Prairie View Pony Express
October, 2017
Howdy Ya’ll!
Mother Nature has a great sense of humor! We thought we were free and clear of the super-hot weather that usually accompanies the start of school. Imagine our surprise when we got hit with a heat wave at the end of September. The recent warm weather has everyone searching for a cool spot and the new water fountains that I wrote about in the September newsletter (thank you again, Mrs. Bobee) have sure gotten a workout. I do know one thing…..these cowboys and cowgirls are pretty tough and a few hot days will not stop us from learning! As my mama says, “You’re not made out of sugar so ya won’t melt”! Sweat….yes, but melt….no. We can sure count our lucky stars that we are not in the same predicament as the folks that have survived Harvey, Irma, and Maria. If you’re not up on your current events, those are the three major hurricanes that have devastated many states in southern and eastern part of the U.S. as well as Puerto Rico. We are looking into possibly “adopting” a school in one of the hard-hit areas. Stay tuned for more details.
Last month we featured the “new” staff that joined our team. I am pleased to introduce another “new” face to Prairie View…Mrs. Heather DeWitt. Mrs. DeWitt, a certified P.E. teacher, has joined our team as a paraprofessional, supporting our struggling students. She has done a great job as a substitute in our building, both short and long term and is also a Prairie View parent. Welcome aboard, Mrs. DeWitt!
September was a busy month. Besides the ever-popular Sandwich Fair and Labor Day, all of our students were “benchmarked” in the areas of reading and math. Benchmarking is a process where each student is assessed on various literacy skills (relevant to grade level) and math computation and fluency. From this data, we are able to identify where students are performing at the current time. Struggling students may be identified for interventions in and outside of the classroom. This process is called “RtI” or Response to Intervention and you should have received a general letter explaining how it works. We’ve been practicing our emergency drills and our District even had a visit from the State Superintendent, Dr. Tony Smith! Dr. Smith had originally planned on visiting all six schools, but had to cut his stop short due to a last minute change in his obligations. While we did not get to introduce him to Prairie View, we are hoping that he will pass through Sandwich again and be able to witness firsthand the many positive things that are happening at PV. Also in this ninth month, we had our fall pictures taken, celebrated Homecoming week, and kicked off the PPA fundraiser. While there may be other fundraising activities (some are more of a service such as the selling of Spirit Wear and some are more community service such as raising money for St. Jude Hospital through our annual Math-a-Thon). While it is understandable that our families cannot financially support every request for a contribution, please keep in mind that the fall fundraiser is the one that provides the bulk of the funds for our parent group to provide the many “extras” to our students (i.e. field trips, Read-a-Thon, Fun Afternoon, etc.). I wish there wasn’t a dollar amount attached to these worthwhile things, but as with most experiences, money is needed. Any support you can provide will be greatly appreciated.
The month of October will kick-off with a four-day weekend (October 6-9; Teacher Institute on the 6th and Columbus Day on the 9th). October 10-13 we will be recognizing Fire Prevention. The first quarter ends on October 20th and we close out the month with Halloween on October 31st. A little note on costumes…..some of our young students are fascinated with gruesome and/or frightening masks and outfits. Please avoid costumes which are bloody, gory, monster-related, have weapons, or anything that may frighten small children. School is not the appropriate place to wear this type of costume. We will have our traditional Halloween parade approximately beginning at 1:00 (on the blacktop behind the school weather permitting or in the gym in the case of inclement weather). Children not dressed appropriately (see above) will not be allowed to participate in the parade. Please help us make this a fun day for everyone and come watch the parade. Due to limited space in our classrooms, only those parents who have signed up to help with the class party will be invited back into the classrooms.
So, as you can see, we are not ready to ride off into the sunset, but we are still in the saddle and have already celebrated many successes!
Sherrie L. Stricklin
Principal
"Learning Today, Shaping Tomorrow!"
Debt Service Extension Base (DSEB) Information
Prairie View Welcomes.......
