Pleasantville Polar Bear Post
Week of September 11th, 2023
Principal's Message
Welcome to the 2023 - 2024 school year at Pleasantville Elementary School!
Hope our PLV Families had a great weekend! This week at PLV is a busy one.
We have our first PLV Spirit Day: Patriotic Day: Read, White & Blue Day tomorrow 9/11. We hope you can join us Monday, Sept 11th at 6:00 PM for our first PLV PTA meeting in the cafeteria. Learn more about the upcoming events and fundraisers that the PTA is organizing.
On Wednesday, Sept 13th we have Open House from 6:00 - 7:30 PM. Here is the FLYER.
- 6:00 - 6:30 Session 1 for all Homeroom Teacher Presentations
- 6:30 - 7:00 Stations in Cafe: Exploratory & Support Staff, Reading & math Teams, PTA, Newark Elks, Nemours Wellness Center, etc.
- 7:00 - 7:30 Session 2 for all Homeroom Teacher Presentations
Parents only need to attend one session of each grade level for your children. Session 2 is a repeat of session 1 for those families that have children in multiple grades.
On Thursday, Sept 14th is Fall Picture Day. Ordering forms were sent home last week and online information was posted in Class DoJo. See below:
- You can order online at www.barksdalephoto.com or use the QR Code from the order form. When logging in, it will ask you to enter the Access Code: 12470IN and your email address.
Access Code: 12470(zero)(Capital I)(Capital N)
This is a Pre Pay Event: Payment is DUE on Picture Day 9/14 and ONLY in the form of Credit Card, Check/Money Order or Exact Cash Amount. No change can be provided.
There are 8 package options with more options to
**Build Your Own: You can select multiple backgrounds & build your package
**Add-On Bundle: You can save by bundling digital add-ons to your online order
All Students will be photographed regardless of ordering a picture package. These photos will be used to create their ID Cards and place in PLV's SY23-24 Yearbook this Spring.
- If your child is absent on 9/14, Make Ups/Retakes will take place on Thursday, Nov. 2nd
Teachers have started to give students their beginning of the year reading and math benchmark assessments. These will help determine areas of strength and growth for students and help students and teachers set learning goals for the first semester.
We want to thank or PLV Garden Team for completing the garden clean up last week. The garden is already for 2nd grade students to prep the soil this week. Throughout the Fall PLV students will all have an opportunity to work the garden.
- 2nd Grade: Soil Prep - week of 9/11
- KN & 1st Grade: Plant the seeds - week of 9/18
- 3rd Grade: Waters the garden - week of 9/25
- 4th & 5th Grade: Harvest the garden - week of 11/6
- PLV Nutrition: Serve the vegetables - week of 11/13
Teachers are also continuing to model, teach and practice classroom, hallway and lunch routines. Interactive modeling is a powerful Responsive Classroom practice used to teach students the skills, strategies and procedures they need for success in school. Students will write about what their Hopes & Dreams are for the school year.
Ms. Griffith and Mrs. Upperman will continue visiting classrooms over the next 2 weeks for Colonial School District's Code of Conduct presentations. After the presentations, students will sign an acknowledgement of the Code of Conduct. Here is the LINK to both the English and Spanish versions of CSD's Code of Conduct and the Expectations for Student Dress.
As a reminder, if you would like to volunteer at school or for your child's field trip, you must complete the Volunteer/Background Check Form on Colonial's website and be approved.
Kind Regards & Stay Well,
Renee M. Griffith - Principal
Michelle Upperman - Assistant Principal
Important Dates
Monday, Sept 11th
- PLV Spirit Day: Patriotic Day: Wear Red, White & Blue
- PTA Meeting 6:00 PM in PLV Cafe
Wednesday, September 13th
- Open House Agenda
- 6:00 - 7:30 PM
Thursday, September 14th
- Fall Individual Picture Day
Friday, September 15th
- No School - Staff Professional Development
Monday, September 25th
- Soccer Shots begins
Thursday, October 5th
- Math/Reading/Book Fair Night
- 5:30 - 7:00 PM
Here is the Colonial School District Calendar for SY23-24:
Communication Updates
PLV Main Office
- PLV Main Office: 302-501-7992
- Donna Robinson: 302-367-7946
- Pleasantville and Colonial will communicate via email and text message. Please make sure we have the most updated contact information.
Class DoJo App
- Teachers and Admin will use Class Do to update upcoming events, send parents direct messages, etc.
- Teachers will be updating their individual Class Stories a minimum of 2x per week to keep parents updated.
- The best way to contact your child's teacher/Admin is to send them a Direct Message through Class DoJo. Make sure you get connected!!
Contact Info:
- Please ensure that your email and phone numbers are correct. These are the main channels for Colonial and PLV to contact you to share important information. To update the contact information you have on file, please fill out this form: https://bit.ly/CSDinfoupdate
- If you have not been receiving calls & emails from Pleasantville or Colonial School District, please call PLV's Secretary, Ms. Jaimie Spadea at 302-501-7992 or email jaimie.spadea@colonial.k12.de.us
Pleasantville's Mission
Pleasantville Elementary’s mission is to inspire excellence in ALL of our students to ensure they reach their highest potential in academic achievement, as well as in social and interpersonal skills. We believe that through hard work, perseverance and active engagement in learning, ALL students will succeed.
Focusing on lifelong success traits such as empathy, self-regulation, problem solving and the growth mindset help us to build a strong foundation and educational experience that will positively impact ALL Pleasantville students for the rest of their lives. By partnering with our families and community, we will continue to be PAWsitively Positive now and in the future.
