Knights News
Unity Elementary School
Quarter 1 Attendance Certificates have been given out to students who have missed 1 or less days and/or have had less than 7 tardies in the first Quarter of school. Besides a certificate, these students also earned a coupon from Dairy Queen which entitles them to a free hamburger or hotdog! There were 158 students who earned this reward for the first quarter. Congratulations to those students!!!
Unity's annual Trunk-or-Treat Event which was held on Sunday, October 13th, was a great success! This year was also a Touch-A-Truck Event where we had a variety of city trucks available for the students to see up close. Thank you to everyone that participated by either handing out candy or bringing their families to participate in trick or treating! See some fun pics from the afternoon below:
Attention Parents of students in TK, K, and 1st grade, it would be very beneficial if you would pack an extra change of clothing to keep in your child's backpack or classroom. We do not have much clothing available in the office in the smaller sizes in case a student has an accident or perhaps spills their milk or water at lunch. Also, with the cold, wet, weather season approaching, sometimes students get their clothing wet at recess and need to change into something dry. Hopefully, this will keep us from having to interrupt you work day to bring a new set of dry clothing to your student. Thank you
Just an FYI, if you send a cold lunch with your child and they plan to purchase a milk to drink with it, the cost of each milk is .55. Please be aware that we are unable to give back any change, so please send the exact change with your child. Any amount given over the cost of the milk will not be given back to the student, but will instead remain on their account as a credit.
There will be no school for students on the following days:
Tuesday, November 5th (Professional Development)
Thursday, November 28th (Thanksgiving Break)
Friday, November 29th (Thanksgiving Break)
Monday, December 23rd - Friday, January 3rd (Christmas Break)
Thursday, January 16th (Teacher Workday)
Monday, February 17th (Professional Development)
Thursday, March 27th (Conferences)
Friday, March 28th (Exchange Day)
Thursday-Monday, April 17th - 21st (Spring Break)
Monday, May 26th (Memorial Day)
If you are willing or interested in joining Unity PTO next year, we would really appreciate your willingness to help out! Unity PTO meets once a month and plans fun and exciting things for our staff and students. If you are interested, you can send an email to Unitypto@yahoo.com or contact us in the main office at the beginning of the school year. Thank you!
The next PTO meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 6th, at 6:00 pm, in the library!
Winter is an active time for head lice outbreaks as children have more close contact - often sharing coats, scarves, and hats with one another. Encourage your child to put their coat in their bookbag to prevent contact with other students’ coats. Effective prevention and treatment can help you be prepared as students return to the classroom.
- Assume that head lice is always present in our community. It is good practice to check school children regularly. If one person in the house has head lice, everyone else should be checked. Only those infested should be treated. Lice are reddish-brown wingless insects. Nits (eggs) are grayish-white, oval-shaped, and glued at an angle to the hair shaft.
- Watch for signs of head lice, such as frequent head scratching. Anyone can get head lice... mainly by head-to-head contact, but also, less likely, from sharing hats, brushes, and headrests. Lice do not jump or fly.
- Consult your physician before applying or using lice treatment pesticides if you are not seeing improvement after two treatments, or if the person involved is pregnant, nursing, has allergies, asthma, pre-existing medical conditions, or has lice or nits in the eyebrows or eyelashes. Follow all directions carefully and repeat the treatment course if/ when indicated (usually 10-14 days). Never use pesticides near the eyes.
- There is no scientific evidence that home remedies (i.e. mayonnaise, tea tree oil) are effective treatments.
- Manual removal is a safe alternative to the use of pesticide treatments and a necessary component to any head lice treatment regimen. This requires great diligence and patience. Separate hair in sections and remove all attached nits with a lice comb. Start at the nape of the neck and behind the ears and work up from there.
- Wash bedding and clothing in hot water and dry in a hot dryer for at least 30 minutes. Combs and brushes may be soaked in hot water for 15 minutes. Vacuum floors, rugs, upholstered furniture, mattresses, and car seats to remove lice or fallen hairs with attached nits.
Happy November Unity families!
Updates are smaller for the counselor’s corner this month. I am starting up a few groups, mainly for friendship and conflict resolution. If you feel like your student would benefit from this, feel free to reach out, I plan on rotating this group throughout the year to reach as many students as possible.
In students’ classrooms, the Character Strong curriculum will now shift to the topic of Gratitude, and so I would like to take a moment to be grateful and say thank you for all of the warm welcome, support, and collaboration I have experienced since I started here at Unity. As always, reach out if you need anything. My email is niehusc3@live.siouxcityschools.com, and you can always select me as a recipient on Talking Points.
With the cooler temperatures upon us, please ensure your child is dressed appropriately for the colder winter. Even during the winter season, the District allows recess and outdoor activities to continue as usual, so it is important that students have the right winter weather clothing. When the temperature feels like 15 degrees or lower, students are kept inside for recess and activities. Students should be prepared for the cooler weather with a warm coat, hat, scarf, and gloves. If your student does not have access to cold-weather apparel, please contact our school office.
The weather in Iowa can be unpredictable. If the weather requires us to delay the start of our school day, cancel school for the day, or dismiss school early, information will be sent to families through email, text, and voicemail. In addition, this information is posted to our social media sites and the District website.
Please remember that parents and guardians have the right to make the decision to keep their child home on any day they feel it is unsafe for their student to be in school because of weather conditions. If you believe the weather provides a sincere reason why you may have to keep your student at home, or take your student home when classes are scheduled to continue, you as a parent or guardian will simply need to contact our school office to let us know.
Please link the graphic below to apply: https://www.siouxcityschools.org/page/careers)
Our TK & Kindergarten students exit from doors 25 and 26 (Mrs. Poulson and Mrs. Anderson's rooms). Our 1st and 2nd-grade students exit from the main entryway (door 1). Our 3rd-grade students exit from door 3 which is located behind our loading dock. The 4th and 5th graders exit from door 4 at the North end of the building. Please see the image below to assist you with this visualization. Please work with your family to agree to a common meeting place outside of the building. We do our best to limit student traffic within the building after school.
If you have a preschool child, they will dismiss out the main front entryway.
