Principal's Message
Thank you so much to our wonderful PTO and all the families who showered our staff in love and treats this week in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week! We truly have the best staff, students, and families in all of Richland One.
Parents of 3rd-5th grade students, please remember that state testing begins next week. You should have received information about this from your child's homeroom teacher. We have also placed the information within this newsletter and on our Facebook page. Ensure students are well rested, eat a healthy breakfast, are on time daily, and come ready to do their best. We encourage them to give it their best try, not to aim for perfection!
Please review this and upcoming Blaze editions thoroughly as we will place end of the year events and information here to keep you updated.
I want to wish all of our Mothers, Mothers-to-be, and those playing the maternal role in a child's life a VERY happy mothers day!
Have a great weekend and stay safe,
Principal's Message: https://cloud.swivl.com/v/2f20c5a482e39dc617848baccbee022b
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Breakfast in the Cafeteria
If your student(s) will be eating breakfast at school, please be sure to have your Bobcat(s) arrive to campus with enough time to enter the cafeteria and complete their meal before 7:30.
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Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is observed in the United States during the month of May, and recognizes the contributions and influence of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States.
A former congressional staffer in the 1970s, Jeanie Jew, pictured above, first approached Representative Frank Horton with the idea of designating a month to recognize Asian Pacific Americans, following the bicentennial celebrations. In June 1977 Representatives Horton, and Norman Y. Mineta, introduced a United States House of Representatives resolution to proclaim the first ten days of May as Asian-Pacific Heritage Week. A similar bill was introduced in the Senate a month later by Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga.
The proposed resolutions sought that May be designated for two reasons. For on May 7, 1843, the first Japanese immigrant arrived in the United States. More than two decades later, on May 10, 1869, the golden spike was driven into the First Transcontinental Railroad, which was completed using Chinese labor. President Jimmy Carter signed a joint resolution for the celebration on October 5, 1978. On May 1, 2009, President Barack Obama signed Proclamation 8369, recognizing the month of May as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
Mental Health Month: Together For Mental Health
For 2022’s Mental Health Awareness Month, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) will amplify the message of “Together for Mental Health.” We will use this time to bring our voices together to advocate for mental health and access to care through NAMI’s blog, personal stories, videos, digital toolkits, social media engagements and national events.
Together, we can realize our shared vision of a nation where anyone affected by mental illness can get the appropriate support and quality of care to live healthy, fulfilling lives.
Help us spread the word through awareness, support and advocacy activities. Share awareness information, images and graphics for #MHAM throughout May.
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The Carolina Family Engagement Center (CFEC), housed in the SC School Improvement Council (SC-SIC), has a professional development opportunities to share!
Parent Leadership Partners (PLP) program Train the Trainer
CFEC has had a lot of success with its PLP program and many school districts have inquired about the possibility of running similar programs in their districts. Due to this interest, CFEC has developed a virtual Train the Trainer program so that South Carolina school/district administrators, community members, parents, and/or teachers interested in learning how to facilitate a PLP program can do so! For more information see the flyer attached. To register for this summer session, click HERE.
Teacher Appreciation Breakfast
Parents, please click on the banner below to sign up to provide items for the Teacher Appreciation Breakfast dates throughout the year.
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Overdue Library Books
Dear Parents/Guardians:
There are still quite a few books out from last school year and the 2019-2020 school year. I know these were very exceptional years, but please make every effort to locate and return those books to the library as soon as possible. Thank you for you help in maintaining our library collection of books!
Jessica Warren, Librarian
Water Stations
Please be informed that bottled water will no longer be available to students during the day. Our school is now equipped with water bottle refilling stations! Your student should pack a reusable water bottle daily for use at the refilling stations around the building.
Carline procedures
In an effort to maintain a safe arrival/dismissal and decrease the wait time for car riders, we would like to issue the following reminders:
MORNING CAR RIDERS
- Please be courteous to the other parents in the carline...remain in your vehicle to allow for a more efficient arrival procedure.
- Pull as far forward as possible before allowing your student to exit the vehicle.
- Have students prepared to exit the vehicle with masks on and bookbags ready prior to entering the drop-off area.
- Students should exit the vehicle from the passenger side, along the sidewalk.
- Students should walk along the sidewalk to the gate at the end of the sidewalk.
- Students should not be allowed to exit the vehicle in between the parked cars.
AFTERNOON CAR RIDERS
- Please be sure your child knows his/her car number.
- Hang your car tag from your rearview mirror and be sure it is visible to the staff member on duty.
- Please be courteous to the other parents in the carline...remain in your vehicle to allow for a more efficient dismissal procedure.
- Pull forward as much as possible before allowing your student to enter the vehicle
- If your student needs assistance with buckling into a seat or seatbelt, please move forward to the end of the carline before assisting your child.
Attention: YMCA Families
Good Afternoon AC Moore YMCA Families,
I hope this note finds you all well and you’ve had a great week.
I just wanted to pass along a quick note about YMCA pick-up on a weekly basis Tuesdays-Thursdays. When arriving to the school to pick up your child or children from the YMCA program can you all please park on the side of the road instead of the bus loop? There is after school tutoring (CRP) going on during these days and by parking in the bus loops it prohibits the busses from getting in the bus loop.
Thank you so much for your understanding and please let me know if you have any questions.
Respectfully,
Matthew Taranto
Program Director
YMCA of Columbia
1447 Hampton Street
Columbia SC, 29201
(w) 803 799 9187; © 772 480 3942
We are so excited to participate in this year’s Superintendent's Book Club. Students in grades prekindergarten – eighth who either read 100 picture books or ten chapter books between March 2 and May 6 will become members of the club. New book club members will receive prizes and an invitation to a reading celebration.
As a school, we will also be awarding prizes to the top two readers in both PreK-2nd Grade and 3rd-4th Grade each month. Make sure your child is logging all the great books they are reading at home on their reading log. Please also note, that books read aloud to them count as well.
Happy Reading!
The South Carolina Department of Education and the South Carolina State Library (SCSL) have partnered with Tutor.com to address the continuing academic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The partnership will span the next three years and is funded through the American Rescue Plan's Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER).
- Tutor.com is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for English and Spanish speakers.
- Connect with a tutor on various subjects, such as math, science, language arts, social studies, world languages, computer literacy, and AP courses.
- Tutor.com offers test prep assistance, skills coaching, and help with specific math and essay-writing questions.
- Unlock even more features with a Tutor.com account. Creating a Tutor.com account is optional and not required to connect with a tutor.
Visit scdiscus.org to get started. If you don't know the Discus login information, contact discusoffice@statelibrary.sc.gov.
Free Tuition for Technical Colleges in South Carolina
Good afternoon,
Below are links about a recent educational opportunity in South Carolina that may be beneficial for high school students within the district and/or parents/caregivers within your school communities interested in continuing their education. This initiative, SC Workforce Scholarships for the Future, has been designated $17 million in GEER funding for the Spring semesters. The governor is asking Congress for an additional $24 million from the American Rescue Act funds to extend the program through June 2024.
This initiative allows any adult in South Carolina the opportunity to attend one of sixteen technical colleges for free if they choose to major in a high-demand career preparation program including: construction, nursing, manufacturing, technology, hospitality/tourism, and early care and education.
Links with more information:
· South Carolina technical colleges free tuition: how it'll work | wltx.com
· McMaster: Pandemic cash for free 2-year degrees (live5news.com)
Hope this helps!
Laurann Gallitto Patel, MMFT
Lead Regional Family Engagement Liaison
Midlands Region
803-687-3460
Carolina Family Engagement Center
College of Education
University of South Carolina
820 Main Street
Columbia, SC 29208
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