The Patriot Press

Big reminders for SPE Families this week!

• SPLASH classes are going virtual this year and the last day to register is Monday, Jan. 25.
• Your family can build your "Can Creations" for a Harvesters donation meets friendly competition this week! We are taking donations through Jan. 28. See details in the PTO section of this newsletter.
• 2nd-5th Grades start Winter MAP testing this week.
• Kindest Kansas Citian entries are being collected this week through Friday, Jan. 29!

A Personal Note...

Hello SPE Community! I have enjoyed being a part of this amazing school. The excitement, energy and love for learning is contagious. Please feel free to reach out to me for anything you need, jjpeemoeller@bluevalleyk12.org.

Monday, Jan 25

• VirtualEd 2nd-5th (Mon. Specials)

• In-Person - Specials Day 3

• MAP Testing (2nd, 4th, 5th Grades)
  

Tuesday, Jan 26

• VirtualEd 2nd-5th (Tues. Specials)

• In-Person - Specials Day 4

• MAP Testing (3rd Grade)
  

Wednesday, Jan 27

• VirtualEd 2nd-5th (Wed. Specials)
• VirtualEd Materials Pick-up Day - Bring Valentine cards for classmates, if desired (see notes under VirtualEd section, please)
• In-Person - Specials Day 1
• LAST DAY! For Major Saver Collections

Thursday, Jan 28

• VirtualEd 2nd-5th (Thurs. Specials)
• In-Person - Specials Day 2

Friday, Jan 29

• VirtualEd 2nd-5th (Fri. Specials)
• In-Person - Specials Day 3

All SPE students have the opportunity to participate in the Major Saver fundraiser for Blue Valley Education Foundation again this year. We are intentionally keeping these efforts and promotions very low-key at school this year, as we know the extra stress of the times that many families continue to experience and would not like to unnecessarily add to that. However, we know some families treasure this traditional fundraiser so the opportunity remains for all those interested!

SPE won't be sharing frequent reminders about the fundraiser and related dates as we normally would. Therefore, if your child wishes to participate in Major Saver this this year, please make note of the following deadlines:

• Feb. 3 -- Final collection date

Please see the flyer below (linked HERE) and link below for more information on how you can participate.

Purchase Major Saver Cards by visiting www.majorsaver.com

1. Generate a CUSTOM LINK to send to friends and family by going to https://www.majorsaver.com/dynamic/
2. All cards purchased online will be mailed to customer.
3. Participating students can earn prizes for online sales.
4. Cards may be purchased from other areas.
5. Validation dates vary for each district.
6. Prizes will be delivered to school by Thursday, February 4th.

All families who are donating for the Valentine's Day class party treats, games, and/or craft....

• Please be sure all donated items are dropped off at SPE by Friday, Feb. 5th at the latest. Thanks, as always, for your support and generosity!

See SPE's Membership Toolkit for open volunteer opportunities to supply needed Valentine's party supplies.

Sign-up window begins Monday, Feb. 8th and ends Friday, Feb. 19th at 4:00 PM. Directions here

Conference Time Windows

Tuesday, Feb. 23

• 4:00-8:00 PM

Wednesday, Feb. 24

• 4:00-7:30 PM

Thursday, Feb. 25

• 8:00 AM-4:00 PM

REMEMBER: Only one conference slot is available in ParentVue for each student. For students whose parents or guardians live in different households, we ask that you attend one scheduled conference time together.

It's that time of the year already! We are collecting contact information for all students who will be kindergarten-eligible for next school year. If this applies to you, please complete the form below to ensure you are on our contact list. Also, please feel free to share with any of your friends, family, or neighbors for whom this applies. It's always exciting to start recruiting a new class of young Patriots!

• Incoming Kindergarten Contact Form

Join us for some family building fun to raise donations for Harvesters. The goal is to design and build a structure of your choice out of canned goods and non-perishable food items with your family. Snap a picture of your structure (without any family members) and we will have an anonymous vote the week of February 1st. The winner will be announced on February 8th. The winning family will win a pizza party!

After you take your picture and send it to cancreationsspe@gmail.com please come donate your cans and non-perishable food items to the Harvesters bins in front of SPE. Picture submissions for the can creation contest will be accepted from January 14th - January 30 (a couple of days after the donations are due) . The donation bins will be outside of SPE from January 14-January 28th.

You are more than welcome to make donations without creating a structure, but we would love to see your creativity!

HARVESTERS’ MOST NEEDED ITEMS

• Nonperishable Food Household/Personal Care Products
• Canned vegetables (low sodium)
• Canned fruit in 100% juice
• Canned chicken, tuna, salmon (packed in water)
• Peanut, almond or sun butter
• Canned soup (chicken, tomato or vegetable)
• Cereal – hot and cold (whole grain, low sugar preferred)
• Dried fruit (no added sugar preferred)
• Brown rice
• Whole grain pasta
• Soap
• Deodorant
• Shampoo
• Toilet Paper

*Please no glass, perishable food items, or homemade food items*

We need help from all our families this year to obtain pictures. We will have VirtualEd students included, so we will definitely have to rely on photos from home to ensure we have some great shots of all!

