . This letter will give you the date your student was last exposed and the date that you would need to watch your student for symptoms of Covid.
If there comes a point in time where you student would need to go home, you will be notified by phone. The letters sent home are to only inform and instruct on what to watch for. These letters are not saying your student needs to be kept at home.
If your child is identified as a close contact, you have the option to keep your child at home, if you decide. Again, this is not required, but you can choose to quarantine. The time allowed is 10 days, and that will be excused as well.
Communication from the parent is of UPMOST IMPORTANCE!!! If your child is sick or being tested for Covid, please call, and speak with me personally. If I do not answer, you may leave a name and good number to reach you, and I will call you back as soon as possible. Also, please contact me if you are keeping your child home for exposure quarantine. We must speak to parents to get these days excused. They will be counted as unexcused until there is communication from the parent. When we speak, we will discuss dates of when your child was exposed or tested, and we will confirm a return to school date at that time.
Covid symptoms include the following:
*Fever of 100.4 or greater
*Trouble breathing, shortness of breath
*Chills or shaking
*Tires easily-fatigue
*Headache, muscle, and body aches
*New loss of taste or smell
*Runny nose, congestion, sore throat, or new cough
*Nausea, diarrhea or vomiting
If your child has any of the above symptoms, please contact your child's doctor and the school nurse and keep your child home from school
Please contact me with any questions or concerns.
Thank you,
Terri Cameron, School Nurse
Fall Photos
Bryant
Sager
T.Stewart
Stephens
Pettis
Seymore
Clem
Phillips
McVay
Sommers
PreK
Dunn
Malone
Martin
Tuesday, Sep 28, 2021, 08:00 AM
Westside Elementary School, Mauvilla Drive, Demopolis, AL, USA
Fall Photos
Basinger
Smith
Stokes
Donald
Foy
Thomasson
Colburn
Reynolds
Alston
Little
Bowden
Collins
Black
Robinson
A. Stewart