The Gray Wolf Gazette
September 9, 2021
Quick Overview
Hello Families,
I hope you are enjoying the nice fall weather. We had a great week at Givens. Our students are getting into a good routine. This week, classroom teachers and district staff have been working to complete various academic assessments. Students completed their first wave of reading, writing, and math benchmarks. Along with our day-to-day work with students, this information will help us see how to better support the learning and academic growth of all our Gray Wolves.
In addition to this, our teachers had their first day of Collaborative Team Meetings. This is directly connected to our goal of becoming a Professional Learning Committee. Teachers worked together to create plans to support the learning and growth of all students. I am always proud of our staff and today was no different. The careful planning, preparation, and collaboration or teachers used were top-notch. I was impressed with their conversations around the data they used in making decisions but more than anything the individualized knowledge of students they used to make those decisions.
Finally, I would like to add share a few reminders:
-Please review road safety with your children. Make sure they know to follow the directions of the staff members that are helping them cross the street.
-During Arrival, please make sure to park your car if you would like to walk your child to their door.
-As a school, we are working on making sure all students are in the classroom by 7:50 am. We start each day with a class meeting and we want to make sure all students take part in this community-building practice.
Please take a moment to read through this edition of the Gray Wolf Gazette. It includes:
-Picture Day Information and Updated Menus
-Upcoming dates on our Givens Calendar
-Some practices we are doing to build a positive climate in our school(Positive Office Referrals, Calming Corners, and Think Seat)
-A Before/Afterschool Opportunity (Read, Right, Run)
-News from our Nurse and our PTO
We hope to see you and your family at our Annual PTO Back to School Bash on Friday, September 17th!
We appreciate your partnership!
On this journey together,
Ms. Malissa Beecham
Givens Principal
Upcoming Dates
-No School on Labor Day September 6th
-PTO Meeting (Virtual and in Person Option) Monday, September 13th, 6:30-7:30
Location: Givens Library
Zoom Information:
https://wgsdstl.zoom.us/j/96262258020?pwd=N090UGVpelJWQ1F5VVRFUzVOTUIyQT09
Meeting ID: 962 6225 8020 Passcode: AFS1Thxy-Curriculum Night(5:45-7:15) Thursday, September 16th (See Below)
-PTO's Annual Back to School Bash Rescheduled for September 17th
(While this event is outside, please make sure you are wearing masks when you are not 3 to 6 ft away from others)
-Early Dismissal(11:45) Friday, September 17th
-Fall Picture Day Tuesday, September 21st
Curriculum Night on September 16th
We hope you join us on September 16th to hear about the learning opportunities (academic and social and emotional) your child gets to experience here each day! You will have a chance to learn all about the day in the life of a_________grader.
Come hear about:
-Academic Content covered in each subject
-Classroom Systems used to support the Social and Emotional learning of your child
-Fun Projects or activities each grade level may do
-Communication plans for the grade level
-Learn more about how your child's progress will be shared
-Each Grade Level will host 2 learning sessions with exactly the same information.
Grade Level Sessions 1: 5:45-6:15
-Parents meet with Specialists, Interventionists, and Special Education Teachers 6:15-6:30
Grade Levels Session 2: 6:30-7:00
-Parents meet with Specialists, Interventionists, and Special Education Teachers 7:00-7:15
**Specialists will be set up around the outside of the building (If this changes due to weather, we will let you know)
Please see below for your Grade Level Sessions:
KDG: Auditorium
1st: Cafeteria
2nd: Library
3rd: Gym
4th: Room 122
5th: Room 123
Due to Social Distancing Needs, we are asking you to limit guests to 2 caregivers per child.
This is a great opportunity for caregivers to come and learn about the time their child spends at school. It may not be as interesting for children and we do not have activities planned for them.
Building a Positive Culture and Climate at Givens
How Do We Support Students in making Positive Behavior Choices?
