LOESS HILLS LYNX
OCTOBER 2019
From Our Principal, Mr. Beeck
Dear Loess Hills Students and Families,
Thank you to all parents and guardians that attended conferences. We stress 100% participation so that every student’s parent/guardian is guaranteed special, uninterrupted time with their child’s teacher. It is so important to communicate with each other. Students do so much better when we can make joint plans and share information. We are confident that we will have 100% attendance during our next parent teacher conferences in February 2020.
Be looking for the “end of the first quarter” report cards coming home on Friday, November 8. Please let your children’s teacher know if you have any questions or comments on the report cards.
Fundraiser items will be delivered on November 1. Thank you so much for helping to support Loess Hills students.
A Note From the Office...
Please help us by encouraging your student to be in school on time, all day, and everyday. All tardies and absences are recorded on each student’s permanent record. In order to give our students every opportunity to obtain maximum learning, it is very important that they remain in the classroom for the entire school day. Please do not take them out “a few minutes early” to beat the rush, or for the sake of convenience. Please try to schedule appointments after 3:30 p.m. when possible. Together, we can make a major difference in your students learning experience.
Fire Prevention Week
The Sioux City Fire Department looks forward to speaking with students about fire prevention and safety. This year’s FPW campaign, “Not Every Hero Wears a Cape. Plan and Practice Your Escape!” works to educate everyone about the small but important actions they can take to keep themselves and those around them safe. Third grade students will get to interact with the Fire Safety House, while Kindergarten through 2nd grade students will get the opportunity for an up-close view of a fire truck. Fire fighters will show them equipment the truck carries and how they dress to go into a burning building.
Red Ribbon Week Oct. 21st - 24th
Red Ribbon Week was inspired by the life and work of Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena. Camarena yearned to make a difference from a very early age. After earning a college degree in criminal justice and serving as both a U.S. Marine and police officer, Camarena joined the DEA so he could help fight illegal drugs. In 1985, while working undercover in Mexico, Camarena was kidnapped and killed by drug traffickers. The 37-year-old special agent was survived by his wife Geneva and their three children. Responding to his murder and the horrific effects of drugs on our society, citizens in Camarena’s hometown of Calexico, CA, began wearing red ribbons. The trend took hold throughout the country, and in 1988 Congress officially proclaimed the last week of October as Red Ribbon Week. Now every October, American children, parents and educators unite to take a stand for a drug free land!
Be watching for Red Ribbon Week Events to be announced.
Halloween Activities
Individual classroom parties will be on the 31st of October. Each classroom will send a note home as to what they will be doing. If you do not want your child to participate in the Halloween activities, please send a written note to school. Listed below are the Halloween costume guidelines:
Use items students can put on in class.
Costumes are to be carried to and from school.
Students are asked not to wear makeup or bring makeup or hair spray to school.
Bloody costumes or horror themes are not allowed.
Fake weapons are not allowed.
Costumes will remain in the bag until the time of the party.
Join Our Grassroots Advocacy Committee
The Sioux City Community School District needs your voice on the Grassroots Advocacy Committee. Would you be willing to be a volunteer for our school? There is VERY LITTLE time commitment and you NEVER have to attend a meeting. As a volunteer, you agree to receive email updates about important legislative events that have an impact on public education. Then, we ask that you take the information you receive and contact our local legislators to let your voice be heard in advocacy of good public education. Advice will be provided on how you can email, call, or write a letter to the legislators. Take a look at some of the past advocacy for reference: http://www.uen-ia.org/legislation.htm. You can also look at the Legislative Action Priorities set by our school board: https://www.siouxcityschools.org/legislative-action-priorities/. Please contact our school principal to ask questions or volunteer.
Únase a nuestro comité de base y abogacía
Únase a nuestro comité de base y abogacía
El Distrito de la Comunidad de Sioux City necesita su vez en el Comité de Base y Abogacía. ¿Estaría dispuesto a ser voluntario para nuestra escuela? El compromiso requiere MUY POCO tiempo y usted JAMAS tendrá que asistir a una junta. Como voluntario, usted está de acuerdo a recibir correos electrónicos con actualizaciones sobre eventos legislativos importantes que impactan la educación pública. Después, le pediremos que tome la información que recibió y contacte a nuestros legisladores locales para hacer que se escuche su voz en abogacía a un buena educación pública. Se le dará sugerencias sobre la manera de cómo puede enviar un correo electrónico, hacer llamadas, o escribir una carta a su legisladores. Tómese tiempo pare que vea el tipo de abogacía que se ha hecho: http://www.uen-ia.org/legislation.htm. Usted también puede ver las Prioridades De Acción Legislativa fijada por la mesa directiva: https://www.siouxcityschools.org/legislative-action-priorities/. Por favor contacte al director de la escuela con sus preguntas o para ser voluntario.
