Dolphin Tales

Welcome Back, Stono Park Families!

We are so happy to be back and ready for an amazing year of learning, growing, and making memories together! There is always something special about the beginning of a new school year with the fresh start, new friendships, new goals, and all the possibilities that come with a brand-new year.

This year is especially exciting as we welcome our Early Head Start and Head Start programs into the Stono Park family! We are thrilled to have our youngest Dolphins joining us and look forward to building strong relationships with our new students and families.

A HUGE thank you to all of our families for your patience, flexibility, and understanding as we have worked through our arrival and dismissal procedures. Our number one priority is keeping every student safe while also making these routines as smooth and efficient as possible. We appreciate your partnership as we continue to fine-tune our procedures!

I also wanted to share a little personal update, if your student has been coming home telling you that “Principal Dorsey” has a new name, they are absolutely right! 😊 I will now be going by Principal Meek. While my name may be changing, my commitment to our Stono Park students and families is still the same!

As we begin this new school year, I encourage all of our families to stay connected, stay involved, and stay in the loop! Your partnership makes such a difference in your child's success. Be sure to read our monthly newsletters, follow our school updates on Class DOJO, attend family events, and most importantly, talk with your child every day about what they are learning and experiencing at school.

Here’s to a year filled with big learning, little victories, new adventures, strong relationships, and lots of Dolphin pride! We are so glad you are part of the Stono Park family!

Let's Go Dolphins! 🐬

Principal Meek

🚗Afternoon Drop-Off Procedures

-Car Rider dismissal begins at 2:25 PM, and all car riders must be picked up by 2:45 PM.

9/4- Early Release- Dismissal at 12:25pm

9/4- Walk to School Day & Special Person's Picnic Brunch

9/7- No School- Labor Day

9/22- Fall Pictures Make Ups

10/2- 2nd-5th Field Trip to the Gilliard

10/9- Half Day- Dismissal at 10:40am

10/9- Fall Festival (During School)

10/12- No School for Students

10/12- Family Data Conference Day

10/14- POD Event- Music Bingo Night

10/30- Book Character Parade (during school)

From September 23–29, our SEL room will transform into Stono Park Space Station! Students will explore fun, space-themed math activities and games during their SEL time.

We’re looking for volunteers to help us run the math activities. No math experience is needed—just a willingness to help and have fun!

Interested in volunteering? Sign up here!

Thank you for helping us make Space Station a fun learning experience for our students!

Earn FREE books for your scholar's home library and get them entered to win prizes! Be on the lookout for flyers that will be coming home in Wednesday folders this month. This is a quick and easy program that helps promote reading at home.

Join us for our next POD meeting to learn fun and meaningful ways to get involved in your student’s school experience!

Students put on their Jr. Detective caps with Head Detective Grenda in library. They examined evidence of book damage, investigated suspects, and drew conclusions about what happened! Lots of critical thinking & teamwork (and some book care review)!

Scholars worked together to find things their group all had in common, wrote their ideas on index cards, and then used those cards to build the tallest tower they could! It was such a fun way to build connections, practice teamwork, and get to know each other!

Our fourth graders have been hard at work on Unit 1 of CKLA, focused on personal narratives. Scholars have been brainstorming, drafting, and sharing their writing with partners. They have enjoyed collaborating throughout the writing process and learning more about one another through their personal stories!

Fourth grade had a popsicle party at recess to celebrate a great first few weeks!

Second Steps is our Social Emotional Curriculum. This program helps children learn human skills such as responsible decision-making, working together to solve problems, managing strong emotions, and getting along with others. These skills can help children succeed academically and socially.

Did you know that blowing bubbles can help children practice calming their bodies and managing big emotions? When children take a slow, deep breath and gently blow out, they are practicing controlled breathing, a simple strategy they can use when they feel frustrated, worried, angry, or overwhelmed.

