“PAWS” stands for:

• · Positive Attitude.
• · Act Responsibly.
• · Work Hard.
• · Show Respect.

End of Quarter Information - Viewing Canvas Courses and First Quarter Grades
At the end of each quarter, courses in Canvas will conclude and will no longer be visible on the Canvas app and website. Courses for this year’s first quarter will conclude on October 17th at 11:59pm. Report cards will be generated and families will be able to view first quarter grades on ParentVUE at the end of the day on October 25th.

• Why is Blue Valley changing how student's progress is reported?
• How does SBG motivate my child to excel?
• How are scores determined?
• My child typically has received high grades, what can I expect with standards-based grading?
  
• My student receives additional support, what will grades look like for him/her?
  
• How do I explain the performance categories to my student?

Find the answers and more here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19A3_RfBm2ogQclpFgsGVOqVzY-mSQKKjbtCF9Q4jbxY/edit

How do I view student progress in Canvas? Video Here:

https://bvusd.instructuremedia.com/embed/c197d5fa-630d-4df5-a170-c9a80f2ea62f

Example of Blue Valley Report Cards can be found here:

https://bvusd.instructure.com/courses/48751

You will need your ID to enter! Please don't forget it!

Costume Information:

• Costumes must be appropriate for school. We serve students from five-years old to Fifth Grade. Horror and gory costumes are not appropriate for school. A good rule of thumb is to consider if a five-year old would be frightened by a costume, then it is not appropriate for school.
  
• 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 can wear the part of the costume that will not interfere with learning and then accessorize before the party.
  
• They will accessorize at 1:45pm in preparation for the Halloween Parade and Parties.

Party Information:

• Parties are for Lakewood Elementary students only (no middle school students). Thank you in advance for keeping our planned activities fun for our students!
  
• Room Parents may begin entering classrooms at 2:00pm.
• Parents who are here to view the parade will check in at the front office and head out to the field to prepare for the parade. Once the parade is over, parents will be allowed back in the building to head down to classrooms.

Student Schedule:

• 1:45pm -Accessorize costume
  
• 2:00-parade (loop around the track)
• 2:30-parties (conclude at 3:15 for dismissal preparation)

Ideas for Reducing Waste at Class Parties:

• Instead of plastic water bottles, our kids are happy to fill up their bottles before the class parties.
• Bring a snack that can be eaten by hands to avoid plastic forks! Please remember those with allergies during these events.

Mark your calendar! Blue Valley Schools will hold a practice two-hour delayed start day on Thursday, Nov. 7. Elementary school will start at 10:35am. The purpose of a practice day is to allow families, staff and students to experience a delayed start in normal weather conditions and learn what can be improved upon.

On Nov. 7, all school start times will be delayed by two hours. School will end at the regularly scheduled time.

Please note that families will be notified of a two-hour delayed start and inclement weather days through text messages and emails.

"This year I am happy to announce Lakewood will host a husband and wife team, Robbi Behr & Matthew Swanson. They will visit our 2nd ~ 5th graders on the morning of Thursday November 14th. I am excited to meet them and hear about their exciting journey into the world of writing and illustrating children’s books. Please check out their website to learn more about Robbi and Matthew at: robbieandmatthew.com"

Here is a link to a Washington Post article on the authors:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/on-parenting/they-left-their-corporate-jobs-to-write-kids-books-in-a-barn-but-a-fairy-tale-life-is-hard-work/2019/08/12/a8d752d4-ae5a-11e9-a0c9-6d2d7818f3da_story.html

Let's get Fit and into Lit with our new reading incentive program. Our new program will be on a monthly basis using a BINGO card to try and challenge yourself to get fit with exercise and into literature with reading ideas. My wish is to guide you to experience a variety of literature selections. Each month the calendar will be available through Mrs. Cigich's newsletter that is emailed out each week. You can also access the card from our library page. There will be a total of 8 months to participate September - April. If you turn in five or more you will be invited to have lunch with Mrs. O'Grady in the garden in May.

Hope you decide to participate and get fit while getting into literature

Our fall Book Fair is quickly approaching. The fair this year will be Monday November 4th ~ Thursday November 7th.

The hours are as following:

Monday Nov. 4th 8:00-4:00

Tuesday Nov. 5th 7:30-6:00

Wed. Nov. 6th 8:00-4:30

Thurs. Nov. 7th 10:30-3:30

Monday and Tuesday are preview days and Wednesday and Thursday will be our purchase days.

Bullying Prevention Month

Although we will have a variety of activities revolving around bullying prevention this whole month, our Bullying Prevention Week will be Oct. 28th – Nov. 1st at LKE. Some of these activities include: continuing to learn about kindness, conflict resolution, and bullying (how to recognize it, report it, and refuse it) during our counseling lessons. Morning announcements revolving around recognizing, reporting and refusing bullying; these announcements will include students acting out scenarios where they model appropriate ways to stop bullying behavior. Posters will be posted at the end of each pod with steps to recognize what bullying is, how to report it to an adult, how to refuse bullying behavior, and what you can do as a bystander. We will end our Bullying Prevention Week with our annual schoolwide picture that will be taken from the roof. As I visit each classroom, I will post the skills your kids are learning to stop bullying on my lesson blog. If you are interested in learning more about these skills, please visit my lesson blog throughout this month.

• Monday, October 21st: No School, Professional Learning
  
• Tuesday, October 29th: Kindergarten Field Trip
• Wednesday, October 30th: All School Photo, Wear Grade Level Color (stayed tuned for more information)
• Thursday, October 31st: Fall Harvest Parties, Parade at 2:00pm, Parties at 2:30pm
• November 4th-7th: Fall Book Fair
• Tuesday, November 5th: 7:30am Pastries with Parents for Students with Last Names A-L
• Thursday, November 7th: Delayed Start, School Starts at 10:35am

• Thank you for joining us at McTeacher night and thank you to Jen Brown for her planning!
• Pastries with Parents is coming up for students with last names A-L on Tuesday, November 5th at 7:30am.