February 11th, 2026

We would like to send a friendly reminder to all families that our school doors open for student entry at 9:05 a.m. each morning. For the safety and supervision of all children, students should not be dropped off or left unattended before this time.

We kindly ask parents and guardians to remain with and actively supervise their child while waiting outside the building prior to 9:05 a.m. Staff members are not available to monitor students until the doors officially open, and your support helps ensure that every child remains safe and secure during arrival.

Maintaining a consistent and supervised morning routine is an important part of keeping our school community safe. We greatly appreciate your cooperation and partnership in helping us provide a secure environment for all students. Thank you for your continued support and commitment to student safety.

Did you know that yearbooks are considered a fundraiser for the school and every purchase helps give back SCE? This year we are doing a yearbook purchase contest for the classroom with the most purchases before February 14th! The winning class will receive a special Valentine's treat.

Thank you to everyone who has already purchased a yearbook. If you would like to still purchase a yearbook, it is not too late. Please click on the link below for information about purchasing.

Click the link here.

Below is the current summary of our classroom yearbook purchase competition. Remember you have until February 14th to help your child's classroom possibly earn a Valentine's treat for the most yearbook purchases.

Mr. Davis is in first place with 10 yearbooks sold.

Mr. Hentemann, Mrs. Payne, and Mrs. Mosley are in a close second place with 7 yearbooks sold.

Mr. B, Ms. Curl, and Mrs. Phalon are following closely behind with 6 yearbooks sold.

Baby Pictures Needed

This year we are going to be featuring 4th grade baby pictures in the yearbook! We are asking parents please share their students baby picture by February 14th via email. If you could please email your students baby picture to sceyearbookcontest@gmail.com and please add your student's first and last name as the subject! If you have any questions please don't hesitate to reach out to the office!

Our school hosted an opening ceremony for the "Sycamore Creek Olympics" on Friday, February 6th. The students competed in fun classroom competitions. The competitions reinforced the Olympic Core Values of: Excellence, Friendship, and Respect.

Please check out the pictures of our opening day ceremony below.

The Closing Ceremony will be on Friday, February 20th. Students are invited to wear their grade level color (colors of the Olympic rings): Kindergarten - Black, First Grade - Yellow, Second Grade - Green, Third Grade - Blue, Fourth Grade - Red

Students can also wear any clothes that represent different countries that they might be connected to.

Date: February 12, 2026

Time: 5:00 PM

Format: Virtual - please use this link to log on to the session

Video call link: https://meet.google.com/nsr-dexn-bof

Focus: Supporting Every Learner, Supporting Every Family

This Month's Topic: Executive Functioning 101:

The Keys to Student Success Executive functions are the cognitive skills necessary for planning, focusing attention, remembering instructions, and juggling multiple tasks. This parent session provides a foundational overview of how these skills develop and why they are critical for academic and social success. Parents will leave with a clear understanding of the "CEO of the brain" and actionable tools to scaffold these skills at home.

This event is a great opportunity for families and educators to gain valuable insights and resources to support students with special needs. We look forward to seeing you there! Please remember that all past episodes are uploaded to our district website/YouTube channel.

Stay in the Game! Don't Flake Out Photo Submissions

We want to celebrate the many ways families support students in showing up, staying engaged, and staying in the game—even during the winter months!

Families are invited to submit a photo that shows how you support your student’s attendance. This could include morning routines, encouragement before school, walking to the bus stop, celebrating attendance milestones, or any moment that highlights your family’s commitment to being present every day.

How to Enter

• Submit a photo showing how your family supports regular school attendance

• Complete the form below and upload your photo

Important Dates

• Submissions will be accepted January 20- February 28th

• Deadline to Submit: February 28

• Raffle Drawing: March 2

Raffle Prize

All submitted entries will be entered into a raffle for one set (2 tickets) of Columbus Crew tickets. Winners will receive tickets to either the March 14 or May 2 game (dates subject to availability).

Share the Fun

After submitting your entry, feel free to share your photo on social media using the hashtag
#StayInTheGamePickerington or #DontFlakeOutPLSD

Need Help Uploading?

If you experience any difficulty uploading your photo, you may email your submission directly to:
Jeff_Comer@plsd.us (Please include your child’s name and school in the email.)

Thank you for partnering with us to support attendance, engagement, and success. We can’t wait to see how your family helps students Stay in the Game!

Submission Link

Sycamore Creek will be participating in the Team Tressel Fitness Challenge. This is a totally optional self paced challenge for families to participate in with a start date of February 2nd. The Team Tressel Fitness Challenge is for 3rd and 4th graders across the state.

Attached you will find a PDF of the Student Workbook that you can work through with your child if you choose. Students that turn the signed form at the end of the workbook in by May 2nd will receive a Certificate recognizing their hard work and achievement. Please reach out to Jack Haas with any

questions.

