The Eagle Soars

Email: dupreet@usd231.com

Website: https://www.usd231.com/o/sunflower

Location: 775 North Center Street, Gardner, KS, USA

Phone: 913-856-3700

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sunflower-Elementary-2134875270174250/

Twitter: @SEEagles231

August 25: PTO Family Movie/Game Night @ 6:30 pm (see flyer below for more information)

August 29: Fall Picture Day

September 4: Labor Day NO SCHOOL

September 5: Site Council Meeting 6:00 pm @ Sunflower Library

PTO Meeting at 7:00 pm

September 13: First Early Dismissal

September 22: PTO Color Run

• Dinner 6:00 pm
• Run 7:00-7:30 pm

Order online by going to www.strawbridge.net and use the order code FM420875.

1. Please label your child's backpack, lunch boxes, and water bottles! Multiple students have the same items, so please help us and your students by labeling those items!

2. Please watch this ARRIVAL CAR LINE video if you drop your child off at school.

3. If your student HAS DIFFERENT DISMISSAL INSTRUCTIONS, please call the office as soon as possible. If change of dismissal instructions are received after 3:00 pm, we can do our best to relay the message to your student.

4. Early release starts Wednesday September 13th.

5. If your student is tardy or coming back from an appointment, sign them in at the office! Please do not drop them off and have them walk in by themselves!

Early release Wednesdays starts September 13th, 2023. Please see the district calendar published on the website and linked below for all of the scheduled early dismissal Wednesdays and other inportant dates for the school year.

USD 231 2023-2024 Calendar

Sunflower Office staff are still working to contact each family with a student enrolled in elementary school to confirm their plans for Early Release. If your receive a phone call from Sunflower, please call us back!

If you have questions about Early Release, please visit the USD 231 website at this link: https://www.usd231.com/o/district/page/early-release

Please ensure your child knows how he or she will get home each day. We have walkers exiting out the front, back, and side doors as well as car riders in the front car loop line. If your dismissal plan changes from the normal plans, please email your child's teacher and call the office before 3:00.

Have you wondered how breakfast works at Sunflower? Watch the video for more details!

Breakfast is served in the cafeteria from 8-8:15. Anyone arriving after 8:15 will get a Grab-N-Go breakfast to eat in their classroom.

Breakfast Video

Sunflower Elementary will be conducting school wide screenings on the following dates: Hearing screens will be done Monday, August 28. Vision screens will be conducted Friday, Sept. 8, 2023. Hearing will be checked for 1st and 3rd graders. Vision will be checked for 2nd and 4th graders. Pre-K and Kindergarten will get both hearing and vision screened. Pre-K will not be part of the school wide screening dates and will have their screenings done at a later date. Periodic hearing and vision screenings are required by the state of Kansas for school districts. You will only be notified of results if your child’s screening warrants follow up or referral. If you prefer your child opt out of screening, please send a signed written note to school or email me personally prior to this date. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. Thank you!

Back to school can be a stressful time for everyone. Mrs. Gabriel has lots of resources on her padlet. Click on the picture to see what is available!

Dear Sunflower Families:

Welcome to the Lit Lab otherwise known as the Sunflower Library! I am very excited about working with your sons and daughters during the coming year. I try both to support the regular classroom curriculum and to develop a love of reading. We will have structured daily read-alouds and learn information literacy skills. I will help students learn about the resources available to families from both our local Johnson County Public Library and the State Library of Kansas - which are all free!

I use the first weeks of school to teach about what to do in a library and how to be responsible for a library book. To help your child practice responsibility, I suggest that you read your book together and then put it right back in their backpack, ready to go back to school. This will help your child know where their library book is when it is time to check it in and keep it safe from pets, food and water. Please try to keep their water bottle out of their backpacks so that our books can stay safe.

I would like to hear from you and to have your input as I work with your children. Every child and family is different so let’s work together to make sure your child is choosing the right book: not too long, not too short, not too scary, not too silly, not too mature, etc. Please don’t hesitate to return a book that you don’t think is right for your child or to contact me with any questions or concerns. We’re on an ABCD rotation so your child will have Library every four days or so but if your child hasn’t finished reading their book by the time their next Library day rolls around, they are welcome to keep reading!

Be sure to follow and like our Sunflower Lit Lab Facebook page so you can keep up with our many activities throughout the year. And if you would be interested in coaching a Novel Navigators team, helping out during the Book Fairs, or donating some of your time as a library volunteer, I would also be glad to hear from you!

