Letters from Limestone Walters

March 4th: Celebrate Reading Week (PJ DAY), IAR Testing Begins (3rd-8th Grade), Spell-A-Thon Pledge sheets due back & PTO Meeting @7pm

March 5th: Celebrate Reading Week (Vacation Attire)

March 6th: Celebrate Reading Week (shirt w/a positive message) & K-2nd Spell-A-Thon Test Day

March 7th: Celebrate Reading Week (Hat Day), K-2nd Spell-A-Thon Test Day

March 8th: Celebrate Reading Week (sports team), 3rd-4th Spell-A-Thon Test Day (K-2nd return test papers), End of Third Quarter & Wheel Spin Day

March 10th: Daylight Savings Time (move clocks ahead one hour)

March 11th: Spell-A-Thon pledge sheets are returned to students

March 17th: LW's Pages, Popcorn, and Pals Book Club @6pm (see below)

March 18th: 2nd Grade Spring Conferences & Board Meeting @6pm

March 20th: House Competition Day! (wear your House Shirt)

March 22nd: Wheel Spin Day, Spell-A-Thon money due, students dismissed @1:20pm

March 25th-29th: SPRING BREAK! No School

March is National Reading Month, a celebration that encourages reading for all ages and promotes reading as a key feature for learning, social, and professional development. In order to celebrate we are having House Spirit Days for a whole week starting March 4th. Check out our days below and you too can earn your house 2 house points!

March's Book - On the Corner of Chocolate Avenue (Sweets)

Hershey's milk chocolate is the quintessential American chocolate bar. But in Milton Hershey's time, chocolate was mostly a special treat for the very wealthy. Milton grew up poor and was no stranger to going hungry. When he got a job washing dishes in an ice cream parlor, he realized how happy sweets made people--and how much he liked making people happy.

Perfect for the chocolate lover, inventor, and science-experiment-obsessed reader, this biography shows that perseverance and persistence can lead to sweet success.

ZOOM Read Aloud Event will be Sunday, March 17th @6pm. The link is emailed to parents by Sunday afternoon. Please fill out the form below by Monday, March 11th to be emailed the link AND ensure you receive your popcorn from The Popcorn Shoppe.

*Inspired by: Growing Book by Book: A Year of Good Food and Books Each month there will be a focus food or food-related theme to the month. There's everything from tea, to cookbooks to dumplings. Best of all, we are going to learn about different cultures. So, let’s get reading and eating.

Please make sure we are following these procedures below in order to ensure our drop-off line is efficient and safe:

• Make sure an adult (usually Mrs. Pitzer) is out before letting your students leave your vehicle.
• Please make sure your child exits the vehicle anywhere within the white box on the arrival map picture.
• This way several cars are unloading at the same time vs. some pulling all the way up to the main door which causes the line to stop and then get backed up.
  
• Please have your child ready to exit the vehicle.

This month Aramark's monthly limited time entrée (LTO) will highlight flavors from Latin America with Spicy Chicken Mole Tacos. This dish features chipotle peppers and will be offered March 11th-15th. Students simply need to let their teacher know they want the monthly special.

Featured Ingredient: Chipotle Peppers

DID YOU KNOW? Chipotle peppers are one of the most used peppers in Mexican cuisine. It derives its name from the Aztec word, chilpoctli, which means smoked chili. The name reflects how these peppers are smoked over a wood fire before they are dried, which gives them a smoky flavor.

Chipotle peppers are essential to Tex-Mex and Mexican cuisine. Whether you puree a can of chipotles into a dipping sauce or sprinkle a fine powder of dried chipotles onto popcorn, chipotle peppers add a rich, smoky flavor to everything they touch. Most of the health benefits of chipotle are attributed to its vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin A, vitamin K, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and potassium, as well as other nutritive content, including capsaicin, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, and dietary fiber.

We are thrilled to announce that Aramark is bringing the fun of March Madness to our cafeteria this month. Introducing MUNCH MADNESS but instead of basketball teams, our bracket is filled with entrees. Starting March 4th, students will be voting on their favorite entrée with the winner being announced on the 20th. That winning entrée will then be featured for the entire week as the third entrée option during the first week back from Spring Break.

Take a look at the bracket below. Which entrée will be victorious?!

We would like to thank LW Staff, House Council, PTO, and LW Families for all their time, donations, and hard work that went into our Easter Seals Fundraising efforts this year. We were able to present $4,600 at the LCHS Easter Seals Campaign Assembly!

