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Newsletter

The Principal'sOfficeMarch 2024

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Hello, Families!

If you can believe it, it's March, the weather is beautiful and we are looking forward to Spring Break. That also means we have a TON of things going on from now until the end of the school year. I have included some more immediate updates in this newsletter as well as some long term planning dates for us as well.

 

A few updates from PRES:

Yearbook forms are due tomorrow (3/6/24). If you'd like to order online you can do that by clicking on the link below:

https://www.jostens.com/apps/store/productBrowse/1085687/Pleasant-Ridge-Elementary-School/2024-Yearbook/2024013010151496753/CATALOG_SHOP/

 

If your child attends before school care please make sure they are bringing a jacket each day. They really want to play outside in the morning, but everyone has to have a jacket so that we can go outside and stay together.

 

Girls on the Run is starting today for our 4th and 5th grade girls who signed up. We are so excited for this experience for our girls as they work together to build social skills and relationships, their self confidence, learn how to deal with peer pressure AND train to run a 5K! May 4 will be their 5K experience at Swope Park.

 

Read on for more updates from PRES...I will be sending out a long term planning list for your reading pleasure before we leave for Spring Break as well so be on the look out for that!

 

Amanda Brimer

Principal

Read Across America Week

We are in the full swing of Read Across America week and celebrating all things READING! Below is a copy of the flyer that was sent home with students for

 

Students who return their bookmark on Thursday with 4 days of reading documented will be entered into a drawing for a prize as well as those minutes will count towards their class goal of reading 3,000 minutes in the week. All classes who work together to read and reach their goal will have a popcorn party on Thursday! They won't be able to reach that goal with just the minutes we read at school so get together as a family and celebrate reading by reading a good book together!

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Summer Camp 2024

Here is the link to tell us you are interested in summer camp 2024.

 

https://forms.gle/r8ye2ko9UxoPr9cA7

 

Our theme will be Camp Invention part III. Each grade level band will have two STEM based modules that they work through during the two weeks of camp as well as some extra fun activities along the way. All supplies are provided to them and they get an immersive, hands on experience!

 

Dates: May 28-June 7
Times: 7:55-11:30
Theme: Camp Invention Part III
Offered to: students currently in grades K-5

 

Since space is limited we do ask that you commit to your child attending all 9 days of camp.If you know that your child can not to commit to all 9 days you can email Mrs. Brimer to be put on a wait list but due to the financial commitment from the district we want to make sure students can get the most out of the summer camp experience by attending each day.

*If you have more than one child please fill out a separate form for each of them.

*5th going into 6th grade will be a part of the "Step Up" program where they will be able to spend a good portion of their time at the Middle School get a more in-depth introduction to the school and routines (sign them up by filling out this form)

 

*In district transportation can be provided both to and from summer camp

 

*meals will not be provided

 

*all supplies are provided to students

 

*no before school care option is available for students for summer camp

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UpcomingEvents

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  • 3/8 NO SCHOOL for students
  • 3/11-3/15 SPRING BREAK
  • March Mathness competition
  • State Assessment kickoff
  • 3/29 NO SCHOOL
  • 4/3 Class picture day
  • State Assessments for 3rd-5th grade (see schedule above)

State Assessment Information

After Spring Break we will be ready to kick off our state assessments with our 3rd-5th grade students. This can be a tricky time of year for us as we manage encouraging our students to do their best and show what they know on the state assessment, while not putting pressure on their young minds that they are stressed out and worrying!

 

State assessments are a measure of what our students know and what our teachers have taught, so to not stress the importance of that for all of us would be insincere and not realistic. State assessments are often looked at as a school's "grade card" and just like you as parents hope to see "good grades" on a report card, we hope to see the same in our assessment results.

 

We also know that our success as a school is not just measured in assessment results, but also in happiness, fulfillment, kindness and growth academically, socially and emotionally.

 

Our message is always for our students to do their best. For some students that's going to result in high scores, for others it may not net the same result, but as long as they have tried their best we are PRoud of them!

 

I hope you know we see every single one of our students for the amazing individual that they are with many talents that reach far beyond academics alone. Please help us as we encourage all of them to put their best effort towards this academic task. Being prepared for state assessments is no different than being prepared for any other day at school. Students need to be present, have a good nights sleep and have a healthy breakfast. If your child is sick or will be gone for assessments there will be a series of make up dates, however we know that students feel most comfortable and at ease when they are with their class, so if it's avoidable we don't want students to have to test away from their classmates.

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Growth Mindset Award Winners

Every week of school with 5 days our staff has the opportunity to nominate a student for a growth mindset award. These students are recognized over the announcements, we hang up their photos in the hallway and they get to pick a special prize from the treat cart. It's a fun way to recognize student's positive behavior and habits. Here are a few ways a student can show they have a growth mindset:

 

 

 

  • learning from others
  • learning from mistakes
  • being flexible with changes
  • open mindedness
  • practicing to improve
  • not stopping until they are proud of their work
  • seeking challenges
  • persevering through a difficult challenge
  • trying something new
  • embracing challenges
  • learning from feedback
  • determination
  • accepting and learning from criticism
  • inspiring others
  • setting and achieving my goals
  • courage
  • creative thinker
  • stretching your neurons
  • trying again after making a mistake
  • setting goals and sticking to it

 

Below you will see our February winners!

