Letters from Limestone Walters
December 2022
ποΈ Important Dates to Remember
Dec. 2nd: Wheel Spin Day
Dec. 4th: November Book Club @6pm (Rescheduled Date)
Dec. 6th: PTO Meeting @ 7pm
Dec. 7th: House Meeting/Competition Day (Wear your House Shirt)
Dec. 9th: Half Day of School (7:50am-11:20am) *No Lunch Served
Dec. 10th: Santa Breakfast 9am-11am
Dec. 11th: December Book Club @6pm (see details below)
Dec. 13th: 8th Grade Visit to LCHS @ 9am and Winter Concert @6pm
Dec. 16th: Wheel Spin Day
Dec. 19th: SPIRIT WEEK Christmas Pajama Day & Board Meeting @6pm
Dec. 20th: SPIRIT WEEK Ugly/Christmas Sweater Day and K-4 Christmas Program @5:30pm
Dec. 21st: SPIRIT WEEK Deck yourself out for Christmas and Students dismissed @1:20pm
Dec. 22nd: Winter Break begins!
*Students return Wednesday, January 4, 2023
πDecember's Book
2022 Book Club December- Celebrating Diverse Holidays and Celebrations
Red and Green and Blue and White by Lee Wind is the story of two families coming together to support each other even when others arenβt so accepting of differences. This book is based on a true story.
ZOOM Read Aloud Event will be Sunday, Dec, 11th @6pm.
Fill out the form below to be emailed the link:
π Arrival Reminders
We appreciate your continued efforts with this process. Hopefully, we have gotten it down to a science.
Remember:
Please pull all the way up to either first cone and/or next vehicle
Please continue to have your child exit the vehicle anywhere within the white box in the arrival map picture.
Your child does not have to wait until they are at the main doors to exit.
Yes, it is getting colder, but having students get out of all vehicles within that white box helps move the line along and prevents stops and starts
βοΈ Inclement Weather
In the event of inclement weather, you will receive a message from the school and information will be posted to local news stations. In the event of a school cancellation, please know this will be a snow day with no remote learning. To accommodate possible emergency days without adding days to the end of the year, there are 3 built into our school calendar. This allows us to hopefully be finished prior to Memorial Day and not add as many make up days to the end of the year.
The following Mondays we will not be in session unless an emergency day is used:
- Monday, May 8th
- Monday, May 15th
- Monday, May 22nd
If we do have emergency days we will have session on the above Mondays depending on how many we need. Our other two emergency days will be after Memorial Day, May 30th and 31st.
βοΈ Winter Recess
π π₯ Santa Breakfast
π΅πΆ Music Concerts
Miss Kunkel along with our band, choir, and general music students have been working hard for their upcoming concerts. You won't want to miss these evenings!
Tuesday, December 13th is the 5th-8th grade winter concert for band and choir @6pm.Tuesday, December 20th is the K-4th grade Christmas Program @5:30pm
π Curriculum Updates
This month, K-6 students will be starting/continuing with module 4 and beginning module 5 at various time depending on the class. Below you will find two graphics that share grade levels essential questions and the social emotional/learning mindset focus.
π« #LWRocketsRead Book Wishes
Readers thrive when they are surrounded by a supportive reading community which gave me the idea of a Book Wishes Amazon Wish List. This will help with getting even more books into classrooms as well as provide family and friends, who may not live directly within our community, an opportunity to donate as well.
I pour over book blogs and websites, reach out to fellow educators, and grab titles as I read too. I used these resources to carefully curate a selection of books that cover a wide variety of ages, genres, topics, themes, etc. I then added these titles to our #LWRocketsRead book wishes list on Amazon. Your purchase means it will be shipped directly to the school, find its way into the classroom, and have a label with who donated it! Please make sure to include your name when purchasing.
The first 9 books listed are from our Book Club and would go to our school Library. Next are first chapter books and then picture books are more toward the bottom of the wish list.
The number requested lets you know what grades it will be for:
For chapter books:
2: 5th-8th
1: 7th-8th
For picture books:
5: for all classrooms K-4
3: for K-2 classrooms
2: for 3-4 classrooms
1: for our school library (Book Club Books)
If you are interested in donating please click the link below. Please feel free to share our with family and friends! I can't wait to see where our farthest book comes from.
π Boys Basketball - December Schedule
Dec. 6th: Away Game vs. Christ Lutheran @5pm bus leaves at 4:15pm
Dec. 12th: Home Game vs. Elmwood @5pm
Dec. 14th: Home Game vs. St. Vincent/St. Mark @5pm
Dec. 15th: Away Game vs. Pl. Hill @6pm bus leaves at 4:15pm
Dec. 19th: Home Game vs. Bartonville @5pm
Dec. 27th-29th: 7th/8th Tourney at St. Thomas (time TBD)
π Girls Volleyball - December Schedule
It is time for Volleyball season! This is open to 5th-8th graders and they must have sports physical on file in order to be on the team. Below you will find more information about practice and tryouts. Games will start after winter break.
Dec. 14th: TRYOUTS 3pm-4:30pm
Dec. 15th: TRYOUTS 3pm-4:30pm
Dec. 16th: Practice 4pm-5:30pm
Dec. 19th: Practice 3pm-4:30pm
𧩠Preschool Screening
Peoria County Preschool Screening provides free developmental screening for all pre-school children (ages birth through five years of age and not enrolled in kindergarten) living in Peoria County outside District 150. The Screening checks all areas of development that include: vision and hearing, speech and language, behavior and social development, small and large muscle coordination, thinking and reasoning skills, and other readiness skills.
The purpose of this screening is to aid parents in answering questions regarding their childβs progress and also to identify those children who may qualify for a free preschool education in the public schools. An appointment is necessary and can be made by calling the Special Education Association of Peoria County offices at 697-0880, ext. 206. The local screening dates for Limestone Walters & Monroe school districts are Monday, December 6 and Tuesday, December 7.
π PTO Points
Our PTO meets the first Tuesday of the month at 7pm in the library. This is a great way to get involved in fundraisers and activities that support our school. If in person doesn't work for you, they also have a virtual Zoom option. The links are always posted on our website closer to the date.
ππ₯°π― Principal Ponderings
I enjoyed attending Joint Annual Conference (School Board Conference) with members of our Board of Education and superintendent. They keynote address stood out to me because it was all about reframing what it means to get to the next level. Next level isn't just about getting bigger. Next level is about the story we tell, the knowledge we gain, the attachments we let go of if we are only holding on because it's how it has always been, and next level is about what we produce.
Gratitude
I'm grateful for student artwork left on my desk, questions, and warm mittens.
Goals
- work on teacher evaluations and evidence completion
- continue building our lunchtime aloud book selections and get more of the books into classrooms
- continue to build our upstander capacity
~Mrs. Stefanie Pitzer, Principal
Limestone Walters School District #316
Email: spitzer@limestonewalters.com
Website: https://www.limestonewalters.com/
Location: 8223 West Smithville Road, Peoria, IL, USA
Phone: 309-697-3035
Facebook: facebook.com/LWrockets316
Twitter: @lwrockets