Our Wildcats had a great week of learning for two days at Walker Elementary and three days of AMI. Thank you for all of your help keeping our Wildcats engaged in learning over the last three AMI days. We would love to see all of our Wildcats enjoying some snow. Go to our Facebook page to upload photos of your child in the comments of our fun in the snow post.

We were so proud of how many students worked super hard over AMI that we had to do a Facebook post to recognize our AMI Superstars. Check out this post and look for your child to be recognized. If your child was not able to get everything completed, they can continue working over the weekend and we can celebrate them in a post on Monday.

Spring pictures have been rescheduled for February 16th. Please mark your calendar with the important dates listed below.

• February 11 - Food Day-Valentine’s Day Celebrations - Each grade level will have a 45 minute game time in the cafeteria. Classes will rotate through activity stations. If you would like to volunteer to help with your child’s classroom game rotations, please fill out and return the form sent home with your child. Due to space, we only need four volunteers per class. If you are available to help, we would love to have you!

Kinder 8:00-8:45
1st 9:00-9:45
2nd 10:00-10:45
4th 12:00-12:45
3rd 1:00-1:45
5th 2:00-2:45

• February 14 - NO School/Teacher In-Service (No School for Students)
• February 16 - Lifetouch Spring Picture Day
• February 28 - March 4 Read Across America Week - Check out our dress up days for this week below or on our Facebook page.
• March 7 Kindergarten Registration
  
• March 7 & 8 - Student-Led Conferences (notes will be sent home on Monday, February 20th for you to choose the best times for your schedule)
• March 14 5th Grade Program @6:00 pm
• March 15 - 3rd Quarter Ends
• March 15-17 - EAST Conference in Hot Springs
• March 16 - 4th Quarter Begins
• March 18 - Food Day-Popcorn Day
• March 21-25 - Spring Break
• March 28 - School Resumes
• March 30 - Lifetouch Class Picture Day
• April 15 - Food Day-Popcorn Day
• April 25-29 - 3rd Grade ACT Aspire Testing Week (please avoid out of school appointments)
• May 2-6 - 4th & 5th Grade ACT Aspire Testing Week (please avoid out of school appointments)
• May 18 - Food Day-Testing Celebration
• May 26 - Food Day-Fun & Field Day

Important Information

• The Governor and Secretary Key announced that schools no longer have to do close contact tracing if a student or staff member is exposed to Covid. Please see how that change has changed our district Covid policy below.

  Covid Update:

  If you test positive for Covid-19

  • You should continue to report your positive test here.

  • You may return to school after 5 days if you do not have symptoms or if your symptoms are improving

  • You should wear a mask for an additional 5 days

  • If you are unwilling or unable to wear a mask, you should continue to quarantine for 10 days

  • You should not return until you are fever free for 24 hours

  If you are exposed to someone with Covid

  • You no longer need to report your exposure

  • Continue to come to school unless you develop symptoms

All students and staff should be fever free for 24 hours before returning to school. Because quarantines are no longer required, schools will no longer contact trace or notify probable close contacts.

If you have any questions about Covid or these changes, please call the school office or email Nurse Candace Brantly (cerwin@sdale.org)

• Morning Routines: Carline Drop Off is between 7:15 and 7:45: Students cannot be dropped off at school before 7:15. Adult supervision begins at 7:15, and students cannot be unattended before adults are on duty. If your child arrives after 7:45 am, they need to be signed in to the office by a parent or guardian. You can scan the QR code on your car tag to do this; however, we ask that you still walk them to the front door. If students come up to the door by themselves and if no one is in the office, they are locked out. Thank you for helping us ensure the safety of all our Wildcats! All students can get a free breakfast from 7:15-7:45 in our cafeteria. Morning Choir Practice is at 7:15 on Wednesdays and Thursdays, so the car line may be a bit more crowded at that time on those dates. Thank you for your understanding!

• Car Line: Please remain in your car at all times in the car rider line. Students have worked very hard on becoming independent workers and learners this year, and helping them be independent in getting out of the car keeps everything running smoothly. The driveways and roads cannot be blocked when out on 40th Street in the car line, per Springdale Police Department.
• PTA: Did you know that you can support our PTA with your Amazon purchases and/or by purchasing a membership to our local Sam's Club? More information is linked below.
• Are you or someone you know looking for a job? We are looking for substitute teachers and bus drivers for the 2021-22 school year! If you are interested, please reach out to Mrs. Ryan or our district website for more information!
• Lost and Found: We already have a very large collection of items that are in our lost and found. Please make sure you have the student's name clearly marked on tags or inside a garment that may be removed throughout the day (coats/jackets, hoodies, etc.).

Our job is to serve your child and your family! Please let us know if you have questions or need help.

