Cougar Courier

The K-5 Fall Classroom parties will be on NOVEMBER 1 from 2:30-3:45. Your student's classroom teacher will be reaching out with more details.

Friday, October 25

5:30-7:30 P.M.

Rain or Shine.

Rain location: Gym

Would you like information for sponsorship opportunities? Reach out to find out more information!

Sign up to help out! We need help from set up, to running games, hayrides -- and much more! Signing up for ONE shift helps make this event run smoothly.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094CACAE2CAAFFC52-51735330-fall

Throughout the month of October we will be focusing on and practicing with our students safety protocols and basic preparedness. What does this look like?

1.We will use our morning announcements to push out reminders and to review our evacuation, lock down and shelter in place procedures.

2. Teachers will create time to discuss emergency drills and protocols.

3. We will practice a school wide evacuation drill in October.

4. Teachers will guide students through our various safety procedures and protocols (show maps, shelter in place location, etc. )

5. The local fire department will also visit on 10/11

Our safety motto is LISTEN -- PRACTICE -- PREPARE. The safety of our entire learning community is a top priority. While we highlight many safety items in October, safety is something we continually practice and present in conversations with staff and students, push out in announcements etc. so that we all know what to do and know where to go in the event of an actual emergency.

We will also celebrate RED RIBBON WEEK during October that focuses on our personal safety and well-being.

PROJECT PLAYGROUND:RECONFIGURE and REPLACE.

We are wanting to reconfigure the shape of the large play area (shown above) and and remove some of the pieces and replace them with new pieces. There are also plans to research possible options to resurface both playground areas with something other than gravel. The plan is to fundraise to help make this plan a reality. We will need approximately $16,000- $19,000 to complete the project.

The committee will be looking for community members to help with the reconfiguring phase as we hope to save money on that part. Do you want to lend a hand or have resources to make this happen? Please reach out and let us know. In the coming months we will have a list of jobs needing done and things we need to make this plan a reality.

The changes our parent group provided this year have been OUTSTANDING! The survey we sent out to students showed that our students LOVE what has been done so far and the entire student body looks forward to the completion of this project.

A big shout-out to these September Students of the Month and Staff Member of the Month for embodying the value of responsibility! Whether it's completing tasks without being asked, lending a hand to a friend, or taking care of personal and school responsibilities, they continue to set a high standard for responsibility in our school. Congratulations to the following individuals:

Outlined in our handbook and in your conversations with your child's teacher, you may have seen the process we use when student's are struggling with our behavioral expectations. It is called the BIST (Behavioral Intervention Support Team) model and our staff has been trained and continues to grow in our ability to address student behavior and help create sustainable change. For the past decade we have partnered with Cornerstones of Care and implemented this process with our learning community.

We want to use our newsletter each month to share the framework of our behavior management and how we strive to meet the needs of students who are missing skills or have a need. Here is the basic foundation of what we operate as we guide students each day.

1. Early Intervention (When)

Utilizing the expectations that it's never okay to be disruptive to learning (it’s always ok to be a good learner) or hurtful (it’s always ok to be kind) allows adults to intervene consistently with all students. A student will be asked one time per activity to stop a behavior that is disruptive or hurtful. Adults will intervene in a quick, kind, calm, firm and close manner if a student cannot meet this expectation.

2. Caring Confrontation (How)

Caring Confrontation is a language of partnership when intervening with a student’s disruptive or hurtful behavior. With the intent of creating awareness of the situation and one's actions, Caring Confrontation provides the student with an opportunity to meet the set standard and partner with the adult.
∘ “I see …" (disruptive behavior)
∘ “Can you …" (desired behavior)
∘ “Even though …" (student’s feelings)

3. Protective Plan (What)

Protective Plans provide an opportunity for the adult and student to identify a missing skill and partner together to develop the skill. Teaching replacement skills and practicing the Goals For Life helps students manage their behaviors and move toward making life changes. Protections to restrict the student from what they can’t manage is often significant to start the process of life change.

4. Outlasting the Acting Out

Maintaining a relationship and restrictions while guiding the student to identify their level in the Continuum of Change (Noncompliance, Compliance, Partnership, Independence) until the student is able to partner with and be coached by adults.

Each month we will share different aspects of the BIST program and highlight some of the aspects and benefits. Our staff deeply values our partnership with Cornerstones of Care and are appreciative of the training and support we receive throughout the year.

Parent Booster Group -- Check us out!

October 2 Cougar Cheer Club

October 2 Parent Booster Meeting

October 8 Outdoor Kids Club

October 9 Cougar Cheer Club

October 10 Center Stage Drama

October 16 Art Club (5th-8th)

October 18 First Quarter Ends

October 21 Parent Teacher Conference

October 22-25 RED RIBBON Week Spirit Week

October 22 Outdoor Kids Club

October 23 Cougar Cheer Club

October 24 Center Stage Drama

October 25 Fall Festival

October 30 STUCO

November 1 K-5 Fall Parties