Hawthorne Happenings - October
From the desk of Mr. Mahal
Dates to remember...
October 4 - Firefighters visit Kindergarten rooms
October 6 - Grades 1 and 4 Hearing and Vision checks
October 13 - Kindergarten field trip to Pumpkin Patch
October 17 - Fifth grade field trip to Red Barn Farm
October 18 - Family Muffin Morning from 7:30-8:10 in the gym (more information to come)
October 20-21 - No School for students due to Fall Break
October 24 - No School for students due to District Day
Hawthorne is a MN School of Excellence
As you may have seen, Hawthorne has been recognized as one of only four schools across Minnesota in 2022 to be designated as a School of Excellence! This means that Hawthorne went through a rigorous process of self-study and school improvement involving our entire school community. Between this designation from MESPA and our Level 1 certification of being a Safe, Supportive, and Collaborative school through the High Reliability Schools network in 2019, Hawthorne continues to ask, 'Where are we average?' This is important as a school in order to continuously improve to create plans to support high academic, social, and emotional achievement for our students. Thank you for the continued support and school/family engagement as we partner together to do great things for our students!
Hawthorne is the place to Bee!
Multi-Tiered Systems of Support - Part 2
MTSS provides:
Information on student progress in meeting grade-level standards
Early identification of academic or behavior needs
Instruction and intervention that is matched to student needs
Feedback on how students respond and make progress
Individual, data-based problem solving for all students
Key components of MTSS:
High-quality, evidence-based instruction
Academic and Social-Emotional screening to identify students needing supplemental support
Multiple tiers of academic and behavioral supports that are progressively more intense
Evidence-based interventions matched to student need
Ongoing progress monitoring of student growth and performance
Please take a moment to view our MTSS general introduction in English, Spanish, and Karen!
2nd Step Social-Emotional Learning October Update
Our Second Step Program is rockin’ and rollin’ this October! The Second Step Program helps teach kids skills that can help them in school, at work, and in life, such as listening, focusing attention, making friends, and problem-solving. Our Kindergarten and 1st grade students have been learning to use the whole body to listen. Listening is a fundamental skill for learning that helps children focus and pay attention. Following the Listening Rules (eyes watching, ears listening, voice quiet, and body still) helps children listen to their teacher and improve their ability to listen and pay attention during class discussions. Many children struggle to be successful in the structured learning environment of kindergarten and 1st grade, especially children still working to develop competence in the basic skills of paying attention, following directions, and inhibiting inappropriate behavior. Research shows that children who start school lacking these skills for learning have poorer academic achievement and more problems with peers. Ask your student about the listening rules at school and to show you their attent-o-scopes to help focus their attention on the speaker!
SAEBRS Support
As we continue to move forward in supporting our students and their individual academic, social, and emotional needs through our MTSS model, our staff was able to recently complete a Social, Academic,and Emotional Behavior Risk (SAEBRS) screener. Grade levels will then be able to meet to discuss the results and allow our school counselor, Larissa Rohlik, to form individual or small groups to support our students. Our initial school communication is below.
We wanted to inform you that K - 5th classroom teachers will be completing the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener (SAEBRS) the week of September 19. Additionally, 2nd - 5th grade students will be completing the mySAEBRS screeners.
SAEBRS and mySAEBRS are a rating scale that teachers and students will complete about students' social, academic, and emotional behaviors.
The purpose of these screeners is to make sure Hawthorne is meeting the needs of all of our students. It is grounded in a conceptual model, which specifies that school success is predicated not just upon academic achievement, but also success within multiple inter-related behavioral domains.
If you have any questions, please call our School Counselor, Larissa Rohlik, at 507-379-4979.
Hawthorne Fun Run
We had a tremendous day to complete our Boosterthon Fun Run fundraiser with our students on September 9! Students were able to come out to the track, enjoy the music, and run a few laps while the MC's encouraged everyone to have fun. Overall, we were able raise $14,677 for our school and our PTO - that is amazing!
An update on last years Fun Run money raised - our playground items will be delivered this week and hopefully installed in the next week or two. The playground equipment industry has had many shortages post-pandemic so although it has taken longer than expected, we are excited for what will be removed/installed on our playground to keep everyone safe but also allow everyone to enjoy the equipment!
Thank you again for helping support our fundraising efforts whether that was monetarily, sharing the information online with family/friends, or for registering your child in the Fun Run!
Prairie Fire Theater at Hawthorne!
We had 77 third through fifth grade students participate in the play, Snow White, by Prairie Fire Theater last week. The students showed terrific determination to learn the scenes and lines in only 5 days! We are extremely proud of how the play turned out and also are very thankful for the parent volunteers who helped supervise students after school each day while everything was going on. Who knows where these students will end up in their acting careers!
Lunch reminder
A reminder that if you are interested in coming in for lunch with your child, please be sure you follow the below information that our school district implements:
Parents are welcome to have lunch with their child; however, due to health regulations, food from outside vendors is not recommended.
If you have questions, please be sure to contact your child's classroom teacher or the main office.
Students bringing items to school
We have seen an increased amount of Pokemon cards and other student/family items come to school. Once they do, students like to take them out to show other students and this can become a big distraction in class and the learning of others. The cards or items can also be targets for students to try to take without permission. Families, please encourage your son/daughter to keep these cards or items at home to help ensure that they do not become distractions in class, lost, or even stolen.
Thank you in advance for your help with this!
