Greetings Clinton Valley families,

I hope you are staying warm! I honestly cannot believe it is already February. January was a busy month. We had a LOT going on this month. We had a visit from our literacy auditors this month, that went very well! The classrooms were buzzing with learning. Students were engaged in new routines for phonics, phonemic awareness, and vocabulary. They also have been working extremely hard in MTSS groups. Our entire school is differentiating their instruction based on the needs of every child. Some students are in intervention with vetted programs called SIPPS and Sound Partners. Some are working with write-in readers that extend the learning from the classroom, and some are reading novels and responding to literature with writing. It is wonderful to see. Additionally, our special education students are working on their goals with their provider, but also receiving instruction in their general education classroom.

Progress reports went home on Wednesday. Please let your child's teacher know if you have any questions about your child's progress.

This month, we will celebrate Black History Month in the classrooms. Some classes will also host Valentine's Day parties. Teachers will communicate this information. Lastly, we will be gearing up for Reading Month in March.

Below is information from our PTO. We have a lot of events coming up, including Reading Month in March. The popcorn fundraiser begins this week, and we have Book Bingo alongside of our Book Fair in March. We also have Sweets with Someone Sweet on February 16th right before the PTO meeting. We would LOVE to see you at these events!

Sincerely,

Kristin Doyle

February 3rd: Progress Reports go home.

February 6th: Poppin Popcorn PTO Fundraiser begins

February 8th: Count Day

February 10th: Tornado Drill

February 14th: Valentine's Day/Kinder and First Grade 100th Day of School Celebration

February 16th: Sweets with Someone Sweet/PTO Meeting

February 17th: Half-day Dismissal, Positivity Project Assembly

February 20th-24th: Winter Break

March 7th: No School/Professional Development

This Wednesday is COUNT DAY! It is extremely important that your child is at school and on time every day, but especially on this day. We will have a fun treat for every child who comes to school on time on Wednesday! We will also have a special visitor make rounds at some point during the school day... Our goal is 100% in school on Wednesday, unless of course, they aren't feeling well!

PTO will be sponsoring the Poppin Popcorn fundraiser from 2/6/23 – 2/19/23. A flyer will be sent home the first week of February.

PTO meeting is January 19th at 7 p.m. Enter through door 10. All are welcomed and encouraged to attend.

It is the district's policy that cell phones remain off and out of sight. If your child wears a smartwatch, those too, should be powered off. They are a distraction to your child and can negatively impact their performance if class. Please refer to the handbook if you have any questions.

https://www.chippewavalleyschools.org/for-parents/parents---student-handbooks/

For those who are dropping off at the back of the school, near the circle drive, please do not park or stop in the bus loop. The busses that drop off there need all of that space. In order to maintain safety for the students who are helped off of those busses by teachers, there cannot be any cars in that loop at any time. Please, park in the lot by the church and walk your child up to the school.

Congratulations to our Student Council members for 2022-2023. Below is the list of those who will represent along with the meeting dates. Thank you to Ms. Rees and Mrs. Cook for leading this charge!

In order to support children who struggle behaviorally, we have outlined a behavior response flow chart. Below you will see the process that we follow so that we can ensure that we are offering consistent interventions for those who need additional support with behavior in school. We see behavior as a form of communication, and we will continue to work with children to get to the root of the problem so that it can be appropriately addressed. We believe in offering restorative support in combination with consequences that fit so that children can operate within the boundaries of a school setting. Our goal is to maintain an environment that is conducive to learning so that every child has the opportunity to achieve success. This flowchart is simply a guide and can be adjusted if necessary.

While PBIS might be the quickest form of communication with your child's teacher, it is not something that I am connected to on a daily basis. If you need to get ahold of me, please either call the office at 586-723-5200 and they will connect you to me or my voicemail or email me at kdoyle@cvs.k12.mi.us. I check my email regularly and receive upwards of 50 messages a day, but I promise to get back to you.

If your child is celebrating a birthday, or you are looking to donate to classroom parties, please send in store bought items that are sealed and come with an ingredient list. We have many students who have restrictions, and in order to be certain who can participate, it has to be documented. Unfortunately, homemade items will not be accepted for safety reasons.

This year, we are able to lift any Covid restrictions in the lunch room. Therefore, your child does not have an assigned seat. Their classes have assigned tables. We believe that it is important that your child is able to choose who to sit by and socialize with their friends.

We do have specific procedures that we are still working on implementing. Students must stay in their seats at all times and be at a voice level 2 or lower. This means that any form of yelling or screaming is not permitted. It can get very loud in the cafeteria, so we will continue to remind them to keep the noise levels down. There have been instances where we had to implement a level 0 (no talking) and a level 1(whispering) so that they understand the difference.

Additionally, we are working on making sure that those who go through the lunch line, get everything that they need in order to avoid going back. For safety purposes, we do not want them traveling back and forth from their seats. Therefore, soon, we will not permit it. Instead, we will have a traveling basket for those who need additional items. We have been working on this for an entire month. We also understand that the littler ones may need more practice with this, but ultimately, we would like everyone to stay seated for the entire 30 minutes.