Pine Street Press
October 2023
Principal's Corner
Pine Street families,
Fall is here and we have had a great start to our school year and have been busy diving into new learning after our beginning of the year assessments. Your students may have also come home talking about their WIN (What I Need) intervention groups for both math and reading. We are excited to provide this time for our students to get targeted instruction in math and reading and build their skills at their level.
Our teachers and staff continue to build positive culture in their classrooms and around school through Capturing Kids' Hearts as well as our Pine Street PBIS systems. Your students have been earning many Pine Street Pride tickets for positive behavior and have enjoyed spending them in our school store each Thursday at lunch.
We are excited to meet with parents on October 16th and 18th for parent teacher conferences. At that time teachers will share with you all the wonderful things your child has been up to the first 8 weeks of school. They will also go over students' progress report and scores on fall NWEA and Running Records as well as MStep testing from last spring.
As always feel free to reach out anytime to your child's teacher or the office if you have any questions or concerns.
Enjoy this beautiful fall weather!
Your partner in education,
Robyn Robinson
Principal, Pine Street Elementary
Upcoming Dates
October
October 16: No School
October 16: Parent Teacher Conferences
October 18: Parent Teacher Conferences
October 24: Picture Retakes
November
November 10: Veteran's Day Assembly
November 10: Last day of Trimester 1
November 17: Report Cards posted
November 22 - 24: Thanksgiving Break
No School
ROARS Winners!
Congratulations to our September ROARS Winners!
Each month we recognize students for displaying positive behavior in their classroom and throughout Pine Street Elementary with our ROARS award, Recognizing Outstanding Achievement in Respect, Responsibility and Safety. The winners for the month of September are:
Ali Langkamp, Lance Loomans, Mia Berens, Simone Gutierrez, Veronica Butler, Jaelynn Nelson, Sophia Ashley, Izzy Graczyk
Halloween
Halloween costumes can be worn to school on Tuesday, October 31st. Please remember that all school rules apply to costumes: they must follow the dress code, no fake blood, no weapons...
Please see teacher communications regarding specific classroom plans! We do ask that if you plan to send a treat in that it is prepackaged. And if your student's teacher is inviting parents in for a classroom party, you must complete the volunteer application first. The application can be found here!
Intramural Volleyball
Registration forms can be picked up outside of the office! Please be sure forms are returned by November 3!
Lost and Found
Our lost and found is bursting with jackets, sweatshirts, water bottles and more! Please be sure to have your students check for any missing items they may have! All unclaimed items will be donated.
Capturing Kids' Hearts
In October Students will be learning about having Self-Direction. This is the ability and skill to set goals and take steps toward those goals with a focus on making positive choices.
Below you will find family newsletters with information and activities you can do at home for each month. We will continue to share this resource each month in the Pine Street Press.
Reminders
Daily Snack
Please remember to send a healthy snack with your student every day! Students who don't have a snack often come to the office for one and our emergency resources are quickly dwindling.
Volunteering at Pine Street
As we prepare for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year, we would like to inform you of an important policy change that will affect all parents who volunteer at school, attend school parties, or chaperone field trips. All parents who wish to volunteer, attend school parties, or chaperone will need to complete a background check that will be processed with the Michigan State Police.
We want to assure you that this change is being implemented with the safety and well-being of our students as our top priority. We believe that this is an important step in ensuring that our school remains a safe and secure environment for all our students.
The background check process is simple and straightforward and can be completed at this link. Rest assured that all information provided will be kept confidential and will only be used for the purpose of the background check. You will only be contacted if your background check prohibits you from attending school functions.
We understand that this may cause some inconvenience, but we hope that you will appreciate the importance of this policy change. We are committed to providing a safe and secure learning environment for our students, and we believe that this is an important step in achieving that goal.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this policy change, please do not hesitate to contact us. We appreciate your cooperation and support in ensuring the safety of our students.
Second Step Lesson
Each month our school Social Worker, Mrs. Larsen, will be teaching a Second Step lesson! This program is a fantastic way to help students succeed at school, learning how to better focus their attention, how to get along with others, and many other valuable skills! For October our lesson is on Empathy and Respect.
For more information and to watch videos about the Second Step program, go to www.secondstep.org and enter the activation key SSP4 FAMI LY74.