 

 

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PRES PTO

PTO meetings are set on the district calendar. Please come and join us!

 

President: Danielle Snowberg

Vice President: Kayleka Bardroff

Secretary: Emily Frame

Treasurer: Brittney Pemble

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Nurse's Corner

If your student received a referral on any of their screenings and you are having difficulty scheduling these follow up appointments or finding resources, please contact Nurse Dani for assistance"

 

Families will need different forms throughout the school year, so if there is something that you are looking for, it should be included in this link:

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13Ke5_a3Ez1FQaepNbjahxHBQgFHouJRi?usp=sharing

 

 

If you can't find what you are looking for, feel free to contact me at any of the buildings or through email at dlangley@easton449org.

 

Follow the student support team on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063821280834

2023-2024Immunizationrequirements

PolicesandProcedures

This may seem like the boring stuff but these are the things that keep us safely functioning together as a group of 350 students, 47 staff members and over 500 parents! Thanks for helping us keep everyone safe, healthy and happy!

 

You can click on the yellow buttons to access the information about each topic.

Student Handbook

Drop off and Pick Up Procedures

What if we are late to school?

If your family is running late and you are dropping your child off after 8:05, you will need to walk them up to the door and sign them into our care. Students should not be dropped off and walk up to the building on their own.

 

We are outside to greet children until the tardy bell which rings at 8:05. If you get here and there isn't someone outside and the front door is shut, please escort your child to the front, ring the bell and a staff member can greet you. We will have you sign them in as tardy.

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Excusing your child from school

If your child needs to be gone from school, please make sure to call and let the office know so that we can get that into our attendance records. The office staff starts calling around 9:00am to check on students who are marked absent that we have not heard from. Calling in before then helps us tremendously!

 

You are always welcome to email either of the secretaries (sshipman@easton449.org) (cpeck@easton449.org) or give us a call at 913-651-5595.

Anticipated Absences and Vacations

If you know in advance that your child will be gone from school, please let us know as soon as you can. You can arrange to get work from your child's teacher ahead of time or work to complete missing work upon your return.

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Transportation Changes

If you need to change your child's regular transportation in the afternoon you will need to call the office before 2:30 or we cannot guarantee we will be able to make the change for your child. Safety is our number one concern for our students and we cannot safely get everyone where they need to be at the end of the day if there are last minute changes.

 

Please note that each child can only be assigned to one bus route. It is not an option to have your child periodically ride another bus to a different spot.

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Lunch Money and Fees

Don't forget to check Powerschool to get notifications when your child needs more breakfast or lunch money. We will also send home notices if your child owes money or their balance is low. If your family needs help paying for lunches or fees you can apply for free/reduced food services and fees.

 

Breakfast Price: $1.60

Reduced Breakfast Price: $0.30

 

Lunch Price: $2.55

Reduced Lunch Price: $0.40

Blue/Gold Weeks

You will notice on the weekly lunch menu that it will say 'blue" or "gold". This will signal to you which two specials classes your child(ren) will have that week. The biggest thing to remember is that on PE weeks students need to wear closed toed, rubber soled tennis shoes. Your child's classroom teacher will tell you what specials your child will have on blue and gold days at back to school night.

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Communication to and from school

There are lots of ways that we will communicate with you from school and lots of ways you can get in touch with us!

 

Here's what you can expect:

 

Classroom newsletters will come home weekly on Fridays previewing the week ahead.

 

REMIND is an app that can be utilized to communicate to and from the teacher any time. Teachers will have office hours set so they may not receive your message if outside of the school day and in that situation will respond the following day. Teachers will use REMIND to keep you up to date on what's going on in the classroom so make sure to sign up at Back to School Night.

 

Principal communication: I will send home a whole school newsletter (much like this) a few times a quarter. There is so much information coming home from classrooms we never want to bombard families, so I will keep my newsletters to events/activities that involve our whole school.

 

Textcaster is a district notice system. This will be utilized for things like school closings and inclement weather notices. You can sign up (and definitely should) to get these messages by clicking the button below.

**Please note if you have changed service providers, you will have to sign back up (even if you have the same phone number).

Sign Up for TEXTCASTER alerts here

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Opportunities for volunteering

We will have several opportunities to volunteer in the school throughout the year. When events come up that we are looking for volunteers I will typically send out a sign up genius letting you know the event date, time and details. If you'd like to sign up we'd love to have you!

 

We will have 2 parties this school year that families are invited to come in and celebrate with us:

Winter Holiday parties

Valentine's Day parties

(we will OF COURSE be celebrating Halloween with our big annual parade in downtown Easton and of course hope to see you there!)

 

You can also volunteer by being a part of our PTO (Parent/Teacher Organization, formally known as the Booster Club). Our biggest event of the year is the Chili Supper and planning is starting now so come join us!

Pleasant Ridge Elementary School

 

Elementary School Calendar

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