Cape Elementary: Seahawk Sentinel
March 1, 2019
Cape's Mission & Vision
Vision: We believe that the most promising strategy for achieving the mission of Cape Elementary is to develop our capacity to function as a professional learning community.
Dear Cape Families,
As educators and parents, we have the awesome responsibility of helping our children to become the best that they can be. We achieve this by working together and sharing with our parents. Our Cape kids are the best because of our strong partnership.
We want to take this opportunity to tell you about the safety protocols that are in place every day here at Cape Elementary:
- Officer Ed Schilff from the Cape Coral Police Department is on our campus each day as our School Resource Officer. A replacement SRO is sent when he is off campus.
- We have eighteen cameras around our campus and will get six more by the end of the year.
- Doors and gates around our school properties are checked routinely by our School Resource Officer, Ed Schilff, throughout the day to ensure that they are securely locked.
- All visitors must enter through the main office entrance and bring photo identification to all events.
- Our school district has an extensive safety plan that covers multiple situations that could arise. Our teachers are familiar with Cape procedures and protocols when it comes to those plans and participate in training during the school year. Our safety plan is continuously evolving and changing to address different and various situations that could occur.
- We maintain a very close relationship with our local law enforcement. They also play a part in monitoring our schools to make certain that our security cannot be breached. They help us do walk-throughs of our buildings. They then provide us with feedback of what we are doing well and areas where we might need improvement.
- We conduct monthly drills, which include fire, evacuation, full lock down and severe weather. We want our staff to know what to do in the event of a real situation.
- We will use School Messenger to communicate to parents during an emergency.
- By the end of the school year, we will have a video entrance system installed on our front office doors. Visitors will need to present identification to be buzzed into the office.
Please know that our foremost priority is always the health and safety of our students and staff. We share the concerns of the community, and we want you to be able to feel safe when your children are here with us. When it comes to the safety of our children, there can be no compromise.
Take a look at our March school calendar. We will hold our second Cape Fine Arts Night on Wednesday, March 13 from 5:30 to 7:30. There will be a silent auction of class projects for families to win. We have a busy month planned with school pictures, SOAR Celebration, Chick-fil-A Night and Smencil sales.
Cape Elementary is a special place to work. We are thankful for our parents, students and staff. Please call us or stop by if you have any questions or concerns. We are happy to assist in any way we can.
Sincerely,
Ms. Osterholm and Mrs. Sund
PTO Chick-fil-A Spirit Night!
Heart Day at Cape!
Cape is having a Heart Healthy Event on Wednesday, March 13 during special time to run, jump and hula hoop ourselves into a happy heart workout. For anyone who would like to challenge others to find who can jump the most, hula hoop the longest or get the most sticks for laps we will have contests to add to the fun. Please try to wear RED on this day to encourage heart health. The activities will include long rope jump, single jump, Chinese jump rope, hula hooping and laps for sticks.
Spring Break!
PTO News
Thank you to everyone that participated in our first ever fun run! With your support we were able to raise over $7000.00!
The 12th Annual Cape Elementary Spring Fling is on Friday, April 12th from 5:00-8:00pm. This is an exciting evening filled with carnival games, rock wall, inflatables, a bake sale, and much more! We will also have a silent auction with items such as Disney World passes, American Girl doll, Reserved Parking Spots, local restaurant gift certificates, and other exciting things!
We still have open spots for business sponsors. If you, or someone you know owns a business and is interested in being a Spring Fling sponsor, please contact us for more information.
Find us on FaceBook:
CapeElementary PTO
Attendance Matters....Did You Know?
A recent report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is asking health providers to help curb chronic school absences in an effort to improve students’ long-term health.
AAP research shows the following:
- Chronic absences (excused and unexcused absences) as early as preschool and kindergarten has been linked to poor educational and health outcomes.
- Chronic absences makes students less likely to do well academically and are more likely to drop out of school.
- Students with chronic absences puts students at risk for unhealthy behaviors by the time they reach their teens and poor health as adults.
If you have and questions or if you are concerned about attendance please contact the school social worker. For additional information regarding the research from AAP please visit www.attendanceworks.com
March Counseling Corner
The district-wide character word for March is Courage. This involves developing the personal strength to face difficulties, obstacles, and challenges. The district’s quote for the month is, “Be brave, make positive choices.”
