The "Skimmer" Scoop

Thursday, August 27th

Kindergarten Bingo (Watters & Galloway's Classes)

Friday, September 4th

Spirit First Friday (Wear your SIES Shirt to School)

Friday, September 4th

Early Release (12:20 dismissal)

Monday, September 7th

Labor Day (No School)

Friday, September 11th

Principal Coffee Chat 7:30 am

Tuesday, September 15th

Open House- Grades 1-5 (5:30pm)

Dear SIES families,

As we enter our third week of school, mornings are really starting to run smoothly. Now that routines are falling into place and morning clubs are available, this is the perfect time for families to work together to make sure students arrive on time. The ideal arrival time is 7:00 AM, which gives your child full access to clubs, breakfast, socialization, and a chance to start the day on the right foot.

If you're already arriving at 7:00 AM, kudos to you! Remember to remain in the car until the bell rings.

Don’t forget to arrive on time so your Skimmer Can Soar On!

Bus 202 has been overcrowded in the afternoons, so we are moving the Mathis Ferry (Armory) Bus stop from Bus 202 to Bus 269. If your student uses this bus stop, please change it in School Dismissal Manager. Thanks!

We’re off to an amazing start! Thanks to our SIES community, we’ve already reached 74% of our budgeted goal, and we’d love to keep the momentum going!

Our ultimate goal is 100% participation across our SIES community.

What does the PTA do?

We’re the memory makers, community builders and morale boosters of SIES! Your membership helps us create the events, experiences and special moments that bring our students, families, teachers and staff together throughout the year.

A few quick things to know:

• Memberships are individual, not per household. Each parent/guardian can have their own PTA membership.
• Joining does not mean you have to attend meetings or volunteer. Simply becoming a member helps support what the PTA provides our school community.
• Want to volunteer? We’d love that too! Head to the Volunteer section in Membership Toolkit to see ways to get involved.
• If you haven't joined, please do and show your commitment to our wonderful teachers and school that take care of our children!
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Not sure if you’ve already joined? Go to My Account → Previous Orders → View in Membership Toolkit to check your previous purchases.

Help us get to 100%, click below to join the PTA!

Meet our amazing Café Crew: Catina Washington, Kevin Anderson, and Tyesha Gardner! These three work hard each and every day to prepare and serve breakfast and lunch to our Skimmers. We are so grateful for all they do to keep our students happy, healthy, and well-fed! 💙

Have a cafeteria question? Contact our Cafeteria Manager, Kevin Anderson, at kevin_anderson@charleston.k12.sc.us.

Join Principal King for our September Principal Coffee Chat! We will be meeting in the SIES Library right after arrival. All are welcome, but an RSVP is required below.

Our School Nurses will be starting the vision and hearing screening at our school in September.. This may take several weeks to complete. Please let your child know that it will be a quick and painless test. We will use a special camera to take a picture of their eyes to see if there are any vision problems. And kids will wear special headphones that beep to test their hearing.

Parents will be notified if their child needs to be seen for further evaluation.

Charleston has recently experienced some of the most extreme consecutive days of heat we’ve seen since the early 1980s, and the effects have been noticeable in all of our lives. SIES teachers have exercised extra caution with outdoor recess, recreational sports have cancelled outdoor practices, and teachers have turned into dripping popsicles during afternoon car line!

I’m sure many pet owners in our SIES community (You know I love seeing your sweet dogs’ faces when you come to pick up your kids!) have also made adjustments to their daily routines to protect their beloved pets from the heat. Earlier morning or evening walks, avoiding hot concrete, providing extra water, and perhaps even some kiddie-pool time are all great ways to help our furry friends stay cool.

But how do extreme temperatures affect our coastal wildlife?