Try it at home
Take a slow breath in then slowly blow the bubble out. Encourage your child to make the bubble as big as they can by using a long, gentle breath. With practice, children can learn to use these same slow breaths even when bubbles aren't around!

Parent Tip-Practice calm breathing when your child is already relaxed. This helps make the strategy easier to remember when big feelings happen.

Nomination Link

If you are a parent/guardian, teacher or student, and would like to nominate a student in grade 3 or 5 for academically gifted and talented testing, please complete this form. Once this nomination is submitted, the information will be shared with the student's gifted teacher at their school for processing. Testing will take place in late fall. More information about the South Carolina gifted and talented identification process can be found on our website CCSD GT Website - Identification Information.

PLEASE NOTE:

• If your child has already been identified as Gifted and Talented Academic, please do NOT complete this referral.
• ALL students in Grades 2 and 4 will take this assessment in October, so no nomination is needed for students in Grade 2 and 4.

Si usted es padre/tutor(a), maestro/a, o estudiante, y quisiera nominar a un estudiante en los niveles de grado 3 o 5 para las examinaciones por los dotados y talentosos, por favor llene este formulario. Hasta que esta nominación es entregada, la información será compartida con el maestro/a de los dotados y talentosos en su escuela para procesarla. Las evaluaciones sucederán al final del otoño. Más información sobre el proceso de identificación de los dotados y talentosos se puede encontrar en nuestro sitio webCCSD GT Website - Identification Information.

POR FAVOR APUNTE:

• Si su hijo/a ya es identificado/a Dotado y Talentoso, por favor NO cumpla esta remisión.
• TODOS los estudiantes de los grados 2 y 4 tomarán esta evaluación en octubre, por lo que no es necesaria ninguna nominación para los estudiantes de los grados 2 y 4.

Fall Walk to School Day is here!

Join Us as We Walk to School Together!

Drop-Off Location:
Randolph Park
1701 Pearlott St.

All buses & car riders for CD–5th Grade will be dropped off at Randolph Park starting at 7am!

Our Walk Begins at 7:25 AM.
Students and staff will walk together from Randolph Park to Stono Park Elementary.

If you arrive at the park after 7:25am, please report directly to the school to sign in your student in the front office.

Families Are Welcome & encouraged to walk with us then join your student at school for a picnic breakfast outside! Grandparents, aunts, uncles or any special person in your child’s life is welcome!

Early Head Start, Head Start & IDS Class- We welcome families to walk their students to class this day to join a walk around the school outside at 7:30am then join your student for breakfast in the classroom!

Families will be asked to leave the building by 8:30 AM.

* Please make sure you sign the Walking Field Trip Permission Slip and send it in to your teacher. We want ALL students to participate in this fun event even if their family members can’t join! Feel free to fill out the google permission slip if that is easier.

https://forms.gle/EHuJ12f72GJ5uren7

https://forms.gle/a7jrLfwrjaKEJSA66

*This breakfast will take the place of our special person’s lunch this year.

We encourage all family members to join us for the walk—it’s a great way to connect with other families, meet our staff, and enjoy some fun, healthy time together!

Stono Park Elementary School Day- 7:25amam - 2:25pm

Students can enter the building starting at 7am but are considered tardy after 7:25am. If your student has more than 5 unexcused tardies a conference is held to problem solve getting to school on time. (If bus is tardy then the tardy is excused)

We begin dismissal at 2:25pm. If your student is a car rider please ensure that you are in our car rider line by 2:40pm.

We also offer 21st Century After School Program for our Stono Park Scholars from 2:25pm-6pm daily. Registration for 21st Century Program.

If your child is absent, please make sure an excuse is sent in within 3 days of the student returning back to school. A student is considered Truant if they have missed 3 consecutive days of school without a doctor's excuse or 5 unexcused absences total. Once a student has 3 unexcused absences then a Truancy Warning Letter is sent home. Once a student has 5 unexcused absences a Truancy Conference has to occur with the caregiver.