PLV Polar Bear Pledge
- WE Make Positive Choices
- WE Have a Positive Attitude
- WE Use Positive Work Habits
- WE Build Positive Relationships
- WE Are Positively Kind
School Supply Lists
Parents who wish to provide supplies for their child, please review the suggested PLV Student Supply List SY22-24
School Start & End Times
8:45 Doors Open (Arrival)
- Students will be considered late after 9:00 AM and will need to be signed in at the Main Office with Ms. Spadea, our Secretary. Parents will use a QR Code to sign students in late. Please bring your phone with you inside.
- Students may not be dropped off early to PLV, unless they are signed up for YMCA Before Care. There is no supervision of students on the front or side sidewalks.
3:35 Student Dismissal
- We will start the dismissal process inside the building at 3:30.
- Students will need to be signed out at the Main Office with Ms. Spadea for Early Dismissals PRIOR to 3:00.
NO CHANGES TO DISMISSAL AFTER 3:00!!
Pleasantville Student Schedules KN - 5th SY23 - 24 (see below)
First 6 Weeks of School
The goals of the first six weeks of school
Though the details differ with different age groups, with the content of the curriculum, and with the organization of the room, there are four broad aims in the first six weeks curriculum.
- Create a climate and tone of warmth and safety. Students can come to know each other and develop a sense of belonging through activities that help them define their commonality and their differences. Deliberately focusing on group-building activities during these weeks helps create the trust and safety essential for active, collaborative learning. However, this sense of trust is not built solely on warmth and friendliness. It is also built upon students’ assurance that there are reasonable limits and boundaries for behavior and that their teacher will enforce them. They must see that their teacher will exercise vigilance and good judgment to keep everyone safe.
- Teach the schedule and routines of the school day and our expectations for behavior in each of them. A sense of order and predictability in daily school life is important. It enables children to relax, to focus their energy on learning, and to feel competent. When we enter a new culture, we want to know its rules so that we don’t embarrass ourselves or, through ignorance or misunderstanding, hurt others.In the first six weeks of school, we name the global expectations we might hold for the year. For example, “Our room will be a place where people try hard, take good care of themselves and others, and take good care of our materials and our school.” Children are then involved in applying these broad, nonnegotiable expectations to everyday situations. “How will we walk through the halls if we are taking care of each other?” “What does trying hard mean during math group?” “What will clean-up time look like if we are taking good care of our room?”
- Introduce students to the physical environment and the materials of the classroom and the school, and teach students how to use and care for them. In order for students to feel a sense of ownership for the school environment and materials, they must become familiar with them and have time to explore them. Through school tours for young students and new students, and scavenger hunts and mapping exercises for older ones, we encourage them to get acquainted or reacquainted with the school environment and to feel comfortable in it. Using the technique of guided discoveries, we extend children’s ideas about the creative use of space and materials, develop guidelines about sharing particular resources, and teach children how to care for them.
- Establish expectations about ways we will learn together in the year ahead. We want to generate excitement and enthusiasm about the curricula we will engage in this year—complicated new math concepts, engrossing novels full of dilemmas to explore, beautiful art materials and techniques for using them, microscopes to observe a previously invisible world. Our learning—whether we are wrestling with an ethical dilemma presented in a history lesson or considering a complicated question about collecting data for a science experiment—requires participation and focused effort, thoughtful questions, and the ability to cooperate and collaborate. We pay attention to the process as well as the products of our learning and hold high standards in both areas. It is our job as teachers to help students achieve these high standards as we learn with and from each other.
PLV's Nemours Wellness Center
What's a school-based health center?
A school-based health center (SBHC) is a medical office located inside your child's school. Nurse practitioners and behavioral health therapists offer well-child visits, sick visits, vaccinations, and mental health care to students. Your child can get free, high-quality care, that's safe and convenient.
How much does a visit cost?
If your child doesn't have insurance, their care is free. If your child has insurance, the school-based health center will file a claim directly. (Note: No co-pay, co-insurance or deductible will be charged to you).
Who runs the SBHC?
Your child's school-based health center is a partnership between their school district, Nemours Children’s Health and the Delaware Division of Public Health. These three organizations work together to run the center.
Staff:
- Physical Health Practitioner - Natalie Kasper - Tuesday All Day; Thursday Afternoons
- Medical Assistant - Lorena - Tuesday All Day; Thursday Afternoons
- Behavioral Health - Janine Howell -Conkey - Wednesday and Friday
Enrollment:
- Online Enrollment: https://app.nemours.org/sbhc
- Paper Enrollment: Use this LINK or https://bit.ly/csdwellnessctr
PLV Family Handbook SY23-24
Nutrition
CSD Nutrition Services has guidelines for Parents and Students bringing outside food into school.
- Parents can send in a snack for their child only, but cannot send in snacks for the entire class. Students get free breakfast and lunch daily and Fresh Fruit & Vegetable 4 days a week.
- School Cafe is a simple way for parents to make school snack payments. Students are offered second meals and a la carte snacks at a small cost. Click the "Pre Payments" tab to set a student account.
- Colonial School Nutrition
- NO outside food coming from home to be used for classroom parties, celebrations, events and/or rewards for student behavior due to monitoring food allergies, reducing food safety concerns and consumption of excess calories during the school day to meet Smart Snack guidelines..
Join PLV PTA & Upcoming Events
- Raffle 2 Soccer Shots Slots $10 per ticket
Sept 11th
- 1st PLV PTA Meeting @ 6:00 PM
- PLV Cafeteria
Sept 11th - Sept 29th
- Joe Corbi's Fundraiser
- Raffle 2 Soccer Shot Slots $10 per ticket
Oct 27th
- PLV Trunk or Treat
Car Riders
Cars may start to enter the Car Rider Lot at 3:00 (no earlier). Students have recess in that lot up til 3:00 each day.
Parents may not park in the front and come into the building at dismissal. Colonial buses unload and load students in the front of the building.