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The Ranger Report

January 2023

The RangerReportJanuary 2023

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January Staff Birthdays

3 Jamie Dawkins and Kristen Smalley

4 Kelly Rawl

5 Natalie Carter and Sarah Simms

6 Luther Truluck

9 Dedra Childress

10 Katherine Wilson

16 Morror Bethea

17 Hope Hiott

20 Caroline Lineback

22 Doris Emasie

Rocky Creek Elementary School Website and Social Media

We invite you to follow RCES on social media.


Here is the link to our school website.

https://www.lexington1.net/RCES


Here is the link to our Facebook Page.

https://www.facebook.com/RCESLex1/


Here is the link to our Twitter Page.

https://twitter.com/rceslex1

Power Skills

Lexington County School District One has identified eight Power Skills through our strategic plan that are integral to the way we work and learn together at Rocky Creek Elementary. These skills enable our students to learn the characteristics that will support them now and throughout their lives. The Power Skills are: accountability, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, interpersonal skills, integrity, perseverance, and a willingness to take risks. These skills are taught as an integral part of daily instruction during our Morning Meeting and throughout the day.

During the month of January, we will focus on these skills:

Week of January 2 Perseverance

Week of January 9 Critical Thinking

Week of January 16 Bravery (Willingness to Take Risks)

Week of January 23 Communication

Week of January 30 Critical Thinking

How to Develop Critical Thinking Skills

Building critical thinking skills happens through day-to-day interactions as you talk with your child, ask open-ended questions, and allow your child to experiment and solve problems.


Here are some tips and ideas to help children build a foundation for critical thinking:

  • Provide opportunities for play. Building with blocks, acting out roles with friends, or playing board games all build children’s critical thinking.
  • Pause and wait. Offering your child ample time to think, attempt a task, or generate a response is critical. This gives your child a chance to reflect on her response and perhaps refine, rather than responding with their very first gut reaction.
  • Don't intervene immediately. Kids need challenges to grow. Wait and watch before you jump in to solve a problem.
  • Ask open-ended questions. Rather than automatically giving answers to the questions your child raises, help them think critically by asking questions in return: "What ideas do you have? What do you think is happening here?" Respect their responses whether you view them as correct or not. You could say, "That is interesting. Tell me why you think that."
  • Help children develop hypotheses. Taking a moment to form hypotheses during play is a critical thinking exercise that helps develop skills. Try asking your child, "If we do this, what do you think will happen?" or "Let's predict what we think will happen next."
  • Encourage thinking in new and different ways. By allowing children to think differently, you're helping them hone their creative problem solving skills. Ask questions like, "What other ideas could we try?" or encourage your child to generate options by saying, "Let’s think of all the possible solutions."


Of course, there are situations where you as a parent need to step in. At these times, it is helpful to model your own critical thinking. As you work through a decision making process, verbalize what is happening inside your mind. Children learn from observing how you think. Taking time to allow your child to navigate problems is integral to developing your child's critical thinking skills in the long run.

Congratulations to the following students for being named December's Leaders of the Month for exhibiting the power skill INTEGRITY. All Leaders of the Month were celebrated by our school counselors with a special Leaders of the Month lunch treat!


Grade 4k

Joanna Jackson, Koah LeNeave


Grade 5k

Ethan Atwell, Evan Kate Brantly, Jazmyne Gerald, Charlie Green, Gaines Harmon, Piper Hicks, Noah Jeffcoat, Payten Jenkins, Jameson Jernigan, Banks Seddon, Lennon Talty, Baylor Tran


Grade 1

Maryanne Anderson, William Boyd, Emerson Edrada, Finn Hall, Henry Harbin, Camden Harbor, Emery Johnson, Safwan Mahmud, Elloree Martin, Luke Nazarenko, Kyle Olivo, Hope Ouvry, Jaiden Rice, Everly Richard, Stella Sumner


Grade 2

Atticus Allen, McKenna Atkerson, Jadyn Coler, Zoey Guillette, Landon Harris, Lucas Lee, Emily Molano, Levi Olivo, Eva Pratt, Logan Sherbert, Addie Stanfill, Foster Yon


Grade 3

Collins Brantly, Ben Brunson, Stella Capasso, Thomas Gibbons, Claire Izard, Hudson Meade

Blake Nazarenko, Colton Prentiss, Abbey Jude Robinson, Brenden Smith, Max Starikov

Avery Tidwell, Addi Underwood, Anya Webster, Aubrey Wooten


Grade 4

Ava Allen, Sullivan Anderson, Miles Bennet, Paityn Billings, Callie Blackman, Emilyn Fonseca

Berkley Foust, CJ Garmany, Lucy Godfrey, Paisley Haller, Bentley Megill, Connor Rodriguez

Kowan Shearer, Sloan Sparling, David Thang


Grade 5

Kayla Barfield, Briana Berrian, Lillian Birdsong, Liam Braswell, Charlie Coleman, Lilly Hook

