Fairview Falcon Newsletter April

April is a big month at Fairview, and there is a lot happening as we head into the final stretch of the school year. From MAP testing to the upcoming Summer School enrollment deadline, along with exciting events like Literacy Around the Globe, Staff Appreciation, and other end of year celebrations, there is plenty to look forward to in the weeks ahead.

This month’s newsletter is truly bursting at the seams with important information that will carry us through May, the final month of the school year. Please take a few minutes to read through it carefully and keep the link handy so you can refer back to it throughout the month.

Sincerely,

Dr. Simmons

Principal

Fairview students in grades 3, 4, and 5 will be participating in the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP). As a reminder, these results factor into the Annual Performance Reports (APRs) for our building and district alike.

Please help your child by ensuring they get plenty of sleep, eat a healthy breakfast, and arrive to school on time. Students will take the tests in their homeroom class using iPads. Testing will occur over multiple days and at different times of the day depending on the grade level. Students will only complete one testing period per day. We will not give the MAP test on Mondays due to EEE.

The tests completed by each grade are:

Grade 3- English Language Arts and Math– April 14, 15, 16, and 17.

Grade 4- English Language Arts and Math – April 15, 16, 21, 22, and 23

Grade 5- English Language Arts, Math and Science– April 28, 29, 30, May 1, 5, and 6.

*All make up tests for absent students will be administered by May 8th.

Information for families wanting to register for summer school can be found at the Columbia Public Schools Summer SUNsations website.

📢IMPORTANT NOTE📢: We are closely monitoring numbers to keep manageable class sizes for our teachers this Summer. We are getting close to capacity in the following grade levels: Kindergarten, 1st grade, and 4th grade. Don't delay-- sign up today while space is guaranteed!

New and returning students will need to follow the steps outlined above. You will be prompted to opt in or out of Summer School if the enrollment window is open.

Existing students can access the form through the CPS Families Portal.

Log into the CPS Families Portal.
Click the Campus Parent icon.
1. If you have multiple students, click on the photo of the child you are registering.
Click on ‘Documents’ from the menu.
Select the 2026 Summer School Application document under the ‘Summer School’ header.
Complete the application and sign via eSignature.
1. Only one guardian or student may fill out the application once they have opened it. After that person has signed, it will be available for all to view within the ‘Documents’ section in Campus Parent/Campus Student (high school only).

*If you don’t remember your username or password to access CPS Families Portal, please contact the Technology Help Desk.

**If you can log in but have questions about the enrollment process, please contact the school your student will attend this summer for assistance.

Come and meet your child's Summer School teachers on Thursday, May 28th between 4:30–6:00 PM

*Note: Bus routes will be available to view in Infinite Campus on May 28.

PTA will meet in the media center on Monday, April 13th at 4:30 PM. Please join us, if you're able!

Every year, FV students participate in the Shakespeare's frozen pizza fundraiser! Order forms were sent home in Friday Folders before Spring Break and are due back on Monday , April 13th

Sellers should sell from March 20th-April 10th

Shakespeare's will deliver the frozen pizzas to Fairview in the Kindergarten parking lot at 3:25PM on Friday, May 1st. Please plan to be there or to send a designee in your place as we are unable to store pizzas that do not get picked up. Thank you!

We will have an early release on Friday, April 10th, and we will dismiss at 12:50 PM. Please call the office by 10:00 AM to make us aware if you plan to change your child's method of dismissal on early release days. You can reach the office by calling 573-214-3590.

Join us as we celebrate reading, cultures, and stories from around the globe through fun literacy activities and learning experiences for our students.

More details coming soon — we can’t wait to travel the world with you on April 23rd!

Columbia Public Schools (CPS) offers two options for kindergarten enrollment:
- Online: Learn more about online enrollment
- In-Person: using a paper form and making an appointment with their home school.
You can use the school locator to determine your home school.
To be eligible for kindergarten, students must be five years old before August 1, 2026. Enrollment must be completed by April 10, 2026, to be considered for a Lottery School.
Official Birth Certificate , passport or Visa
Proof of Residence (current electric, water or gas bill, lease/house contract)
Record of Immunizations

We will begin making decisions about student/teacher placements for next school year very soon. Our goal is for each student to be placed in a classroom where their academic and emotional needs are met. Current classroom teachers provide pertinent information regarding each student in their classrooms. Counselors and learning specialists provide additional feedback, as well. Using all of the data that is gathered, teachers and administrators make the decisions regarding class assignment for each child. Classroom placement is very important and we want to consider all relevant information so that each Fairview student will be successful as they advance to their next grade level.