Julie Rains, MEd/MS

Teacher Librarian

Sunflower Elementary School

913.856.3734

Have you recently taken an amazing trip or have lived somewhere other than the Midwest? We would like to highlight the location on our new segments during announcements...World Wide Wednesday! Reach out to Mrs. Rains (rainsj@usd231.com) or Mr. Prall (prallg@usd231.com) with photos and we will do the rest.

Watch this video for our latest example. Share Your Travels Video

Hello, Sunflower Families!

We are introducing a change to how we are handling Sunflower’s Got Talent this school year. There will be two in-person talent shows on Wednesday, December 13th, and Thursday, May 16th. More information about those talent shows will be available at a later date. Video talents have been very popular in the past, so we will be introducing a new weekly segment to our morning announcements: Talent Tuesday! Rather than two opportunities per year to submit a video talent, students will be able to send in videos throughout the school year to be premiered on Talent Tuesdays. We are requesting the length of the videos be no more than a minute to keep the announcements at a reasonable length. Additionally, parents are asked to review any content or media within the videos to ensure that they are school appropriate. Videos deemed inappropriate will not be premiered and families with rejected submissions will be informed as to the reason why. All videos can be sent to Mr. Prall at prallg@usd231.com. Any questions regarding Sunflower’s Got Talent, or Talent Tuesdays can be directed to Mr. Prall as well. I am excited to share this new opportunity with our students and I look forward to all of the amazing talents we will get to experience this school year!

Mr. Prall

We are pleased to share that the functionality of single sign-on for online meal payments through MySchoolBucks has been restored in the web version of the PowerSchool Parent Portal. The corrected plug-in was installed this morning and should be visible in your PowerSchool account on the left-hand navigation pane.

If you had previously set up your single sign-on (SSO) within PowerSchool, you will likely need to re-sync your accounts by clicking the "Get Started" button in the upper right hand corner. A pop-up window should run in the background and will take 10-15 seconds to refresh your PowerSchool portal. Once you see student name(s) in the window with account balances, the accounts are ready to use seamlessly within the portal.

If you have never set up your single sign-on, please follow the instructions at this link for details. Please allow up to 24 hours before online payments to be accepted the first time.

You may also visit the myschoolbucks.com website instead of going through the PowerSchool portal. Both methods will work!

Just a reminder that this functionality is NOT available in the PowerSchool Parent app for mobile devices. You will need to download the MSB Parent app separately to manage your students' meal accounts on your mobile device.

We appreciate your patience as our vendors worked through this programming issue. Please contact our office at nutrition@usd231.com if you need additional assistance.

Amy Droegemeier, SNS, MBA
Director of Nutrition Services
USD 231 Gardner Edgerton
nutrition@usd231.com

IF YOUR STUDENT...

...HAS AN EXCUSED ABSENCE due to illness, appointment, funeral or family emergency, please email the attendance line SEattendance@usd231.com as soon as possible. If we haven't heard from parents by 9:00 am, we will call to check on your child. You can also call in student absences to the absentee line at 913-856-3749.

...WILL BE LATE TO SCHOOL, please let our office know ahead of time (if possible). When your student arrives at school, they will need to stop by the office first, and the secretaries will give them a hall pass.

...WILL BE ABSENT BECAUSE YOU'RE GOING OUT OF TOWN, this is considered an UNEXCUSED absence, unless preapproved by Dr. Jones. Please do not just tell the teacher! Please request approval in writing by emailing Dr. Jones at jonesja@usd231.com.

...NEEDS TO LEAVE SCHOOL EARLY, you can call to let us know you are on your way, but students will not be called out of class UNTIL a parent is present to sign them out. Please plan ahead for appointments, as we would like to minimize missed class time. You will need to come into the office to sign your student out. You won't be able to park outside and call us to send your student out to you.

...HAS DIFFERENT DISMISSAL INSTRUCTIONS, please call the office as soon as possible. If change of dismissal instructions are received after 3:00 pm, we can do our best to relay the message to your student.

AND LAST, BUT NOT LEAST...

If you notify your student's teacher of an absence, please also let the office know. Everybody's lives are crazy and busy...everybody's human...everybody can forget to forward an email on to the appropriate person. So, if you send an email to your student's teacher about an absence, please "cc" Terra (dupreet@usd231.com) and Janet (mcconvillej@usd231.com). That way, at least one of us gets the email and gets it taken care of right away. Thank you!!

