Keewahdin Elementary

Parent Updates

5-21-17

Celebrations

• We have our very first Recorder Recital scheduled for this Thursday at 5:00 pm in the cafeteria.

• Groundbreaking for the new early childhood center took place last Tuesday at McKinley. The new building will open for the 2018-19 school year.

• Our Foster Grandparents were honored at a special dinner and awards ceremony last Thursday at Alexander’s Banquet Hall. We are very thankful for their support of our students.

• The fourth and fifth grade DEA Dance Team gave a wonderful performance on Friday afternoon to showcase their learning over the last several months.

• Mr. Cook received a $200 grant from Meemic for upgrades to morning announcements. The funds will be used to purchase items such as a microphone, external webcam, extended cables, etc.

• The Book Fair was a success thanks to our parent volunteers! Thank you Mrs. Montgomery for organizing this event.

• Shoparoo - Leaders for May: 1st Place Suzanne Petrick, 2nd Place Carol Gonia (Gillis/Mrs. Driscoll), 3rd Place Kathy Alverio , 4th Place Jessica (Butler’s Class), and 5th Place Margaret Lesser.

Chili’s Give Back Event

• Chili’s will donate 20% of your food bill to the school on Wednesday, May 24th from 11:00 am to 11:00 pm. Make sure you present the flyer to get the 20% given back to Keewahdin. You can even order take out!

Library

• This will be the last week to check out books from our library.

Family Picnic

• **Special Note** There will only be one choice for lunch on Field Day, a peanut butter uncrustable sandwich. Hot lunches will not be served.

• On Field Day (Friday, June 9th) we will have a school wide Family Picnic at Keewahdin (weather permitting)! Pack your picnic basket, grab your blanket and head to Keewahdin to have lunch outside with your child on this special day. You might even want to stay after you watch your child in the morning field day activities and have a picnic with them or come early if you planned on watching your child in the afternoon.

• All students will eat outside around the building. The rear of the building will be setup for Field Day so we will use the courtyard for kindergarten, the side and front of the building will be for grades 1-5 for this event.

• Lunch will be from 11:30 - 12:15 for the entire school.

• A flyer was sent home on 5-12-17 for students and parents to indicate their lunch choice. If you (adults) would like to purchase a lunch from school, please send in the money with your slip and we will get everything setup for the picnic. We will have your ready to go and sent to your child’s class so it is ready to travel outside with them when they leave the building to join you on the lawn.

• Consider carpooling with a neighbor or friend to help alleviate parking congestion.

• You won’t want to miss this special event!

Community Fundraiser

• A fifth grade student, Douglas M., has brought an idea forward to help a second grade student, Linkyn, at Kimball Elementary. The student suffers from epileptic seizures and needs a service dog to protect him during these episodes. A seizure assistance dog costs $24,000.00 and his school was able to raise $1,807.25 towards this cost. We are going to start collecting donations for this great cause. Douglas believes it is important to help this student because even though he is not a student at our school, he is a student in the Port Huron Area School District, therefore, we are connected to him and I could not agree more. We will be collecting any types of donations possible...from coins to bills, we will accept all donations. We will see which classroom raises the most money and they will receive an extra recess. This fundraiser will begin on Monday, May 8th and end on Friday, June 9th.

• The Times Herald ran an article about this student on February 23rd. Kimball kids raise $

• Each room will collect money and the room with the most money will win an extra recess. We will have a winner from grades K-2 and 3-5.

Senior Clap Out

• We are working with the high school and parents to have the graduating seniors from Port Huron Northern come to Keewahdin for a clap out. Former Keewahdin students will be honored for their accomplishment by having our students line the hallways and clap for the graduating seniors as they walk the halls in their caps and gowns. The date and time will be announced once we have the details firmed up.

Campbell Soup Grant - Transparency

• A few months ago we received a $10,000 grant from Campbell Soup. During spring break we spent approximately $2,600 on flexible furniture for the lobby area in order to extend student learning spaces within our building. Students have been using this area daily now that we have furniture there that meets their needs. Pictures of the students using the furniture have been posted to Facebook. The remaining funds will stay in the Keewahdin bank account until we have decided how the funds will best meet our needs.

