Noticias de la Manada

December 9: Orchestra and Band Concert at 6:15 PM

December 12: KG-2nd Grade La Tienda

December 13: Project Warm Up! From 11:00 AM -3:00 PM

December 15: Start of Winter Break Dress-Up Countdown

December 17: Future Kindergarten Spanish Immersion Info Session at 2:00-2:45 PM

December 19: 3rd-5th Grade La Tienda

December 23: Cultural Day at SSE and Early Release at 12:45

December 24-January 2: No Classes - Holiday Break

January 5: Classes Resume

January 12: Last Day to submit Teacher of the Year nominations

Greetings Sonia Sotomayor Families,

What an exciting and joyful time of year this is! Our building is absolutely buzzing with energy, curiosity, and anticipation. When we first opened our doors in 2016, one of my deepest hopes was that our school would become known for valuing acts of service to others. I wanted our students to grow up understanding that no matter your age, abilities, or resources, everyone has the power to make a positive impact.

Through the years, our school community has rallied together again and again to support organizations both locally and beyond. This season is no exception. We are currently collecting can tabs for Ronald McDonald House Charities as part of the statewide Pop Tab Pandemonium contest. With 33 schools participating, our students are fired up with some friendly competition for a great cause!

Next week, we are honored to host the 20th Annual Project Warm-Up, an initiative that provides new fleece tie blankets to children experiencing homelessness (including more than 800 students in the SFSD), entering foster care, coping with the loss of a home or parent, facing serious illness, or navigating other difficult situations. To date, Project Warm-Up has delivered more than 43,000 blankets to children and families in need—and our families play a meaningful role in that effort each year.

Thank you, families, for helping us teach our students that even the smallest acts of kindness can create big and lasting change. I am deeply grateful for the support you show our school, our staff, and the service projects that help our students learn to care for others. Sonia Sotomayor truly is a wonderful place to learn and grow.

Feeling blessed to be your principal,
Tracy Vik

In 2006, Project Warm‑Up began with just 20 Lincoln High School students. Since then, thanks to an amazing community, it has grown tremendously—blanket makers now come from across the region and beyond! Over the years, more than 43,000 new fleece blankets have been distributed to children and families in need throughout the Sioux Empire.

These blankets bring warmth and comfort to those facing financial stress, homelessness, illness, loss, foster care transitions, and more. Recipients include every SFSD school and organizations such as Child’s Voice, Ronald McDonald Houses, Avera Children’s Hospital, Habitat for Humanity, St. Francis House, and many others.

Project Warm‑Up relies entirely on the generosity of our community. People donate funds, fleece, and time. With smart shopping, a child-sized blanket can be made for just $12. A donation of $100 wraps eight children in warmth and comfort—and imagine what a larger donation could achieve! This year, the goal is to make at least 3,000 blankets. The need is great, but our community is ready to meet the challenge! All donations are tax-deductible.

You can help:

• Donate funds or fleece to help make blankets.

• Volunteer your time at blanket-making events.

• Host a blanket party! Gather friends, family, or classmates to make blankets together—fun and meaningful ways to give back.

Let’s work together to ensure that every child and family in need can feel the warmth of a new blanket this year. Your contribution—whether time, materials, or funds—makes a real difference in someone’s life.

For more information on donating or hosting a blanket party, visit Project Warm-Up.

Donate by bringing a check to the Sonia Sotomayor Elementary Office or through PayPal or Venmo (@GotFleece).

As winter approaches, families should be prepared for school closures, late starts, or early dismissals due to severe weather. The Sioux Falls School District (SFSD) notifies families via phone, text, website, app, and local media.

• Late Starts & Closures: Decisions are made by 5:00 AM; notifications follow shortly after.

• Remote Learning:Devices will be sent home if it is decided it will be a Remote Learning Day. Attendance is tracked through participation.

• Early Dismissals: Families are notified, and dismissal times may vary by school.

Tips for Families: Stay informed via SFSD channels, plan ahead for early dismissals, and ensure students have devices ready for remote learning.

For full details, visit: SFSD Closing & Delays

As winter approaches, we want to make sure all families are prepared in case we experience an emergency or weather-related school closure. If a remote learning day is needed, the decision will be made by the end of the school day prior to the weather event. When this happens, Chromebooks and iPads will be sent home with students so they are ready for learning the next day.

To help everyone know what to expect on a remote learning day, we’ve shared our Remote Learning Guidelines and Expectations.

Please use the links below to review important information about how remote learning will work if we have a snow day in the coming months.

