Bluff Monthly Update--January

Happy New Year! I hope you had a great holiday season and relaxing break! I look forward to getting back to school with everyone and get back to work. The next two months before spring break will be full of learning opportunities for our students. It is crucial that they are here at school as much as possible. If you have any circumstances preventing them from being at school, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Cooley

Monday, January 5 - BACK TO SCHOOL!

Monday, January 12 - Partnering with Parents, 5:30-6:30

Friday, January 16 - End of 1st Semester

Monday, January 19 - NO SCHOOL, Martin Luther King Day

Thursday, February 12-BINGO Night, 5:15-6:30

Monday, February 16 - Partnering with Parents, 5:30-6:30

Tuesday, March 10 - Conferences, 1-7

Thursday, March 12 - Conferences, 1-6

Monday, March 16-Friday, March 20 - SPRING BREAK

**Every Friday is Early Out!

We rebounded nicely in attendance during December! The district goal is 95% and Bluff is back up at 95.1%. We can only keep it here if everyone helps out and assures their student is at school, on time, everyday they are able. We look forward to a great January of good attendance and learning!

Please also know that when your child has reached 5 absences, you will get a call from the school, at 7 absences you will receive a letter, and at 11 absences, we will set up a meeting with you to come to school and create an Attendance Prevention Plan. Our goal is to keep problem solving with you!

Since the retirement of Cheney, we have actively been seeking to get another Therapy Dog here at Bluff. I know the students and staff greatly miss her and need that companion each day at Bluff. We have submitted our application to CARES for a new Therapy Dog and are moving up on the wait list. We are optimistic that we will have a dog join us at Bluff before the beginning of next school year. That is SO exciting, but also means it is time to fundraise for our next dog.

Please watch for some small fundraisers we are going to do along the way in the next couple of months! We also have gotten some donations from businesses, which have been helpful. If you own a business, know a business owner, or personally want to donate to our next Therapy Dog, please reach out to me! I can provide our Tax ID number to any business who needs it. Thanks for your support! We want to be financially ready when the call comes that they have a dog for us!!

We had a great turnout in our food pantry during conference week. It is time to restock, as we were able to get rid of a lot of food. We love that! After we restock, we are looking at having weekly night openings. Please know that the food pantry is open EVERYDAY! We thought that perhaps it would be easier though if we had some night hours. I will send out details as we get plans in place! If you would like to come during the day or even afterschool, we can make arrangements! Just call the office and we will find a time that works for you! 563-242-1606

During our last Partnering with Parents, we talked about how to help your child academically! Of course the topic of reading with your child everyday came up. But I think my answer to parents was surprising. The way you can help your child academically??? Make sure they have a growth mindset and not a fixed mindset!

Kindergarteners inevitably come in excited to learn and grow! They are ready to take on most challenges with excitement. However, somewhere along the way, they lose that. What I find they lose is the will to try....the grit to persevere....and the belief that they can do hard things!! Teachers and parents need to work together to continue to grow our students. That starts with how we talk to our kids. When they say "Reading is too hard" please don't say "It's ok, I was bad at reading too." Instead say "I know it is hard now, but we will work on it together to help you improve! You can do it." I will be talking about this more in our next newsletter!

Bluff Elementary School

Email: kristine.cooley@csdkq.org

Location: 1421 S. Bluff Blvd
Phone: 563-242-1606
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BluffPTAClintonIA