DRE Weekly News October 12, 2026

Kindergarten 97.45%

First Grade 96.59%

Second Grade 96.44%

Third Grade 95.69%

Fourth Grade 97.28%

Fifth Grade 97.22%

Perfect Attendance: 278 Students

Overall ADA 96.75%

August 24-October 2, 2026

Day 5: Monday, 10/12

Day 1: Tuesday, 10/13

Day 2: Wednesday, 10/14

Day 3: Thursday, 10/15

No School Friday, 10/16

Kindergarten: 11:10 am

1st Grade: 11:25 am

2nd Grade: 10:50 am

3rd Grade: 12:30 pm

4th Grade: 12:10 pm

5th Grade: 11:50 am

Student lunch periods last 20 minutes, providing additional time for clean-up and transitioning to outdoor recess. We have designated seating for guests, and when you join us for lunch, this time is meant exclusively for you and your child. Please do not bring food or treats for other students. Your child's friends and classmates must stay seated with their assigned class.

October 12

Fifth Grade Camp

October 13

DRE PTO Booster Fun Run Kick Off

Fifth Grade Camp

Festival of Choirs, LHS 6 pm

October 15

Great Central U.S. ShakeOut Missouri Statewide Earthquake Drill

October 16

End of First Quarter: Elementary Students, No School

October 21

Early Release, 1:35 pm

DRE PTO Booster Fun Run

October 23

First Quarter Student Leadership Assembly

Fall Costume Parade 2 pm

Fall Harvest Parties 2:20-3:20 pm

PTO Trunk or Treat, 6 pm (Lot opens at 5 pm for Trunkers, closing at 5:55 pm)

October 26

Rescheduled Kdg Field Trip

October 28

Report Cards Available in Focus

Parent Teacher Conferences, 4:30-8 pm

October 29

No school

Parent Teacher Conferences, 10 am - 8 pm

October 30-November 3

No school

November 4

School Resumes

DRE 2nd Quarter PTO Meeting: Library, 6 pm

November 5

Horizons Resumes

November 6

PTO Skate Night: Great Skate 4:30-6:30 pm

November 7

Operation Warm Winter Coat Pick Up, Wentzville Fire Station 1, 9-11 am

November 9

DRE Lighthouse Review

November 11

DRE Veterans Day Observance: Photos Due October 23, RSVP Due by November 6

Veterans Day Reception & Arrival, 9 am

Veterans Day Parade and Assembly, 9:45 am

Registration is open on MyBooster.com!

10/13 — Program Kickoff!

10/14-10/20 — Program Days

10/21 — Event Day

School Goal: $20,000

We are raising funds for: School Improvements

If we reach our goal: Pajama/Movie Day with popcorn delivered by our school mascot!

Questions: Please contact DRE PTO

Discovery Ridge Elementary is honoring and celebrating our Families & their Veterans on Wednesday, November 11. All Photos Due By October 23, 2026.

Discovery Ridge Elementary would like to welcome, honor, and celebrate our Families & their Veterans on Wednesday, November 11, with a small reception and all-school assembly.

Doors will open at 9:00 am. All Guests must bring a Photo I.D. and will need to enter through the Main Office. Please be patient with our Staff, as we are required to scan every guest's Photo I.D. through our visitor management system for student safety.

*Pre-approved guests can SKIP the LINE and pick up their guest badge at the table outside! (Get pre-approved while you're here for Parent Teacher Conferences!) Guests can become preapproved by stopping in during office hours and have your drivers license scanned.

Reception will begin at 9:10 am in the cafeteria where light refreshments will be served. Students will be called down from their classrooms to join your family.

School-wide Assembly will begin at 9:45 am in the gym.

Bats and spiders are lurking nearby, and costume season is almost here! DRE is a spooktacular place to find a costume for your little ghoul or goblin this year!

If your child needs a costume, we would love them to come pick one out! All you need to do is email your child's classroom teacher, and we will help your child select the perfect costume! Students can wear this costume for our fall party day at school and keep it for any other trick-or-treating adventures you have planned outside of school.

All students are welcome to wear costumes on Friday, October 23, for our Fall Costume Parade and class parties. More information about this day will be coming soon.

If you have gently used costumes you would like to donate to our costume closet, you can send them to school, attention: Mrs. Browning, Mrs. Douglas, or Mrs. May.

Thank you and Happy Haunting!

Please join us for Trunk-or-Treat on October 23, 2026, from 6-8 p.m.

• Wear your costumes! (School-appropriate attire, please)
• Food Trucks: Casera, Kona Ice and one more TBD
• Live DJ, TONS of candy, LOTS of fun!

