A Piece From The Principal's Puzzle

February

5 - Progress Reports Sent Home

7 - Family Glow Dance at Blossomwood (5:30 to 7:00 pm)

14 - 1/2 day for Students & Valentine's Parties

17 - Presidents' Day (No School)

Over the next six weeks, first grade students will participate in a very special reading program called PAWsome Readers, with a “Wild About Reading” theme! In the program, first graders will be encouraged to read by themselves, read with an adult, or read with a buddy to earn prizes. The goal is for the students to read as many books as possible from January 27th to March 5th. Prizes will be awarded for reaching various amounts of books throughout the six weeks.

To celebrate and recognize student reading achievements we will hang a name plate for each child in the hallway. A paper link for each book students read will be added to their name plate to create a long, colorful paper chain display.

Last Friday, we had a special kickoff celebration with many guests from our community including: representatives from Huntsville City Futbol Club, Huntsville Ballet, United States Space Camp, Huntsville Jr. High Cheer Squad, Huntsville High School Varsity Basketball Team, AKA Sorority Step Team, and mascots from Publix, the University of Alabama, i-Ready, and the Huntsville Havoc Hockey Team. It was a blast followed by a parade through the halls of Blossomwood! Go read a lot, first graders!

As you are probably aware, the flu is really making an impact in our community right now. Our school nurses have shared a guide in both English and Spanish that may help your family to avoid catching the flu. Please see below for the link to the guides.

Knowing just the right word to use can give an elementary schooler real power. A strong vocabulary improves your child’s thinking and communication skills, and there is a clear connection between a strong vocabulary and academic success.

Answer yes or no to the questions below to see if you are expanding your child’s word knowledge:

___ 1. Do you talk about words? When reading books together, discuss the meanings of unfamiliar words.

___ 2. Do you use new words for familiar ideas? “Let’s tidy your room by categorizing your toys.”

___ 3. Do you play word games as a family, such as Scrabble?

___ 4. Do you pick a Word of the Day that family members try to use at least three times during that day?

___ 5. Do you encourage your child to use a notebook to write down new words and their meanings?

How well are you doing?

More yes answers mean you are helping your child learn and use words. For no answers, try those ideas from the quiz.

Reprinted with permission from the January 2025 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2025 The Parent Institute®, a division of PaperClip Media, Inc.

The main function of the house system is to develop a sense of identity or belonging and to celebrate achievements. Schools with a structure or system like this cite the positive impact it has on the educational experience and school culture. Students report how it helps them form friendships and closer bonds with peers, and teachers share that students seem to enjoy seeing a connection with students in other classrooms as well as other grade levels. As a school, we also believe our new House System supports our school mission statement and vision.

During the first week of school or upon enrollment, all of our students and staff have the opportunity to digitally "spin" the wheel to randomly sort each student into one of four groups or houses — Emerald, Garnet, Onyx, or Sapphire.

Our House System is designed to:

1. Create school-wide community by creating opportunities for students to connect to staff and students in other classes and grades that share their house. Older students become natural leaders by mentoring and supporting younger students. Mentoring also extends to teachers and school staff members who are also assigned to a house.
2. Create a culture of belonging as students are recognized for accomplishments both academically as well as their choices related to behavior.
3. Emphasize building character through a reward system that goes beyond earning a piece of candy for doing something good. Each individual achievement adds to the collective house/group, making the reward hopefully more meaningful and social.
   
4. Provide opportunities to praise and accentuate positives for both individual students and collective groups of students.