Hunter Jones, Miller Koon, Nathan Meetze, Maddox Scurry, Bryson Spivey, Abrianna Tapia, Kaleb Willingham

January

2 Weather Make Up Day

5 PTO Chick-fil-A Biscuit Sale

12 End of 2nd Quarter/1st Semester/ Half Day for Students/Pajama Fundraiser for Unified Buddy Program

13 No School for Students

16 No School for Students or Staff

19 PTO Dine Out Night - Zaxby's

24 Reports Cards Issued

23-27 Great Kindness Challenge Week (see themes below)

25 School Improvement Council Meets


February

2 PTO Chick-fil-A Biscuit Sale

3 Grade 4 & 5 Talent Show 6:00 - 8:00 P.M.

7 Book Fair Opens

8 Collaborative Planning Dismiss @11:20

13 Jump Rope for Heart Campaign Begins

17 No School For Students - Workday for Staff

20 Weather Make Up Day - no school if not needed to make up any days due to bad weather

22 School Improvement Council Meets

PTO Dine Out @ Marco's Pizza

23 Pork Chop Theater Performance @ 6:00 P.M. (more info to come)

24 Last Day of Jump Rope for Heart Campaign

27 Book Fair Closes

Effective Communication

Effective family-school communication and family involvement in education contributes to improved student achievement and better learning outcomes. RCES uses a variety of ways to

communicate with our families including emails. School Messenger, Facebook, school

website, Peach Jar, Twitter, Tuesday folders, and newsletters.


All emails and phone messages will receive a response from RCES staff within 24 hours of the initial contact.


If you have not been receiving emails from the school, please contact the front office to make sure we get that updated for you.


If you have suggestion about how we can improve communication, please reach out to one of the administrators.

Feedback Driven Progress Reporting Grading Grade for Families Presentation - Click Here Feedback Driven Progress Reporting Grading Grade for Families Presentation - Click Here

Lexington County School District One's ELA Curriculum

Lexington One uses Lucy Calkins Units of Study for Teaching Reading and Writing curriculum.


Lucy Calkins and her Teachers College Reading and Writing Project coauthors aim to prepare students for any reading and writing task they will face and to turn kids into life-long, confident readers and writers who display agency and independence. Lucy and her colleagues have drawn on their more than 30 years of research and work in thousands of schools across the country and around the world to develop powerful curriculum resources, instructional methods, and professional learning opportunities to support teachers as they work together and with their students toward these vitally important goals.

Lexington County School District One's Math Curriculum

Lexington One uses Ready Classroom Mathematics Curriculum.


Ready Classroom Mathematics is a robust mathematics program that will help your student become a strong, independent mathematical thinker. The program uses a different approach to math instruction than many of us had as kids. It focuses on learning through problem solving

and student-to-student conversations about mathematical thinking (called discourse).


Your child's teacher uses a set of learning routines each day that help students engage in discourse as they develop a conceptual understanding of mathematics. The routines also ensure that your student develops the problem-solving skills needed to become an independent and confident mathematical thinker.

Check out this month's guidance lesson topics for each grade!


Pre-K/SPED - Teamwork & Cooperation Lesson

Learning Target: I can demonstrate working together. I can use encouraging words.


KINDERGARTEN - Animal Friends Lesson

Learning Target: I can describe 3 negative and 3 positive friendship traits.I can describe one way to become a teddy bear friend.


1ST GRADE - Responsibility Lesson

Learning Target: I can indicate situations that show responsibility and situations that don’t show responsibility.


2ND GRADE - Goal Setting Lesson

Learning Target: I can define what a goal is. I can list steps in completing a goal.


3RD GRADE - Responsibility Lesson

Learning Target: I can describe what it means to take responsibility for my actions. I can give at least three examples of demonstrating responsibility at home, school and community.


4TH GRADE - Decisions and Consequences Lesson

Learning Target: I can name at least 3 actions and their possible consequences.


5TH GRADE - Overcoming Roadblocks Lesson


Learning Target: I can describe the phrase “road block.” I can review the definition of a goal. Define two personal academic roadblocks and an academic solution for each.



Rocky Creek Elementary has three full-time school counselors. Please feel free to contact them.


Grades: 5K and 4th

Jamie Dawkins………….……… (803) 821-4181

jdawkins@lexington1.net

Grades: 1st and 5th

Elizabeth Lilienthal………….….. (803) 821-4175

elilienthal@lexington1.net

Grades: 2nd and 3rd

Sara Parker Garrison………...… (803) 821-4233

sgarrison@lexington1.net


Please do not hesitate to reach out to our school counselors.

Please do not send any medications to school with your child. An adult must bring all medications and go through our school nurse.

If you have question about the procedures for administering medication at school, please contact Nurse Lindsey at (803)821-4198.

Need to Make a Change?

