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
May 6th-10th: Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week
May 8th: Body Venture Exhibit
May 10th: Field Day
PTO Spirit Stick Sales 8:00-8:20am
May 13th: PTO Dine Out Fundraiser at Red Robin- All Day
May 14th: Wheatridge Middle School 4th Grade Parent Night
May 16th: Sunflower Senior Walk at 1:30pm
May 21st: Last Day of Preschool
Kindergarten Celebration- Doors open at 1:45pm
Preschool Graduation- Furlong's Class at 5:50pm Wells' Class at 6:30pm
May 22nd: 4th Grade Recognition Program- Doors open at 9:00am
Last Day of School Dismiss at 11:25= NO LUNCH SERVED
All library books will be due back on Monday, May 6. Students who return all of their books will be entered into a raffle for a variety of small prizes. Thank you for fostering a love of reading in your child. The Gardner Public Library will be open all summer with a variety of activities. I will send home information for these programs soon! -Mrs. Rains
Come join us for Field Day on Friday, May 10. Morning stations will run 9:00-11:15 for grades K-4. Afternoon fun will be 12:00-1:00 for Kindergarten, 1:00-2:00 for 3rd and 4th, and 2:00-3:00 for 1st and 2nd. Each grade level will have an hour in the gym with a bounce house and various activities. If you sign up for a morning station please be here between 8:15-8:30 for station locations and descriptions
.
Click this link to sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0548AEA629A5FE3-49247278-field
Sunflower will be hosting BODY Venture, a traveling exhibit from the Kansas State
Department of Education. This unique program designed to encourage students to
make healthy choices consists of a 50-foot by 55-foot walk-through exhibit representing
the human body. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSrHzULl_gA
Your expertise is needed at Sunflower Elementary School as we prepare for BODY
Venture. The exhibit is reserved for us on Wednesday, May 8!! Please consider one of
the following ways you can get involved:
Tuesday, May 7 from 5:30 – 7:00 pm, we need 10-12 adults to set up the exhibit in our
gymnasium. For safety, no children should be present during this time.
Wednesday, May 8: We need station presenters at each of the 11 stations. A script
will be provided. The only requirement is enthusiasm for working with students! You
can volunteer for ½ day or a full day. Please specify the times that you CAN be here on
the Sign Up Genius. We will also need 8 volunteers to chaperone groups as they move
through the exhibit.
Wednesday, May 8: Beginning around 2:00 pm, we need 10-12 adults to help with
“take down,” in order to load the Body Venture truck and send it on its way to another
school.
Please consider getting involved in this fun, educational experience. Just click on the
link below to access our Sign Up Genius.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0548AEA629A5FE3-49023483-body
Sunflower students have one final opportunity for Sunflower's Got Talent this school year. This live talent show will take place during students' specials time on Thursday, May 16th. Sign ups are due May 10th and can be found in the link below. Please email Mr. Prall at prallg@usd231.com with any questions.
https://forms.gle/ke4uWvGb5BQKeijP9
If you are planning on your child attending a different school or district next fall, please contact the office at 913-856-3700 or use this link to fill out a survey. This will greatly assist us in making classroom & staffing decisions for the 2023-24 school year.
(Current 4th Grade parents do not need to complete the survey.)
The staff and I are beginning to plan for next school year and will be developing classes based on our best estimate of the enrollment projections for next year. We are planning to finalize the list by August so that class assignments can be sent home prior to Meet the Teacher Night. About this time of year, we begin to hear from parents requesting a specific teacher for next year. They want the “best teacher” for their child, and believe they know who that is based on what they have seen or heard.
As the principal, I visit classrooms and observe teaching and student learning. I know the instructional skills of every teacher and I could not, in all honesty, tell you who the very best teacher on the faculty is, because no one teacher is the best at everything.
When we assign classes, we try to make them heterogeneous. The other factors we consider are: the student’s achievement level, learning style, social-emotional needs, and citizenship. We group children for instructional purposes and placing them in classes based on other factors would defeat that purpose. The key ingredient in this process is trust. Please trust us to make the best decisions for your student’s educational placement.
Dr. Jason Jones, Principal
All accounts for K-7 and 9-11 students must be paid in full by the last day of school. Fees for Peer Model, 8th graders and seniors are due by May 1. Now is the time to make plans to pay these fees before the deadline. Please contact Janet at 913-856-3700 if you have any questions about fees still owed or if you need to set up a payment plan.
Application deadline for benefits with Nutrition Services is the last day of the 23-24 school year. To apply for benefits online, please use the Nutrition Services link http://www.myschoolapps.com/Application. If you have already completed the survey but have questions regarding your benefits, please email Nutrition Services at nutrition@usd231.com.
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
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!!
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.
A special meeting has been scheduled for March 5th to conduct a building needs assessment as part of the districts budgeting process for next school year.
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.
