NEWS from the NEST

Woodland Families:

Tuesday is High Attendance Day for the Hardin County district. ALL students and staff are allowed to wear Pajamas to school (within boundaries of the dress code) to school on Tuesday. If we reach 97% on Tuesday, ALL classes will get to earn an additional recess period sometime during the week.

I cannot thank you enough for getting your students to us each and everyday to school. Timeliness is important and instills productive life skills for your student. My biggest request from you at this moment is to help your student understand that they must put forth effort when they are at school. I visited multiple classrooms this week and observed, coached, encouraged students that were simply not participating in class. Please explain to your student that learning only takes place when we get a little uncomfortable. I understand that Reading/Math/Writing might be difficult and more challenging to some students, but we will never get better at a skill or subject without trying.

What is Effort? Effort is the physical or mental energy and time one uses to try to achieve a goal, resulting in an attempt or a product like a work or an achievement. It involves a conscious exertion or hard work, with common synonyms including exertion, work, pains, and attempt. For example, a heavy task requires physical effort, while a complex problem requires mental effort.

We have met will all bus students, but we are still finding ourselves with multiple reports of bus incidents throughout the week. Please allow us time to look into these events. Woodland does not manage the bus garage. The district has a Transportation Director. When there is an incident, we must be allowed time to look into any event to see if we can obtain camera footage and speak with students in order to find out more details. Please remind your student that riding the bus is a privilege and not a right. Students can be removed from the bus for 1 day, 3 days, 5 days, 10 days and ultimately off the bus for the remainder of the school year.

September is in Full SWING and we are looking forward to great things ahead. Please make sure to mark your calendar for the Fall Festival and help out with the Candy Drive if possible.

Here's to another great week in the NEST!

Please make sure to reach out if you need anything! We are here to help.

Eagles Fly Because They Try!

Mr. Thompson

Principal - Woodland Elementary

brandon.thompson@hardin.kyschools.us

Maintaining a Positive and Disruption-Free Learning Environment

Eagle Families,

Our top priority is to provide every student with a safe, respectful, and engaging learning environment that supports academic success and personal growth. We are committed to delivering the highest quality education, free from disruptions and distractions that interfere with the learning process.

Recently, we have observed an uptick in behaviors that disrupt the educational environment. These behaviors not only affect the students involved but also impact their peers and the overall classroom experience. We are asking for your support in reinforcing the importance of respectful and responsible behavior at school.

In accordance with Board Policy 09.426 and the definition outlined in Senate Bill: Disruption to the Educational Process, the following behaviors are considered disruptive and will result in disciplinary action:

• Conduct that disrupts the classroom environment or challenges the authority of a supervising adult
• Behavior that threatens the health, safety, or welfare of others
• Actions that may damage public or private property, including that of students or staff
• Engagement in illegal activity
• Conduct that interferes with another student’s ability to access educational opportunities or participate in instructional and extracurricular activities
• Behavior that disrupts the delivery of instructional services or interferes with the orderly administration of school operations

To address these violations, school personnel will refer to the HCS Code of Acceptable Behavior and Discipline Violations Chart, which outlines a range of possible responses for both initial and repeat offenses. Please note that the options listed in the chart are not exhaustive—staff may use other appropriate responses based on the situation. We encourage you to review our school’s handbook for further details on Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and school-level consequences for behavior violations.

Our goal is to work collaboratively with families to ensure that all students can learn and grow in a positive, disruption-free environment. We appreciate your continued partnership in helping us uphold these standards and expectations.

Thank you for your support as we work together to provide the best environment for our eagles!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Aubrey

Assistant Principal - Woodland Elementary

precious.aubrey@hardin.kyschools.us

Starting this Friday, we will be recognizing an Eagle of the Week from each grade level. This will be tied into the Portrait of a Learner initiative that the district is beginning this school year. The Competency for the Month will be Personal Champion. Each teacher will choose a student from their classroom and throughout the month of September, we will recognize those Eagles for exhibiting characteristics of being a Personal Champion on our LIVE Google Meets Friday mornings. Please look below at what it takes to be a Personal Champion.

CANDY DRIVE CONTINUES!

9/09/25 HIGH ATTENDANCE DAY (Pajama Day for ALL Students & Staff)

9/11/25 SBDM Council Meeting @ 5pm in WES Library

9/18/25 PTO Meeting @ 5pm in WES Library (last one before FALL FESTIVAL)

9/25/25 DOT DAY school-wide Celebration

9/26/26 PBIS Clubs for September

10/2/25 FALL FESTIVAL (mark your calendars)

10/6/25-10/10/25 FALL BREAK (SCHOOL DISMISSED)

10/13/25 Parent/Teacher Conferences (SCHOOL DISMISSED)

Woodland Families:

Please read the definition below of bullying. This term is being used interchangeably with individual actions of students being unkind/mean to each other. While no ones wants anyone to be unkind/mean to anyone else, this is not bullying.