After School Pick-up
One hundred and ninety-five children are dismissed from Prairie View at the end of each day. Some ride busses, some are picked up and others walk or ride bicycles. The only school-supervised vehicle pick-up location is in the parking lot. If you do pick-up your student(s) in the pick-up lane, drivers are to stay in their vehicles at all times, enter through the lane in Milestone Park and follow the formation into the parking lot to pick up their student(s). This keeps the traffic moving smoothly through the parking lot and prevents traffic backing up. Once your child is in the vehicle, please stay in line as you proceed to the exit. Whenever you have small children (which all of ours are) and moving traffic, you have safety hazards. In order to minimize these hazards, several paraprofessionals are on duty to ensure that students stay in the designated safety zone until their ride is in one of the pick-up slots. The paraprofessionals will have the students enter the passenger side of the vehicle. If it is raining, we will do an outdoor dismissal so please plan accordingly with rain gear and possibly an umbrella. If extreme weather conditions create a safety concern, outdoor dismissal practices will be adjusted. The paraprofessionals also make sure that any students who are not picked up are brought back into the building and contacts are made to the family. Picking up on the south-side of the building (Fairwinds Subdivision) is parental choice, but not school supervised or sanctioned. The City of Sandwich has authorized parking on one side of Fairwinds Boulevard. School property ends before the sidewalk, therefore, the district has no authority to control the street and school personnel do not monitor this area. The line of cars coming through the parking lot may look long, but the paraprofessionals do a great job of moving traffic through. Because of the safety precautions and adult supervision, the safest way to pick-up children is to do so in the parking lot. We do need your help in teaching children they must be aware of vehicles entering the parking lot and in listening for their names.
THE TURN AROUND
The turn- around in front of the school is restricted for buses and emergency vehicles. When picking up a sick/ injured child or a child for a doctor’s appointment, you may park on the left side of the turn-around drive only for a limited time if buses are not present. All other times students should be dropped off in the designated area in the parking lot. If you are arriving late, students must be accompanied to the office to be signed in by the parent or guardian.
Happenings in Resource
What's more fun than playing a game? These 1st, 2nd, & 3rd grade students enjoy playing engaging and motivating learning games. The reading games are "Kooky Carnival", a context clue game,"Pirate Island" a reading for details game, "Star Power Premier", a following directions game, & Extra! Extra!", an informational text game. One of the focuses of all of these reading comprehension games is deciphering informational text, one of Prairie View's school improvement goals. The math games are entitled "Math Pop Up" games & focus on a variety of math skills at each grade level. One of the focuses is math computation, another one of Prairie View's school improvement goals.
All of the games were purchased by Mrs. Linda Johnson with funds from a grant she wrote to the Sandwich Education Foundation. Many thanks to the Sandwich Education Foundation for helping Prairie View's students enjoy their learning.
P. E. News
Sandwich Fair Coloring Contest Winners
Prairie View Culver's Fundraiser
School Safety Drills
Most people are familiar with fire drills and tornado (shelter-in-place) drills and know that schools are required to practice each emergency situation a specified number of times each year. Per state directive, our students are also required to participate in an annual bus evacuation drill and one Law Enforcement Drill (Intruder Drill). All of our students use bus transportation whether for travel to/and from school or for field trips. The Transportation Department parks a bus at our school and one of our faculty members (Mr. Sterkel) teaches the students about bus safety, emergency exits and evacuation. Previously, law enforcement personnel were consulted when putting specific procedures into place for an intruder drill. The law now requires school districts and law enforcement agencies to coordinate these events, with both being on site during the drill, if at all possible. Please do not be alarmed if you see police or fire department personnel or emergency vehicles at our building. We hope that we never experience a real emergency, but in the event that the unforeseen does occur, we will have practiced these drills and know what to do to ensure the maximum safety of our students, faculty, and staff.
Halloween
This is a day that each child can dress up as their favorite cartoon character or spooky character. Please use good judgment on your costume choice. Elementary school is not the place for costumes with simulated weapons or those that are particularly gruesome (bloody, gory or scary). Children who are inappropriately dressed, will not be allowed to participate in the festivities. As is tradition, on October 31st, we will begin our Costume Parade around 1:00 on the blacktop behind the school. If we have inclement weather, we will parade around the gym. Young children are welcome to attend the parade with a parent/guardian. Halloween parties will be coordinated by the classroom teachers. Due to limited space, only designated adult helpers will be able to accompany the students back to the classrooms for the parties.
Visitor parking is in the parking lot or Milestone Park, only visitors displaying a handicapped sign will be able to park in the turn around.
Notes from the School Nurse
Flu season is around the corner! Protect yourself and your family this season with an annual flu vaccine for everyone in your family who is 6 months and older. While the timing of flu season is unpredictable, seasonal flu activity can begin as early as October and last as late as May. CDC recommends that people get vaccinated by the end of October, if possible. It takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body that protect against influenza virus infection.
