Husky Headlines

• December 4th - Santa's List Day
• December 7th - Pearl Harbor Day
• December 12th - JH/HS Winter Concert @ 7pm
  
• December 13th - Elementary PST (Problem Solving Team) Meetings
• December 14th - Board of Education Meeting (open to the public) @ 7pm
  
• December 15th - Elementary Winter Concert @ 7pm
• December 16th - National Chocolate Covered ANYTHING Day
• December 16th - 📚Book Buddies!!📚
• December 19th - 5th Grade Science Fair
• December 20th - Go Caroling Day
• December 21st - 1:30 Dismissal
• December 22nd-January 4th - No School - Winter Break
• January 5th - Back to School!!

December means cold weather, hot chocolate, and here at school.....lots of indoor recess! While students love to be outside, and we love to take them out - we know it's just not safe to have them out in the frigid temperatures for extended times. We follow the below guidelines for recess:

• If the FEELS LIKE or ACTUAL temperature is below 20 degrees will have indoor recess.
• If it is above 20 degrees, we will have outdoor recess.

This means that if it is 21 degrees outside, your child will be outside for a FULL 20 minutes of recess. Please make sure that your child(ren) are dressed appropriately when they come to school!! It's cold out there! It's always nicer to have to take off your hat and gloves than to wish you had brought it with you.

Dress Recommendations:

"Feels like" below 50 degrees - Students must wear coat/light jacket/sweatshirt

"Feels like" below 40 degrees - Students must wear coat/jacket, long pants, close toe shoes, and we recommend gloves and stocking cap

* Below 32 degrees gloves and hats are required

If there is snow on the ground, students must wear boots to play in it.

The Elementary Winter Concert will be on Thursday, December 15th at 7:00pm. ALL elementary

students in Preschool through 5th Grade will perform. Students participating in 5th grade band will perform also. The students have been diligently working to prepare for their concert. There are a few small performance surprises throughout the concert for you to enjoy!

Students should wear their best for the concert:

• Girls can wear a dress or a nice shirt/sweater with pants, nice jeans or a skirt.
• Boys can wear a shirt with a collar or sweater with pants or nice jeans.
• NO t-shirts or sweatshirts with writing.
• NO headbands with antlers, Santa Hats or other items that will distract from the performance.

• Shoes must be comfortable as students will walk and climb stairs.

Students should arrive at their homeroom classroom at 6:45pm. Please do not arrive earlier.

Supervision will only be available after 6:45pm. The concert will begin at 7:00pm.

See you there!

Students will be showing their growth over the first semester this month by taking the MAP Growth Assessments AND by working on our Acadience Benchmark Assessments. Please encourage your child to show us what they really know by work hard on these assessments! I know that high stakes assessments can be stressful (for students, teachers, and parents alike), so please know that we do use the data that we collect to continue driving instruction for all students!

Here are some ways we use data here at S-RC:

• ...to track individual student growth over the year
• ...to help understand areas that we, as a school, may need to focus
• ...to track classes and grade levels as they move through the school
• ...to identify individual students who may be struggling
• ...to develop intervention and extension opportunities for ALL students
• ...to determine which students will be in HAL and STEAM classes with Mrs. Cromer

The biggest issue that we have been facing in the elementary building is defiance. When we look up minor defiance in our PBiS handbook, it is defined as "Students engaging in brief or low-intensity failure to respond to adult requests. Examples: When asked to do something, students say" No, I don't want to." Major Problem Behaviors define defiance as: Students engaging in continuous refusal to follow directions, talking back, and or delivering socially rude interactions.

We have seen 20 write ups in the month of November for defiance. The highest motivation has been to obtain peer attention.

Here are some intervention ideas for defiance that you can try at home:

• Acknowledging positive behavior
• Avoid power struggles
• Clear, consistent, and predictable consequences
• Give choices
• More structured routine
• Praise when cooperative and well behaved
• Use calm neutral tone

Did you know that there is a way for you to stay up to date on your child's school work, grades, and attendance?? You can create a PowerSchool account as a parent and track attendance, grades, and progress reports.

Simply CLICK HERE to access PowerSchool for Parents. You will need to fill out all information and add all student information for any students enrolled in both elementary and secondary schools. If you do not have your Access ID's and Access PW's, you can get that information by contacting Camille in the office. Once you have filled out all of the information, click enter and you will be able to access your child's records at any time!!

Again, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact the office for assistance.

With the vacation days approaching it is important that students keep reading and working on math. I recommend at least 20 minutes of reading and 10-15 minutes of math each day. These times can be broken up throughout the day, but are so important to ensure that students do not lose the progress that has been made throughout the school year so far.

Ways to Incorporate Reading:

• Set 10 minutes aside to read a with your child before bed.

• Always have a book handy in the car or book bag so when you are driving somewhere or waiting for an appointment your child will have access to reading material.

• Have your child create a grocery list and read it while shopping.

• Play board games with your child and have them read the game cards.

• Go for a walk (if Mother Nature or Jack Frost allow) and read the signs you see or create your own treasure hunt with clue cards.

Ways to Incorporate Math:

• Practice flashcards (addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division can be made OR printed online).

• Have your child help with measuring for cooking and baking.

• Grab the paper & cut out ads. They can then add up prices and make a budget for a shopping trip!

• Grab a map and have your child pick their dream destination. They can then add up the mileage to get there and back. Some bonus math would be figuring the price of gas to get the family there and back.

• Play board games or grab a deck of cards and play war. Number sense is HUGE in math and war makes you determine if your card is greater or lesser. Remember - make your child do the work!

Elementary Principal

Special Education Director

Shelby-Rising City Public Schools

Email: hthompson@shelby.esu7.org
Website: https://www.shelby.esu7.org/
Location: 650 North Walnut Street, Shelby, NE, USA
Phone: 402-527-5946 5718
Twitter: @mrs_thompson007