A Piece From The Principal's Puzzle

Dear Blossomwood Families,

Thank you again for all of your help at home as we continue to learn how to make each day a valuable one for all of our children. We encourage students to get smarter each day and make each day count which includes reading for 15-20 minutes each night at home. #WinTheDay

We have had several parents ask for some advice on how to help their students at home. Here are a few tips that might enhance your child's daily learning experience:

1) Find a quiet, comfortable location in your home to learn/work in each day.

2) Establish some routines; including going to bed and getting up at the same time (Mon.-Fri.).

3) Provide a level of supervision suitable to your child's age or stage of development.

4) Refrain from doing the thinking/work for your child. For example, think or struggle time is often part of the learning process. This is so difficult for us adults.

5) Monitor how much time your child is spending online. Frequent breaks can be helpful.

Sincerely,

Bradley A. Scott, Ed.D.

Principal

August

17 - Celebrating Education Parade - Meet at 7 am at Dollar General on Blue Spring Road

• See Coach Nick Jones, Dr. Scott, or Mrs. Collier for more details.
• Parade starts at 8 am.

21 - Fall Picture Day

26 - iReady & STAR assessment window begins

30 - 1/2 Day Students

September

2 - Labor Day (No School)

12 - Curriculum Night @ 6 pm - Blossomwood Cafeteria

One of the many reasons that we have a fantastic school is we have great volunteers! Each school was asked to create a volunteer plan in an effort to provide some helpful guidance for our volunteers and the classroom teachers . In coordination with our school leadership team and our PTA Board, we have come up with a basic plan that provides some fundamental guidance of "Do's & Don'ts" accompanied by an acknowledgement sheet.

Therefore, in order to ensure the safety of everyone in our building and the success of our volunteer program, please follow the guidance outlined in our volunteer plan. Copies will be available in the front office, the PTA website, and you can also find it below. All volunteers must sign this form to participate.

Please take a couple of minutes to complete this parent survey for our district accreditation process. It will also be used for our school improvement plan. The survey will be open until August 30th. Thank you!

Please make sure you select Blossomwood Elementary as the school.

• Parent Survey Link

The HCS Special Education Department is hosting the last in a series of Parent Training Sessions on August 28: Navigating Special Education: Understanding Eligibility Criteria in Alabama's Administrative Code.

The series was designed to empower parents with valuable insights, tools, and resources to better understand and address the unique needs of students with disabilities to foster a collaborative and supportive community.

The portraits that will go into our school's yearbook will be taken on Wednesday, August 21. A make-up date of October 16 has been arranged in case your child is absent. Please note that with all of the portrait sales, a percentage of your purchase goes back to support Blossomwood.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact the school or the photographer. Again this year Greg Machen Photography in Madison will be taking the portraits. Their contact information is 256-461-0827 and gregmachenphotography.com.

To improve reading outcomes for students across Alabama, the Alabama Legislature passed the Alabama Literacy Act, which became law on June 10, 2019.

This legislation extends comprehensive information and other guidance for educators to focus concentrated and systematic efforts to improve the reading skills of all public school students in early literacy so that every student is reading at or above grade level by the end of the third grade.

To learn more about the Alabama Literacy Act and how you can assist your child/children at home, please click on the links below.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to our reading coach, Mrs. Lauren Davenport (lauren.davenport@hsv-k12.org).

Links:

act2019-523.pdf (alabamaachieves.org)

Final_My Child Can! Kindergarten Booklet (alabamaachieves.org)

Final_My Child Can! First Grade Booklet (alabamaachieves.org)

Final_My Child Can! Second Grade Booklet (alabamaachieves.org)

Final_My Child Can! Third Grade Booklet (alabamaachieves.org)

The Alabama Family Guide for Student Reading Success - July 31, 202 0-2 SPANISH (alabamaachieves.org)

HCS Welcomes Students to the 2024-25 School Year Huntsville City Schools (HCS) welcomed back more than 22,000 students across the district.

secure.smore.com

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.