What do teachers do when we get out of school early on Wednesdays....
Each Wednesday, the teachers meet in a group called a Professional Learning Community or a PLC. For eighty minutes, the teachers are collaborating with a focus around leadership, curriculum and instruction, assessment, and student learning. During this time, there are four essential questions that the group focuses around. These questions are 1) What is it we expect students to learn? 2) How will we know when student have learned it? 3) How will we respond when students don't learn it? 4) How will we respond when students already know it? Although this is just the beginning of this work, we are hoping to see some great changes in the classroom that will benefit all of our students.

From the community....
A parent sent a note about an incident that happened at the bus pick-up this week. A car neglected the school bus stop sign and arm even though our bus driver, Terry Kruse, had pulled into the center of the road to try and inhibit any traffic from going through. She just wanted to make sure and thank him and our school district for everything we do to keep our kids safe. Terry has always been wonderful to our kids and today she cannot thank him enough for watching out for them!

PBIS focus of the month....
This month the elementary kids will be focusing on Sportsmanship. Sportsmanship is an aspiration that a sport or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake, with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors. Sportsmanship is so important in the lives of our children and the behaviors associated with sportsmanship begin at such an early age. The focus for our students will be to 1) accept the decisions of the officials, 2) encourage all players, 3) model appropriate language and behaviors at all times, and 4) follow the rules of the games at all times. The staff will be looking for students displaying these behaviors throughout the next month.

Practice makes perfect….

Four times a year, we as a building, the students will walk through the fire and tornado procedures to better prepare in case of an emergency. If you drove by the school last Tuesday, you would have seen the students exiting the building as they practiced the first fire drill for the year. In addition to fire and tornado drills we will be adding an evacuation drill this year. On the afternoon of  September 23rd,  the students will walk through the procedures that the school has in place if the building was ever in need of evacuation during school hours. Please remember that this is just a drill and like all drills will prepare us and help our students feel confident in their actions if the need arises.

We are on a roll......

A new thing coming.....
The Lone Tree Running Club is new this year! How exciting to have an after school club for the elementary students! Ms. Pourroy and Ms. Staak have devised a plan to teach kids about healthy eating and get some physical exercise at the same time. We are offering a fall session as well as a spring session. At the end of the spring session, we will be hosting a 5k run for the Lone Tree Community. More information will to come in the spring so be watching.


What? Fresh fruits and vegetables...
Mrs. Pierson is incorporating fruits and vegetables of the month into the lunch program. Each week a fruit or vegetable will be featured and next week, the fruit is cantaloupe or muskmelon. Did you know that while cantaloupe can be called muskmelon, but not all muskmelon can be called cantaloupe? The name muskmelon comes from the sweet fragrance of the ripe fruit. The term musk comes from a Persian word for perfume, and melon is a French word derived from the Latin melopepo, which means "apple-shaped melon". There are many different types of muskmelons, with a wide variety of shapes, sizes, flesh color and flavor.

6 Awesome things we can learn from children.....
1-Play: Doing something just for the sake of doing it can stimulate your brain and creative juices.
2-Failure is not an option: From the first time a child starts to walk, there is sheer determination that he/she can do anything.
3-Stay curious: Life is a big adventure for children. Be it as big or little as you want, but try something different and live in the moment!
4-Forget it and move on: If something has not worked out, let it go and move on.
5-Don't judge: Children only judge others based on what they have been taught or have observed from adults. Although challenging and probably impossible to its fullest, take the time to remind yourself not to prematurely judge others or their situations.
6-Laugh: Laugh more to enhance your mood. Give yourself permission to have fun and laugh!

Important facts about school attendance.....
1-Students who attend school regularly are more likely to pass reading and math assessments than those students who don't.
2-Your commitment to school attendance will send a message to your child that education is a priority for your family, going to school everyday is a critical part of being successful at school, and it is important to take your responsibilities seriously.
3-Students who arrive late to school typically miss reading instruction and feel uncomfortable entering class after it has started. Arriving late is a disruption for that students as well as the teacher and other students.
4-Consistency in schedules and routines can directly affect the way children perform in school.