For students, each day presents new opportunities to develop their own personal strength. Meeting new challenges head-on requires courage. According to an article in Psychology Today by clinical psychologist Dr. Melanie Greenberg, courage can be clearly seen through six personal attributes:
(1) Feeling Fear Yet Choosing to Act
(2) Following Your Heart
(3) Persevering in the Face of Adversity
(4) Standing Up For What Is Right
(5) Expanding Your Horizons; Letting Go of the Familiar
(6) Facing Suffering With Dignity or Faith
Is it possible to build these attributes in our children? Absolutely! Acts of courage happen every day. Every time a child stands up for another child who is being teased or ridiculed, that child is choosing to act in the face of fear. Teaching children to stand up for what is right requires an understanding that sometimes what is right is not what is easy.
Encouraging children to step out of their comfort zone is not easy, but each time a child makes a positive choice, he or she is building confidence. So many times we let our feelings dictate our choices. Standing up and doing what is right even when it doesn’t feel good is a brave act. Following our school-wide SOAR expectations helps students develop the ability to make positive choices. Please join with us in March and throughout the formative years in instilling courage in our future leaders here at Cape Elementary School.
Our quarter 3 SOAR celebration will take place on Thursday, March 14 for students who have met the SOAR expectations for third quarter. Game Guys will once again provide the mobile party and attenders will have the opportunity to bounce with Moon Walk and More!
From Our School Nurse-Mental Health
As a parent, you regularly take your child to well check-ups to receive immunizations, offer nutritious food to keep him healthy, and read plenty of books to develop his vocabulary. How often do you think about caring for your child’s mental health? A child’s mental health is just as important as her physical health, particularly when it comes to behavior and academics.
At least 1 in 5 school-aged children is affected by a mental health condition according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The two most common conditions among children and adolescents are anxiety followed by depression, but children can have other difficulties that affect their ability to fully take part in and benefit from their classroom experiences. These include attention deficit-hyperactivity, autism spectrum disorder and eating disorders.
Many children can also suffer from emotional reactions to the strain of learning issues, medical illness, family financial struggles, personal problems or other stressors. While not all mental health problems directly affect students’ academic or school functioning, many do, and schools can help.
If your child’s mental health condition is affecting their functioning at school, your school is a great resource to begin. They can help you reach out to a mental health professional or available community resources. Teamwork!
Multiply and Divide!
Learning to multiply and divide can be more about thinking than memorizing. Strategies like these can help your child practice.
Make it fun. If your child collects toy animals, you might ask, “How many legs do 4 horses have?” He can “skip count” the legs by 4s (4, 8, 12, 16) to see that 4 x 4 = 16. Or if he has friends over and wants to divide 17 pretzels equally among 3 people, he can “deal them out.” He’ll see that each person gets 5, and there are 2 left over. (17 ÷ 3 = 5, remainder 2)
Use what you know. Encourage your youngster to look for clues to help him solve problems. For 8 x 7, he could consider other math facts he knows. “I know 4 groups of 7 = 28. I need 8 groups, so I can double that answer. If 28 + 28 = 56, then 8 x 7 = 56.” For 30 ÷ 5, he might say, “I know 10 ÷ 5 = 2. There are three 10s in 30, and 3 x 2 = 6. So 30 ÷ 5 must be 6.”
We LOVE our Business Partners
C21 Gulf Coast Realty
Jim Fischer
Quality Pest Control
Cape Coral First United Methodist Church
Vineyards Community Church (Cape Coral)
Horace Mann Insurance
Walmart (FM Beach Store)
Culver's
Papa John's Pizza
Wendy's
Publix
Rib City
Cici's Pizza
Applebee's
Dominoes Pizza
Stuff-A-Bagel
Cape Elementary
Email: nicoledo@leeschools.net
Website: cap.leeschools.net
Location: 4519 Vincennes Blvd, Cape Coral, FL 33904
Phone: 2395423551
Facebook: facebook.com/CapeElem
Twitter: @CapeElem
Lee County School Board
Board Members:
Gwynetta S. Gittens, District 5 (Chairman)
Chris N. Patricca, District 3 (Vice Chairman)
Mary Fischer, District 1
Melisa W. Giovannelli, District 2
Debbie Jordan, District 4
Betsy Vaughn, District 6
Cathleen O'Daniel Morgan, District 7