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At South Elementary School, we are a learning community nurturing a culture to provide students the skills necessary to be active, productive, and responsible citizens while empowering students through communications.

November 4 Picture Retakes

November 5 ILEARN Checkpoint 3rd Grade ELA

November 5 PTO meeting 5PM

November 7 PTO After School Movie

November 8 End of Midterm 2

Week of November 11 Book Fair

November 11 Veterans Day Program 10AM

November 13 Safety Matters

November 13 Midterms Posted

November 13 PTO Fundraiser Delivery Date

November 14 Grandparent/Family Night & Title I workshop 5:30-7:00

November 18 Elementary Area Spell Bowl at Centerton

November 19 LEAP Club Field Trip to City Hall after school

Week of November 25 Thanksgiving Break

Week of December 2 PTO Food Drive

December 2 PLTW 3rd grade learning trip

December 3 PTO Meeting 5PM

December 10 4th grade field trip

December 12 Winter Concert for Grades 1 and 3 at 6:30PM

December 13 Grade 3 caroling 9:30AM

December 20 Polar Express Day; Winter Parties

December 20 End of 9 weeks

December 23-January 3 Winter Break

What is digital Citizenship? All students need digital citizenship skills to participate fully in their communities and make smart choices online and in life. Students will be engaging in lessons in October and November to help prepare them more with the skills they need for digital citizenship.

Retake Picture Day is 11/04/2024!

If you're satisfied with your child's picture, no further action is required.

If you purchased and were unhappy with your Picture Package, please send your Picture Package to school with your student on Retake Day. Your Retake Picture Package will be produced and shipped to the school four weeks after Retake Day. Please note, if your child is photographed on the original and Retake Picture Days, the Retake picture will replace the original picture in certain products, like the yearbook.

Students who were absent for Picture Day should come to school prepared to have their picture taken. If you have not pre ordered, please use the Retake Order Code 86762XF to place your order at https://inter-state.com/Order. To see your Order History, check your Inter-State Account.

Find answers to Retake Day questions here.

Get ready—the Scholastic Book Fair is coming to our school! This is a great opportunity to connect

with your child over the thrill of bringing home new books to dive into again and again. Studies show that kids read more when they choose books for themselves. And fostering a love of independent reading leads to a wide variety of benefits—including academic success and improved mental health.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Book Fair:

Dates: November 11- November 15

Location: South Elementary Library

Family Event schedule and location: Grandparent/Family Night, November 14th 5:30-7PM

There’s even more info on our school’s Book Fair homepage: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/southelementaryschool44

While you’re there, set up a Book Fair eWallet, the digital payment account that allows your child to

shop for books at the Fair without cash. Then share your eWallet link so friends and extended family

can add funds.

When you fund an eWallet, you’ll have the opportunity to contribute to a giving initiative called

Share the FairTM. Your contributions directly support our students who need help buying books

from the Fair.

Many of us still remember the rush of finding the perfect book at a Scholastic Book Fair. I hope you’ll

join your child at our school’s Fair and share a reading experience they’ll remember forever.

In November, our school will be partnering with the Monique Burr Foundation for Children, a leader in abuse and bullying prevention, to implement their comprehensive, evidence-based prevention program called MBF Child Safety Matters®. Students receive two fun, engaging, and developmentally appropriate classroom lessons that educate and empower them to prevent, recognize, and respond appropriately to bullying, cyberbullying, all types of child abuse, digital abuse, and other digital dangers. A trained facilitator will be implementing the program in classrooms. Parents will receive information and materials as students participate in the lessons. To learn more about the program or about child safety, visit www.mbfpreventioneducation.org or download the mobile app, “Child Safety Matters,” available at no cost from the App Store or Google Play.

The Robotics Team has started practices and are gearing up for competitions this year! Mrs. Willard is the coach.

Spell Bowl is an academic team made up of third and fourth graders. Spell Bowl practices are underway. The competition is November 18th. Mrs. Scrougham is the coach.