Bullying is when people repeatedly and intentionally use words or actions against someone or a group of people to cause distress and risk to their wellbeing. These actions are usually done by people who have more influence or power over someone else, or who want to make someone else feel less powerful or helpless.

HARASSMENT & BULLYING

KY Revised Statute of Harassment

KY Revised Statute of Harassing Communication

Harassment, as defined by the HCS Code of Conduct, is intimidation by threats or physical violence or actual physical conduct, the creation, by whatever means, of climate of hostility, intimidation, or the use of nicknames, written materials or pictures that are lewd, vulgar or profane. Reports of harassment should be reported to the teacher or school office IMMEDIATELY. Please be aware that harassment is an ongoing act and not a single incident. Our School Resource Officer will teach ALL classes a lesson on harassment and its implications.

Our school will maintain an Anti Bullying policy addressing procedures to provide a caring, friendly and safe environment for all of our students and staff so they can learn in a relaxed and secure atmosphere. In order to prevent the disruption of the educational process and the ability of all students to take advantage of the educational opportunities offered at Woodland Elementary School, any behavior defined as bullying will not be tolerated. This policy also addresses any issues identified by our stakeholders and issues required by state law. The Anti Bullying policy defines all forms of bullying as well as signs and symptoms of bullying, states the importance of responding to bullying, procedures for reporting, and interventions for both the offending student and the student who is a victim of bullying.

Our PTO is hosting a candy drive! We are collecting candy to give to students as prizes at the Fall Festival on October 2. Please consider donating a bag of candy between Sept. 2-30 to help us make this year's Fall Festival even more fun for our Eagles! The homeroom class that collects the most bags of candy will receive a prize!

I, myself, completed this form for my son that attends middle school and it took about 2 minutes to complete. This can help to ensure that all of our students continue to receive a free breakfast and lunch each day at school.

Last year Woodland was the first school in the district to achieve 100% of their families filling out the CEP form. We received an additional amount of funding because of this. We can do this! The link to the form is included right here.

English HIF public link
https://www.myschoolapps.com/Home/DistrictRedirect/HARDINHIF_KY?langid=1

Spanish HIF public link
https://www.myschoolapps.com/Home/DistrictRedirect/HARDINHIF_KY?langid=2

Please look above at the APP that you will need to download in order to stay in contact with Woodland via Rooms. Rooms is inside the HCS app. The only people that will be automatically entered into Rooms will be a student's guardian(s) that are listed in Parent Portal. All family members can still download the app and see all things Woodland. If you find yourself having trouble with Rooms and need assistance, please reach out to us so we can help you. Please also make sure that your correct phone number is listed in Parent Portal so you receive the text messages that the district and Woodland sends out.

We have filled up 11 Taters so far!

Each day a homeroom class has the opportunity to earn a Tardy Tater piece. How do they earn it? It's all tied into Attendance. Students must be present (not tardy) in order for the class to add a piece. After 10 day of only have one student missing from their class, the class receives a Tater Chip Party. We are wanting our Eagles to be at school each and everyday. We miss them when they are not here!

Students will once again be eligible to earn EGGcellent Eagle Tickets for work they do from the Reading Passages and Math Fluency sheets posted on the Family Newsletter. Students can simply get a note from a family member stating that they read the reading passage for the week. Students can also complete the math problems (show your work) on a blank sheet of paper and send those in as well. Please do not keep the printing from allowing your student to complete the work.

Students needs their first and last name and their homeroom teacher's name on their paper when turning these in. Can students complete work outside of their grade level? YES!

I will award students for grade level work that is either 1 grade level above or below the grade level that they are currently in.

For every Reading Passage a student reads = 2 EGGcellent Eagle Tickets

For every 10 math problems a student completes = 1 EGGcellent Eagle ticket

EGGcellent Eagle tickets will be drawn on Monday mornings this school year for a snack and prize.

1st Grade Reading Passage (Beach Day)

2nd Grade Reading Passage (How Water Gets to Your Home)

3rd Grade Reading Passage (I Remember When)

4th Grade Reading Passage (Clues About the Continents)

5th Grade Reading Passage (The Honeyguide)

6th Grade Reading Passage (Game Group)

All grades levels have a fluency standard.

