Letters from Limestone Walters

Hello Rockets! We cannot wait to see you on Wednesday, August 16th. Who is ready for yet another year to:

• showcase kind leadership
  
• make good choices
• try new things
• listen to yourself and others
• let your creative juices flow
• get lost in your favorite book
  
• remember we can do hard things
• strengthen social skills
• think so many thinks
• collaborate with others
• celebrate growth
• become an empowered citizen

You won't just be a LW Rocket...you'll be a LW Legend! Remember, you can tell us when you are happy, sad, frustrated, upset, or need help. We are always here to listen. Will you listen too?! Let the experience begin! Make sure you and your family check out all August has to offer in the information below.

If you are new to LW, this newsletter is emailed and posted around the first of each month. This is your go to when looking for any and all information that will set you and your child up for success.

Our Google Calendar is also an important place to check for upcoming events, house information, and school activities. This is located on our website by selecting calendar in the top right hand corner. Once you have clicked that our calendar appears. You can then click list view or Calendar view.

Please be sure to follow and like us on Facebook. This is an excellent places to see what a day in the life of a Rocket looks like.

Dear Parents,

Welcome to Limestone Walters and to another exciting school year! Our staff looks forward to partnering with you to provide an outstanding educational experience for your children. The building is never the same when children are not present, and thankfully, that will soon change.

This year will also mark my final year as superintendent at Limestone Walters. It has been an

honor and a privilege to serve in this capacity. There is nothing like the Limestone Walters

Community – it’s family.

So, from our family to yours, welcome!

GO ROCKETS!!

Tim Dotson, Superintendent

August 10th: Back to School Pool Party @ Limestone Township Pool 6pm-8pm
($5 per person or $15 per family)

August 14th: Teacher Institute & Kindergarten, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Grade Night 6pm-7pm

August 15th: Teacher Institute, 1st Grade Night 5:30pm, & 5th-8th Grade Night 6pm-7pm

August 16th: First Day of School (7:50am-11:20am *No Lunch Served)

August 17th: Full Days Begin (7:50am-2:40pm)

August 25th: Wheel Spin Day & School Picture Day

August 27th: LW Cookies and Bookies Book Club @6pm (see below)

August 28th: Board Meeting @6pm

2023 Cookies and Bookies Book Club!

Welcome to our virtual book club! If you are new to Limestone Walters, we have a monthly virtual book club that is open to any student and staff member. Each book will have a cookie to match. You will want to sign up ahead of time so you can take home the cookie or the dough (to bake your own) the Friday before Book Club. This way you can enjoy a nice cookie while we listen to our story!
*Inspired by: Growing Book by Book

August's Cookie and Bookie

Cookie: Alphabet Sugar Cookie

Bookie: Words of Wonder Z to A by Zaila Avant-garde

• When 14-year-old Zaila Avant-garde became the first Black American student to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2021, the world took notice. Now, this extraordinary speller, writer, and basketball champ celebrates the world of words, with 26 of Zaila's favorite words, such as KINDNESS, HOPE, and RESILIENCE, alongside Zaila's encouraging and poetic thoughts. Each bright and busy page also includes an inspiring quotation from a famous thought leader. And an afterword to the book details the fascinating origins of each word.
  

Each month, I will do a Live ZOOM reading of the featured book, introduce any vocabulary, and chat about the book after each reading. The Book Club is here when and if you need it. Feel free to join in on the fun every month or the months that work best for you. The best part is this book club is for any and all ages and will provide a springboard for important conversations.

ZOOM Read Aloud Event will be Sunday, August 27th @6pm.

Fill out the form below to be emailed the link

Below you will find our finalized school calendar for the 2023-2024 school year. We will be starting the year with two institute days and two different parent information nights:

K-4th will be Monday, August 14th (time TBD)

5th-8th will be Tuesday, August 15th (time TBD)

Our purpose with two separate nights was to:

• ensure primary students weren't up too late the day before the first day of school
• allow parents the opportunity to hear all the information they need
• provide middle school students an opportunity to practice locks on their lockers
• set-up the first day of school to be about building classroom community

Similar to last year we have 3 emergency days have been build into our calendar. This allows us to hopefully be finished prior to Memorial Day and not add as many make up days on to the end of the year.

The following Mondays we will not be in session unless an emergency day is used:

• Monday, May 6th
• Monday, May 13th
• Monday, May 20th

If we do have emergency days we will have session on the above Mondays depending on how many we need. Our other two emergency days will be after May 24th and May 25th.

Our number one priority here at Limestone Walters is to make sure everyone feels safe and appreciated. Please look over these expectations you see below with your child. We know LW Rockets will work hard to make good choices!

