February 2026

February is the month of LOVE, and LOVE is in the air at Longfellow Elementary:

LOVE of our learners, LOVE for the PTO that optimizes our fund raisers and approval for funds to purchase the Book Vending Machine in our library, PTO parents/teachers for organizing the meal for conference night, a LOVE for the opportunity to visit with parents at conferences, LOVE of the On-line Scholastic Book Fair, and LOVE of all the fantastic learning opportunities our Longfellow Lions are experiencing.

I LOVE the fact that our technology continues to allow us to share important information and happenings at LO Elementary😊

Longfellow Parent Teacher Conferences:
This night is a wonderful opportunity for parents to visit with teachers in regard to their child/ren’s progress. It allows teachers a chance to celebrate their students’ successes and showcase their many educational talents. It also provides an opportunity to discuss educational strategies for parents to assist their children with at home. Please contact your child’s teacher if you have not received your conference time slot. Thank you in advance for attending!
Conferences: Thursday, February 5, from 3:30-8:45 pm

Sincerely,
Mrs. Heckenlaible

Congratulations go out to Longfellow’s Teacher of the Year, Laretta McPeek, and Classified Staff of the Year, Lee Bruguier! Mrs. McPeek, second grade Den B teacher, and Mr. Lee Bruguier, LO food service manager, will be presented with their awards at our annual TOY/CSOY Reception later this month. We are so proud of these great colleagues!

Please remember that our doors do not open and supervision does not begin until 7:30 am. Student arriving before then will need to wait outside. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation!

• Stop at the book fair
• Purchase Candy Grams
• Look through lost & found
• Register your future kindergarten student for Jumpstart

We understand that families need to make doctor appointments and have family vacations. As you are scheduling those, it may help to be aware of these dates.

2/13 Fri-NO SCHOOL

2/16 Mon-NO SCHOOL - President's Day

3/18-3/23 Thru-Mon-NO SCHOOL - Spring Break/Staff Development

4/3-4/6 Fri-Mon-NO SCHOOL - Easter

5/22 Fri-LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

We do the bulk of our statewide testing in April as well (3rd-5th graders). When a student

misses the scheduled testing time, we are required to reschedule for that student. Learners do

better when testing with the rest of their peers. We appreciate you doing your best to avoid

absences or leaving for appointments during those dates.

Doctor Appointments? Vacations?

The South Dakota summative testing window runs from March - May 8th. We do most of our testing in April. Please avoid scheduling appointments during the school day, if at all possible. Testing with their peers is the most normal testing environment for our students. If they miss testing dates, they will have to make them up during important class time. Your help is much appreciated! More detailed grade-level information will come out when the schedule is finalized.

Please check out the Dates to Remember section of this newsletter as well as the section above for dates that we do not have school. They would be the perfect time to schedule appointments or travel.

You are encouraged to fill out a free and reduced meal application at any time throughout the school year. When in doubt, fill it out. If you completed the 2025-2026 application already this year, then you should have already been notified of your status. If you have experienced a financial change due household membership or job change, you are encouraged to apply again.

You can create an online account to monitor your child/ren’s meal account, balances, and add money to their account. Visit the district
the school website and click on

“Mealtime Online Access”

Please dress your child weather appropriate gear each day as students GO OUTSIDE if the 'feels like' temperature is zero or above. We do not have outdoor clothing for students to borrow. The temperature can change throughout the day. It may be too cold as they arrive but warm enough by afternoon recesses.

We are very proud of our attendance rates at Longfellow Elementary and want to keep that going! We want to thank our parents for continuing to bring their child/ren to school each day and on time.

Attendance is extremely important to the success of each child's education.

Thank you for making attendance and education a priority in your child's life!!

Towards the end of the school year (which will be here before we know it), each grade level/den has the opportunity to attend a field trip. Please note that field trips must be earned by the following rules, showing and being respectful to others, being a positive leader, and upholding their grades (to name a few). Teachers will review their lists and determine all who have earned the privilege.

Pick up and drop off can be a very stressful time for parents and students. Everyone is in a hurry and ready to move on to the next part of their day. However, safety is the most important factor! Please remember to go to the corner and cross the street with the crossing guards. Please do NOT encourage your child to cross in the middle of the street. We want to keep our students safe and set a good example.

The dental bus will not be coming to Mitchell during this school year. We understand they are expected to come in July of 2026. Please watch the Mitchell Community Chamber page for an announcement.

