A Piece From The Principal's Puzzle

January

20 - MLK, Jr. Holiday (NO SCHOOL)

February

5 - Progress Reports Sent Home

7 - Family Glow Dance at Blossomwood (5:30 to 7:00 pm)

14 - 1/2 day for Students & Valentine's Parties

17 - Presidents' Day (No School)

Congratulations to the following classes for winning an attendance trophy by having the highest attendance percentage for their grade level in the month of December 2024.

Thank you for helping to get your student to school and on time each day!

Congratulations to all of the students that met their AR-Accelerated Reader goals for the second nine weeks grading period! They earned the opportunity to enjoy last Friday's AR-Accelerated Reader Party! Special thanks to Ms. Fuller for providing a great party filled with a lot of fun games and activities!

It’s wonderful for students to be talented and smart, but educators know it’s just as important for them to be resilient.

At one time or another, everyone faces a challenging task or a disappointing setback. The key is to remind your child to keep trying. Pushing forward—even when things are tough—is a key to success in school and in life.

To help your child bounce back and keep trying:

• Talk about how persistence has already helped your child. Maybe your child kept trying and finally learned to ride a bike or play chess. What new challenge can your child tackle now?
• Break big goals into small parts. If your child wants to raise a grade, for example, offer support by developing a plan together.
• Offer encouragement. When your child is working on something challenging, say things like:
• I know you can do this.
• I bet you’ll figure it out.
• You’re making great progress.
• You’ll get the hang of it.
• If it doesn’t work that way, try another way.
• Focus on the process. It feels great to go into a test with confidence, knowing you’ve studied hard. Even better, it feels great to learn! Talk about your child’s accomplishments and what makes each so worthwhile.

Reprinted with permission from the January 2025 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2025 The Parent Institute®, a division of PaperClip Media, Inc.

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.