We know attendance letters can sometimes be confusing, so here’s a quick explanation of how they work.

Each absence is rounded to either a half day or full day if a student is gone for more than 60 minutes. For example, if your child arrives more than an hour late or leaves for an appointment and returns later, it will be counted as a half-day absence.

Attendance letters are automatically sent at 5 days, 8 days, 10 days, 17 days, and 25 days of absences.

• The 5-day and 8-day letters are simply to inform parents and guardians of where their student stands with attendance. These include all types of absences, whether excused or unexcused.

• The 10-day, 17-day, and 25-day letters include only qualifying absences that count toward truancy. These may include:

  • Parent/Guardian Requests

  • Skipping School

  • Unnotified Absences

  • Illnesses without a medical note

  • Appointments without a medical note

To help ensure your child’s attendance record is accurate, we recommend bringing a doctor’s note for any appointment or illness.

If you have any questions, please contact the office — we’re happy to help!

Our school is officially in a friendly-but-fierce competition to collect the most pop and beverage tabs for Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). We’re going head-to-head with 33 other South Dakota schools in the RMHC Pop Tab Pandemonium, and we want to come out on top!

RMHC recycles these aluminum tabs to help support families with children facing medical emergencies—proof that even the smallest items can make a big impact.

How to Participate

Collect tabs from any can—soda, adult beverages, soup, tuna, pet food, and more. Encourage friends, family, neighbors, teams, and community groups to join in!

Students can bring their tabs to school and place them in our brand-new RMHC Pop Tab House, located in the building.

The competition runs now through April, and with the holidays and winter gatherings coming up, it’s a perfect time to collect a ton of tabs!

Thank you for helping us show our students how small acts of kindness (one of our school's values) can make a big difference for families in need.

**Let’s do this, Lobos!

Help us become the TOP collector!**

Get ready for an evening that will fill your heart with music and joy! Our talented 4th and 5th grade musicians have been working hard to prepare a wonderful concert to showcase their growth and dedication.

Join us on Tuesday, December 9th in the school gym for this special event:

• 4th Grade Orchestra: 6:15 PM

• 5th Grade Orchestra: 6:45 PM

• 5th Grade Band: 7:15 PM

Come celebrate and cheer on our amazing student performers! Families, friends, and community members are all invited—let’s make it a full house to support our young musicians!

Thank you to all our students, families, and staff for helping make our Cultural Day a wonderful success! Our school was filled with music, food, stories, and traditions from cultures around the world, giving students a chance to explore and appreciate the rich diversity within our community.

Throughout the day, students engaged in hands-on activities, listened to guest presenters, enjoyed cultural performances, and had meaningful conversations about what it means to be part of a global community. The excitement and curiosity we saw in classrooms and hallways made the day truly special.

We are grateful to all the families who contributed their time, talents, and cultural heritage to help our students learn and grow. Events like these remind us how powerful it is when our community comes together to celebrate who we are.

Thank you for making Cultural Day an unforgettable experience—we can’t wait to continue building these opportunities for our students in the future!

A heartfelt thank you to all of our families for participating in our recent fundraisers! Your support has made a real difference in our classrooms, allowing us to provide additional resources and materials that our teachers would not have been able to purchase otherwise.

Thanks to your generosity, students are already enjoying new learning tools and supplies that enhance their educational experience. We’ve included some photos of our students using these items—seeing them in action is a wonderful reminder of the impact your contributions make every day.

We are grateful for our community’s commitment to supporting our students and teachers. Together, we are helping create a richer, more engaging learning environment for all!

We are excited to share that nominations are officially open for the 38th Annual Sioux Falls School District Teacher of the Year Award—a wonderful opportunity to recognize the outstanding educators who make a meaningful difference in the lives of our students every day.

Who Can Be Nominated?

Any classroom teacher in the Sioux Falls School District who:

• Teaches in an accredited SFSD school

• Has their own classroom

• Spends 3+ hours per day, 5 days a week, for 6 or more months with students

Please note: school counselors, psychologists, and social workers are not eligible for this award.

Award Details

The selected Teacher of the Year will receive a $4,000 prize, generously sponsored by Vern Eide Motorcars.

Who Can Nominate a Teacher?

Parents, students, colleagues, administrators, and community members—all are welcome to submit a nomination!

How to Complete the Nomination

The nomination form includes several written components, each requiring at least 250 words.
Meaningful, specific examples make each nomination stronger. Incomplete nominations will not be considered.

Ready to Nominate a Teacher Who Deserves to Be Celebrated?

