Fairview Family Newsletter
December 2024
Happy almost- December, everyone!
First, I'd like to thank you for making the time to meet with us last month for parent teacher conferences. I'm happy to share that we met with more than 90% of our families during the month of November! Discussing student growth and achievement is always a highlight of our school year, and knowing that we have your unwavering support means the world to us! Be sure to mark your calendars for our second round of conferences. Most of them will take place on February 25th and 27th.
The weeks leading up to Winter Break are always an exciting time here at Fairview, and this year will be no different! The month is jam-packed with themed dress-up days, assemblies, field trips, class parties, and high levels of teaching and learning! Please don't be afraid to reach out to any of us if you have questions about any of this month's happenings.
Happy Holidays!
Dr. Simmons, Principal
*Picture Caption: Elliot and Cruz really enjoyed their Principal for a Day Experience that they won at the Fairview Fever Festival!
Annual Performance Report
The state of Missouri has released Annual Performance Report (APR) information for Missouri school districts. Columbia Public Schools has scored in the top 20 percent of school districts in Missouri, achieving 86.5 percent. This represents a 16.4 percent increase from the 2023 APR score.
You can click here for more information.
As a building, Fairview experienced a great deal of success! In 2023, we earned 73.5% of our available points. In 2024, we earned over 98% of the available APR points! We would not be able to achieve this without the hard work from our students, teachers, and families. So from all of us here at Fairview: Thank you!
Holiday Appreciation for Teachers and Staff
Winter break is coming up, and we often receive questions about Teacher Appreciation gifts. We've got you covered!
If you’d like to give a gift to a teacher or staff member and you’re looking for ideas, look no further than the “favorite things” list for teachers and staff.
If you’d like to make a monetary donation for specialists (Art, Technology, Music, PE, Classroom Aides, ELL, Special Education, etc.), you may send cash or a check to the office or use Venmo (@Fairview-PTA, verification code 0409). Please mark your gift as “Teacher Appreciation.” PTA volunteers will use the donations to shop for the specialists in the coming weeks.
Please make your donations by Friday, December 13 so PTA volunteers have time to shop before Winter Break. And of course, while gifts are appreciated, they are not expected!
Thanks for your help,
Fairview PTA
Winter Parties
Our Winter Parties will take place on Friday December 20th from 1:10-2:00. If you signed up to lead your child's party, You may show up 15 minutes early to begin setup, if needed. Please coordinate with your child's teacher.
Following Winter Parties, families will leave and students will be ushered to the gym for our monthly assembly. We will honor our attendance winners, announce our newest Falcon Club award-winners, and we'll do our yearly holiday sing along.
Alternative Method of Instruction (AMI) on Snow Days
This school year, the district will be providing school work opportunities for children to complete when school is canceled due to inclement weather (see an example from 1st grade below).
On the event of a snow day, families can 1) direct themselves to the CPS website or 2) read their child's choice board that teachers will send home in Friday Folders in the coming weeks. Simply assist your child in choosing one activity from each subject area to complete on a given snow day!
Teachers will not push out work electronically to students, nor will they be teaching via Zoom on these AMI days. However, teachers will make themselves available via email on these days to families.
Finally, if you have a parent meeting, IEP, or 504 scheduled, those meetings may still take place on Zoom or via telephone. For further clarification, communicate directly with your child's teachers.
From the Gym
Hello Fairview Families!
We finished up our tossing/throwing/catching activities a couple weeks ago with some fun games—Angry Birds and Battleship. Lots of action! More recently we’ve been working on non-locomotor skills—balances, animal walks, rolls, cartwheels and round-offs. This is always a favorite to most. We get the mats out, take off shoes and move in creative ways. After all these years I still enjoy moving during these activities with the kids!
Although we’re taking shoes off while on the mats we still do a warm-up before. Please check their A,B,C,D schedule and get those tennis shoes on. If they don’t have them they may not get to participate in all of the day’s activities. There have been some situations where kids have had to sit out. Please help them be successful. It’s a real bummer if you child has to sit and watch because they forgot tennis shoes.