This is just a reminder that each and every visitor will need a Government ID (Driver's License) with a photo to enter Sunflower. At the office door, visitors will request access by pushing a button and following the directions on the entry point signage.

Over the summer, USD 231 implemented another measure to ensure the safety of our students and employees. That action is the installation of the visitor management system, Raptor. Raptor will scan a valid government ID and immediately report if there is any reason for the individual not to be in the building. Once the background is checked, the printer attached to Raptor will print out a visitor badge with the picture from the ID.

Although this might be a minor inconvenience for visitors, the safety of our students and employees is paramount.

To learn more about the Raptor system, click HERE.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

If you need to drop off something for your student, for example, their lunch, there is a table in the vestibule available for parents to leave items. Just make sure to notify the front office who the item(s) are for.

Our Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) has been an integral part of Sunflower Elementary for many years. Through fundraisers and fun events, they are able to provide funds to teachers, classrooms, and the school.

We invite everyone to join the Sunflower PTO Facebook page. By searching "Gardner Sunflower PTO" under Pages, you will be able to join the group and receive updated PTO information.

https://sites.google.com/view/gardnersunflowerpto/home

Please contact John Yockey (Head GEHS Cheer Coach), with any questions you may have.

phone: 913.856.2678 email: yockeyj@usd231.com

Great news! Due to funding from KSDE, USD 231 will again be able to provide At-Risk Preschool for 3 and 4 year olds (the program was slated to end but we received word last week our district would be able to qualify).

USD 231 will be providing At-Risk Preschool for 3 and 4 year olds during the 2023-24 school year. The program will be held at Moonlight, there will be an AM and PM section, and students will attend M, T, Th, F with transportation provided. We will be able to have 10 students in the morning and 10 students in the afternoon.

If families are interested, please contact Angie Plank at 856-2030.

Students need to meet one of the following criteria:

1. Poverty (Preschool-Aged At-Risk) Qualifies for free meals under the National School Lunch Program /KSDE Household Economic Survey on September 20, 2021.

2. Single parent families; Custodial parent is unmarried on the first day of school.

3. Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) referral

4. Teen parents - one parent was a teenager when the child was born.

5. Either parent is lacking a high school diploma or GED

6. Limited English Proficiency

7. Lower than expected developmental progress in at least one of the following areas: cognitive development; physical development; communication/literacy; social emotional/behavior; adaptive behavior/self-help skills

8. Child qualifying for migrant status

9. Child experiencing homelessness

The Kansas Education Enrichment Program (KEEP) provides qualifying parents and guardians with a $1,000 award per eligible student to pay for a variety of educational goods and services that promote learning and facilitate academic enrichment opportunities.
Why should families apply for KEEP?

• No fees to apply or participate in the program
• Multiple students per household can apply
• Online Education Marketplace with service providers that offer qualified goods and services
• Use awards on camps, classes, tutoring, and even school supplies and technology

Download and share our flyers in English and Spanish!

The GESD recognition program has been established to recognize students and employees who exceed expectations.

"Gardner Edgerton Students of Distinction" (GESD) nominees can be any current student in the Gardner Edgerton School District who exemplifies traits of outstanding character and serves as a positive influence on their peers and the community-at-large.

"Great Employees Serving the District" (GESD) nominees can be any certified or classified employee in the Gardner Edgerton School District who exemplifies traits of outstanding customer service and is a positive influence on students, parents, co-workers or members of the community. The award will be presented on a weekly basis.

Answers to a few questions you may have:

• Nominations from previous years have been removed from the database.

• Even if a student or staff member has been selected as a GESD in previous years, they are again eligible.

  
  

We will recognize our first student and staff member sometime in September. This will allow time for nominations to be submitted.

Nominate a deserving STUDENT by clicking HERE.

Nominate a deserving EMPLOYEE by clicking HERE.

The Gardner Public Library is hosting an in-person Tween Book Club at Gardner Library this Fall. The first meeting is September 9th! The book club is targeted at kids 9-13 years old. Students can pick the book up at the Library and it will be theirs to keep. Snacks will be provided! The book for September is Play Like a Girl by Misty Wilson. (It is a Graphic Novel.) No registration necessary. By picking up the book, you are agreeing to come back on Saturday, September 9th to discuss it with other kids.