Knights News
Unity Elementary School
Hello Unity Families,
It seems hard to believe that we are in March already, the school year is going by quickly. I would like to bring some things to your attention as we move into Spring. The first thing I want to make sure everyone is aware of is the change in the school calendar. Due to the school closures and two-hour late start times because of inclement weather this year, our students are short 14 instructional hours. Therefore, the District will be adding 3 student days to the end of the current school year. Those days will be Friday, May 30th, Monday, June 2nd and Tuesday, June 3rd.
The last day of school will now be on Tuesday, June 3rd; students will be dismissed two hours early that day. If we happen to have more snow days this year, we will continue to add additional days at that time due to instructional time requirements for students. The end of the 3rd quarter will also move to Friday, March 21st, with these changes.
Second semester Parent-Teacher conferences are also scheduled for March. Tuesday. March 18th from 3:40 PM to 5:40 PM will be our ELL conferences. Then we will continue with conferences on Tuesday, March 25th and Thursday, March 27th. Conference hours on March 25th will be from 3:40 pm – 5:40 pm, and then on the 27th, there will be no school for students that day, and conferences can be scheduled between 8:40 am and 3:40 pm. Parents can sign up on the My Conference Time Website beginning Wednesday, May 5th.
Friday, March 28th there will be no school. This is a scheduled day off, so there will be no need for making up time. Spring break is scheduled for April 17-21, with school resuming on Tuesday April 22nd.
From all the staff at Unity Elementary, we want to thank all the members of our Unity family for your support.
Kevin Finkey, Principal, Unity Elementary.
Because we were able to not only meet, but exceed, our goal of 300 positive referrals the last 2 weeks of January, The entire student body was treated with a scoop of ice cream during lunch on Thursday, February 28th! Mr. Chapman, our attendance specialist, was able to acquire a donation of funds from Wells Blue Bunney so that we could purchase 18 gallons of ice cream! The students were able to choose from chocolate or vanilla and absolutely loved this special treat! Below please find some photos of our wonderful Unity Knights enjoying their ice cream treat!
Attendance the last week of February at Unity has been AWESOME!! We have had 98% or better attendance ALL WEEK!
As a matter of fact, on Tuesday, 2/25, 18 of our 21 classrooms (TK-5th grade) had 100% ATTENDANCE!!!
We felt this was a cause for celebration! Therefore, every class with 100% attendance was able to come to the office, pick a small prize, and pose for a photo with our Attendance Trophy.
Below are just a few of the pics we took that day! Congratulations to our students for their Amazing attendance at school this week! Keep it up Unity Knights!
Unity Elementary School Presents: A Cross Curricular Concert! All Grades will be participating in this concert. Each grade level will be participating on different dates and at different times. Parents and family members are welcome to attend. Please see the schedule below:
Tuesday, March 18th:
1:15 - Kindergarten
2:00 - 2nd Grade
2:45 - 4th Grade
Thursday, March 20th:
1:15 - 1st Grade
2:00 - 3rd Grade
2:45 - 5th Grade
To celebrate Read Across America, we will be having a Spirit Week the first week of March! Each day will celebrate one of Dr. Seuss' most popular books!
Monday, March 3 - Hat Day - Wear a Hat OR Dress like your favorite Dr. Seuss character (Cat in the Hat)
Tuesday, March 4 - Crazy Sock Day - (Fox in Sox)
Wednesday, March 5 - Mismatch Day - Wear mismatched or crazy colors (Wacky Wednesday)
Thursday, March 6 - Twin Day - Dress as a Twin with one or more friends OR wear Red and Blue (One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish)
Friday, March 7 - Pajama Day (Sleep Book)
Be Well Together!
5-2-1-0
Teach your children to be healthier. Follow the new guidelines of 5-2-1-0. If parents can model this plan, your children will follow you for healthy living.
5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables
2 hours or less recreational screen times
1 hour or more of physical activity
0 Sugary drinks, more water and milk.
Hello Unity!
This month’s Character Strong theme is Cooperation, so the school will celebrate students that are working together well. March 25th and 27th we have parent teacher conferences and you can also set up a meeting with me.
The resource for this month is a tool for helping your child when they have big feelings called the three R’s: Regulate, Relate, and Reason.
When they are upset, start by helping them regulate, or calm down. Guide their breathing to be slow and deep, give them comfort by being close and maybe giving a hug, provide time and help them identify the feeling.
Then, relate with your child. Talk through the experience and show them empathy. Try saying “I understand that you feel ____________, that would be really hard ” or “I have some of my own thoughts, but why don’t you explain your experience first”
Finally, once they are calm and feel heard, reason with your child. This is when you can explain your viewpoint, ask harder questions, and teach the child ways to respond next time.
As always, please feel free to reach out if you need anything! My email is niehusc3@live.siouxcityschools.com, and you can also get a hold of me through TalkingPoints.
Caitlyn Niehus | Professional School Counselor
Sioux City Community School District
Unity Elementary
Ph: (712) 279-6839 ext. 2468
Coming Soon: Conditions for Learning Survey
All Iowa public school districts are required to administer an annual school climate and culture survey to students in grades 3-12 called Conditions for Learning Survey. The survey is designed to measure their engagement in school, safety, and the overall learning environment. The survey will be administered to students in April.
Parents and families of students in preschool through grade 12 will also have the opportunity to participate in the Parent Conditions for Learning Survey. The survey contains similar items to those on the student survey, focusing on areas that range from student safety and positive adult and student relationships to school rules and how they are enforced. Participation in the survey is encouraged, but it is completely voluntary, and all questions are optional to answer.
Please watch your email for more information on the survey.
The weather in Iowa can be unpredictable. If the weather requires us to delay the start of our school day, cancel school for the day, or dismiss school early, information will be sent to families through email, text, and voicemail. In addition, this information is posted to our social media sites and the District website.
Please remember that parents and guardians have the right to make the decision to keep their child home on any day they feel it is unsafe for their student to be in school because of weather conditions. If you believe the weather provides a sincere reason why you may have to keep your student at home, or take your student home when classes are scheduled to continue, you as a parent or guardian will simply need to contact our school office to let us know.
Our TK & Kindergarten students exit from doors 25 and 26 (Mrs. Poulson and Mrs. Anderson's rooms). Our 1st and 2nd-grade students exit from the main entryway (door 1). Our 3rd-grade students exit from door 3 which is located behind our loading dock. The 4th and 5th graders exit from door 4 at the North end of the building. Please see the image below to assist you with this visualization. Please work with your family to agree to a common meeting place outside of the building. We do our best to limit student traffic within the building after school.
If you have a preschool child, they will dismiss out the main front entryway.
