A Piece From The Principal's Puzzle

November

25 - 29 - Thanksgiving Holidays (NO SCHOOL)

December

2- 13 - ACAP Summative Practice

• i-Ready Mid-Year (MOVED TO JANUARY 2025)

17 - PTA Meeting (Grades K, 1, & 2 performing) at Blossomwood Cafeteria @ 6:00 pm

20 - Holiday Parties, 1/2 Day Students & End of Semester

20 - Grade 6 Choir & Band Holiday Performance @ 9:00 am at Blossomwood Cafeteria

As we approach the final month of the semester, I wanted to share with you our attendance data (through Friday, Nov. 8) for the school and each grade level. Each day counts and accumulates in a manner that either helps or hurts the amount of learning that is possible for our students. Please help us by encouraging your child to be at school each day unless he/she is sick.

As part of our Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program, we recognize students that demonstrate our P.A.W.S behavior as well as the character word of the month. The character word for October was "compassion," and according to their teachers, the following students displayed this in and out of the classrooms. Congratulations to everyone!!!

Kindergarten - Dimaris Wheel

1st Grade - Era Bradshaw & Caroline Schneider

2nd Grade - Max Moorer

3rd Grade - Angel Brown & Emerson Gerhart

4th Grade - Onna Loeb & King Erskine

5th Grade - Joshua Daniels & Cooper Grimes

6th Grade - Mariah Burt & James Williams

Mrs. Williamson’s class - Skye Winston & Aleah Winston

All of our spelling bee representatives from each homeroom in grades 3rd through 6th participated in our school spelling bee last week. Spellers who represented their homeroom class in the school-wide spelling bee were either the winner or the runner-up from their class.

Colin Orr is our school winner, and Joshua Hurst is our runner up/alternate!

Congratulations to all of our participants!

Congratulations to the following classes for winning an attendance trophy by having the highest attendance for their grade level in the month of October 2024:

Thank you to our wonderful and supportive PTA for bringing The Science Lady to Blossomwood the week prior to Thanksgiving! She provided presentations for each grade level, and our students seemed to love seeing how science can be so much fun!

• Pennies count for your favorite team.
• Silver change and dollars count against your team. Put silver change and dollars in the jar for the team you don't like; it counts against them!
• The winning team will be announced on Friday, November 22nd!
• All the money collected will be donated to A New Leash on Life.

If you are wondering who is winning at the halfway mark, Alabama has a sizeable lead.

Hello Blossomwood Elementary Families,

We have officially kicked off Kids Heart Challenge with the American Heart Association, and we need your help! Over the next few weeks students will be learning about heart health and raising awareness for the American Heart Association.

Our school's goal is for every student and family to know Hands-Only CPR and the warning signs of a stroke by signing up online and completing Finn’s Mission!

If our school reaches 50% of your enrollment to sign up online, then our school will receive an additional $500 to help purchase PE equipment.

PARENTS – HERE’S HOW TO GET STARTED

Step 1. Sign up online!

• Visit our school’s Kids Heart Challenge page: Blossomwood Elementary OR download the AHA Schools app for iPhone or Android to search for our school and sign up!

Step 2. Complete Finn’s Mission!

Why we support the American Heart Association:

When cardiac arrests occur outside of the hospital, bystanders only respond 40% of the time. 75% of cardiac arrests occur in the home. Providing Hands-Only CPR immediately can double or triple a person’s chance of survival.

Thank you for joining us and helping our community become lifesavers!

Parents are welcome to join their student during the P.E. time on Friday, November 22.

Each year we encourage our students to continue learning during the extended breaks such as Thanksgiving Break. Last Wednesday, your child should have brought home a sheet in his/her Blossomwood folder (as pictured below) with the directions for participating in the voluntary Thanksgiving Break Learning Challenge which includes a reading, math, and family event challenge.

More specifically, one ticket can be earned for completing the reading challenge, one ticket can be earned for completing the math challenge, and/or one ticket can be earned for completing the family challenge. To be clear, a student can do one, two, or all three challenges. We will be giving away several donated prizes including gift cards for ice cream, wireless headphones, etc.

Please see below for additional details.

The record sheet (on the back) for the Challenge is due on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024 to Dr. Scott. An adult signature is required at the bottom of the completed sheet.

The main function of the house system is to develop a sense of identity or belonging and to celebrate achievements. Schools with a structure or system like this cite the positive impact it has on the educational experience and school culture. Students report how it helps them form friendships and closer bonds with peers, and teachers share that students seem to enjoy seeing a connection with students in other classrooms as well as other grade levels. As a school, we also believe our new House System supports our school mission statement and vision.

During the first week of school or upon enrollment, all of our students and staff have the opportunity to digitally "spin" the wheel to randomly sort each student into one of four groups or houses — Emerald, Garnet, Onyx, or Sapphire.

Our House System is designed to:

1. Create school-wide community by creating opportunities for students to connect to staff and students in other classes and grades that share their house. Older students become natural leaders by mentoring and supporting younger students. Mentoring also extends to teachers and school staff members who are also assigned to a house.
2. Create a culture of belonging as students are recognized for accomplishments both academically as well as their choices related to behavior.
3. Emphasize building character through a reward system that goes beyond earning a piece of candy for doing something good. Each individual achievement adds to the collective house/group, making the reward hopefully more meaningful and social.
   
4. Provide opportunities to praise and accentuate positives for both individual students and collective groups of students.