Hello Longfellow Lion Families,

I want to take this time to Thank You for sharing your Lion cubs with all of us. They are a fun, energetic, and motivated bunch. They have a goal to raise $12,000 so they can “Cupcake the Principal!” They were so excited to jump at this opportunity! Each class that brought in over $800 was allowed to also “Cupcake a Teacher!” Several teachers volunteered to sign up for this fun event and 11 were bombarded with cupcake ingredients – yes eggs, frosting and all!

Students not only matched last year’s total of $19,261, they surpassed it by almost $2300. Our LO LIONS raised an impressive total of $21,553!!!! They were amazing to say the least and we were all so impressed with their persistence to earn the title of “GOAT” – Greatest of All Time! We may be small, but we are mighty!!!

Longfellow’s PTO strives to make this the one major fundraiser for the year, so we truly appreciate your efforts in helping your children to be a part of the team to reach the $12,000 goal. We can’t have these successful fundraising events without the support of our Longfellow families and the entire Mitchell community.
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The students were also ‘jazzed up’ for our Decade Disco last Friday evening. They boogied on down to some great music, enjoyed the photo booth, face painting, pizza, and pop. A glow necklace was handed out to each child that attended. We had such a successful night that we sold out of pizza and beverages and even the glow necklaces. We for sure surpassed our attendance from last year and will make sure to have another successful Decade Disco in 2025. We couldn’t have pulled it all together without the staff and parents helping set up, run the event, and clean up, along with our volunteers from the MHS art department -special shout out to you all!!
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The month of October is beaming with activities – “Donuts While You Browse” at the annual Longfellow Book Fair and our fall conference night. A parent or grandparent must accompany children at this event. Please see the details of this event in this edition of the October newsletter. We look forward to seeing you all at conferences on Thursday, October 24, from 3:30 – 8:45 pm and visiting with you at the many school and PTO sponsored activities throughout the school year.

As always, please contact the school with any questions or concerns. You can reach us at 995-3092.

Yours in Education,

Mrs. Heckenlaible
Longfellow Elementary Principal

We understand that families need to make doctor appointments and have family vacations. As you are scheduling those, it may help to be aware of these dates.

10/14 Mon-NO SCHOOL - Indigenous People's Day/Teacher Inservice

11/8 Fri-NO SCHOOL - McGovern Debate

11/11 Mon-NO SCHOOL - Veteran's Day

11/27-29 Wed-Fri-NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving Break

12/23-1/3 Mon-Fri-NO SCHOOL - Christmas Break

1/20 Mon-NO SCHOOL - MLK Jr. Day/Teacher Inservice

2/14 Fri-NO SCHOOL

2/17 Mon-NO SCHOOL - President's Day

3/13-3/17 Thurs-Mon-NO SCHOOL - Spring Break/Teacher Inservice

4/18-4/21 Fri-Mon-NO SCHOOL - Easter

We do the bulk of our statewide testing in April as well (3rd-5th graders). When a student

misses the scheduled testing time, we are required to reschedule for that student. Learners do

better when testing with the rest of their peers. We appreciate you doing your best to avoid

absences or leaving for appointments during those dates.

You are encouraged to fill out a free and reduced meal application at any time throughout the school year. When in doubt, fill it out. If you have not completed a new application for this school year, please do so by October 1, 2024. If you completed the 2024-2025 application already this year, then you should have already been notified of your status.

You can create an online account to monitor your child/ren’s meal account, balances, and add money to their account. Visit the district
the school website and click on

“Mealtime Online Access”

We are very proud of our attendance rates at Longfellow Elementary as we had a 97% attendance rate for the 2023-24 school year!! We have been ROCKIN' a strong 98% so far this year and went to keep that going. We want to thank our parents for continuing to bring their child/ren to school each day and on time.

Attendance is extremely important to the success of each child's education.

Thank you for making attendance and education a priority in your child's life!!

Students of the month. Not pictured, Tarissa Hagen

That can only mean one thing. Cold weather is fast approaching. Please make sure your children are dressed appropriately for the whole day. We go outside unless it is raining or the windchill is below zero. Remember that, even though they predict it will be warm, the mornings can be chilly.

Pick up and drop off can be a very stressful time for parents and students. Everyone is in a hurry and ready to move on to the next part of their day. However, safety is the most important factor! Please remember to go to the corner and cross the street with the crossing guards. Please do NOT encourage your child to cross in the middle of the street. We want to keep our students safe and set a good example.

