The Rice Reporter
September 4, 2026
Sept 7: No School (Holiday)
Sept 18: Teacher In Service No School for Students
We are so happy to be back to school! Please make sure you are connected on Seesaw to your child’s classroom. Seesaw is your online connection to our classroom and a communication tool with your child’s teacher. We will post pictures, school work and information on Seesaw often. If you are having trouble connecting, please reach out to your teacher.
We are starting the Wonders reading program, the month of September will be spent introducing all the letters. We will read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, focusing on the importance of letters and why we need the alphabet. Names, Names, Names, in the book Chrysanthemum, we learned how special each of our names are. We will be practicing writing our names with an uppercase letter and the rest lower case. In Math we will read Chicka, Chicka, 1, 2, 3, discussing what math is and where we find numbers every day in our lives. We will be focusing on numbers 0-5 during the month of September. In science we will be learning about the needs of plants and animals. The unit begins with exploring Monarch butterflies and the importance of milkweed.
Welcome back! It’s been a great start to our school year in first grade! First grade students have been working hard learning their new classroom expectations and routines. We are working on getting to know one another and build strong classroom communities.
As we settle into September, we will begin our first unit in reading. We will study short vowels /a/, /i/, and also words with l-blends. Our comprehension focus areas will include visualizing while reading, asking questions before, during, and after reading, and identifying story elements such as characters, settings, and story events. This month, we will work on our handwriting skills including printing letters neatly, accurately, and attending to size and line orientation.
First graders will soon begin our first topic in math, basic addition. Our social studies instruction will include the importance of being a good citizen who follows rules and expectations. We will use this time to review our school wide “Every Bubbler Cares” program! Students have the opportunity to earn “Bubbler” tickets when showing our CARES expectations- cooperation, accountability, respect, empathy, and self-control. This month, science will focus on the spinning Earth. This includes but is not limited to the patterns of daytime and nighttime, the sky from different places, why and how Earth spins, and the four seasons. The first-grade teachers are looking forward to a wonderful month (and year) with our students!
Welcome back to another school year! The second-grade teachers are so excited to welcome back our students for another year of learning and fun!
As we kick off this school year, please be sure that you are connected to your child’s teacher through Seesaw. This is a great way to communicate throughout the year, and also a place where you can see some of the work your child is completing in school. Also, please be sure that you have filled out any important forms on Sapphire that may be needed and updated any personal information that may have changed.
In the classroom, second graders will be learning and practicing the new routines and expectations for second grade and getting to know their teachers and classmates. We will review our Every Bubbler Cares expectations, too!
During math, we will be learning different addition and subtraction strategies that allow us to become more fluent with our math facts. During reading, we will be using visualization while reading and learning about story elements found in fiction stories. We begin spelling with a review of short vowels and blends. Our first science unit has us “traveling” to the Bengal Tiger Reserve as we begin to learn about plant and animal relationships. During writing, we are learning how to use POQ (part of the question) and what makes a sentence. We will also learn different types of sentences and the correct punctuation for each.
Don’t forget about Bubblethon! Packets with more information will be coming home later this month. Let’s see how much we are able to raise this year!
All About Bubblethon
The SMPTO is beginning our annual Bubblethon fundraiser on September 10th. The Bubblethon is a way for us to collect funds which are used to coordinate exciting events at the schools, help lower cost of class field trips, and so much more!
Bubblethon will start September 10th and continue through September 25th, so there is plenty of time to donate! When fundraising begins, click on This Link ', enter your Bubbler’s name in the 'Search for Participant' box, then click 'Donate Now' on your Bubbler's page. This counts toward their individual and school goal!
Bubblethon Goals and Rewards
Everyone is a winner when we raise funds together! Here are the prizes for each of our Bubblethon goals:
School Prize Bounce House Reward Day $21,000
Grade Level Prize Silly String Your Teacher $7,000
Grade Level Prize Frozen Treat $3,500
Individual Prize Free Yearbook $45
VOLUNTEER WITH US!
Soon, we will be looking for volunteers to help at the Bubblethon event. These volunteers will help facilitate various activities that the kids participate in during the Bubblethon recess event. Sign-ups will be live and ready on 9/5/2025. Please be sure to have your volunteer paperwork completed before the event (see link below for volunteer information). We appreciate all who are willing to make this a memorable day for the kids!
Volunteer Manual/Clearance Paperwork: https://www.smsd.us/welcome/volunteer_manual
Bubblethon event date: October 8th, 2026 at W.G. Rice Elementary
W. G. Rice Bubblethon Volunteer Link
If our Bubblers can meet their school fundraising goal, we will also provide links in later Rice Reporters, on the SMPTO Facebook Page , and the October SMPTO newsletter for volunteers to assist with the Bubblethon Reward Day. Keep on fundraising and keep an eye out for those links!
Bubblethon Reward Date: October 23rd, 2026 at W.G. Rice Elementary
Meet the SMPTO Board
With the start of a new school year we'd like to introduce our new SMPTO board. You can also check out our About Us page to find out more information about our members and see who we are - if you see us at school events, please say 'Hi', we'd love to meet you too! We also have two open positions on our team. Please reach out to our email (board@smpto.com) if you have any questions.
Co-President: Bridgette Wickard
Co-President: Shannon Arnold
Co-VP IFES: Janelle Cekovich
Co-VP IFES: Victoria Christen
*Co-VP WG Rice: Vacant*
Co-VP WG Rice: Allison Schrom
Secretary: Natasha Yearsley
Co-Treasure: Katherine Stone
*Co-Treasurer: Vacant*
PTO Meeting Reminder
Our next PTO Meeting will be held on Thursday, September 17th, 2026 at 6:00 PM in the IFES Library.
Also, remember that the Interact Club from BSHS will be on site to help keep younger children busy while you participate in the meeting if you need to bring them along!