Hello Longfellow Lion Families,

I want to take this time to Thank You for sharing your Lion cubs with all of us. They are a fun, energetic, and motivated bunch. They had a goal to raise $12,000 so they can “Spaghetti the Principal!” They were so excited to jump at this opportunity! Each class that brought in over $800 was allowed to also “Spaghetti a Teacher!” Several teachers volunteered to sign up for this fun event and 13 were bombarded with spaghetti and toppings!

Students not only matched last year’s total of $16,005, they surpassed it by over $3200. Our LO LIONS raised a total of $19, 261!!!! They were amazing to say the least and we were all so impressed with their persistence to make me eat some spaghetti from the day’s festivity. We may be small, but we are mighty!!!

Longfellow’s PTO strives to make this the one major fundraiser for the year, so we truly appreciate your efforts in helping your children to be a part of the team to reach the $12,000 goal. We can’t have these successful fundraising events without the support of our Longfellow families and the entire Mitchell community.

The students were also ‘jazzed up’ for our Decade Disco on last Friday evening. They boogied on down to some great music, enjoyed the photo booth, face painting, pizza, and pop. A glow necklace was handed out to each child that attended. We had such a successful night that we sold out of pizza, beverages, and even the glow necklaces. We for sure surpassed our attendance from last year and will make sure to have another successful Decade Disco in 2024. We couldn’t have pulled it all together without the staff and parents helping set up, run the event, and clean up, along with our volunteers from the MHS art department -special shout out to you all!!

The month of October is beaming with activities – “Donuts While You Browse” at the annual Longfellow Book Fair and our fall conference night. A parent or grandparent must accompany children at this event. Please see the details of this event in this edition of the October newsletter.

We look forward to seeing you all at conferences on Thursday, October 19, from 3:30 – 8:45 pm and visiting with you at the many school and PTO sponsored activities throughout the school year.
As always, please contact the school with any questions or concerns. You can reach us at 995-3092.

Yours in Education,

Mrs. Heckenlaible
Longfellow Elementary Principal

We are very proud of our attendance rates at Longfellow Elementary as we had a 96% attendance rate for the 2022-2023 school year!!!

We have been over 97% , prior to COVID and we want to make it a goal to get back there. We want to thank our parents for continuing to bring their child/ren to school each day and on time. Attendance is extremely important to the success of each child’s education.

Thank you for making attendance and education a priority in your child’s life!!!

FACTS

• Absenteeism in the first month of school can predict poor attendance throughout the school year.
• If a child is absent 2+ days a month, that actually equals 10+ days a year!
• While missing a day of instruction doesn't seem like much, each day is FULL of important learning which builds on itself. Those pockets of missed instruction can be very hard to makeup.
• Being in school each day, on time, helps children learn accountability, the importance of hard work, and develops regular routines in their schedule.

MYTHS

• Absences are only a problem if they are unexcused. (Not true! While illness, appointments, funerals, and other events happen, ANY absence has an effect.)
• Sporadic versus consecutive absences aren't a problem. (As stated above, each day of school has important instruction.)
• Attendance really only matters in the older grades. (There is SO much to learn in early grades. It's pretty difficult to learn multipication if you don't know addition. Learning how to spell is a challenge if you missed blending sounds in kindergarten.)

However, students can reverse their academic performance if they improve their attenandce TODAY!

As a parent, here are some ways you can help your student (and their teacher as well)

• Know their caretakers' names (not just for school but they should know if for emergency purposes)
• Work on tying shoes
• Work on putting on snow gear and zipping it up (and off) by themselves
• Learn their name (first and last)
• Phone numbers for main caretaker
• Address they live at
• Opening a bag of chips or lunchroom snack
• Toilet by themselves (wiping and pulling up clothing)

While these used to be things we may have learned in kindergarten, that's not the way it is anymore. We understand that some of these things are not for kindergarteners to know yet. Phone numbers and addresses may be more suited for our 2nd graders and above.

The smell of Tempra paint is in the air of the art room as our students learn all about art. Throughout the school year, they save student work to be entered into the State Fair. Our lions wait all year to hear about their results as the fair takes place in September. It's worth the wait to see the colorful ribbon on your art.

You are encouraged to fill out a free and reduced meal application at any time throughout the school year. When in doubt, fill it out. If you have not completed a new application for this school year, please do so by October 1, 2023. If you completed the 2023-2024 application already this year, then you should have already been notified of your status. You can create an online account to monitor your child/ren’s meal account, balances, and add money to their account.

Please remember to go to the corner and cross the street with the crossing guards. Please do NOT encourage your child to cross in the middle of the street. We want to keep ALL of our students safe and set a good example.

Mitchell's Fire Marshall, Shannon Sandoval, will be assisting us with our fire drill and visiting with our Lions. Please remember, when you turn your clocks back for Daylight Savings Time on November 5th, to change your batteries in all your smoke detectors and review escape routes with your children.

Cooler weather is fast approaching. Please make sure your children are dressed appropriately. We go outside unless it is raining or the tempurature or wind chill dips below zero.

The KORN Country 92.1, Q1073, and KORN News Radio Cozy Coats for our Community is set to begin! Throughout the month of October, you will notice a large collection bin inside our front doors. If you have coats you no longer have a need for, please consider donating them to the Cozy Coats program. They will collect unused coats during the month of October so please just drop them in the bin anytime.

The Longfellow Lions have been busy having fun, staying active, and learning new skills in PE! All of our Lions are off to a great start!

Here’s what each grade has been up to:

BK/K has been learning how to hula hoop, play tag games, and different ways to ride the scooters! They are full of excitement and rocking it in the gym!

1st/2nd grades have worked on locomotor skills, played different tag games, practiced the underhand toss using yard dice, and learned how to correctly throw and catch a frisbee!

3rd/4th/5th grades have built up and strengthened their skills in throwing, catching, and kicking by playing games like kickball, yard dice games, ultimate frisbee, frisbee baseball, and so much more!

Please remember tennis shoes are required to participate in gym class!

Being aware of own thoughts, feeling, intentions, and actions; Knowing what I do and say affects others; Willing to consider the impact of choices on myself and others.

Willing to work with others and welcome their input and perspective; Abide by decisions the work group makes, even if I disagree somewhat; Willing to learn from others in reciprocal situations.

• "I know I asked the doctor's office to send a note for that appointment, but did they remember to do so?"
• "I sent the doctor note with my child. Did she remember to deliver it to the office?"

They best way to check on that is to log on to your parent portal. You may not see daily grades but you will be able to see their quarter grades and, of course, attendance. The parent portal will become extrememly important as your child moves on to Middle School and High School as you can check on missing assignements and current grades. Also, the parent portal is where you update your info at the end of each year, which registers your child for the upcoming school year. PLEASE, famlilarize yourself with the portal. If you do not remember your log on info, please ask the office.

We have several new staff members this year at Longfellow. Please take a minute to meet them!