Mitchell’s Fire Marshall Shannon Sandoval will be assisting us with our fire drill and visiting our Lions. Please remember when you turn your clocks back for Daylight Savings Time, November 6, to change your batteries in all your smoke detectors and review the escape routes with your children.

The Longfellow Lions are off to a FANTASTIC start in Physical Education! We have been busy having fun, staying active, and learning new sills!

Here's what each grade has been up to:

BK/K: locomotor skills, tag games, and boost up stations

1st/2nd grades: rhythm cardio workouts with drumsticks, locomotor skills, tag games, tossing & catching activities

3rd/4th/5th grades: locomotor skills, kickball & survivor kickball, football

PLEASE remember that students need proper shoes on gym days. Sandals, cowboy boots, snow boots, fashionable boots, flipflops, crocs, etc., are fine shoes but not appropriate for PE days.

Longfellow does not have spare shoes for students to borrow. Thank you.

Tues. Oct 1st - Walk & Roll to School

Tues. Oct 1st - PTO Meeting

Fri. Oct 4th - 5th grade band members @ Football Game

Fri. Oct 11th - Student Council Store OPEN

Sat. Oct 12th - Caring Closet Pop-up

Mon. Oct 14th - NO SCHOOL for students

Tues. Oct 15th - Free Flu Vaccine Clinic

Tues. Oct 15th - School Board Meeting

Wed. Oct 16th - Picture Retake Day

Fri. Oct 18th - End of 1st quarter

Oct. 21st-25 - Book Fair (special activities are listed in this newsletter)

Fri. Oct 25th - Student Council Store OPEN

Sat. Oct 26th - Trunk or Treat @ MMS

There are several fun events coming up in Mitchell during the month of October to help usher in fall. Please click on the Mitchell Event Calendar link below for more information. Many of those events are free for families.

The school doors open at 7:30 am. Even if it is cold or raining, we do not have staff in the building to supervise so students will wait until 7:30 am to enter the building. Likewise, our staff leaves by 3:45 and students will need to be picked up before that time. We appreciate you making arrangements to have your children dropped off and picked up within those times.

Building doors open 7:30 am

Breakfast served 7:30-8:10 am

First bell rings at 8:10 am

School begins at 8:15 am (meaning a student is tardy at 8:16 am)

School dismissed at 3:15 pm

If your child needs to leave during the school day or will come late due to an appointment, simply alert the school office at 605-995-3092. If you need to take your child out early, we appreciate you alerting the office ahead of time, if possible. Your child will remain in class until you come inside to sign them out and we will do our best to have them prepared and ready to go as quickly as possible.

Please ask your child if they have headphones for school. If you forgot to send some or they are no longer working, we have headphones in the office available for purchase for $5.00. Our lions use headphones daily.

Baseball is taking over our library as we gear up for the Book Fair. Stay tuned to our website and other social media platforms for all of the links and info as it gets closer.

Our book fair will be open Mon. Oct 21-Fri. Oct 25 in our library. Please come shop with us, in the building, from 3:30-4:00pm.

However, you can purchase books online starting Thursday Oct. 17th. What a great opportunity for family members from out of town to shop for your children!! Books make wonderful Christmas presents!!

Join us on Tues. Oct 22 and Wed. Oct 23 from 7:00-8:00am for donuts while you browse. Students must be accompanied by an adult.

Then, as long as you are attending parent/teacher conferences on Thurs. Oct 24th, stop in at the library and do a little shopping. After all of the wonderful things you are bound to hear about your lion from their teacher, they deserve a new book!!

All medications must be administered through the office. Students may keep cough drops in their lockers or desks but allergy meds, cold & flu, antacids, inhalers, etc., as well as all prescription medications will be held in the nurse's office. Please stop in to see Mrs. Snoozy, Longfellow's nurse, or call 605-995-3092 and ask for our nurse, if you have any questions.

Mrs. Snoozy's hours at Longfellow vary but she will be available at open house and will call you back should you leave a message.

Please remember that students are NOT ALLOWED to carry any medications on them (even aspirin). It is not safe to have elementary students carrying meds as we don't want them to get into the wrong hands. We are happy to keep OTC medications in the office for your child when/if they need them.

In the next couple of months, we will be screening all K-3rd graders, as well as any new students, for hearing and vision. You may receive a letter or phone call from our nurse if any results are at all concerning.

If your child had any health concerns in the past (milk allergy, asthma, etc.) our nurse may be contacting you via a letter in your child's backpack, mail or phone call to confirm. If your child HAS any health conditions we need to be aware of, please fill out the form below so we can be prepared