For the safety of our students, the school will deviate from a student’s designated way home only with the following procedure: All dismissal changes must be requested by sending a note to their child’s teacher letting them know the change. Do not send transportation changes to email. If the teacher is absent, no one will receive notice to make this change. The teacher will send the note to the front office and a transportation change will be made for the child. Our office staff notifies teachers of daily dismissal changes beginning at 1:45 P.M. each day. If an emergency occurs and you need to make a transportation change in the middle of the day, please contact our front desk before 1:45 P.M. They will ask you to send an email requesting the change.


IMPORTANT SCHOOL PHONE NUMBERS

Front Office (803)821-4200

School Nurse (803) 821-4198

Library (803)821-4227

Lexington Transportation (803)821-1340

School Cafeteria (803)821-4225

Attendance and Records (803)821-4204

Fees (803)821-4202

Birthday Treats

If you would like to send in birthday treats or a special snack for your child's class, you may do so. The only stipulations is treats and snacks must be store bought. For convenience, teachers prefer individually packaged items so that they can be passed out quickly. Please do not send in a cake that the teachers has to serve. They only have 20 minutes to eat their lunch.

We do not allow deliveries of flowers, balloons, edible arrangements, etc... to our students. If something is delivered to school, we will contact parents to pick up the items from the office.

Volunteers

Volunteers are welcome to volunteer at RCES. In order to volunteer in any of the schools in Lexington County School District One, you must:


1. Undergo a criminal history screening prior to approval.

2. Be 21 years of age or older.


Simply complete and submit a volunteer application and upon approval you will receive instructions on the next steps.


Please note that the approval process could take anywhere from two to four weeks. If you have any questions about the application, please contact your school's volunteer coordinator, Kathy Young.

If needing to dismiss a student, a driver's license or photo ID is required for identification purposes.


To dismiss a student, that individual will need to be on the child's approved contact list provided by the parent/guardian. We will not release a student to someone who is not on their approved list unless we have written permission from the parent/guardian.


Our front office becomes very busy after 1:45 with dismissal of students. If you need to dismiss early, it helps our ladies out front if you sign out your child before 1:45. If you wait until after 1:45, approval from an administrator is required.

Weekly Menu

In response to some concerns about lunch choices not matching the menu, Mrs. Robbins has worked with our cafeteria to provide a weekly calendar on our school website. Go to Rocky Creek Elementary School Website, the Families Tab, and RCES Weekly Cafeteria Menu. Our cafeteria manager will update this with any changes by 4:00 PM the day before the change takes place.

I hope this helps communicate any supply or delivery issues that cause changes to our menu.

Families may eat lunch with their child/children. Please make sure you have your ID. We have designated tables in the cafeteria for families to sit with their child. Other children are not allowed to sit at those tables.


You may bring food from outside for your child to eat if you are staying for lunch. We do not accept drop off food deliveries if you are not stying for lunch. We are not able to make those deliveries and keep the front desk covered.


If your child forgets their lunch box, you can drop it off in the office, and we will have the child stop by the office on the way to lunch.


IMPORTANT: While parents/visitors are invited to lunch, we do not allow parents/visitors to go to recess.

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Rocky Creek Elementary School Improvement Council has met two times this year and is scheduled to meet once every month except for the month of December.


Our November SIC Meeting was cancelled and will be rescheduled. Our next meeting will be on January 25.

Below are the links to our SIC Meeting Agendas.

September SIC Agenda

October SIC Agenda

November SIC Agenda


The purpose of the Rocky Creek Elementary School Improvement Council is to:


(1) assist in the development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the five year School Improvement Plan (also known as the “School Renewal Plan” or “Strategic Plan”).

(2) assist in the preparation of yearly plan updates;

(3) assist the school in the development and implementation of the School Reading Plan as required by the Read to Succeed Act;

(4) write the annual SIC Report to the Parents, which is to be distributed no later than April 30 of each year;

(5) prepare, together with the Principal, the annual narrative for the SC School Report Card;

(6) provide advice on the use of school incentive award expenditures (if allocated by the legislature and awarded to the school);

(7) provide other assistance as requested by the Principal or local school board.

Personal Communication Devices - Cell Phones, Apple Watches etc..

The use of cell phones and watches have become a concern in some grade levels. Please review the district's policy on communication devices for elementary students. Thank you for your assistance with this.


Elementary school students may possess a personal communication device as long as the device remains off and is not visible during the school day. They are not permitted to use personal communication devices during the school day.

Links to Previous Newsletters

September 2022

October 2022

November 2022

December 2022

January 2023

February 2023

March 2023

April 2023

May 2023

Lexington County School District One does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, genetic information or age in admission to, access to, treatment in or employment in its programs and activities. The following people have been designated to handle inquiries or complaints. The Chief Human Resources Officer handles inquiries/complaints regarding Title IX, inquiries/complaints regarding Title II with respect to employees and/or public access to buildings and grounds, and inquiries/complaints involving the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Inquiries/complaints regarding Section 504 for students K–12 go to Director of School Counseling and Advisement. The mathematics coordinator handles inquiries/complaints regarding Title II. Contact these people if you have questions regarding these issues at 100 Tarrar Springs Road, Lexington, SC 29072 and telephone number 803-821-1000.
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