Eagle News and Notes
August 16, 2019
Mrs. Money's preschool students smiling after their first week of school.
We had a great start to the school year!
Please read on to learn more about:
- Upcoming Events
- Eagle Families on Thursday
- Arrival and Dismissal Procedures
- Immunization Information
- PTO News
- NWEA
- School Lunch
- And Community Events!
Beginning of the Year Events
August 20: PTO Meeting, 1:15 PM
August 22: Dining to Donate - Hot Box Pizza (West Carmel Only)
August 22: Eagle Curriculum Night, 5:30-8:00 PM
During this event for parents, each classroom teacher will present a half hour session highlighting the curriculum, events, and expectations for the year ahead. Each grade level has a designated time, indicated in the calendar below. You will also be able to visit informational booths from various district and community organizations.
- Kindergarten: 5:30-6:00
- 1st: 6:00-6:30
- 2nd: 6:30-7:00
- 3rd: 7:00-7:30
- 4th: 7:30-8:00
August 23: Spirit Wear Order Due; Eagle Fest at Jennings Field
August 30: Kindergarten Dad's Club Breakfast, 8:15 AM
September 4: Jog-A-Thon kickoff at lunch; Fundaes - Dining to Donate
September 6: 1st Grade Dad's Club Breakfast, 7:15 and School Picture Day
September 12: Coffee with the Principal, 8:00-8:30 for all parents and 9:00-9:30 for kindergarten parents.
September 13: Dad's Club Campout
September 24: PTO Meeting. 1:15
September 25: Jog-A-Thon (27th rain date)
September 27: Dad's Club Tailgate, ZCHS Football
Eagle Families (Formerly known as Family Fridays)
Arrival and Dismissal
Kindergarten - 9:00 am until 2:30 pm
Grades 1-4 - 8:00 am until 2:30 pm
*Students are considered tardy if they arrive in their classrooms after 8:00 am.
Students may walk/bike to school, ride in a car, or take the bus. Our ultimate goal is student safety! If we all follow the procedures it really helps us make sure all students arrive to school and back home safely every day.
Bus information: please call Amy Eaton at (317) 873-2852 (ext. 11802). Buses unload at the back of the building with the assistance of our staff.
Walkers - All walkers must cross at the crossing guard. Walkers will be able to enter the building at 7:50 am and go to their classrooms. Students must be accompanied by a parent until the doors open at 7:50 am.
Walkers will be dismissed from the back door after buses leave and walked across the street at the crossing guard. Please meet your child here to help with our safe dismissal.
Car riders - Cars may enter the loop and wait for an Eagle staff member to indicate when they can enter the building. We ask that parents shut off their car to help with emissions if they are early for pick up or drop off. Students exit and enter cars on the passenger side. You will notice that we have large, numbered orange cones (pictured above). We will ask that students only load and unload at the designated points along the sidewalk marked by cones. Please teach your child(ren) to buckle and and unbuckle so that the driver can also remain in the car safely. Car riders will enter the building between 7:50 and 8:00 am. Car riders will be dismissed at 2:30 pm.
***Please Note: We want to be courteous of our neighbors here at Eagle. Please be sure to keep driveways accessible to homeowners while we wait to pick up/drop off students. We also want ensure student safety by being extra cautious and obeying traffic laws especially in the areas surrounding our school.
Important Immunization Information
Important-Updated Immunization Requirements for 2019-2020
The Indiana State Department of Health school immunization requirements for 2019-2020 have been updated. Click here to view these new requirements as they have changed. Students who do not have the Hepatitis A series may need to get the first dose as soon as possible as there is a minimum interval of six calendar months between the first and second doses. Religious and medical objections to the immunization requirements must be updated and signed each school year. Please feel free to send updated immunization records to the health clinic as you receive them. Contact the school nurse or your physician’s office with any questions.
ZCS school nursing services are provided by St. Vincent/Ascension Health. Need a provider? Visit getstvincentcare.com.
Fundraising to help Lost and Found
- The PTO is excited to announce a fundraising partnership with Mabel's Labels! The brand is designed for families and includes products such as baby bottle labels, allergy and medical alert labels, sports, household and seasonal item labels. They are durable and laundry, dishwasher and microwave safe! Simply log on to mabelslabels.com and click on the "Support a Fundraiser" tab on the upper right corner and type in "Eagle Elementary PTO." Mabel's Labels will share a portion of the proceeds with Eagle each month through November. Thank you for supporting Eagle with the purchase of these cute and helpful labels!
PTO News
- IVolunteer goes live at 9pm on Curriculum Night at eaglepto.ivolunteer.com Field trips, classroom parent, special event volunteering, Dad’s club breakfasts, library assistance, and more! Please be considerate of other parents eager to volunteer and sign up for only one classroom’s field trip or party until after September 7.
- Our first meeting of the year will be Tuesday August 20th at 1:15 at Eagle. All parents or caregivers are welcome - kids and babies are welcome accompanied by a parent.
- Spirit Wear - if you missed purchasing at back to school night don’t fret! The spirit wear order form is on the PTO section of the Eagle Elementary website. The spirit wear table will also be open on August 22nd for Curriculum Night so you can see items in person before you buy. Those orders should available by the end of September.
- August 22 - Help Eagle and your dishes crew on Curriculum night - order a pizza for pickup at HotBox, mention Eagle Elementary, and our PTO receives a donation from HotBox!
- If you are a new family at Eagle and would like to be connected with a mentor family please contact Kimberly Brookens, brookenspk@gmail.com
- Jog-A-Thon Kickoff is Wednesday, September 4th! If your company is interested in being a sponsor with your logo could be on over 3,000 shirts please email EagleJogAThon@gmail.com. We still have spots available. Deadline to sponsor is August 22nd!