There are 3 ways you could share your photos:

• For the yearbook only…

• Download the Balfour app - Code: 128074

• Email to our Yearbook Chair Kati Bernard @ katilee@hotmail.com

• For any purpose, upload to this Google Folder

Please specify your child’s teacher’s name on the photo!

Please take a moment to review a new district policy that applies to all VirtualEd students in this new semester....

Beginning second semester, students should be expected when distance learning to turn their cameras ON when they are participating in live Zooms with their teachers. When students are uncooperative over three class periods, teachers should plan to contact parents to share the expectation. This expectation assists with engagement, monitoring of students as learners, benefits student to teacher connections, and creates ease and increased accuracy when it comes to taking attendance. If after talking with the parent the teacher needs to make an accommodation to this expectation for a student, that decision is between the teacher and parents. Teachers should plan to be clear with students of this expectation.

***** UPDATED *****

Second Semester Pick-up Dates:

February 3

• If your child wishes to hand out Valentine cards, please bring the cards with you on this pick-up date. Please ensure it is clear which teacher/class the cards belong to on the outside packaging and yet please do not put individual student names on the cards. Thank you for helping give our students as much of a traditional school Valentine experience as possible!

February 10

• This is a bonus day for classes taught by SPE teachers. It is ONLY to pick-up Valentines cards and Valentine class party supplies (for Friday, Feb. 12).

February 24

March 24

• This is a month from last pick up date because of Spring Break.

April 14

May 5

May 26

• This is the week before the last week of school, but it could allow for pick up for yearbooks or summer school materials.

On pick-up dates, your teachers may be available to hand out supplies at these times below. (Check with your teacher directly to know for certain.) Otherwise, families are welcome to pick-up contactless at the times shown in the following paragraph ....

• 9:00-10:00 AM - Mrs. Kurimsky's 2nd grade class

• 10:00-11:00 AM - Mr. Bartel's 3rd grade class

• 11:00 AM-12:00 PM - Ms. George's 5th grade class

• 1:00-2:00 PM - Mrs. Palmer's 4th grade class

• You are welcome to a complete a contactless pick-up of your supplies during any of the following time windows, though your teacher will not be available during these times:

• 7:30-8:00 AM

• 9:00 AM-2:45 PM

• 4:00-4:30 PM

--------------------

Pathways - The following Fridays from 1:30-2:45 PM are the second semester dates for Pathways sessions:

• Feb. 12
• Mar. 12
• Apr. 30
• May 21

We would love to have our VirtualEd students better represented on the daily announcements! In order to do so, we are asking all interested VirtualEd families to video themselves reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and upload the video here so we can include it in the announcements.

Instead of having a day off of school for inclement weather conditions this school year, school will continue in a virtual format on inclement weather days for all students. This model is intended to reduce the chances of having to extend the calendar for the 2020-2021 school year.

In-Person --> Teachers are preparing for a snow day schedule of learning with at least two live check-ins via Zoom and asynchronous work that can be done from home.

VirtualEd --> The schedule for VirtualEd classes will match those of in-person classes on these days when in-person learning is canceled, and, thus, the day will NOT match classes' regular daily schedules. All specials classes will be asynchronous.

Monday, Feb. 1

• VirtualEd 2nd-5th (Mon. Specials)

• In-Person - Specials Day 4

• MAP Testing (2nd, 4th, 5th Grades)
  

Tuesday, Feb. 2

• VirtualEd 2nd-5th (Tues. Specials)

• In-Person - Specials Day 1

• MAP Testing (3rd Grade)
  

Wednesday, Feb. 3

• VirtualEd 2nd-5th (Wed. Specials)
• VirtualEd Materials Pick-up Day - Bring Valentine cards for classmates, if desired (see notes under VirtualEd section, please)
• In-Person - Specials Day 2
• LAST DAY! For Major Saver Collections

Thursday, Feb. 4

• VirtualEd 2nd-5th (Thurs. Specials)
• In-Person - Specials Day 3

Friday, Feb. 5

• VirtualEd 2nd-5th (Fri. Specials)
• In-Person - Specials Day 4

With cold and flu season arriving and local COVID cases climbing, it is extra important for families to call Nurse Ayres at 913-239-7500 or email her at sayres@bluevalleyk12.org BEFORE sending your child to school if they are experiencing ANY of the symptoms shown in the image below. If you are unable to reach the nurse before deciding whether to send your child to school, please email her to let her know of your child's symptoms so that she can check in with your child when he or she arrives at school.

A single symptom does NOT necessarily mean your child will need to miss school; however, double-checking may save others from being exposed and/or having to quarantine. This can make a BIG difference for ALL, including keeping teachers and students in school!