In addition to the universal practices that we have embedded throughout our day with students, we are also using a couple of school-wide responses.
They include:
Positive Office Referral
Students who are going above and beyond in helping create a community where we all Connect, Discover, and Thrive will be given a Positive Office Referral. The students hand-deliver these to the office and get celebrated by the office staff. I then write a personal thank you note on the back of each one and deliver it back to them. Students are then encouraged to take them home and share them with their families.
We have given out several for a few of the following reasons:
- A student wrote and delivered an acrostic name poem for every student in our class. The poems were positive and uplifting.
-A student gets to class first and works to take down the chairs of each of her classmates.
-A student befriended a new school student and made sure the student had a friend to play and laugh with at recess.
-A student persevered through a hard assessment and worked hard for over 45 minutes.
These are all personal choices students at Givens are making to help us meet our goals of connecting, discovering, and thriving for all students.
**In addition to our whole school celebration, each classroom has a system where students' positive choices are celebrated(individually and as a group).
Calming Corner
Every learning space at Givens has a calming corner. This is a space that a student may choose to use if they are not in the Green, Ready to learn Zone. This space connects directly to the lessons our counselor implements and works to help students grow in the area of self-regulation. We will be working to help students identify the zone they are in as well as the emotion they may be feeling. Finally, we will help students identify strategies they may use to help them move to the green zone.
Think Seat
Every learning space has a thinking seat. A think seat is a place students will be asked to go to when they are making choices that are working against the goals of connecting, discovering, and thriving for themselves or others. Students will complete a sheet that will help them reflect on the choices. The questions they will answer(using pictures or words) are:
-What actions did I choose to do?
-How was I feeling when I made that choice?
-How can I make it better (restore the hurt my actions may have caused)?
-How do I feel now?
Students work through these questions alone and then review the answers with their teachers. After they complete the restorative action, and they are in the green zone, they return to their day.
We believe these strategies, and the consistent language and practices help students use the tools they are being taught in a way that leads to individual and collective success.
Read, Right, Run Will Be at Givens!!!!
The GO! St. Louis Read, Right, & Run Marathon® (RRRM) goal is to develop reading-proficient, community-minded, and physically fit children in grades K-8 by challenging them to READ 26 books, RIGHT the community with 26 good deeds, and RUN 26.2 miles over a 26 week period. Students will gather with other Givens Students before or after school (the number of registrants will help us determine the days and times we will meet).
After 26 weeks of hard work, the program culminates when the students complete their race day goals at our Annual Family Day in Forest Park. Coordinators manage the program entirely leading up to race day. Then on race day students complete the race distance the student is registered for.
Coach Hawthorne will sponsor this club at Givens this year. If you are interested in your child participating, please register here:
https://runsignup.com/Race/MO/SaintLouis/GOStLouisReadRightRunMarathon
**The Givens Club will start the week of October 11th, 2021. We will communicate the schedule with you by the week of October 4th. Groups will be required to show up at least once per week. If the practices are before school, they will be held from 7:15-7:45. If they are after school, they will be held from 2:55-3:30.
Please direct any questions to Coach Hawthorne @ hawthorne.duane@wgmail.org.
**We will use sign-ups to determine when the club will be offered.
Meet our PTO Board Members
President - Sarah Middendorf
Vice President - Maria Lambing
Co-Equity Officers - Deidre Townsend & Dana Walker
Co-Secretaries - Kara Simon & Alex Guffey
Co-Treasurers - Tracy Willis & Jen Levine
We are looking for a PTO Vice President
The Givens PTO Executive Board has an open position for the role of Vice President. There are 2 Vice President positions on the board and one position is already filled.
If you are interested in serving in the Vice President position, please email Sarah Middendorf at sarahmdorf@gmail.com by Wednesday, Sept. 15.
