Cougar Connection

Nov 11 -Veterans Day- No school Thank YOU Veterans for your service to our Nation!!!

Nov 13- Picture Retake day

Nov 14 - Ruby Bridges Campus Walk

Nov 14 - Early Release 12:30- (Fancy Dress up day)

Nov 18- PTO Meeting 5:00 in the Library

Nov 24- Grading Day- No school

Nov 25 & 26 Parent Teacher Conferences- No school (see below for more information)

Nov 27 & 28 Thanksgiving Holiday- No school

WOWZA..... Thank you ALL for coming to our FUN Family Trunk or Treat event last Friday!!

Our PTO, volunteers, community partners, and vendors made the evening something special for sure. The kids were so excited for all the fun and treats. This is the perfect example that shows how special our Yolanda Community is, always!

Giant shout out to DJ John for the light show and tunes!

We are excited that students had the opportunity to wear their costumes early this year at our Trunk or Treat event.

Students will be encouraged to wear their favorite character, sports team or occupation for October 31st. Costumes, face paint or masks will not be worn. Pretend weapons, blood or scary characters are not permitted on this day, or any other. If you are unsure about a student's choice please reach out to your teacher.
Our staff will be participating with their favorite character t-shirts!

Class parties:

Class parties will occur in the afternoon on 10/31. PTO will be providing all the yummines for our students. This year 10/31 is on a popcorn day, so PTO is providing fun mix-ins for students to have a popcorn party for their snack. If you child has specific dietary concerns, please connect with your teacher so they are aware. The snack has been updated since our last newsletter.

No School on Monday November 11th as we recognize Veterans Day. To all of those that have served we say THANK YOU!

We will be planning picture retakes on Thursday November 13th.

Please let your teachers know if your student/s need retakes. We have a picture order envelope that needs to be completed by the parent. We can send one home or you can come pick one up in the office.

If you noticed digital dots on your current photo, you can call Lifetouch and they will reprint your order and you don't need to take retakes.

Join us for our monthly Yolanda PTO Meeting in the library Tuesday November 18th at 5pm.

We are very blessed to have an incredibly involved PTO group. Please consider joining this positive, creative and dedicated group that supports so many activities and classroom enrichment opportunities.

You can also send an email to: yolandaelementarypto@gmail.com

Parent Teacher conference sign up will open on Monday November 3rd via ParentVUE. This is the same way you accessed reserving conference last year. Parents will need to log into ParentVUE to select a time to come meet with your student/s teacher. Parent conferences will be on the follow dates and times:

Tuesday November 25th 8am-8pm

Wednesday November 26th 8am-12:00pm

The week of Nov 24th is a no school week for elementary students. Through parent feedback our District Leadership team will continue to have Elementary Conferences the same week as the Thanksgiving holiday.

FOOD FOR LANE COUNTY NEW WEBSITE AND FREE FOOD FINDER!

Our beloved partners at Food For Lane County have redesigned and launched a beautiful new FREE FOOD FINDER.

Filter for partners, mobile pantries, bilingual pantries, meal sites, Produce Plus, and rural sites.

See open hours, a clear and lovely map, and so much more!

Check it out here and play around with the Free Food Finder now!

The 86 Hunger Food Aid Map is another way to see all the local options for free or low cost food aid.

Please see below for locations and times.

5. You attend our family events, concerts & assemblies 🎭

4. You keep your children home when they are sick 😷

3. You are so quick to volunteer 🙋🏻‍♂️

2. You get your children to school on time & ready to learn 🙌

1. You support your children to be the best they can be 😍

We are quickly approaching Flu season and we are experiencing multiple kinds of illnesses at school. Just a reminder, if your student isn't feeling well, please take their temperature at home. We have specific guideline we must follow for students experiencing sickness.

Vomiting/diarrhea- stay home for 24 hours after last episode.

Fever- stay home for 24 hours after it has subsided without medication. Fever is considered 100.4.

Please call the office at 541-744-6418 if your student will be out due to sickness. We will ask for the symptoms when you call.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We’re excited to share our Golden Awards program, celebrating classes that go above and beyond in following school expectations! Each month, classes have the opportunity to earn special Golden Awards in different areas:

🏆 Golden Xylophone (Music) – For outstanding participation and meeting all music expectations.
⚽ Golden Ball (P.E.) – For great participation and following all P.E. expectations.
🔔 Golden Whistle (Playground) – For classes that follow directions and freeze quickly when the whistle blows.
🍽️ Golden Tray (Cafeteria) – For classes demonstrating excellent cafeteria behavior.
🗑️ Golden Trashcan (Classroom) – For the cleanest classroom.
🪠 Golden Plunger (Restrooms) – For the cleanest bathroom.
🤫 Golden Quiet Sign (Breezeways) – For the quietest class while walking through the breezeways.

Congratulations to all of last month’s Golden Award winners! Keep up the great work, Cougars—let’s see who will take home the awards next month!

We love to find the celebrations and recognize our students as often as possible. We have several ways that we share positive feedback with our students.

Daily- Wows- students will receive a 'Wow' throughout the day from Teachers and Educational Assistants (EAs) for demonstrating that they are Respectful, Responsible or Safe in any location.

Students can 'shop' with their Wows within their classroom or can use them to vote during specific behavior boosters.

Class points- Classroom points are ongoing all the time. Students earn points as a class for meeting the expectations for all kinds of tasks. Students help the teacher decide how they want to "spend" their points. A school favorite is Pj day with stuffies.

Weekly- Cougar Paw-sitives! This year we are trying a digital award that will be sent directly to parent emails. Staff will write a Cougar Paw-sitive for going above and beyond regular expectations. Weekly all Cougar Paw-sitives will go into a drawing for a prize drawn at random in addition to receiving a digital certificate.

Monthly- Yolanda ROCKS award- ROCKS stands for Responsible, Outgoing, Courageous, Kind & Safe. We will recognize each trait twice yearly. Teachers & EAs can nominate students monthly for the focus trait. These certificates will be given to students by teachers and come home.

Citizenship- This is also a monthly certificate students are nominated by their teacher. One student per classroom will receive this recognition monthly.

Golden Awards- This is our first year of sharing Monthly Golden Awards to classes. We are excited to share another FUN way to celebrate positive behaviors for students!

These are some of the ways we continuously recognize students on campus. We know if we provide students with clear expectations and recognize positive behavior students will build confidence in their skills and try new things. Our goal is to fill their "toolboxes" with strategies so they can engage with peers and adults in a positive way, while they are at school and transfer those skills to all settings.

PLEASE swing by campus before or after school and check out our Lost and Found box in front of the gym. Our LOST & FOUND is OVERFLOWING!!!! PLEASE come check it out before or after school.

As the temperatures drop, please remember or remind your children to dress warmly for school. Layering is key—make sure they have coats, hats, gloves, and scarves. This will help keep them cozy and healthy during outdoor activities.

We are looking forward to a great November and are looking forward to meeting with our families during conference times. We will be asking parents to complete a parent digital survey after their conference that will provide our Admin team and teachers with some valuable feedback. We will drawn names of 5 students that will win a Big Town Hero lunch. We will randomly draw names from parents who complete the survey. More to come during conferences.

Many thanks,

Kari Isham Skelton

Yolanda Elementary Principal

kari.isham@springfield.k12.or.us

&

Manny Plascencia

Yolanda Elementary Assistant Principal

manny.plascencia@springfield.k12.or.us