On Friday, February 13th, we will have a 45 minute assembly to kickoff the Team Tressel Fitness Challenge for our 3rd and 4th graders. DeVier Posey will be here introducing the challenge and having the students do a few exercises. This is a fitness challenge developed by Jim Tressel that involves a workbook for students and their families to complete over a 90 day period.

Mark your calendars!!! Harry Potter Dress up Day will be Friday, February 27th! Students can dress like their favorite wizard or just embrace the theme with accessories like scarves, wands, ties and spectacles! No need to go and buy anything... They can dress in colors to represent their house!

Boys Event Invites were sent out last week! We are so excited for this fun event and can’t wait to see all of our SCE boys there!! Interested in volunteering? Sign up at the link below.

https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/805054FA5AC2CABF49-62235253-boys

Our Girls dance is coming up! Interested in volunteering? See the link below!

https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/4090A49AFA62FABFD0-61875455-girls

The Hero of the Month focus for February is "Honesty".

• Model Integrity: Children learn values by watching; be consistent with your own honesty.
• Praise Truthfulness: Specifically commend honesty and courage when a child tells the truth, even if it is about a mistake.
• Avoid "Trap" Questions:

  If you already know they did something wrong, avoid asking "Did you do this?" which invites a lie. Instead, say, "I see what happened; let's talk about it".

• Remain Calm: Respond to mistakes with composure. Overreacting often causes children to hide the truth next time.
• Focus on Problem-Solving: Discuss why the lie was tempting and how to fix the mistake, rather than just punishing.
• Differentiate Reality: For young children, help distinguish between pretending and lying.

Check in next week for additional information from our School Counselor, Ms. Rizek.

Greetings Families!🙂

This week has been another busy week of learning at Sycamore Creek Elementary.

Thank you for all that you do to support your child's learning at home.

Spring conferences are coming up. This is a great time to discuss your child's progress and to celebrate your child's successes! 🎉

Mrs. Horsford

K-4 Curriculum Instructional Coach

PLSD, Sycamore Creek and Violet Elementary

School and Illness - Should Your Child Stay Home?

As we move through the school year, illnesses can spread quickly among children. To help keep everyone healthy and ensure your child recovers properly, please use the following guidelines when deciding whether your child should stay home from school.

Keep your child home if they have:

• Fever: A temperature of 100.0°F or higher. Your child should be fever-free for at least 24 hours without medication before returning to school.

• Vomiting: Keep your child home until 24 hours after the last episode.

• Diarrhea - Having loose stool more often that is not caused by a change in diet.

• Severe cough or difficulty breathing: If your child is coughing excessively or has trouble breathing, they should rest and be seen by a healthcare provider if symptoms persist.

• Sore throat: Especially if accompanied by fever or swollen glands — this could indicate strep throat. A child diagnosed with strep throat should stay home until 24 hours after starting antibiotics.

• Eye drainage: Yellow or green drainage from the eye(s) may be contagious. Keep your child home until cleared by a doctor or symptoms improve.

• Rash: Unexplained rashes should be checked by a healthcare provider before returning to school.

Please remember:
If your child is not feeling well enough to participate comfortably in classroom activities, it’s best to let them rest at home. Encourage regular handwashing, covering coughs and sneezes, to help prevent the spread of germs.

Your cooperation helps keep our school community healthy and safe — thank you!

The Mobile Dental Unit will be at SCE on Wednesday, February 25, and Thursday, February 26.

Website for Parents to Enroll: https://www.myschooldentist.com/SCPLOH_schsrm

• PLSD 2025-2026 District Calendar - click here

• Districtwide Activities Calendar

  Upcoming events and important dates are listed in the Districtwide Google Events Calendar, which is synced with individual building, program and athletic team calendars. Once inside the district wide calendar, to display the events of a particular building, team, program or activity, you will need to check the specific corresponding color-coded box(es) from the list on the left-hand side.

  Pickerington Schools partners with the City of Pickerington and Yodel to bring you the Pickerington Community Calendar!
  

  Visit this link to view all Pickerington Schools activities included on the calendar and don’t forget to “favorite” our Pickerington Schools schedule! Once favorited, Pickerington Schools' events will be front and center on your calendar, enabling you to see what’s coming up.

Please call the Sycamore Creek Elementary Attendance line at 614-834-6201 to leave a voice-mail message to report an absence for your child. Our secretaries check messages throughout the day.

If you have a doctor's note that you need to share with the school to document an absence, please email it to:

sceattendance@plsd.us

February 2nd-6th

*National School Counseling Week

February 11th

*K-12 Evening Parent-Teacher Conferences

February 16th

*No School (President's Day)

February 17th and 18th

*No School (Professional Development Days for staff)

February 19th

*K-12 Evening Parent-Teacher Conferences

February 22nd

*School Bus Driver Appreciation Day