Here is an overview of the Vice President responsibilities:
Vice-President
Act as an aid to the president
Perform the duties of the president in the absence of that officer
Coordinate communications with room parents
Assume specific responsibilities as designated by the executive committee
The senior VP prepare to become President for the following school year
Practical Application
Identify Volunteers to coordinate and help with various PTO events
Arrange for childcare for PTO meetings and other events as needed
Send meeting reminders to parents
Email room parents with announcements/reminders
Annual Back to School Bash-Save the Date! RESCHEDULED TO SEPTEMBER 17th.
We hope you can join us for our outdoor family event. It will be Friday, September 17th, from 5:30 to 7:30. To make this a great event, we need lots of volunteers! Sign Up Here to Volunteer. Please reach out to Kara Simon at Ksimon619@gmail.com or Beth Heinen at BethHeinen@gmail.com with any questions.
Our First PTO Meeting is Monday, September 13th, we hope you can join us.
Location: Givens Library
Zoom Information:
Topic: PTO Meeting Time: Sep 13, 2021, 06:30 PM Central Time (the US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://wgsdstl.zoom.us/j/96262258020?pwd=N090UGVpelJWQ1F5VVRFUzVOTUIyQT09 Meeting ID: 962 6225 8020 Passcode: AFS1Thxy
Picture Day is Coming September 21st
Givens Elementary
Picture Day is: Tuesday, September 21, 2021
Wagner Portrait Group will be photographing students for portrait packages & school records.
NEW! ONLY ONLINE ORDERS WILL BE ACCEPTED.
(Please do not bring checks, cash, or order forms to school as they will no longer be accepted.)
Online Pre-Order Password: 9H9P6Q3
Can’t order online or have other questions?
We are happy to help! 314-567-5900 or 1-800-444-7986
Thank you for your help to prepare for a great picture day! We appreciate you!
News from Nurse Mindy
As we continue to work to keep our Gray Wolves Healthy, Please make sure you keep your child at home if:
They have any of the following symptoms:
Fever of 100 F or higher
Congestion/runny nose
Nausea/vomiting/diarrhea
Sore throat
Headache
Body aches
Cough
Difficulty breathing
Loss of taste/smell
(This list does not include all possible symptoms. The CDC continues to update this list as it learns more about COVID-19. Find out more at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV.)
They have a known exposure to a positive COVID-19 case in the past 14 days
They are waiting for the COVID-19 test results
They test positive for COVID-19
FYI:
- At this time, our District is not accepting the home COVID tests for documentation purposes.
- When receiving POSITIVE COVID test results after school hours on Friday and through the weekend, please call our hotline number at 314-918-4693 to talk with the on-call nurse.
Thank you for your cooperation with these important steps to help prevent the spread of illness in our school buildings!
News from our Community- WE WOULD LIKE YOUR FEEDBACK
Changes for Ivory Crockett Park
Ivory Crockett park is scheduled for renovations over the next few years. The park improvements were a priority of the City Council who were instrumental in moving the deadline for renovations forward. Ivory Crockett Park is located in North Webster at 106 Almentor Ave. The park was created in 1971 and was known as Central City Park. In 1994 it was renamed Ivory Crockett Park after Ivory Crockett, a 1968 graduate of Webster Groves High School who broke a world record when he ran the 100-yard dash in 9 seconds claiming the title, “The world's fastest human.”
Ivory Crockett Park basketball and tennis courts, playground, pavilions, parking lots, and walking paths need renovation. This community survey was designed to gain feedback from those who use the park regularly and have an idea of what additions and renovations would be most appreciated by the community. If you'd like to share feedback, please fill out this survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JJSZ9CT
Thank you!
Jennifer Starkey
Director of Public Affairs & Engagement
City of Webster Groves
Phone: (314) 963-5302
Cell: (314) 566-4461
Dr. Henry Givens Elementary School
Website: https://www.webster.k12.mo.us/Givens
Location: 701 North Rock Hill Road, St. Louis, MO, USA
Phone: 314-963-6460
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GivensElem/