The KY Math Standards state that students should be fluent in the following areas:

1st grade students to be fluent within 10 (addition & subtraction)

2nd grade students to be fluent within 20 (addition & subtraction)

3rd grade students to be fluent within 100 (multiplication & division)

4th grade students to be fluent in multi-digit addition & subtraction

5th grade students to be fluent in multiplying multi-digit whole numbers

1st Grade Math Fluency Sheet

2nd Grade Math Fluency Sheet

3rd Grade Math Fluency Sheet

4th Grade Math Fluency Sheet

5th Grade Math Fluency Sheet

Follow the directions in the link to obtain a Parent Portal. All families are encouraged to make sure that they have access to their student's Parent Portal. This is where all attendance and grades are housed for your student.

https://www.hardin.kyschools.us/parents/parent-portal-account-how-do-i-get-one

All educators in the state of KY in the public school systems must use the Kentucky Academic Standards. All of the programs that we use at Woodland align to these standards. If you are ever wondering why your student is learning a specific skill or concept in their grade level, you can look to these for guidance.

In order to increase our daily attendance, last year we started Tardy Taters at Woodland. Each day that a homeroom class only has 1 student late/absent from school then the classroom gets to add a piece onto the Tater. Once the class has received 10 days of only missing one student or achieving 100% attendance, then the class will be rewarded with a certificate and a Tater chip party. Classrooms proudly display their certificates out in the hallway. At the end of the school year, the class with the most complete Tardy Taters will receive a class Pizza Party! Last year we filled 153 Tardy Taters. Let's see if we can beat that number in the 25-26 school year.

Do you want to help, but you don't want to go out and buy and drop it off at the school? Click here to help send supplies directly to the school. Thanks in advance!

https://a.co/6QhXhhx

Woodland does have a Wellness policy that is a SBDM (Site Base Decision Making) policy about no outside food coming in for birthday celebrations. We do celebrate every student in a monthly celebration on the last Thursday of the month. Students are given a treat provided by the cafeteria, we sing Happy Birthday, and each child gets a Happy Birthday pencil. If you would like to do something additional, please reach out to your student's homeroom teacher. You are always welcome to send in a trinket/prize/pencil for the students in the class. You can also contact the school and come and eat lunch with your student if you are able to do that. With the ever growing number of students with known and unknown allergies, we do not allow large batches of food (cupcakes, brownies, etc.).

Some suggestions in lieu of food:

• Stickers
• Glow bracelets
• temporary tattoos
• Bubbles
• Play-doh
• Side walk chalk

Thank you for your understanding and support.

If there is a change in your student's transportation, please fill our the form linked here. We must have transportation changes in writing for documentation purposes.

The link is https://forms.gle/39qw9qqqjnXccMtR9

Here is the important information regarding how parents can view and pay for field trips and complete permission slips for their students.

To get started, parents need to complete a two-step sign-up process:

1. Create a free SchoolCash Online account.

   • Visit https://hardin.schoolcashonline.com and click on "Register."
   • Fill in your first name, last name, email address, and create a password.
   • Choose a security question.
   • Select "Yes" to receive email notifications (no promotional emails will be sent).
   • Check your email for a confirmation message (remember to look in the Spam folder if it doesn’t appear).
   • Use your email and password to log in.

2. Add your student(s) to your account profile and make a payment.

• Sign in at https://hardin.schoolcashonline.com.
• Navigate to "My Account" at the top of the page.
• From the dropdown menu, select "My Students."
• Click to add a child:
  • Type your school board name and choose your school from the list.
  • Enter your child's details (up to 8 students can be added).
  • Click "Confirm."
• Select the item you wish to purchase and click "Add to Cart."
• Once finished adding items, click "Continue" to make a payment.

Are you looking for child care after school? The district provides child care, at a low cost, to families. Please visit the link to check it out and fill out the application or you can call 270-769-8800 and ask to speak to Amy Wood. If you are interested please act quickly. Spots do fill up. Thank you!

https://www.hardin.kyschools.us/school-aged-child-care-sacc-1

If you are interested in being a volunteer, this video explains how volunteers can complete a background check (which they need per law and policy).

https://youtu.be/jd8mltg9bmM

Some points of note:

• HCS will send a request for a background check to the Administrative Office of the Courts EVERY FIVE YEARS. The AOC charges the district a $10 fee for each check administered. We ask the volunteer to pay for that background check processing fee.
• We will only ask for a processing fee every five years instead of every year. We ask for the background check form to be completed each year in order to maintain a clear record of the current school year's volunteers.
• The background check will not be processed until the Superintendent’s office has received $10 for the background check and a copy of the receipt issued by the school. For instance, if an adult who has never volunteered becomes a volunteer in 2024, they will not have to pay for another background check until 2029.