Email: dupreet@usd231.com
Website: https://www.usd231.com/o/sunflower
Location: 775 North Center Street, Gardner, KS, USA
Phone: 913-856-3700
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sunflower-Elementary-2134875270174250/
Twitter: @SEEagles231
September 20: Early Release Day 1:55 pm
September 22: PTO Color Run
- Dinner 6:00 pm
- Run 7:00-7:30 pm
September 26: Watch DOGS and Eagle MOMS Orientation 6:30 pm in the cafeteria
September 27: Early Release Day 1:55pm
October 3: Pre-K Field Trip
October 3: PTO Meeting 7:00 at Sunflower Library
October 4: 3rd Grade Field Trip
October 5: 4th Grade Field Trip
October 6: No School
October 11 & 12: Parent Teacher Conferences- No School
October 13: No School
October 17: Fall Picture Retakes
October conferences are quickly approaching! On 9/27/23 you will receive a link to schedule
your K-4 student conference. If you have an EC student, your child’s teacher will contact you
prior to this date with your EC conference time so scheduling conflicts can be avoided for older
siblings. Fall conferences are facilitated by your child’s teacher and are designed to be conducted in-
person. If your family will need a Zoom option, you will need to contact the respective teacher to
make him/her aware.
Personal illness, including death of a family member (mother, father, sibling, grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, friend). A physician’s note may be required for any accumulation of absences over 3 days.
Serious illness or death of a family member or close friend.
Obligatory religious observance of the student’s own faith.
Participation in school-approved student activity.
Verified medical appointment (which can be verified by appointment card). Parents are encouraged to make all appointments outside the school day.
Legal matters (which can be verified through court services officers).
Emergency situations requiring immediate action (which can be verified).
An absence that has been requested in writing and approved in advance by the building administrator.
Please see the district calendar published on the website and linked below for all of the scheduled early dismissal Wednesdays and other important dates for the school year.
If you have questions about Early Release, please visit the USD 231 website at this link: https://www.usd231.com/o/district/page/early-release
Watch the video below as Dr. Jones explains the process of having lunch with your Sunflower student!
Thank you for wanting to have lunch your student! Due to allergies, possibility of hurt feelings, and small spaces please refrain from inviting classmates to join you!
If you plan on eating school lunch with your student, please call the office by 9:15 that morning.
All guests must sign in and out at the office.
We've been asked about the possibility of community members contributing funds to cover the cost of meals for Gardner students in need. Donations are open to anyone. Click the link below or contact Amanda Sandman with Nutrition Services at 913-856-2055 to donate.
https://www.myschoolbucks.com/ver2/prdembd?ref=ZZVI2FJ55D3OFQJ_ZZ5Q09W8J98SFHZ
Dear Sunflower Families:
Welcome to the Lit Lab otherwise known as the Sunflower Library! I am very excited about working with your sons and daughters during the coming year. I try both to support the regular classroom curriculum and to develop a love of reading. We will have structured daily read-alouds and learn information literacy skills. I will help students learn about the resources available to families from both our local Johnson County Public Library and the State Library of Kansas - which are all free!
I use the first weeks of school to teach about what to do in a library and how to be responsible for a library book. To help your child practice responsibility, I suggest that you read your book together and then put it right back in their backpack, ready to go back to school. This will help your child know where their library book is when it is time to check it in and keep it safe from pets, food and water. Please try to keep their water bottle out of their backpacks so that our books can stay safe.
I would like to hear from you and to have your input as I work with your children. Every child and family is different so let’s work together to make sure your child is choosing the right book: not too long, not too short, not too scary, not too silly, not too mature, etc. Please don’t hesitate to return a book that you don’t think is right for your child or to contact me with any questions or concerns. We’re on an ABCD rotation so your child will have Library every four days or so but if your child hasn’t finished reading their book by the time their next Library day rolls around, they are welcome to keep reading!
Be sure to follow and like our Sunflower Lit Lab Facebook page so you can keep up with our many activities throughout the year. And if you would be interested in coaching a Novel Navigators team, helping out during the Book Fairs, or donating some of your time as a library volunteer, I would also be glad to hear from you!
