Bear Facts
Madison Elementary - News for the week of October 8
Madison Elementary School
Email: billingsm@usd231.com
Website: http://www.usd231.com/mde/
Location: 800 W Madison St, Gardner, KS, United States
Phone: (913) 856-0400
Twitter: @MDEBears
Vision
Every Learner ~ Every Day ~ Every Way
Core Beliefs
At Madison Elementary,
WE BELIEVE IN A COMMUNITY OF LEARNERS
WE BELIEVE IN HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR ALL
WE BELIEVE IN INDIVIDUALIZED LEARNING
WE BELIEVE IN CREATING A POSITIVE, OPEN-MINDED LEARNING AND WORKING ENVIRONMENT
WE BELIEVE EVERY LEARNER SHOULD HAVE A SENSE OF PRIDE IN OUR LEARNING COMMUNITY AND THEMSELVES
WE BELIEVE IN DEVELOPING THE WHOLE CHILD
What's happening at Madison Elementary the Week of Oct. 8
Monday, October 8 - Choir Practice, 7:50 am
Wednesday, October 10 - Choir Practice, 7:50 am
Wednesday, October 10 - International Walk to School Day
Thursday, October 11 - Kindergarten Field Trip @ Gieringer's Family Orchard
Thursday, October 11 - Fall Picture Retakes
Friday, October 12 - Madison Spirit Day
View our online calendar (select individual events for more details): http://www.usd231.com/MDE/Events:Month/
Next Week's Lunch Menu
Monday - (A) Chicken Bacon Ranch Flatbread (B) Breaded Chicken Sandwich (C) Yogurt Cup with Cinnamon Twist
Tuesday - (A) Baked Potato Bar (B) Corn Dog (C) Jammy Sammy Plate
Wednesday - (A) Breaded Mozzarella Sticks (B) Cheeseburger (C) Yogurt Cup with Cinnamon Twist
Thursday - (A) Rotini with Meatballs (B) Popcorn Chicken (C) Jammy Sammy Plate
Friday - (A) BBQ Ribette Sandwich (B) Cheese Pizza (C) Chicken Ceasar Salad
View our menu online: http://usd231.nutrislice.com/menu/madison/lunch/
Sensory Room Grant
Help us fund our grant for our new sensory room. Please share this with your family and friends to help us continue to meet the needs of all of our Bears. You can add the promo code RIPPLE at checkout and your donations will be doubled up to $50 for the next 7 days.
https://www.donorschoose.org/project/madison-elementary-sensory-room/3616026/
October Guidance Lessons
October is National Bullying Prevention Month. We will spend time during our guidance lessons talking about ways we can prevent bullying in our school.
During our bullying prevention unit, our focus will be on Recognizing, Reporting, and Refusing bullying.
Students will be learning to recognize the difference between a conflict and bullying. Bullying is when someone is repeatedly being mean on purpose; it is one-sided and there is an imbalance of power. The target cannot make the bullying stop. A conflict occurs between two students with equal power; either student can problem solve to make it stop. We will spend time in November on conflict resolution skills.
Students will do role plays to practice how to report bullying using the words, “I need to report bullying.” If your child tells you about a situation and you aren’t sure if it’s bullying, use this checklist from the Pacer Center:
Does your child feel hurt, either emotionally or physically, by the other child’s behavior?
Has your child been the target of the negative behavior more than once?
Does your child want the behavior to stop?
Is your child unable to make the behavior stop on their own?
If the response to one or more of these questions is “yes,” the more likely it is that the behavior would be considered bullying. It is important that parents and students know we want to have bullying reported to a staff member immediately. We want to work together as a team to prevent bullying in our school.
Students will also be learning strategies for refusing to bully. Bystanders are the witnesses of a bullying situation, and they can have a lot of power. We will talk about ways to safely stand up to bullying. These may include standing up for someone being bullied, not joining in, walking away and reporting. We will also discuss a great way to prevent bullying is to use kindness and respect to all students around us.
If you would like more information about bullying prevention, these are some great resources:
Kansas Department of Education: https://community.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=3878
United States Department of Health and Human Services: https://www.stopbullying.gov/
Pacer Center: http://www.pacer.org/bullying/
Halloween Costume and Party Information
- Costumes must be appropriate for school. At Madison, we serve students from three-years-old (Early Childhood) to Fourth Grade. Horror and gory costumes are not appropriate for school. A good rule of thumb is to consider if a three-year-old would be frightened by a costume. If so, then it should not be brought to school. Thank you for your help in keeping our costumes appropriate for a school setting.