Finally, if you’ve been in the gym lately you might have noticed the pictures on the bulletin boards. They are of our kiddos in action!! If you wish, send me a photo of your child doing something active or being outside and I’ll get it up on the board. You’re welcome to send in a hard copy pic or email me one and I’ll get it up! Thank you to those of you who have sent in pics!
As always, thank you for your continued support.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Sincerely,
Mr. Wright
From the Art Room
In art students are finishing up their landscape works, which are FANTASTIC! Most have been uploaded to Artsonia (their digital art portfolio). If you would like to be connected to view their works send me an email lrobb@cpsk12.org and I will get it set up! All classes have started our portrait unit which will continue into the new year. Please reach out with any questions!
-Lindsay Robb
From the Music Room
In music, we have been singing, moving, and playing instruments. All grade levels sang about Suuuuuuper Turkey and watched a video about Super Turkey’s shenanigans while we’re away from school! Check it out HERE. During the month of December, we will be singing a ton of songs about winter and other holidays, as well as exploring music from the Nutcracker ballet. This is always a favorite among students because we dance with ribbons, paper plates, and the parachute!
I’m looking forward to a great year! Feel free to contact me any time. sdexheimer@cpsk12.org
From the Media Center
November has been a short month. All grades talked more about being a good digital citizen. Kindergarteners have learned a new app called Pic Collage. They made a sign with their name, stickers, and background to represent themselves. First and second graders learned the many features of an app called Pages to make the same name sign. They all turned out great. Third, fourth and fifth graders refreshed their skills in the Google Docs app, with third working on cutting, pasting, using different fonts, colors and adding pictures. Fourth and fifth collaborated with a partner in Google Docs to create a Thanksgiving poem. Fourth and fifth graders also worked on creating folders and organizing their Google Drive. We are looking forward to working on coding next month. Kindergarteners will also be learning to log into the computer.
Annette Kemble
From the Counselor
This month in counseling classes we are learning about-
K: Feelings
1st: Problem Solving/Conflict Resolution, Coping Strategies
2nd: Coping Strategies, Conflict Resolution
3rd: Coping Strategies
4th: Cooperation, Conflict Resolution (point of view)
5th: Reputation and Character
As we learn and practice emotional regulation/coping strategies here at school, consider helping your student practice some of these strategies at home, too.
Mrs. Davison and I are going to be starting a round of small groups in December focused on building and strengthening different skills such as social skills, resiliency, and emotional regulation. We are looking forward to spending time with these groups now and in the new year!
For more information about our Counseling program, check out my website: http://counselorhoell.weebly.com/ or feel free to reach out at any time lhoell@cpsk12.org. I’m looking forward to a great year!
Lillian Hoell
From The Library
Thank you for your support of the Book Fair! It is always wonderful to see how excited students and families are about books. Because of your support, we are getting lots of new books for everyone to enjoy!
Students in grades 2-5 are beginning to learn about Beanstack, an app in the student portal where students can log book titles and minutes they have read. They can participate in challenges and earn badges.
Winter and holiday books are always favorites for students to checkout and read. Books can also be great holiday gifts. Hope you and your student can enjoy some great books together!
The Book Character Tissue Box contest was a great success! There were more than 65 entries. Teachers voted on groups of boxes and the winners were able to get $10 off at the book fair. The tissue boxes have been shared with specials teachers, specialists, the office, and other areas that don’t get a tissue supply from students. It’s so fun to get a tissue from a decorated box! See the photos for the winners and runners up in the contest.
Attendance
If your child will be absent for the day, please call and report their absence or email jhouston@cpsk12.org. If we do not hear from you, we will call to check on their wellbeing.
Contact or follow us
Email: jhouston@cpsk12.org
Website: https://www.cpsk12.org/Domain/16
Location: 909 South Fairview Road, Columbia, MO, USA
Phone: 573-214-3590
Facebook: Follow us here!
Twitter: @FVEFalcons