- In the near future, the student directory serviceable through MySchoolAnywhere may be temporarily unavailable as the new school year data is uploaded. We will try to keep the downtime to a minimum. You will receive an email with login instructions once the directory is assessable.
- If you would like to stay informed about Eagle events subscribe to text messages by texting @eaglepto to 81010. And like us on Facebook at Eagle Elementary PTO. If you have any questions please let me know!
We are looking for volunteers to run after school clubs. You can create a new club that can run once a week or once a month! In the past we have had the following clubs: running, lego, chess, kickball, card making, crafts among others. If you are interested in volunteering to run an after school club please reach out to Kristie Goehausen at kgreenla@yahoo.com.
Sign up for Running Club through https://eaglepto.ivolunteer.com it begins Monday 8/26 and ends 11/4. No club on 9/2 or 10/14. Kids will meet in the gym directly after school, parents pickup at 3:45 at the front doors.
Wear sneakers and weather appropriate clothing and bring a water bottle. We will work on running, mileage goals, relays, running form and skills, stretching and strength work/conditioning. Grades 2-4, 20 kids max
https://www.kroger.com/account/enrollCommunityRewardsNow/
Kristie Goehausen
PTO president
NWEA
Why Do We Give the NWEA Assessment?
We often get questions from our families about the NWEA assessments which we give in the fall of each year to our students in grades K-8 (and again in the spring to our K-4 students and some middle school students in order to determine academic growth in math and literacy skills). NWEA (Northwest Evaluation Association) is a non-profit organization that has developed brief (40-50 question) assessments in math, reading, and language arts which teachers can give to assess their students’ knowledge/skills. At ZCS, we have chosen these standardized assessments to supplement our state-required test for several reasons. First, NWEA gives us instant results that we can use to adjust instruction and group students for learning. The tests are computer-based and yield a score which the teacher can see in a report as soon as the student finishes. Second, unlike the state required test which assesses only grade-level standards, NWEA has a bank of thousands of questions ranging far beyond grade level. The test is “adaptive”—meaning that as a student takes it, the test adjusts the level of questions he/she is presented with based on correct/incorrect answers, so that a student is always working on questions at his/her most appropriate level of difficulty—rather than “one size fits all” questions. Also, as a high-performing school district, we have many students learning and working far beyond their grade level standards. NWEA assessments allow us to see their level of performance and compare it (and their growth from fall to spring) to that of similarly-abled peers nationally. Finally, NWEA is based on one large bank of questions (not different tests divided by grade levels). Thus, the score a student receives each time he/she takes the test can be compared from fall to spring and year to year—producing a graph of a student’s growth over time (a lot like the way we mark a child’s height on a door in our home as he/she grows taller). Even when a student has a one-time drop in a test score, we are still able to see the whole pattern of his/her emerging growth as a learner. Although we typically give the tests in fall, spring and optionally in the middle of the school year, NWEA can be given additional times during the year in order to monitor progress in a goal area. For all these reasons, we are glad to be able to gather this data (and the more specific information it gives us about strengths and areas of challenge) to help us plan learning experiences for our students. Please know that your child’s NWEA scores are available in PowerSchool (under test history) for you to see any time you desire. Scores for most recent tests will typically be added to your child’s data when our testing window closes. The dates for all district assessment windows are available on our ZCS website at this link: add link (https://1.cdn.edl.io/B4ZOBS5F09peWk75c8fwfFDKUlwSnZijYNGypznFlEtbQDJa.pdf)
School Lunch Information
CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR VOLUNTEERS
We value partnerships with our families and welcome parents and guardians to serve as volunteers in our schools. Each ZCS building offers a wide variety of volunteer opportunities.
Examples include:
Field Trip Chaperones
Out of Town/Overnight Chaperones
Tutors
Volunteer Coaches
Classroom Helpers (PTO parties/room parents)
Library Helpers
After Prom Workers
Field Day/Jog-A-Thon Volunteers
Book Fair Sales/Athletic Ticket Sales
During the school day, all volunteers are expected to sign in at the front office. Prior to the volunteer opportunity, all volunteers must sign a Non-disclosure Acknowledgement Form and have successfully completed a Full Criminal History Background Check. Necessary background check paperwork is available on the ZCS website at the Volunteers/BRAVO link and should be submitted at least 10 days prior to the intended volunteer date. Volunteers must also view the state mandated confidentiality/bullying video, provided on the Volunteer/BRAVO website. The volunteer will pay the fee* for the full background check which will expire after 5 years. The link to apply for the full background check can be accessed on the Volunteers/BRAVO link on the ZCS main webpage. For more information, contact the Volunteer/BRAVO Coordinator.
CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR VISITORS
During the school day, all visitors must enter via the front door and sign-in at the front office. Visitors need to be prepared to present a government issued photo ID which will be scanned against the National Sex Offender Registry. All visitors will be issued a visitor badge/tag to be worn inside the building at all times.
Examples Include:
Lunch Guests
Classroom Guest Speakers
Classroom Special Events (Grandparent Day/Famous Hoosiers/etc.)
Parent/Teacher Conferences
We ask that all visitors schedule an appointment to meet with teachers, counselors, administrators and all other staff members so that we may best serve everyone. Visitors other than parents/guardians must be prearranged and organized through the main office.
*ZCS thanks all volunteers for generous support of our youth and schools. Thank you, too, for supporting assurance of student and staff safety by completing and paying for a volunteer background check.
Mr. Foreman in the Dunk Tank during Eagle Fest @5:30!
Eagle Elementary
Email: aforeman@zcs.k12.in.us
Website: http://eag.zcs.k12.in.us/
Phone: (317) 873-1234