- Costumes and accessories resembling weapons or weapon look-alikes are prohibited at school. This includes plastic/fake knives, swords, guns, spears, etc. and any item that resembles a weapon.
- Students should NOT wear their costumes to school on October 31.
- Students should bring their costumes to school, and they will change into costumes at 2:00 pm in preparation for the Halloween Parade and Parties.
- 2:00 pm - change into costumes
- 2:15 pm -parade (loop around the playground - weather permitting)
- 2:30 pm - parties (conclude at 3:00 for dismissal preparation)
Party Information:
Families are welcome to join us for the party. We ask that families do not arrive prior to 2:15 as we do not want to interfere with the classroom environment. Thank you for your assistance with arriving after 2:15.
Schedule:
*Early Childhood Families - Please consult your teacher's newsletter for more details on the Early Childhood Halloween parties and schedule.
Parent Teacher Conferences
October Kindness Challenge
Keeping our Focus on Kindness
This year at Madison elementary we are focusing on kindness and being kind to one another all year long. This is a great life skill that serves our students for years beyond their elementary education. The biggest way we are emphasizing kindness is through monthly KINDNESS CHALLENGES. These kindness challenges are an important element of meeting the needs of the whole child, especially the engaged tenant - Each student is actively engaged in learning and is connected to the school and broader community.
The October Kindness Challenge is listed below. Forms will be sent home on Friday, October 5 or can be picked up at the display case across from the cafeteria by the library. Let's see how large our kindness pumpkin patch will grow throughout the month of October!
PTA Fundraiser Pickup
September Kindness Challenge
Back Snacks at Madison
Harvesters’ BackSnack program provides a weekly backpack filled with nutritious, child-friendly food for schoolchildren to take home over the weekend. More than 100,000 children in Harvesters' service area receive free and reduced-price school meals during the week, and many of those are at risk of hunger on weekends.
Back Snack is a partnership between Harvesters, a participating school, and a local community partner—usually a corporate, civic or religious organization. Harvesters provides the food and the backpacks. The local community partners help facilitate picking up the Back Snack food kits from Harvesters and distributing them to the schools. School principals and/or counselors determine which children receive Back Snacks at each school. Back Snack addresses our whole child tenant of healthy children as we know students who are hungry are not able to learn.
If you believe your child would benefit from these back snacks and would like to sign them up to participate please contact Mrs. McLeod at 913-856-0409 or mcleodt@usd231.com.
Box Tops
Save, Cut, and Play
The class that collects the MOST box tops from now until October 16, will win an EXTRA RECESS!
Box tops for education is a great way to help raise money for Madison Elementary. You can find box tops on hundreds of products you buy every day. Please save all box tops, cut them out, label them with your name, grade,and teacher, and send them to school by October 16. Your teacher will collect them and the classroom with the most box tops wins an EXTRA RECESS and the student who brings in the most individually will have lunch with Dr. Wachel!
Please put the box tops in a bag or envelope with the Student Name & the Teacher/Grade so that we can give the proper class credit.
Earning Money for Madison Elementary and having fun is as easy as 4 steps:
1. Save your box tops
2. Cut them out3. Label the bag with your name, teacher name, and grade level and bring to your teacher
4. Win an EXTRA RECESS and/or lunch with Dr. Wachel!
Parent-Teacher Conferences
At Madison, we are truly blessed to have supportive, dedicated, and committed families to ensure our goal of educating the whole child.
Watch DOGS
Blazer's Camp
Kids are out of school on October 19, so bring them in for a fun day of activities!
GEHS Career and Technical Education Students have organized a full day of activities including poster making, crafts, sidewalk art, games such as basketball, volleyball, soccer, kickball, and MORE! The day starts with small group activities during participant check-in and concludes with a GEHS pep assembly! The GEHS Boys Basketball Team along with many other volunteers will be on hand to help our future Blazers play, learn, and create.
Registration includes a free admission for the participant to the October 19 GEHS football game and post-game Light Show performed by the GEHS Marching Band immediately following the football game. Students can show off their game day poster and take in all things Friday Night Lights. What a night!