A student is chronically absent if he or she misses only two days of school per month (18 days per year). Even one year of chronic absence can cause a child to fall behind academically and decrease a child’s chances of graduating from high school, which can have long-term consequences on their financial independence, physical well-being and mental health.

The nurse's clinic is here to manage health during the day and support chronic problems like asthma, diabetes, seizures and ADHD. Here are a few tips that help us to set up a great healthy start to the year.

1. Please make sure that you have turned in your student's Emergency Card (typically done at the time of registration) and shot records. SC law requires completed shot records or a Religious Exemption on all students.

2. If you will need any prescription medicine at school, we must have a doctor order form completed and signed into the clinic by an adult with the medicine in a labeled container from the pharmacy. Most local doctors have the CCSD order form. If you need one, please let us know or one can be printed from the CCSD website under Nursing Services. Here, you can also find helpful information.

3. Please make sure that your student has had a recent checkup and has any medication at home that they need such as seasonal allergy medication to prevent allergy symptoms and Children's Tylenol or Ibuprofen for headaches, earaches and sore throat, creams for scrapes and bug bites, band aids and eye drops. Ask your doctor about cold, cough or stomach medicines to keep on hand at home. Make sure that your prescriptions are refilled in a timely manner. Many children have seasonal allergies causing a frequent runny nose, watery eyes and itchy irritated throat and eyes. Ask your doctor about the proper prevention medicine to take care of this and you will avoid the misery of allergies, which are constant in our area. It never gets cold enough for all allergens and pollen to go away.

4. We ask that you please send an extra set of clothes to be kept at school. Accidents and spills happen at every age. Having clothes that fit ready to go avoids a wait in the clinic, which is often filled with germs.

5. The virus policy is that you can return to school when you have not had fever for 24 hours without needing medicine to keep the fever down. Fevers are 100.4 or higher. Your symptoms of cough, runny nose and stomach discomfort should be vastly improved. Covid and Flu can take 5-7 days to recover from depending on the severity and whether you are vaccinated. Follow your doctor's orders after any illness and bring the doctor's excuse back when you can safely return. If you can kindly let us know about positive covid and flu cases, we can have the classrooms specially cleaned to prevent more spread.

6. If your child has an injury at home requiring a cast, sling, wrap or brace, please send in a doctor note, so that we know that they are safe to return and what limitations may be needed in PE or recess. This ensures the student does not further the injury and keeps them safe.

7. Please have your student dress for the weather in light colored layers for the extreme hot weather and a jacket on cool days. School shoes should safely lace or velcro for proper support at recess and PE. Crocs, sandals, slippers and boots are not the safest choice and not part of the dress code.

8. Please be on the lookout for Dental Access Forms that will be going home with your child by the end of this week. Please fill them out and return them to school. Dental Access Carolina offers complete general dental services on-site at your child's school. This service is optional.

We appreciate you being partners with us for a healthy and safe school year.

Sincerely,

Nurse Jacquie

This upcoming Community Event will have Vision to Learn present for free eye exams and glasses. The only restriction is students do need to be between the ages of 4-18.

We’re looking for donations to help make Stono Park Space Station an exciting and memorable math experience for our students! Our Amazon Wishlist includes space-themed math manipulatives and activities, small souvenirs for students, and organizational materials to help everything run smoothly.

If you’d like to support our event, you can shop our wishlist here.

Thank you for helping us create an out-of-this-world math experience for our students!

The Charleston County Public Library also has Free Virtual Tutoring with student's library Card. Visit Tutor.com Student Center | Charleston County Public Library (ccpl.org) to take advantage of this free resource.

Email: Traci_Alter@charleston.k12.sc.us
Website: Home - Stono Park Elementary School
Location: Stono Park Elementary School, Huntley Drive, Charleston, SC, USA
Phone: 843-763-1507 Cell: 843-751-5518