Let's Talk
Hablemos
Internet Safety
Hello – I would take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Polly Meissner and I am your child’s traveling teacher librarian. This year is my 27th year in Libraries! As I mentioned earlier, I travel to the following schools Bryant, Irving, Liberty, Loess Hills, Nodland, Perry Creek, and Sunnyside. Because Internet Safety is an important part of our lives, each year I teach a lesson to every Kdg-5th grade student on this topic. I have begun teaching this curriculum so your child may have already come home talking about it, or will be talking about it soon!
Below is a breakdown of what we cover at each grade level:
Kindergarten – Going Places Safely where we discuss the three rules for staying safe online.
a. Ask for permission first before going online.
b. Only talk to people you know online.
c. Go to places that are just right for you!
1st Grade – Staying Safe online where we use a Traffic Light as our guide for whether or not a website is just right for us.
Green Light Website –
- Good site for kids your age to explore
- Fun, with things for you to do and see
- Has safe, easy, and kid-friendly words
- Doesn’t let you chat or talk to strangers
- Look for sites that are “green” and add them to your favorites!
Yellow Light Website –
- A site you are not sure is right for you
- One that asks for information such as your real name or where you live
- A place where you are allowed to communicate freely with people you don’t know in real life
- Before you go to a site you think is “yellow” get permission from an adult
Red Light Website –
- A site that is NOT RIGHT for you
- A place you may have found by accident
- Filled with things that are for older kids or adults
- Avoid a site you think is “Red,” if you’re unsure, ask a trusted adult.
2nd grade – My On-line Community where we learn about the parallels between who we know in our own community and who should be in our on-line community. This lesson is a great discussion on who students should be messaging or talking to in all their online activities including things such playing games and messaging.
3rd grade - Keeping it Private where we learn what information we should keep to ourselves. Some of this information includes:
- Child’s Full Name
- Child’s age
- Child’s home address
- Child’s telephone number
- Child’s email address (we start using email addresses in upper elementary)
- Child’s school
4th grade – Showing Respect Online where we discuss how we need to use care when messaging through email, texts, and instant messaging. We discuss how important it is to be clear in our meaning, tone, and respect in our messages. This is because the person receiving the message cannot see their face or hear the tone of their message. For instance using all upper case letters means you are most likely upset in your message. We also need to take care to edit our messages to make certain the receiver understands exactly what we mean!
5th grade – Super Digital Citizen where we discuss what it means to be a good digital citizen!
1. Be safe by not sharing private information.
2. Be respectful by treating others, as you would like to be treated. Bullying is unacceptable.
1. Be responsible and not plagiarize.
I would encourage you to follow up by visiting https://www.commonsensemedia.org, which has a wealth of information for parents on a myriad of topics!
Important Dates to Remember
October:
6-12 - Fire Prevention Week
10 - Booster Club Meeting in the commons @ 6:00 pm
21-24 - Red Ribbon Week
22 - Picture retake day
22 - Camp Read S'more 5:30-7:00 pm
25 - Professional Development - No School
31 - Halloween Parade & Parties @ 2:30 pm
November 1 - Fundraiser Items Arrive
LOESS HILLS COMPUTER PROGRAMMING ELEMNTARY SCHOOL
Email: loesshills@live.siouxcityschools.com
Website: https://www.siouxcityschools.org/loess-hills/
Location: 1717 Casselman Street, Sioux City, IA, USA
Phone: (712) 279-6843
Facebook: facebook.com/Loess Hills Elementary
Twitter: @twitter_loesshillselem
Non-Discrimination Statement
The Sioux City Community School District offers career and technical programs in the following areas: Business & Marketing, Family & Consumer Science, Health Science, and Industrial Arts, Technology, & PLTW.
The Sioux City Community School District is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. It is an unfair or discriminatory practice for any educational institution to discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information (for employment), national origin, religion, age (for employment), disability, socioeconomic status (for programs), marital status (for programs), or veteran status (for employment) in its educational programs and its employment practices.
Inquiries or grievances, including Section 504 grievances and grievances under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, may be directed to Jen Gomez, Director of Student Services & Equity Education at 627 4th Street, Sioux City, IA 51101, (712) 279-6075, gomezj2@live.siouxcityschools.com. Please see District Board policies 103 and 504.4 for additional information on available grievance procedures.