*A big shoutout to Mrs. Holt who worked hard to develop this!

I mean would you look at this GORGEOUS playground update?! A tremendous thank you to ALL involved in making this project a reality. We cannot even begin to express out gratitude that you all showed up for LW's kids by volunteering time, expertise, equipment, and manpower! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for ensuring there will be safe and fun times created in this space for many years to come.

Arrival:

• Our doors open for learning at precisely 7:25am

• Please do not drop off or leave your child before 7:25am as there is not supervision until that time.

• Students are considered tardy after 7:55am
  

• You will want to follow the cones all the way to back of the lot vs. cutting across the parking lot. This just helps maintain our flow and ensure safety for all.

• Please pull all the way up and/or as close as you can to either first cone and/or next vehicle
  

• Have your child ready to exit the vehicle by the time you enter the white box/drop off zone

• We need to have your child exit the vehicle anywhere within the white box on the arrival map picture vs. waiting to be right up by the main doors.

• Students need to walk into the gym and sit in their grade level line.

We appreciate your understanding and we look forward to continuing this safer way for students to enter the building.

Dismissal

• Kindergarten is dismissed at 2:35pm (11:15am on half days)
• Once kindergarteners are all accounted for, bus riders will be dismissed
• 1st-4th bus riders will go first first followed by 5th-8th
• Once all buses have exited the property, you may then exit the property
• As soon as buses are released we will dismiss car riders
• 1st-4th car riders will go first followed by 5th -8th (if you have younger students please walk across the parking lot to get them)

Please make sure you are communicating transportation changes with your child's classroom teacher AND the office. This makes sure that in case someone is absent more than one person have received the message and we can get your child where they need to be. All changes must be called in prior to 2pm in order to ensure everyone is where they need to be and changes can be communicated to those involved.

Lunch is now 35 minutes to help students not feel rushed to eat. This year we will continue having two lunch periods:

• K-4th Lunch: 11:20am-11:55am (K-2 will eat first, 3-4 goes to recess, then switch)
• 5th-8th Lunch: 12:00pm-12:35pm (Cafeteria Interest Tables)
  
  

For grades 5th-8th grade we will be incorporating interest tables instead of transitions from cafeteria to the playground. We will rotate who gets in line first vs. sits at the table first. This is also to ensure we have more supervision in our unstructured areas, promote kindness and friendships, and provide students with opportunities to develop new interests.

We will continue using Aramark for school lunches which will cost $3.00. In order to maintain reimbursable meals and follow state guidelines for pricing, additional items will be the following:

• Additional Entrée $2.25 (grades 5th -8th)
• Milk $0.75
• Water $1.00

Aramark's menus provide two entrees for students to choose from. Please work with your child on deciding if they want hot lunch and which entrée they would prefer. Remind them to communicate their choice with their classroom teacher. It is important that whatever entrée is chosen in the morning is the same one your child gets at lunch time. While extras are made, there aren't enough extras for everyone to switch. We want to ensure everyone gets what they ordered. Please see the flyers below for more information and guidance.

*If your child arrives to school after 8:30am, please let the office know if they will be having hot lunch and which entrée they would prefer.

M.A.S.H. stands for My After School Homework and is an opportunity for any child in grades 5th-8th to get extra support. As a reminder:

• MASH will be Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 2:40pm-3:45pm
• Transportation home will now be provided for your child
• Illinois Central will bring a bus back after their route to pick up any MASH student
• Students who stay after must have something to work on that is school related
• Students are expected to follow expectations

We will be sure to communicate when this will begin so stay tuned for more information.

Attendance

If your child will not be in attendance, please call the office by 8:30 AM and give the reason the child will not be in attendance. To report absences, please call: 309-697-3035 and choose Option 1 from the answering menu. A message can be left at any time, day or night. If the school is not notified by 8:30 AM, then the parent will be contacted at home or work. If parents do not call the school on the day of absence and cannot be reached by phone, the absence will be unexcused.

When reporting an absence, please provide the following information:

• The name of the student
• Date(s) of absence(s)
• Reason for the absence (be specific)
• Written notes must contain the parent or guardian’s signature.

Health & Wellness

It is important that students be kept home when they are very ill to reduce the spread of germs and illness throughout the classroom. It is not always easy to decide when to keep a child home for illness and when to return to school afterward. The following guidelines may help each parent decide whether to keep their child home from school.