PLEASE remember that students need proper shoes on gym days. Sandals, cowboy boots, snow boots, fashionable boots, flipflops, crocs, etc., are fine shoes but not appropriate for PE days.

Longfellow does not have spare shoes for students to borrow. Thank you.

Feb. 2-6 - Book Fair OPEN

Tue. 3rd - PTO Meeting

Thu. 5th - Parent/Teacher Conferences

Fri. 6th - Candy Grams DUE

Fri. 6th - Student Council Store-OPEN

Mon. 9th - School Board Meeting

Thu. - 12th - Candy Grams Delivered

Fri. 13th - NO SCHOOL

Mon. 16th - NO SCHOOL

Fri. 20th - Student Council Store-OPEN

Tue. 24th - 4th Grade Recorder Concert

Fri. 27th - Family BINGO night

March

Wed. 11th - Spring photos

Fri. 13th - 3rd Quarter Ends

Thu. 26th - Kindergarten Jumpstart-call 605-995-3092 to reserve your sport

Tue. 31st - Kindergarten Jumpstart

May

5th - Fifth grade show choir/vocal concert at the PAC @6:30 pm

12th - Fifth grade district band concert at the PAC @7;00 pm

21st - Fifth grade recognition (more info to come)

22nd - Last scheduled day of school = field day!!

We send out a HUGE thank you to all of the Junior Achievement volunteers and their businesses for bringing their knowledge to our lions.

Kayla Sievert - 1st Interstate Bank

Katie Niehoff - Guidehouse

Neveah Skinner - Vern Eide

Lu Backlund - Mortgage Solutions

Luke Hagen - Daily Republic

Chris Lambert - Innovative Systems

Hilary Rockwell - Avera Queen of Peace

Carol Grode-Hanks - MTC

Rachel Giblin - DWU

Corbin Kramer - DWU

Yearbook order forms

Spring picture order forms or link

Teacher request forms for students entering 1st & 2nd grade

The school doors open at 7:30 am. Even if it is cold or raining, we do not have staff in the building to supervise so students will wait until 7:30 am to enter the building. Likewise, our staff leaves by 3:45 and students will need to be picked up before that time. We appreciate you making arrangements to have your children dropped off and picked up within those times.

Building doors open 7:30 am

Breakfast served 7:30-8:10 am

First bell rings at 8:10 am

School begins at 8:15 am (meaning a student is tardy at 8:16 am)

School dismissed at 3:15 pm

If your child needs to leave during the school day or will come late due to an appointment, simply alert the school office at 605-995-3092. If you need to take your child out early, we appreciate you alerting the office ahead of time, if possible. Your child will remain in class until you come inside to sign them out and we will do our best to have them prepared and ready to go as quickly as possible.

Please ask your child if they have headphones for school. If you forgot to send some or they are no longer working, we have headphones in the office available for purchase for $5.00. Our lions use headphones daily.

School announcements, such as weather-related dismissals, late starts, or cancellations, in addition to reminders about Longfellow Elementary events, can be sent to you via text. You can download the app on your device by visiting the app or google play store and searching for ‘Mitchell School District’. If you just want Longfellow information, please select our school. You can select multiple schools if you have children in other levels. Just a reminder that this is how you are notified when your child/ren’s school times are affected by weather. The school does not call individual parents.

Also, please make sure your phone number is updated and stays updated in Campus and with the school. You will receive text notifications, as long as you choose to accept them. These notifications would be primarily for weather related school late starts, early dismissals, and cancellations.

All medications must be administered through the office. Students may keep cough drops in their lockers or desks but allergy meds, cold & flu, antacids, inhalers, etc., as well as all prescription medications will be held in the nurse's office. Please stop in to see Mrs. Snoozy, Longfellow's nurse, or call 605-995-3092 and ask for our nurse, if you have any questions.

Please remember that students are NOT ALLOWED to carry any medications on them (even aspirin). It is not safe to have elementary students carrying meds as we don't want them to get into the wrong hands. We are happy to keep OTC medications in the office for your child when/if they need them. However, if you would like your child to have Ibuprofen, Aspirin, etc. in school, you will need to supply that for them.

In the next couple of months, we will be screening all K-3rd graders, as well as any new students, for hearing and vision. You may receive a letter or phone call from our nurse if any results are at all concerning.

If your child had any health concerns in the past (milk allergy, asthma, etc.) our nurse may be contacting you via a letter in your child's backpack, mail or phone call to confirm. If your child HAS any health conditions we need to be aware of, please contact our nurse so we are aware.