South Elementary high ability students meet monthly after school for LEAP (Learning Enrichment Activities Program) Club. Thank you, Mrs. Hostetter and Mrs. Durbin, for leading this club! Thank you to the parents that helped with this project. They scooped out pumpkins, baked the seeds, and learned about the history of pumpkins.

• To report an absence for your child, please call the office at

(765) 349-1486 by 9:00AM. If you do not call the school by 9:30 a.m. and report the absence, the school messaging system, someone from the school, or the attendance officer may be calling your home. Please call in so that the day is an excused absence.

• A doctor visit should be documented with a statement from the doctor so that it can be entered in the school data system. Doctor statements should be faxed to 765-349-5247 or given to the office. We need this documentation to mark it as an excused absence.

• We ask that you not keep a child out of school for the entire day for a doctor or dental appointment.

• If a child is sent home with a fever of 100.4 degrees or over, he/she is not to return to school until fever free for 24 hours without fever medication. If the student is sent home from the clinic, it will be marked as an excused absence through the clinic.

Regular attendance is essential for children to be successful in their educational endeavors. Students are bound by the requirements of the Indiana Compulsory Attendance Laws. Students are expected to attend school regularly and be on time for classes in order to benefit from instructional programs and develop responsible personal habits that are respected in society and therefore a part of the educational process. Please make sure students arrive on time. The morning bell rings at 8:40AM to start class. It rings at 9:40AM on Wednesdays to start class for grades K-4.

*Complete details of attendance procedures and guidelines can be found in the student handbook.

Attendance Guidelines

• AUTHORIZED ABSENCES: If documentation is not provided, these absences will be recorded as unexcused absences. Documentation does include calling into the office.

• DOCUMENTATION: All legal or medical documentation must be submitted within 5 days for the absence to be recorded as excused. The school’s fax # is 765-349-5247.

Please call in or send a doctor note for the attendance to be excused.

Attendance Letters & DCS Notification

• Attendance letters are generated and sent via email on the 5th unexcused absence, 10th unexcused, and 18th unexcused absence.

• Under IC 20-33-2-25, the school must notify DCS when a student reaches 10 unexcused absences. See additional information below.

Under IC 20-33-2-25, the “Superintendent or an attendance officer having jurisdiction shall report a child who is habitually absent from school in violation of this chapter to an intake officer of the juvenile court or the department of child services. The intake officer or the department of child services shall proceed in accord with IC 31-30- through IC 31-40.”

Everyone should report abuse or neglect. The reporting and investigating of suspected child abuse and neglect are not discretionary matters. They have been required by law (IC 31-33-5-1) since 1979.

Do Report When...

• Students have reached ten (10) or more unexcused absences.

• Educational neglect is suspected

• Students are missing and unaccounted for

On Wednesday mornings, staff will be participating in professional development to improve student learning and success.

Therefore, for grades K-4 doors will open at 9:25AM with school starting at 9:40AM. Contact the South office if childcare is needed from 8:25-9:25.

PreK will still be at normal time on Wednesdays. Doors will open at 8:25AM and school will start for PreK at 8:40AM on Wednesdays.

Federal funding has been made available through school-wide Title I services to South Elementary for the purpose of providing students with extra support in reading and language arts. This extra support is available for all students at South Elementary. Classroom teachers, Title I teachers, and instructional assistants will provide assistance in reading, language arts, and math through small group and individual instruction as children demonstrate need for support. Please contact Jessica Shanafelt at 765-349-1486 Ext. 1654 with any questions about support your child may receive.

Anyone wishing to volunteer in the classroom, help out with parties, or attend a field trip must have a background check completed before participating. This process can take time so please contact the office at least two days before your scheduled event. Request made at the last minute may prevent or delay participation in an event.

We were happy to be able to present a check to the Pemberton family for $1,000 from our coin wars. Ella's sister, Emerson, accepted the check. Than you to everyone who donated. We are sending positive thoughts to Ella and her family!

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*Please contact the office if you need this information provided in another language.

Website: https://msdofmartinsville.org/south-elementary/
Location: 500 Artesian Ave, Martinsville, IN, USA
Phone: 7653491486
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SouthElementarySchool
Twitter: @southdolphins1