To participate, whether you plan to be a Trunk or a Treater, we ask each family to donate at least one large bag of candy or Halloween trinkets as their admission ticket. Please bring your candy/trinkets to the table when you arrive. Trinkets can be spider rings, stretchy skeletons, pencils, etc. Candy does not have to be peanut-free.

TRUNKERS: We are looking for some FUN families to host a trunk! Please decorate your trunk and bring one bag of candy or trinkets to pass out. We will replenish your candy throughout the night until we run out. 1-2 pieces of candy per child are plenty, as we expect a large turnout. Please consider having a game or a fun way to pass out candy! This makes the event more fun and helps treaters move from trunk to trunk. *Please keep trunks school-appropriate & nothing too scary for our little ones!

The back parking lot by the playground will open at 5:00 p.m. strictly for families that are hosting a trunk to help set up for the event. The parking lot will close at 5:55 p.m. to keep our students safe; no exceptions. The parking lot will reopen at 8:00 p.m. for dismissal. The front lot will be open for guests to come and go.

TREATERS: Please bring a large bag of candy or Halloween trinkets as your admission ticket. This will help replenish the candy and trinkets for the families hosting trunks.

Please park in the upper parking lot area, as the back parking lot by the playground will be closed to keep our students safe during the event. No one will be admitted before 6:00 p.m.

Wear your Costumes! (school-appropriate attire, please)

Questions? Contact Mrs. Sarah Gerson

Student-led conferences in a Leader in Me school shift the focus from a traditional teacher-to-parent meeting to an empowered conversation where your child guides you through their own academic and personal growth.

What is a Student-Led Conference?

• The Student as Leader: Your child runs the meeting, sharing their data, successes, and areas for improvement directly with you.
• The Leadership Binder: This binder or digital portfolio is the core of the conference, filled with self-evaluations, data trackers, goals, and curated work samples.
• The Teacher's Role: The teacher acts as a facilitator or guide in the room, stepping in to support or answer broader questions only after your child presents

• Let your child take the lead and explain their work without interrupting or jumping straight to critique

• Which goal are you most proud of achieving this quarter?
• If you could redo an assignment, what would you change?
• How can I best support your learning goals at home?

Celebrate Growth: Focus first on effort, self-reflection, and progress rather than fixating immediately on a single standard or grade.

Fall conferences are scheduled in consecutive 20-minute blocks. Please schedule a time with your child's classroom teacher. All faculty are available to meet with you for a scheduled conference, including special area teachers, speech-language pathologists, reading interventionists, special education teachers, counselors, and administrators.

Dear Discovery Ridge Elementary Family,

Throughout the academic year, the Wentzville School District partners with community agencies that specialize in providing students, families, and educators with preventive education. Agency presenters are credentialed, coordinated through the District, and under the supervision of building administrators. Presentation topics are targeted toward specific grade levels. All students will participate in each program unless you choose to opt your child out of the lesson(s). If you are interested in opting your student(s) out of the presentation(s), please click the appropriate link(s) below.

Kindergarten Opt-Out Form

First Grade Opt-Out Form

Second Grade Opt-Out Form

Third Grade Opt-Out Form

Fourth Grade Opt-Out Form

Fifth Grade Opt-Out Form

If you have additional questions, please reach out directly to your student’s guidance counselor.

Thank you,

Mrs. Kelly Stratman, Principal

Mr. Ben Tracy, Assistant Principal

Mrs. Stacy Browning, Guidance Counselor (Grades 2-4)

Mrs. Jane Douglas, Guidance Counselor (Grades K-1, 5)

Mrs. Sarah Holcomb, Education Support Counselor

Mission statements have long been a part of organizations. They provide a clear path for what the organization wants to accomplish and how they plan to go about doing it. Yet, rarely does a family take the time to write a mission statement—and what organization is more important than the family? By establishing who you are as a family, how you want to be known, and how you plan to do it, you are practicing Habit 2: Begin With the End in Mind. The process is a great way to practice all

of the 7 Habits.

STEP 1

• Ask yourself these seven questions:
• How do we want our family to be known?
• How do we want to treat each other?
• What is most important to us as a family?
• What are some of our talents, gifts, and abilities?
• What makes us the happiest?
• What makes us unhappy?
• What kind of home do we want to invite friends to?

STEP 2

Write your Family Mission Statement. Consider all four areas:

• Body (health and physical wellbeing)
• Mind (learning)
• Heart (relationships)
• Spirit (inspiration)

Keep it simple, one to two lines, so the youngest family members can memorize it and find it meaningful. Examples: “We are builders,” “No empty chairs,” “We love each other,” “All for one and one for all,” etc.

STEP 3

Stay on course. As parents, you are the role models. Keep smiling and getting back on track.

The promise: By writing a Family Mission Statement, the message to your children is that your family is important. You know what you stand for and how you are going to work together to accomplish it.