Click the button below to submit your nomination today!

Thank you for helping us celebrate the exceptional educators who inspire, uplift, and support our students every day. Your nomination helps shine a light on the incredible work happening in our schools!

We love to highlight our students and their success! Take a look below at all the amazing things some of our students have accomplished this last month. If your student would like to share their achievements, please email the information and pictures to mary.boen@k12.sd.us. #UnaManada

"For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack"

-Rudyard Kipling

Congratulations to our amazing Girls on the Run team! This past month, our girls proudly completed their 5K, showing incredible determination, teamwork, and positivity. We are so proud of the confidence they’ve built and the goals they’ve achieved throughout the season. A huge thank-you to our coaches, families, and supporters who encouraged them every step of the way!

Lauren Konz's art was selected as a winner for the Governor's Student Art competition! Her drawing will be displayed in the SD Capitol Building AND she will have the chance to sell it to become a part of the state art collection. Awesome work, Lauren!

Showing up to school every day is one of the best ways to show our value of being Responsible. To earn this recognition, students needed to be present at school every single day in in the month—even if it was just for part of the day.

Click on the picture to view each grade's perfect attendance winners!

As winter weather settles in, we’re asking families to help us protect our school materials—especially our library and classroom books. Please remind your students to use a separate bag for their snow gear instead of packing it inside their backpacks. When snow gear is wet or damp, books can easily become bent, crinkled, or water-damaged.

To keep our books in great condition for all students to enjoy, please send snow gear in a separate bag whenever possible. A reusable shopping bag, drawstring bag, or clearly labeled tote works perfectly and helps keep everything dry and organized. (And a friendly reminder to label everything!)

Thank you for helping us care for our school materials and supporting our students throughout the winter season!

The Sioux Falls School District offers free developmental screenings for children from birth to age five who reside within the district’ boundaries. We will check your child’s development in the areas of motor skills, concepts, and language. We also complete a free vision and hearing check. Screenings are done throughout the year from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday through Friday. We can also get your child registered for Head Start if you meet eligibility requirements. For information or to schedule a free appointment, call the Early Childhood screening office at 605-367-8488. The Early Childhood Screening office is located at 2205 N. Career Avenue.

• Before School Care - at (8) elementary locations including SSE

• After School Care - at all elementary locations, except for Horace Mann

• Extended Care Days - On most No School days, the CLC offers care from 6:30am-6:00pm at (10) elementary locations

• Students do NOT have to be enrolled into the before and after school to participate in Extended Care Days. However, they must pre-enroll into the CLC to be able to register for these days.

2025-26 Year Books are available for pre-order from Lifetouch. You can purchase using the link below. Our Yearbook ID is 13018626. Yearbooks will be delivered at the end of the school year.

Having involved parents/guardians is a huge blessing to our school! It takes a team and thank you for being apart of it! Every school year, we do need to have a current Volunteer Registration Form on file. If you plan on Volunteering in any capacity during the school day, please fill out the Google Form below. While filling it out, you will not need to complete the background check. This is only if you will ever be with students without staff present. If it is needed in the future, we will contact you to complete it.

Volunteer Registration Google Form

Student safety is our highest priority. To help us maintain a secure environment, all visitors and volunteers must check in at the school office with a valid government-issued photo ID—every time you enter the building.

This policy applies to all adults, including regular volunteers.
Please remember to bring your ID each time you visit.

Thank you for partnering with us to keep our school safe and welcoming for all!

If your student(s) requires medication, the school requires paperwork signed by a parent and a medical doctor. We will need to have a doctors order prior to being able to administer any medication. To start the paperwork process, please call our school nurse, Mariana Mauss, at 605-367-4655.

Parents/guardians must deliver any medication in its original labeled container to the school office. Students should not bring medications to school.

Parents now have a time-saving option to report student absences within the Parent Portal. To report an absence you can either call or email the school office or use the Absence Request option within your Parent Portal account. You are only able to use the Absence Request Processor for Full Day requests. For all other requests, please email (mary.boen@k12.sd.us and andrea.fowler@k12.sd.us) or call the office (605)367-4655.

To submit an absence, simply log in to your Parent Portal account, select 'More' and then 'Absence Requests.' From here you will be able to submit either a full day for any of the students in your household.

Email: tracy.vik@k12.sd.us
Website: https://www.sses.sf.k12.sd.us/o/ssspes
Location: Sioux Falls, SD, USA
Phone: 605-367-4655
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SFSpanishImmersion/