Please keep your child home if they have:

• A temperature of 100.0 or higher within the last 24 hours*
• Vomiting or diarrhea within the last 24 hours
• Red, swollen eyes with drainage
• Excessive coughing that is not well controlled with cough medicine
• A skin rash of unknown origin

*If your child has had a temperature of 100.0 or more, they should not return to school until they have been fever free for 24 hours without the aid of Tylenol or other fever reducing medicine. Always use a thermometer when assessing your child’s temperature.
*If a student is absent for 3 or more consecutive days, a doctor’s note may be required when returning to school.

COVID Reminder

If your child becomes positive with COVID, they will need to remain home for 5 consecutive days. After the 5 days they may return to school but must continue to wear a mask for 5 more days.

Make-Up Work

When a student is absent, it is the responsibility of the student and/or parent to contact teachers about make-up work. Parents who wish to pick up homework should abide by the following:

• Email your request to the teachers by 9:00 AM
• Wait to pick up the requested homework until the end of the school day so teachers have time to get the work ready
• For students in grades 5 through 8, please do not request homework unless the child has missed two or more consecutive days.
• It is the student’s responsibility to complete this work in the allotted time in order to receive full credit.
• Students will receive two school days to make up their work for each day of an absence.
• Long term projects that have been assigned well in advance of an excused absence may still be due the day the student returns to school.
• For out of school suspensions, full credit will be given only if work is turned in on the first day the student returns to school. Any work turned in after the designated due date for out of school suspensions, will fall under the teacher’s late work policy.
• Tests and quizzes missed during an absence need to be made up as soon as educationally appropriate.

Social Studies (4th-8th)

I am pleased to announce the Board of Education approved the purchase of McGraw Hill Social Studies for grades 4th-8th starting in the 2023-2024 school year! The biggest draws to selecting this curriculum were:

• Aligns with C3 Framework Inquiry Arc
  • College, Career, and Civic Life
  • Inquiry based learning experiences
• Curiosity is at the center
• Print and Digital Access
• Inquiry Journals, textbooks, magazines, primary sources
• Differentiation for ALL learners
• SEL - CASEL Framework
• Flexible pacing for teachers
• Building blocks for critical thinking & ELA integration

One of the exciting pieces to our social studies curriculum is that the CASEL Framework for social emotional learning is the same framework that is integrated into our literacy series. This building wide common language is a key piece that will lead to stronger student application.

SMARTs Executive Function Curriculum (6th)

We are also very excited about offering SMARTs executive function curriculum to our 6th graders as they transition to all things junior high and take on new academic challenges starting the 2023-2024 school year. The biggest draws to selecting this curriculum were:

• Emotional Health need recognized
• Skills addressed: goal setting, cognitive flexibility, organization, prioritizing, memorizing, self-checking, and monitoring
• Skills are explicitly taught and then opportunities provided for students to apply tools to specific academic challenges
• 30 lesson plans: include presentations, videos, reflection opportunities, skill practice, and more
• Students develop the self understanding to know which strategies work best for them as well as why, where, when, and how to use those strategies to complete their work.

These opportunities help us to ensure our students leave as kind leaders, deep thinkers, strong communicators, and empowered citizens. LW truly is the place to be and I'm excited for what next year has to offer our students.

Into Reading (K-6) & World Book Research Database (K-8)

We will continue our use of Into Reading for our literacy curriculum and our World Book Database. It is always exciting to enter year two of using something new. Everyone feels more comfortable with material, common language/skills align and travel with students, and a stronger understanding begins to develop. We will continue to learn and grow in these areas with our focus being on Writing/Grammar and accessing more reliable sources across more grade levels.

Our PTO meets the first Tuesday of the month at 7pm in the library. This is a great way to get involved in fundraisers and activities that support our school. If in person doesn't work for you, they also have a virtual Zoom option. The links are always posted on our website closer to the date.

The PTO is sponsoring a back to school swim party on Thursday, August 10th. See the image below for more information!

Remember

I loved having time to relax, rest, and recharge over the summer. I learned so very much last year and I'm looking forward to carrying those moments with me as I head into year three as your principal.

Gratitude

I'm grateful for another year to...

• be your principal
• continue to build relationships with the LW community
• strengthen our culture of readers
• partner with you in continuing the tradition of placing kids at the heart of all decisions

Goals

• prepare for teacher's institute and finalize professional development activities
• encourage readers and celebrate our differences
• gear up to welcome all Rockets back to Limestone Walters for the 2023-2024 school year
  

I cannot wait to see you all again on Wednesday, August 16th!

~Stefanie Pitzer, Principal

Email: spitzer@limestonewalters.com
Website: https://www.limestonewalters.com/
Location: 8223 West Smithville Road, Peoria, IL, USA
Phone: 309-697-3035
Facebook: facebook.com/LWrockets316
Twitter: @lwrockets