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Monday, May 22nd

• Cub Scouts/Wolf Den 5:30 -7:30 pm @ Keewahdin (Cafeteria)

• Girl Scouts Troop 70727 6:00 - 7:30 pm @ Keewahdin (Cafeteria)

Tuesday, May 23rd

Wednesday, May 24th

• Chili’s Give Back Night 11:00 am - 11:00 pm @ Chili’s

Thursday, May 25th

• Recorder Recital 5:00 - 6:00 pm @ Keewahdin (Cafeteria)

• Wolf Pack Den Meetings 5:30 - 7:30 pm @ Keewahdin (Media Center)

Friday, May 26th

• Kindergarten Field Trip to the Port Huron Museum 9:00 - 3:00 pm

• Water Safety Class for Mrs. Kiteley’s Class 9:00 - 11:30 am @ YMCA

• First Grade Talking Zoo 1:00 - 2:00 @ Keewahdin (Cafeteria)

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Monday, May 29th

• Memorial Day - No School

Tuesday, May 30th

• Husky Helper Meeting 7:30 - 8:15 am @ Media Center

Wednesday, May 31st

Thursday, June 1st

• Fifth Grade Camp

• Wolf Pack Den Meetings 5:30 - 7:30 pm @ Keewahdin (Cafeteria)

Friday, June 2nd

• Fifth Grade Camp

• Water Safety Class for Ms. Driscoll’s Students 9:00 - 11:00 @ YMCA

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Upcoming Events & Dates

5/29  Memorial Day No School

6/1 Grade 5 will be at camp

6/2 Grade 5 will be at camp

6/6 Grade 2 Pine River Nature Center comes to Keewahdin

6/7  Grade 4 to Greenfield Village

6/9  Field Day & Family Picnic

• 9:00 - 11:00 am Grades 3-5

• 11:30 - 12:15 Family Picnic

• 12:30 - 2:30 pm Grades K-2

6/13 Make Up Day for Field Day (IF rain postpones the event on 6/9)

6/15  Last day of school

Looking Ahead to Next Year

Parent Updates

4-30-17

Celebrations

• We enjoyed meeting and seeing our incoming Kindergarten students, Class of 2029, for another night of meeting, greeting, and getting to know each other on Wednesday evening.

• Safety patrol students, parents, and teachers enjoyed a late night Tiger’s game on Friday night in recognition of the service students provide our school. Thank you fifth graders for volunteering to help our school and students. Thank you Mrs. Falk for setting up this event and thank you teachers and staff members for attending also to show your support for our students.

• Mr. Yanik’s class enjoyed their visit from Chuck Santoni and Jenna Justen last Friday! Of course who wouldn’t enjoy their company, especially when they bring lots of pizza and $200! Students had an opportunity to ask Chuck and Jenna questions about broadcasting as well.

• Mr. Cook and his morning news crew students were honored at the Board Meeting last Monday evening! We are very proud of their accomplishments. The Times Herald will be at school Monday morning to interview students for an upcoming story about our new video announcements. More and more people are learning about the great things happening at Keewahdin!

• Thank you parents for attending our PTA meeting last Tuesday evening!

• Shoparoo - Leaders for April: 1st Place Nicole Taylor (Mrs. Walker’s Class), 2nd Place Carol Gonia (Gillis/Mrs. Driscoll), 3rd Place Suzanne Petrick, 4th Place Margaret Lesser, and 5th Place Carolyn Kaidan.

M-STEP

• Please make sure students get a good night’s sleep and arrive at school on time so they can perform at their very best level. Breakfast is always free and available to every student every day! Please encourage your child to grab a breakfast as they come in the door at school if they do not eat at home. Students are welcome to grab a breakfast even if they have eaten before they come to school. We know students are growing and need lots of nutrition to grow and think.

• 3rd grade will take the test on May 2nd, 3rd, 9th, and 10th.

• 4th grade will take the test on May 2nd, 3rd, 9th, 10th, and 11th.

School Carnival - May 5th

• We have a great night planned for May 5th!

• Reserve the date on your calendar and plan on having a fantastic time.

• We will have slot car racing available at the carnival for an extra fee of $1 per session. You won’t want to miss this great attraction!