You have the power to protect your family against flu this season. Get yourself and your family a flu vaccine. Fight the Flu!
Visit www.flu.gov for more information.
If it is necessary for your student to be given over the counter medication (including cough drops) while at school, please complete the medication authorization form when you deliver it to the office. Forms are available in the office. Other notes will not be accepted.
Thank you!
Fundraiser Pickup
If you ordered anything from the PPA fundraiser, it will be available for pick up on Wednesday, November 1st, from 3:00 - 4:30. Please keep in mind if you have any frozen or refrigerated items, they will need to be picked up that day. We do not have freezer or refrigerator space available. As always, thank you for supporting the fundraiser.
Fire Prevention Week
PPA News
Our fall fundraiser has just launched on 9/25 and will run through 10/5. Fundraiser items will be available for pick up on 11/1 from 3-4:30 pm. Thank you for all your support!
Box tops for Education is off to a great start this year. Don’t forget to keep clipping and sending them in. The first competition has started and will end on October 27th. The classroom that brings in the most Box Tops will win. We are also collecting Labels for Education.
A big thank you to our parent volunteers that helped out on picture day!
Our next PPA meeting will be on October 20th at 1 pm. Thank you for such an amazing turnout and wonderful ideas at our last meeting. If you were unable to make it, please feel free to contact us via our email or Facebook page with any questions and/or ideas.
PPA email: prairieviewppa@gmail.com
PPA Facebook: www.facebook.com/PVPPA
Thank you,
Prairie View PPA
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Parent – Teacher conferences are scheduled for Thursday, November 2nd from noon to 8:00 p.m. and Friday, November 3rd from 8:00 a.m. to noon. If you haven’t already scheduled a conference, please contact your child’s teacher.
Breakfast
There are many important factors that impact a student’s ability to learn. Three of the most important are getting enough sleep, coming from homes that have high expectations for learning, and eating breakfast. Studies show that children who eat breakfast do better in school, earn better grades and have few behavior problems. Did you know that breakfast is offered every day before school at Prairie View? Serving time begins at 7:45 and ends at 8:00. If your child qualifies for free or reduced lunch, they would also qualify for free or reduced breakfast. If paying full price, the cost is $1.55….certainly less than a fast-food meal and a lot more nutritious! If you want your child(ren) to be eating breakfast at school, you will first need to sign a permission slip. Many parents did this at the start of the year. If you need another copy of the permission slip, please contact the office. Since breakfast is optional, children must be responsible for coming to the gym on their own. Please talk with your children if you are choosing to have them eat breakfast at school.
Mandated Sexual Abuse Education
It is a frightening fact that only 1 in 10 sexually abused children will tell someone. Erin’s Law (named after childhood sexual assault survivor turned child advocate and activist Erin Merryn) was signed by Governor Quinn late January, 2013. This legislation requires all schools (Pre-K through 12th grade) to provide age-appropriate curriculum for kids on sexual abuse. Educating kids on safe touch, unsafe touch, safe secrets, unsafe secrets, how to get away and tell today. To meet the Erin’s Law mandate, we will be partnering with professionals from Safe Passage, a counseling and support agency located in DeKalb. The outcome is to teach students at an early age what to do and who to tell if they ever are in an abusive situation. If you have any questions or would like more information please contact Miss Sherrie Stricklin, 815-786-8811.
News from the Classrooms
Kindergarten
1st Grade
2nd Grade
3rd Grade
The third graders enjoyed their field trip to Naper Settlement and saw a glimpse of life in the late 1800s, including lessons in a one-room school house. Students also learned how a newspaper was originally printed before the arrival of electricity.
In Math we are learning various ways to compute division, such as with a bar diagram, or as repeated subtraction. Students continue to use factors one through twelve to learn their multiplication facts. Skip counting and fact memorization techniques are encouraged to solve these equations.
In Reading and Language Arts students continue to learn the parts of sentences, distinguishing between fragments and complete sentences, and recognizing the types of sentences, like commands and exclamations.
The Parent Institute
Important Dates for October 2017
Arbor Menus for October 2017
Prairie View School
Email: breiners@sandwich430.org
Website: http://www.sandwich430.org/schools/pv/index.html
Location: 1201 Castle Street, Sandwich, IL, United States
Phone: 815-786-8811