We welcome parent feedback before this process begins in the form of a letter. If you feel compelled to weigh-in, please send an email to Dr. Simmons by Wednesday , April 1st. Please limit your letter to the traits/qualities/characteristics of a potential teacher for your child. Additionally, if you have insight regarding your child’s strengths, weaknesses, and learning style that could help us with our placement decision, feel free to include that information in your letter, as well. All feedback that you provide us will be considered carefully by our team.

Each year, some families who feel compelled enough to share their feedback wait until July or August to do so. Making a teacher change is nearly impossible if you wait until that point to submit your feedback, so please be sure to adhere by the April 1st deadline to guarantee that your feedback is considered.

Finally, please refrain from using a given teacher's name in your letter. Requests for a specific teacher, by name, will not be considered.

Thank you!

Transfer requests must be filed with the Student Services Department by April 1. Decisions on transfers will be made by May 1, and parents will be notified by mail.

Here are the links for the Elementary Transfer Request Form and

Secondary Transfer Request Form. Simply compete, print, and send to the following address:

Columbia Public Schools
Office of Student Services
1818 West Worley Street
Columbia, MO 65203

Exception: Students cannot transfer into one of the district's lottery schools. Please click here for more information on the CPS lottery.

Varsity Sports Reminder: Under MSHSAA regulations, any high school or middle high student who chooses to attend a school other than the school in their home attendance area shall be eligible only at the sub-varsity level in all sports for 365 days from the date of tran

Many of our students need a new pair of wired headphones for the second half of the year. We loaned over 200 pair of headphones while student were taking their iReady tests over the past few weeks. Please check in with your child regarding the condition of the headphones that they use at school.

5th Grade Promotion

The ceremony will take place at Smithton Middle School on Thursday, May 14th at 6:00 PM. A small reception with cookies will take place in the cafetorium immediately following the ceremony.

5th Grade Party: Donations Needed!

Hi 5th Grade Families!

The 5th Grade Party Planning Team is on a mission to raise $2,000 to give our kids an unforgettable send-off as they wrap up their time at Fairview! We’re planning a fun-filled day on May 19 with things like a DJ, Kona Ice, treats, decorations, and more. This special tradition happens because of your generosity.

If each family gives around $30-$35, we’ll reach our goal! Every contribution helps, and some families choose to give a little extra to help. You could even cover the Kona Ice Truck ($200) or the shelter rental ($100).

Ways to give:

Venmo: @Fairview-PTA
Cash or check (sent to school labeled “5th Grade Party”)

Have a business, a connection, or another idea for contributing? We'd love to hear about it! Just reach out to Meggie.Hess@gmail.com .

We’ll also be sharing a volunteer sign-up soon. Parents/guardians are welcome to join the party, but only if volunteering, so stay tuned for that link.

Our goal is to have donations in by April 20.Thanks for helping make this such a special day for our 5th graders!

—5th Grade Party Planning Team

At the end of the school year, we will once again raffle off prizes to students who show growth on their iReady assessments. We did this last year, and it was wildly successful. Students were highly motivated, excited, and incredibly proud of their progress. We have been talking this up all year, and it has continued to encourage students to give their very best effort each time they take an assessment.

We are asking families to consider donating small items that we can use as raffle prizes during the last week of school. Unlike our larger Fairview Fever Festival prizes, we are aiming for fun, high interest items that students love. Ideas include, but are not limited to:

New packages of Pokémon cards
Magnatiles
Gift cards in the five to ten dollar range
New bubble sets
Sidewalk chalk
Outdoor play toys such as footballs or basketballs
Full sized candy bars

Thank you in advance for helping us celebrate student growth, effort, and learning. We truly appreciate your continued support of our Fairview Falcons.

If your family is moving, please notify us by completing this Google form. We greatly appreciate you keeping us informed!

We are encouraging families who are able and willing to assist their children with walking or biking to school on May 6th.

From the Gym

Hello Fairview Families!

Classes are moving right along in PE! 3-5 is finishing up volleyball skills. We’ve been playing “Keep it Up”, “Recycle the Volleyballs”, and “4 Square Volleyball” working on forearm passing, setting and serving. These are challenging skills, but games have been fun! K-2 have been playing “Locomotor 4 Corners”, “Make it Take it”, “Battleship”, “Asteroids and Spaceships” “Bulldozers and Cranes”, and “Dogs & Squirrels.” Ask them what we’ve been up to!

Please check their A,B,C,D schedule and get those tennis shoes on. Unfortunately, that schedule is ever-changing so give it a look! It’s always attached at the end of the Fairview newsletter. If they don’t have them, they may not get to participate in all of the day’s activities. There have been some situations where kids have had to sit out. Please help them be successful. It’s a real bummer if your child must sit and watch because they forgot tennis shoes.