• Parent volunteers are needed for this event. Please consider donating a portion of your time to this event.

Raffle Baskets

• Thank you for helping us with the raffle baskets for the carnival! If you haven’t already turned in your items, please do so as soon as possible. We are working to get all of the items put together and placed on display so everyone can get a look at what is available for winning!

Family Picnic

• On Field Day (Friday, June 9th) we will have a school wide Family Picnic at Keewahdin (weather permitting)! Pack your picnic basket, grab your blanket and head to Keewahdin to have lunch outside with your child on this special day. You might even want to stay after you watch your child in the morning field day activities and have a picnic with them or come early if you planned on watching your child in the afternoon.

• All students will eat outside around the building. The rear of the building will be setup for Field Day so we will use the courtyard for kindergarten, the side and front of the building will be for grades 1-5 for this event.

• Lunch will be from 11:30 - 12:15 for the entire school.

• You won’t want to miss this special event!

Attendance & Truancy Letters

• Reminder - Absence Limits (per trimester)

• 5 absences - notification letter sent home

• 8 absences - second letter sent home

• 9+ absences - truancy referral made to Attendance Officer

• 10 tardies - notification letter sent home

• 15 tardies - notification letter sent home

• 16 tardies - truancy referral made to Attendance Officer

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Monday, May 1st

• NWEA Testing Begins

• Cub Scouts/Wolf Den 5:30 -7:30 pm @ Keewahdin (Cafeteria)

Tuesday, May 2nd

• Husky Helper Meeting 7:30 - 8:15 am @ Media Center

• 3rd & 4th Grade MSTEP - Day 1 - ELA 8:45 - 9:35 am

Wednesday, May 3rd

• 3rd & 4th Grade MSTEP - Day 2 - ELA 8:45 - 9:25 am

Thursday, May 4th

• 3rd & 4th Grade MSTEP - Makeup Test Session

• Drugs Are Trash Pickup 3:30 - 5:30 pm @ Keewahdin (Cafeteria)

• Wolf Pack Den Meetings 5:30 - 7:30 pm @ Keewahdin (Cafeteria)

Friday, May 5th

• School Carnival 6:00 - 8:00 pm @ Keewahdin

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Monday, May 8th

• Cub Scouts/Wolf Den 5:30 -7:30 pm @ Keewahdin (Cafeteria)

• Girl Scouts Troop 70727 6:00 - 7:30 pm @ Keewahdin (Cafeteria)

Tuesday, May 9th

• 3rd & 4th Grade MSTEP - Day 1 - Math 8:45 - 10:30 am

Wednesday, May 10th

• 3rd & 4th Grade MSTEP - Day 2 - Math 8:45 - 9:45 am

Thursday, May 11th

• MSTEP - 4th Grade - Science 8:45 - 10:50 am

• MSTEP - 3rd Grade Makeup Test Sessions

• Wolf Pack Den Meetings 5:30 - 7:30 pm @ Keewahdin (Cafeteria)

Friday, May 12th

• MSTEP - 3rd & 4th Grade Makeup Test Sessions

• DEA Dance 3:30 - 4:30 pm @ Keewahdin (Gym)

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Upcoming Events & Dates

5/5 School Carnival

5/15 - 5/19 Book Fair

5/29  Memorial Day No School

6/1 Grade 5 will be at camp

6/2 Grade 5 will be at camp

6/6  2nd Grade Pine River Nature Center comes to Keewahdin

6/7  Grade 4 to Greenfield Village

6/9  Field Day & Family Picnic

6/13 Make Up Day for Field Day (IF rain postpones the event on 6/9)

Talk Moves - Home to School Connection

• We are beginning to use prompts in the classroom to have students explain their thinking. These tools support thinking, talk formats provide different ways to organize students for conversation, and ideas for creating a classroom where respect and equal access to participation are valued norms. This also creates a culture where students are actively listening to their classmates then responding to their ideas. We are teaching students how to agree and disagree with ideas not people. Wrestling with content and ideas are important while also valuing the person putting their ideas forward.

• Please take a moment to talk to your child about Talk Moves and incorporate these into your conversations to model these skills to our young learners. You may have already heard your child using these phrases and wondered where they came from. We need your help to solidify this best practice with all Little Huskies!