Sunset Elementary School Newsletter
November 2026
3101 Sheridan Avenue, Cody, WY 82414
307-587-4279; FAX: 307-587-6405
Like us on Facebook at Sunset Elementary Cody
Daylight Standard Time
Just a reminder to turn your clocks back one hour on November 1, Daylight Standard Time begins at 2 a.m.
On Wednesday, November 11th, our students will be bused in the morning to the CHS Sweitzer Gym for our District 2026 Veterans Program.
We would like all Sunset students and staff to dress in their best red, white, and blue for the program. Please remember no face paint or hair dye. Nice jeans, dress pants, patriotic shirts, and dresses and leggings will look great.
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classroom ambassadors are being asked to dress in camo shirts and jeans.
4th and 5th grade student council representatives are being asked to dress in nice clothes for the veteran pie social after the program.
Thank you for all your support of our veterans!
The 4th and 5th grade classrooms are now busy working on our music program,
It’s Christmas, Carol! We will be performing the Musical on Thursday, December 3rd, at 6:30 p.m. The performance is at the Cody High School Wynona Thompson Auditorium. Please mark your calendar!
If you have any questions, please call the school and I will return your call as soon as possible.
Kari Pinney
The Veterans Day celebration on November 11 includes a pie social for our veterans. Please consider bringing a pie for this special event. Pies can be delivered to Sunset School. Home made or store bought pies are appreciated. Click on the pie for the link to sign up! Thank you!
At Sunset Elementary, 4th and 5th grade classrooms have an educational adventure called “Town.” Town is an experience where our students busily hawk goods and services to prospective buyers; money is counted with fervor; and conversations abound, all the while improving their communication skills, math, English, and social sciences. Our 4th and 5th grade classes at Sunset build towns, have elections and establish laws. Our citizens are paid with “Town” money which covers any fines, pays desk rental fees, utilities, as well as goods or services to purchase on “Town” day.
Why do you do Town?
Town helps develop academic and social skills. Town includes subjects like math, economics, and citizenship. It serves to motivate character traits and reward responsible independent reading habits. Citizens who don’t meet the reading requirements for the trimester aren’t able to participate in Town. Students who need additional time for reading have study hall during Town.
Which state standards does Town support?
We believe that the 60 to 75 minutes once every trimester used for Town is a good use of learning time. Some of the state standards students work on during town include Careers, English, Mathematics, and Social Sciences.
How much money should we spend for Town?
Each student may only spend a total of $20 (real money) per town. Our desire is for students to use their own money or earn things they need. We do not want town to be a burden on family expenses. . There are lots of businesses that children can do that have little or no outside cost.
What businesses will there be at Town?
Students work with a partner to come up with a business plan. The plan includes developing goods or services, a plan for sharing the workload, financial partnership guidelines, and accounting procedures. Students business plans need to be cleared with parents and teachers before they are approved. Students must go through the same process if they change what they are selling or if partnerships need to be dissolved.
How often do you do Town?
Town usually occurs once a trimester. It is our hope that this schedule allows most students the time to be successful in completing their independent reading.
How do the children earn Town?
Students must have all work completed and turned in to the teacher by a week before the date of town. Students are given notice of missing work well in advance, so it should not be a surprise if they have missing work. In addition to independent reading, 4th grade students need to have a balance of $1000 or more in their checking account and 5th grade students need to have a balance of $2000 or more in their checking account. Students will be excused from town if they have forgotten their town supplies.
Parent Involvement
We love having parents come to TOWN. However, we want the focus to remain on the students/entrepreneurs and the hard work they put into their business with their partner. Parents can drop off supplies for their child’s TOWN business on the morning of TOWN. Parents will be invited along with other classes from Sunset to the final TOWN (third trimester) from 12:30-1:00. Also, parents will be given a set amount of money to spend to keep it equitable. If you have any questions about these new guidelines, please contact your child’s teacher.
Thank you,
The 4/5 Grade Team
The end of first trimester is just around the corner! As a celebration of students' hard work, we will be having Thankful Pie on Tuesday,
November 24, 2:00-2:30.
Please click on the link below to help with supplies for this special day.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F48A5A728A3FEC52-66762008-thankful
Please send to pies to school pre-sliced. Thanks!
We will need helpers from 1:50-2:30 for set up, serving, and clean up. If you are interested in helping with this fun event, please contact your child's classroom teacher.
Free swimming lessons are being offered by the Rec Center to 2nd graders, the sessions are, September 8-September 17 excluding September. 7th; October 19-October 29, excluding October. 28; November 9-November 19; December 7-December 17; Mondays through Thursdays, unless otherwise noted. Class sizes are limited to 8 students per class. Due to class sizes and to maximize the time allowed for teaching swim classes, there are two different time slots; 3:45 to 4:15 p.m. and 4:15-4:45 p.m. Once all lessons are complete all children still in the pool will be directed to the locker rooms to change.
Rec Center registration forms and information about the swimming lessons were sent home in August. Return completed registration forms to the Rec Center. A bus will transport students from Sunset School to the Rec Center, parents will pick up their student after the lesson. Parents must pick their student up at the Rec Center NO LATER than 5:00 p.m.
Make sure your student leaves home with their swimming clothes and a towel!
Sunset students are having a lot of fun working hard in PE so far this year. We worked on volleying skills, fundamental locomotor movements, as well as doing a check in on our overall fitness level through our first round of fitness testing. We're talking about the concepts of effort, attitude, cooperation, communication, and winning and losing. In November, we will focus on throwing and catching skills to combine with our consistent focus on fitness. 5th graders have their eyes on the end of December when we have our district wide 5th grade floor hockey tournament at the Rec Center. Keep working hard and have fun doing it!
Happy November
Fall is upon us and it’s hard to believe November is here! This fun time of year marks the beginning of our festive holiday season, which many times means parties and goodies! Many classrooms will have Fall or Thanksgiving celebrations for the students to enjoy. I ask you all to keep food allergies in mind. We have many students with food allergies, some causing skin or stomach issues while others are life-threatening. Please contact your child’s teacher or myself for any questions regarding food allergies in your student’s classroom. If bringing a homemade treat please provide a list of ingredients used, and if bringing in store-bought goodness make sure the ingredient list is visible. Thank you!
Happy Fall,
Nurse Windy
Keep our Students Safe!
Please contact the the front office with your student's transportation plan after school. Our goal is to keep our students safe and that includes directing about 300 of them to where they need to be after school. Please call the front office, 587-4279, with any after school changes! Call before 2 p.m. Monday-Thursday and before noon on Fridays!
Student bus riders are dropped off at Sunset School in the bus lane, directly in front of the school. The Bus Lane is reserved for buses; all passenger cars please refrain from being in the Bus Lane from 7:55 am to 8:15 am and 3:00 pm to 3:30 pm.
Buses in the loading and unloading zones are required by law to use their stop arm and red lights in those areas. There are students that could be crossing in front of the bus. The protection of a stop arm starts at the rear bumper of that bus. Please do not pass a bus in these areas while they are loading or unloading children. This is per Wyoming statute 31-5-507.
Students in Kindergarten through 3rd grades, arriving and leaving in passenger vehicles, are dropped off and picked up at the Kiss-n-Go lane on the east side of the school. Students in 4th and 5th grades are dropped off in the mornings on the west side of the building near the 4/5 playground. During drop-off and pick-up, drive your vehicle all the way up to the front of the Kiss-n-Go line. Staff are there to ensure our kiddos' safety. Please do not use the west parking lot for drop-off or pick ups. This causes problems with kids running across the parking lot, this is a staff parking lot with traffic as well as school buses pulling out.
