The Sequiota Scoop
Monthly School Newsletter - December 2020
A Note from Mrs. Wagner
Welcome to December!
I sure hope you had a lovely break and quality time spent with family. I know the Holidays look different for us right now, but I hope you're finding new ways to celebrate as a family. I personally couldn't be more grateful for the Sequiota School family. We have amazing students and teachers and some of the most supportive parents a school could ask for. Thank you to all the families that helped sponsor the pies for our staff. It's such a cherished treat every year.
I'm sure many of you may be wondering if anything will be adjusting for the 2nd semester. Please know we will notify families as we become aware of adjustments.
Typically this time of year we would be partnering with the PTA for our Winter parties in the gym. This year all parties must happen within the classrooms, but we would still love the support from parents and PTA to help gather the supplies/food for the party and activities. Be on the lookout for more information from either your classroom teacher or PTA.
Please help us gather winter clothing for our partner school, Weaver Elementary. We will keep some of these items on hand for our own students but the majority of the items donated will go to Weaver. Our Winter Clothing Drive is Dec. 14th-18th, see flyer below for specific items needed.
With the upcoming Holiday, if you'd like to show your student's teachers some appreciation feel free to check out the staff favorites list here.
Lastly, please be safe over Winter break and enjoy all the time together as a family as you can.
In Partnership,
-Mrs. Wagner
Conscious Discipline
In order to practice our own noticing skills, we must pivot our minds to focus on what we want to see instead of what we don't want to see. We use the Name, Verb, Paint process (see example below) to work with children.
Please read the following excerpt from Conscious Discipline's website as an example of how we pivot our mindset to focus on what we want to see:
Think of one small, everyday behavior that often triggers you with one of your children. It could be leaving a bath towel on the floor, not hanging up a jacket, running through the house, etc. In your mind, picture what you want your child to do. Next, write down what to do with a clear command. State your child’s name, followed by a verb that tells the action you want him/her to do and then paint a clear picture of the expectation using words and gestures. In Conscious Discipline, we call this process “Name, Verb, Paint.”
Let’s say your trigger is Jamie sitting sideways at the dinner table and subsequently dropping food.
- Name: “Jamie.”
- Verb: “Turn your whole body to face forward…”
- Paint: “…like this.” Demonstrate. “Your knees will be under the table and your smiling face will be pointing toward me.”
In order to build our students assertiveness, we teach kids how to use the following phrase:
Did you like it? Go tell (insert person's name) "I don't like it when you __________, please stop".
The video below is a clip of Becky Bailey, the founder of Conscious Discipline, explaining more about the power of attention and the skill of assertiveness.
Upcoming Dates
Dec. 7th:
- Math Club afterschool
- Steam Club afterschool
Dec. 9th: PTA Board meeting 5:30 pm
Dec. 10th: Parents as Teachers - Pre-K Story Time 6:00 pm via this Zoom link
Dec. 14th-18th: Winter Clothing Drive for Weaver Elementary
Dec. 14th:
- Math Club afterschool
- Steam Club afterschool
Dec. 21:
- Math Club afterschool
- Steam Club afterschool
Dec. 22:
- Winter Classroom Parties
- End of 2nd Quarter
Dec. 23- Jan. 3: NO SCHOOL - Winter Break
Jan. 4th:
- Math Club afterschool
- Steam Club afterschool
- 3rd Quarter Begins
Breakfast & Lunch Updates
Breakfast and lunch throughout the ENTIRE 2020-2021 School Year will be free for all students. Students can grab breakfast on their way to class each morning from 8:30-8:45.
What's for lunch: Click here to read the Sequiota Breakfast & Lunch Menus
Need to add money to your child's breakfast/lunch account? Click this link!
Sequiota Behavior Expectations
CLICK ON THE IMAGE (to the left) TO ACCESS OUR BEHAVIOR MATRIX
This document outlines our behavior expectations for every area of the building.
Teachers will begin teaching these expectations to our students during the first week of school and will continue to reteach these expectations throughout the school year.
Feel free to review these expectations with your children to help reinforce positive choices at school.
PTA UPDATES
SPRINGFIELD PUBLIC SCHOOLS
About Us
Email: jlwagner@spsmail.org
Website: https://www.sps.org/sequiota
Location: 3414 South Mentor Avenue, Springfield, MO, USA
Phone: 417-523-5400
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SequiotaPTA/
Twitter: @SequiotaIndians