Julie Rains, MEd/MS
Teacher Librarian
Sunflower Elementary School
913.856.3734
Share Your Travels
Have you recently taken an amazing trip or have lived somewhere other than the Midwest? We would like to highlight the location on our new segments during announcements...World Wide Wednesday! Reach out to Mrs. Rains (rainsj@usd231.com) or Mr. Prall (prallg@usd231.com) with photos and we will do the rest.
Watch this video for our latest example. Share Your Travels Video
Hello, Sunflower Families!
We are introducing a change to how we are handling Sunflower’s Got Talent this school year. There will be two in-person talent shows on Wednesday, December 13th, and Thursday, May 16th. More information about those talent shows will be available at a later date. Video talents have been very popular in the past, so we will be introducing a new weekly segment to our morning announcements: Talent Tuesday! Rather than two opportunities per year to submit a video talent, students will be able to send in videos throughout the school year to be premiered on Talent Tuesdays. We are requesting the length of the videos be no more than a minute to keep the announcements at a reasonable length. Additionally, parents are asked to review any content or media within the videos to ensure that they are school appropriate. Videos deemed inappropriate will not be premiered and families with rejected submissions will be informed as to the reason why. All videos can be sent to Mr. Prall at prallg@usd231.com. Any questions regarding Sunflower’s Got Talent, or Talent Tuesdays can be directed to Mr. Prall as well. I am excited to share this new opportunity with our students and I look forward to all of the amazing talents we will get to experience this school year!
Mr. Prall
IF YOUR STUDENT...
...HAS AN EXCUSED ABSENCE due to illness, appointment, funeral or family emergency, please email the attendance line SEattendance@usd231.com as soon as possible. If we haven't heard from parents by 9:00 am, we will call to check on your child. You can also call in student absences to the absentee line at 913-856-3749.
...WILL BE LATE TO SCHOOL, please let our office know ahead of time (if possible). When your student arrives at school, they will need to stop by the office first, and the secretaries will give them a hall pass.
...WILL BE ABSENT BECAUSE YOU'RE GOING OUT OF TOWN, this is considered an UNEXCUSED absence, unless preapproved by Dr. Jones. Please do not just tell the teacher! Please request approval in writing by emailing Dr. Jones at jonesja@usd231.com.
...NEEDS TO LEAVE SCHOOL EARLY, you can call to let us know you are on your way, but students will not be called out of class UNTIL a parent is present to sign them out. Please plan ahead for appointments, as we would like to minimize missed class time. You will need to come into the office to sign your student out. You won't be able to park outside and call us to send your student out to you.
...HAS DIFFERENT DISMISSAL INSTRUCTIONS, please call the office as soon as possible. If change of dismissal instructions are received after 3:00 pm, we can do our best to relay the message to your student.
AND LAST, BUT NOT LEAST...
If you notify your student's teacher of an absence, please also let the office know. Everybody's lives are crazy and busy...everybody's human...everybody can forget to forward an email on to the appropriate person. So, if you send an email to your student's teacher about an absence, please "cc" Terra (dupreet@usd231.com) and Janet (mcconvillej@usd231.com). That way, at least one of us gets the email and gets it taken care of right away. Thank you!!
Over the summer, USD 231 implemented another measure to ensure the safety of our students and employees. That action is the installation of the visitor management system, Raptor. Raptor will scan a valid government ID and immediately report if there is any reason for the individual not to be in the building. Once the background is checked, the printer attached to Raptor will print out a visitor badge with the picture from the ID.
Although this might be a minor inconvenience for visitors, the safety of our students and employees is paramount.
To learn more about the Raptor system, click HERE.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
If you need to drop off something for your student, for example, their lunch, there is a table in the vestibule available for parents to leave items. Just make sure to notify the front office who the item(s) are for.
The Sunflower Site Council will be meeting at 6 pm in the library on the following dates:
September 5, 2023, December 5, 2023, February 6, 2024, April 9, 2024
All meetings are open to the public.
Kansas schools are required to establish site councils composed of the principal, teachers and other school personnel, parents, business representatives, and other community groups.
Site councils have a responsibility to provide advice and counsel in the following areas: evaluating district and school performance goals and objectives, determining methods to meet those goals and objectives, and other areas as requested by the board of education.
Remember, the work of the site council is advisory only;
it makes recommendations, not decisions.
We invite everyone to join the Sunflower PTO Facebook page. By searching "Gardner Sunflower PTO" under Pages, you will be able to join the group and receive updated PTO information.