Thank you for your partnership,

Mrs. Lynn Ryan, Principal, lryan@sdale.org

Mrs. Carrie Farris, Assistant Principal, cfarris@sdale.org

• Students may wear a mask if they wish
• Water bottles are provided for all students
• Water bottle filling stations
• Hand sanitizing stations
• Limited outside visitors
• Quality air filtration systems
• Sanitizing rooms at night
• Outside opportunities: lessons, breaks, recess, PE
• Social distancing when possible
• Following quarantine guidelines

We are in a crucial part of the school year and it is important that your child attend school everyday they are able too. I have included a video with some tips to help those morning blues and combat tardiness. https://watch.screencastify.com/v/PmqwqsC53sBVpd9uVKlE

Communication is Key

Please contact our office if your child is absent for any reason. If your child has a doctor/dental appointment make sure to turn in the doctor’s excuse/note.

750-8749 or message us on Facebook @ Walker Elementary

Why is it important to attend school?

- Starting in preschool and kindergarten, too many absences can cause children to fall behind in school.

-Missing 10%, or about 2 days each month over the course of a school year, can make it harder to learn to read. (Is your child on grade level for reading, if not, how is their attendance?)

-Being late to school may lead to poor attendance.

(Many of our interventions to help students get on grade level occur first thing in the morning, if the student is tardy, they may be missing their intervention time.)

-Attending school regularly helps children feel better about school—and themselves.

-School is a place of learning and school attendance teaches the importance of being “on time” to work. (missing or being late to “work” in the real world can cause you to lose income)

What You Can Do…

-Set a regular bedtime and morning routine.

- Lay out clothes and pack backpacks the night before.

-Develop backup plans for getting to school if something comes up. Call on a family member, a neighbor or another parent.

- School “worries” are a pretty common occurrence, reassuring your children and communicating any concerns the child may have with attending school is very important. However, developmentally children want to learn and spend time with peers. Even if they struggle to get up and going, they generally move on with their day once they are here at school.

Springdale Schools Attendance Policy for Elementary Students:

Students should not miss 7 days within the semester (Jan.-May) Medical notes and quarantines are not included in this number of absences. After a student has missed 5 days, a conference with administration will be requested to see how we can help your family improve attendance.

Sam's Club is offering a great fundraising opportunity for our Walker Elementary PTA. Join Sam's Club for $45 and 33% comes back to our PTA!

So if you have been thinking of joining, now is a perfect time! They have some great food and other items at some great prices, and our local Sam's Club has been a great community partner with our school and PTA.

Here's the link where you can join to give Walker Elementary PTA credit: https://www.groupraise.com/offer-campaigns/202

If you are already a member, share with friends so that they can enjoy the perks of Sam's membership while also giving to Walker Elementary PTA.

Who shops on Amazon? At NO cost to you, you can help support the PTA just with a click. All you have to do is turn on AmazonSmile so with qualifying orders the PTA receives .5%. You do nothing extra at the time of purchase. As long as it’s turned on they do the rest.

You may think .5% isn’t much but it can really add up. Every little bit helps.

Comment if you are supporting Walker Elementary PTA thru AmazonSmile!

Don’t forget to share this post so friends and family can support your child’s school. They don’t have to live here to support. If they purchase on Amazon they can help.

Tuesday, February 8th: Co-Parenting with Partners

Skills for co-parenting: how to set boundaries, communicate, maintain relationships, and resolve conflicts.

Pre-Registration: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYscuqgrzkqHNZ-T7EPQ_ooQ7G-NsjjAFWj

Tuesday, March 8th: Emotional Intelligence & Calming Kids

Strategies to raise emotionally intelligent children and teens: Build empathy, decrease meltdowns, and manage emotions.

Pre-Registration: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUrf-uvpjgpG9Gnlq_hDiT-Ebo22E1Q_dbu

Tuesday, April 12th: Social & Emotional Learning at Home

A movement across the nation improving student outcomes: Learn the five competencies of SEL and gain activities to foster each of them at home.

Pre-Registration: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYsc-qoqT0sGtcOp3PysmGYdIksuVapvfXZ

Walker Elementary has a Facebook page for the school, EAST, KKids, and PTA. Like all these pages to keep up with the latest school information. Click on the links below to get to each page. Then click on the like button to follow our pages. Once you like our pages, you will see our posts in your Facebook newsfeed.

Walker Elementary tiene una página de Facebook para la escuela, EAST, KKids y PTA. Haga clic en el boton Me gusta a todas estas páginas para mantenerse al día con la información más reciente de la escuela. Haga clic en los enlaces a continuación para acceder a cada página. Luego haga clic en el botón Me gusta para seguir nuestras páginas. Una vez que siga nuestras páginas, verá nuestras publicaciones en su suministro de noticias de Facebook.

Instagram Account: Walker_Elementary_School

Email: lryan@sdale.org
Website: http://walker.sdale.org/
Location: 1701 S 40th St, Springdale, AR 72762, USA
Phone: (479)750-8874
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Walker-Elementary-School-153949846329/?fb_dtsg_ag=AdwRYGYALRWaOM_WFS6amN-KET7MLpVyEIsHP67NBtqKpw%3AAdzbMII6M5eTTkPHoihXX-c_sZfj8FhoBtbfGpEfoEMIPA
Twitter: @WalkerWildcats1