*If you’re a 5th grade family….if you don’t have tennis shoes in middle school for PE you will lose points. Loss of points will result in a failing grade.

Finally, if you’ve been in the gym lately you might have noticed the pictures on the bulletin boards. They are of our kiddos in action!! If you wish, send me a photo of your child doing something active or being outside and I’ll get it up on the board. You’re welcome to send in a hard copy pic or email me one and I’ll get it up! Thank you to those of you who have sent in pics!

Sincerely,

Mr. Wright

anwright@cpsk12.org

From the Media Center

We have been enjoying technology this month. We’ve spent the month working on our stop motion videos. Kindergarten through 3rd graders then worked on putting their stop motion videos into the Clips app to make one long video with music, etc., while 4th and 5th graders put their videos into the iMovie app to create impressive videos with music, sound effects, etc. Many students then put their creations into Padlet(an interactive bulletin board) to share their work with other students. I love all the great things technology has to offer.

Annette Kemble

Media Instructional Aide

From Music

We had a ton of fun in the music room during the month of March which happens to be Music in Our Schools Month. To celebrate, we had a friendly song competition called Music March Madness. Teachers and staff throughout the building chose songs, and then students voted for their favorites using an elimination tournament bracket. The winning song was STARGAZING by Myles Smith chosen by 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Sirna! Students had very strong opinions about each song, and it was fun to listen to their reasoning about why one song was better than the other. We wrapped up the month with Fairview’s very own version of the Finish the Lyrics during our monthly assembly. It was a great month of celebrating music!

www.fvemusic.com /FVEFalconsMusic @FVEFalconsMusic 420 7838 788

From the Library

The Media Center has been a busy place! Thank you for your support of the Book Fair! I enjoy meeting families and seeing students that are excited about choosing books!

During library checkout time, older grades have been learning about historical fiction books. They have some favorite authors, like Alan Gratz and Jennifer A. Nielsen, and we are introducing many other authors that write about a variety of historical time periods. These books are so good at introducing important times periods to students. Younger grades are learning about fairy tales and fold tales, as well as “fractured fairy tales”. These are often amusing stories where authors change the point of view, setting or characters of well known stories.

Spring is a good time to re-visit the guidelines for taking good care of library books. Please remind your child to keep books safely away from food and drinks, pets and younger siblings, as well as store their library books in a place where they won’t get lost or keep them in their backpacks. We charge $10 for books that are lost or damaged. I appreciate your assistance!

Valerie Harre

Media Specialist

From the Art Room

In art class students have learned a lot about clay and the process it goes through to become pottery or ceramic. Some students have already gotten to take their work home and others are finishing up glazing their work to be fired again and then they can take it home! Students this year have done a fantastic job on their clay projects. Our next unit will be Still Life, each grade will focus on a different project and try some observational drawing. Thanks for continuing to support your students’ creativity! Please reach out with any questions.

Mrs. Robb

lrobb@cpsk12.org

From the Counselor

All grades and classes will be learning about careers during counselor classes in the month of April. In the younger grades we focus on community and school jobs, why people have jobs, and the basic idea that strengths and interests can help people choose jobs. Third grade discusses the roles and responsibilities of different jobs within the six career paths and connects their strengths to the career paths. Fourth grade does some hands-on activity stations to explore the six career paths. Fifth grade uses a program called Missouri Connections to research different careers and find out about future life expenses.

Below I’m including a couple resources about screen time and social media that may be of use to you.

As always, if there are ways our counseling team can support your student or family, please let us know!

Lillian Hoell

lhoell@cpsk12.org

If your child will be absent for the day, please call and report their absence or email jhouston@cpsk12.org. If we do not hear from you, we will call to check on their wellbeing.

This year, all CPS schools will be using a few different attendance codes to help track absences:

PN (Parent Notified): This code will be used when a parent contacts us to let us know their child will be absent or when Mrs. Houston reaches out and the parent confirms they were aware of the absence. Please note: PN is considered an Unexcused absence, even if we’ve been notified.
Truancy: If we are not contacted by a parent about an absence, it will be marked as Truancy. This will also trigger an automated robocall.
M (Medical): This code is used when a student is sent home by the school nurse or misses school for a doctor’s appointment. Please make sure to send a doctor’s note so we can mark the absence correctly.

Please help us avoid unnecessary congestion on Fairview Road during morning drop-off. Your cooperation keeps everyone safe and on time!

✅ Do:

Continue straight to the roundabout at Fairview & Rollins if the circle is full.
Re-enter the circle by heading south on Fairview to pull in safely.
Unload quickly and carefully to keep cars moving.

❌ Don’t: