Centennial Blue Jays

Greetings, Blue Jay families!

We want to give a big shout out to our amazing classified staff who are such an important part of our Blue Jay family! Our classified staff keep the kids fed and the building clean, they supervise the kids at lunch and recess, they teach reading groups, they work in the health room and the office, they help with student behavior and social skills. They're also our bus drivers, the folks who fix things and keep the grounds maintained, and a lot of folks who work at the district office behind the scenes to keep things running smoothly.

There's an awful lot going on at the school this month - celebrating reading all week this week, a fun field trip to the UO, the third-grade concert, Girls on the Run, and then of course, Spring Break! Enjoy!

Don Hakala, Principal

Feb. 28: Start collecting Read-A-Thon pledges

Mar. 3–9: Read-A-Thon and Read Across America Spirit Week

Mar. 3: Bookmarks Due

Mar. 4: PTO Meeting 6 p.m.

Mar. 4: Learn to Ride event at Bob Keefer, 5–7 p.m.

Mar. 6: Family Reading Night, 6 p.m.

Mar. 7: OBOB Participant Party

Mar. 10: Grade 3-4-5 Field Trip to UO Women's Softball Game

Mar. 11: Read-A-Thon Envelopes Due

Mar. 13: 3rd Grade Concert, 6:30 (performers due at 6:!5)

Mar. 14: Flock Friday/Early Release at 12:30

Mar. 15: OBOB Regionals at Thurston High School

Mar. 17: Girls on the Run practice starts

Mar. 21: No School, Grading Day

Mar. 24–28: Spring Break

Packets have gone home for students to record their reading time. Reading time can be either at home or at school, and time you are reading together counts, too. Parents can choose to encourage student reading by making pledges. All pledges collected go directly to our incredible PTO, which relies on contributions to be able to do all the things they do for our students. Please know that students will be awarded prizes for the amount that they read as well as the amount that they raise. Students should collect any pledges by March 10 and return the envelopes by March 11 to be eligible for a prize.

There are still openings for Centennial's new Girls On The Run group, led by Ms. Lefferts! Practices are Monday and Thursday from 3 to 4:30 from March 17 until the first weekend of June, leading up to a 5K event. It is free of charge for Centennial students using a coupon code and open to any girls in 3rd-5th grade! Register soon! Fliers are in the front office.

We just wrapped up our “Be a Bucket Filler Challenge.”A bucket filler treats others with kindness, encourages the people around them, and looks for the positives in people and situations. It was amazing to see Centennial students encouraging each other and being kind!

Having a Positive Attitude is the character trait for the month of March. "Having a Positive Attitude" means meeting situations with optimism, focusing on the good in situations and people, and expecting positive outcomes even when things are challenging.

You can help us at home by encouraging your kiddos to look for the bright side!

Did you know that Centennial Elementary provides additional reading instruction to students who need extra support?

How?

1. We assess all of our students three times per year.

2. If students appear to need extra support in reading, we assess further to find what skills they have and what skills we need to work on,

3. Then, we offer an additional 30 minutes of reading support to 20% of our students!

What?

• We use evidence-based approaches to promote literacy!

• Each lesson has a Target Sound. We introduce the target sound, we read words with the target sound, we write words with the target sound, and we read a story with the target sound.

• After students show success, we move to the next Target Sound!

** Are you wondering if your child receives extra support? Just ask them if they are filling up their marble jar in room 13!

And of course, even if students do not attend extra support in room 13, our wonderful instructors are also leading reading groups in all grade levels from Kindergarten to Fifth grade.

Stay tuned to the next Newsletter where we will introduce some of the great reading instructors and some of our wonderful students!

Congratulations to our February Super Students, who were noted for their kindness, helpfulness, and respectfulness: Laz, Lee'Andre, Leylani, Lillyana, Gavin, Naomi, IvaJean, Edith, Caspian, Angel W, Mira, Remi S, Wilford, Carsyn, Shawn, José AD, Felix N, Hannah, RIley, Cheyenne, Lili C, Declan W, Charlotte R, DawnMarie, Harper, Dylan, Sarah, Aliah, Kevin, Valeria, Josie, Ronnie, Dakota F, Wyatt H, Lizeth, Jayden and Kimberly GS. Keep up the great work, kids!

We had a fabulous tournament this year at school! Says Ms. Hodgins: "We had our championship battle today with a tie-breaker round AND a second battle right after (double elimination), in front of most of the school! The Reading Rockets vs The Sassy Croissant Readers.

I am so excited to be bringing an amazing group of 5th grade girls, The Sassy Croissant Readers, to regionals next month! Both battles were neck and neck, which means both teams worked equally as hard! I am BEYOND PROUD of all 57 students (13 teams), who participated in OBOB this year!"

The regional tournament will be held on March 15 at Thurston High.

Families, we understand that children get sick and we so appreciate it when you call to tell us they won't be in. We also understand that things often happen in our busy lives that cause us to be late.

But because showing up for school has such a huge impact on a student’s academic success, we want you to know that we are going to be increasing our efforts to reach out to families with information about attendance. You may be receiving more calls or other notifications than usual.

As is our tradition, Lost & Found will be donated at the end of the trimester, which will be right before Spring Break. Please take a moment to look through our photos, or stop by the school and have a look. Right after school is the best time - plesae do check in with the office first. Thanks!

Just a reminder that if you are not connected with your child's teacher(s) via the SeeSaw app, we encourage you to do so! SeeSaw is a great way to connect with teachers. Please reach out to your teacher or to Ms Deb in our office for help getting connected!

Centennial has an outstanding PTO! We really appreciate all they do to support our staff and students at CES! We would love to have you participate with this group. Meetings are generally held on the first Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. Child care is always available, and they offer a light meal. You can visit their website at www.cespto.org.

How to support our school:

• You can always get blue bags from the school office. This is an easy way to support the PTO through donations of bottles and cans. Just bring the bag to the Springfield Bottle Drop Redemption Center, scan the PTO bar code, and toss your bag.
• Watch for upcoming fundraisers, and in the meantime, volunteer!
• Click here for more information about the upcoming Silent Auction!

Email: deb.jolda@springfield.k12.or.us
Website: centennial.springfield.k12.or.us
Location: 1315 Aspen Street, Springfield, OR, USA
Phone: 541-744-6383
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CentennialBlueJays

We are always happy to help or answer any questions you might have!