📣 Calling all future Limestone Walters Kindergarteners➡️ Kindergarten Roundup for fall of 2024 has begun and our screenings will take place on April 9th. Please click on the image below to preregister:

In the event of inclement weather, you will receive a text message from the school and information will be posted to local news stations. In the event of a school cancellation, please know this will be a snow day with no remote learning. Similar to last year we had emergency days built into our calendar. We have currently used 4 of our 5 emergency days.

We will be in session the on following days :

• Monday, May 6th
• Monday, May 13th
• Monday, May 20th
• Thursday, May 23rd

May 28th is currently our last emergency day if needed.

Into Reading K-6

This month, K-6 students will be wrapping up Module 6 and beginning Module 7 at various time depending on the class. Below you will find the grade level essential questions and the social emotional/learning mindset focus.

Social Studies

This month, grades 4th-8th will be beginning Topic 5. Topics can last anywhere from 5-6 weeks. Below you will find the graphic that shares grade level questions and social emotional focus.

March 7th: Match @ Elmwood starting at 4pm *bus leaves at 3:15pm (only one match)

March 12th: Home Match vs. Princeville @4pm

March 14th: Match @ Illini Bluffs starting at 3:45pm *bus leaves at 3:15pm

March 19th: Match @ Oak Grove starting at 4pm *bus leaves at 3:45pm

March 20th: Home Match vs. Norwood @4pm (only one match)

7th Grade Team
Regional: Feb 24, 26-29
Sectional: March 4
State: March 8 & 9

8th Grade Team
Regional: March 2, 5 - 7
Sectional: March 11
State: March 15 & 16

5th & 6th Grade

March 1,2,5: 6th Grade Tournament @ Monroe (times TBD)

Lunch time read alouds are one of my favorite ways to build a culture of readers here at LW. On Wednesdays, I read picture books to all K-4th grade students and on Friday's I read the first chapter of a novel to all 5th-8th graders.

Readers thrive when they are surrounded by a supportive reading community. I curated this list over the last couple of years that covers a wide variety of ages, genres, topics, themes, etc. Your purchase means it will be shipped directly to the school, find its way into a classroom, and have a label with who donated it! Please make sure to include your name when purchasing.

Please feel free to share our list with family and friends! I can't wait to see where our farthest book comes from!

Our PTO meets the first Monday 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 emailed out closer to the date.

PTO updates:

Volunteer for PTO Sponsored Events-- Do you want to be involved with the PTO or would like more information? The PTO sponsors or helps with several things throughout the year and we need your help! Use this link to indicate where you'd like to volunteer. Please see the attached flyer for more information about LW PTO or attend a meeting on the first Monday of the month!

⚾ Cards, Cubs, or Wild Card SUPERFAN Day

Friday, March 22nd is superfan day! Mr. Dotson and Mrs. Pitzer will be the Cardinals biggest fans!

🔡 LW Spell-A-Thon

Attention Parents of Children in Grades K-4...your PTO is sponsoring a Spell-A-Thon again this year.

Individual Prizes: $50 Cash - highest money collected (among all participating classes)

$25 Cash - most words spelled correctly (among all participating classes*)

Classroom Prize: Treat Party- Highest amount of money collected among participating classes.

Note: each class will have 2 winners who will win a candy bar of their choice. (Class winners will be the students with the highest word correct that participated in collecting pledges.)

*in case of a tie the winner will be the child that got the most pledges and correctly spelled the most words.

Important Dates:

March 4th: Spell-A-Thon Pledge sheets are due back to your child's teacher.

March 6th/7th: SPELLING TEST DAY K-2nd! (home test - more instructions to come)

March 8h: SPELLING TEST DAY 3rd and 4th! K-2nd return test papers.

March 11th: Pledge sheets are returned so donations collecting can begin.

March 22nd: Money due to the classroom teacher in order for student to be eligible for prizes/class party

Remember

I remember attending the 2024 IDEAcon (Illinois Digital Educators Alliance) Conference with Mrs. Holt and Miss Lacy. It always feels great to get reenergized, learn, and connect.

Gratitude

I'm grateful for Mrs. Holt and Mrs. Lacy who came to a session I presented at IDEAcon called Reading is Our Only Hope where I shared ways to create and foster thriving reading communicatees at your school.

Goals

• conduct summative evaluations for staff and celebrate their growth
• continue transition meetings with out new superintendent Mr. Lamboley

~Mrs. 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