High air temperatures can lead to warmer water temperatures, especially in the many creeks, marshes, and river inlets throughout our area. This can create a serious problem for aquatic animals because warm water holds less dissolved oxygen than cool water. Your fifth grader should be able to explain why after completing this week’s temperature and solubility lab! As water warms, its molecules gain kinetic energy and move faster. This increased movement pushes gas molecules out of the water solution. As a result, warmer water contains less dissolved oxygen. This can be especially challenging for fish and other aquatic animals that rely on gills to extract oxygen from the water. When oxygen levels become extremely low, a condition called hypoxia, fish and other aquatic organisms can struggle to survive. In severe cases, hypoxic conditions can contribute to large-scale fish die-offs. Hypoxia was one suspected factor in a recent large menhaden die-off in Turkey Creek near Columbia.

Extreme heat can also affect animals on land. Just like humans, wildlife can experience heat exhaustion and dehydration. Many animals adjust their daily routines during extreme heat by resting during the hottest parts of the day and doing more of their foraging and socializing during the cooler morning and evening hours.

There are also small things we can do to help our local wildlife during periods of extreme heat. Ensuring your backyard bird bath is filled with clean, cool, fresh water is one simple way to help. Planting native shrubs and bushes can also provide valuable shade and shelter where animals can escape the heat.

Hopefully, we are past the most intense heat of the summer and can get back to enjoying all the beauty our Lowcountry outdoors has to offer!

Stay cool, SIES!

We’re off to another wonderful year of reading, exploring, creating, and discovering at SIES! Here are answers to some of the most-asked questions about our library.

When does my child come to the library?

One of the things that makes our library special is that we are fortunate to be one of the few elementary schools in CCSD with a flexible library schedule!

Students in CD and Kindergarten visit the library once a week for story time and class checkout. Our 1st–5th graders have the freedom to visit the library whenever they need a new book. I also work with classroom teachers throughout the year to support research, projects, and other special learning opportunities.

How many books can my child check out?

Our checkout limits grow along with our readers:

• CD–2nd grade: 2 books
• 3rd grade: 3 books
• 4th grade: 4 books
• 5th grade: 5 books

Students can also earn a VIP Card by completing summer reading and/or participating in reading challenges throughout the year. VIPs get double checkouts!

Books are checked out for two weeks, but renewals are always available if your child needs a little more time to finish a favorite book.

What if a library book is damaged or lost?

Don’t worry—these things happen! If a book is damaged, simply return it with a note so we can take a look and see if it can be repaired. If a book cannot be repaired or has been permanently lost, the replacement cost will need to be paid. The amount can be found on an overdue notice or by emailing Ms. Santos.

Payments can be made through our RevTrak site by selecting “Lost Books” under the Library Media Center tab.

One important note: Most of our library books are specially bound for heavy library use and are different from the copies sold in bookstores or online. They also come cataloged and shelf-ready for our collection. For that reason, please don’t purchase a replacement copy on your own. We’ll be happy to help!

What is the SIES Birthday Book Club?

The SIES Birthday Book Club is a fun way to celebrate your child’s special day while supporting our library with additional new books!

For a minimum donation of $25, your child gets to choose a book for our library collection. A special sticker inside the book will include your child’s name and birthday, and we’ll celebrate them on our morning news show! They’ll also receive a birthday bookmark and pencil, plus a book from our book vending machine to keep forever. Click here to join

Still have a question?

If you ever have a question about your child, books, reading, or anything happening in the library, please don’t hesitate to reach out by email. I’m always happy to help!

Here’s to another year filled with great books, big imaginations, and lots of library joy at SIES!

At SIES our teachers and staff go ABOVE & BEYOND for students and families! We want to recognize all that they do! Please use this form to shout out an SIES Faculty or Staff member. We will share these with our staff on our daily staff newsletter!

Just a friendly reminder that instructional fees for the 2026–2027 school year are $45 per student.

This fee covers instructional materials for the year, as well as Science Lab fees.

All payments must be made through our RevTrak site. If you haven’t created an account yet, registration only takes a few minutes!

When paying, please remember to:

• Select the appropriate grade-level fee for each of your children.
• Enter your child’s full name in the requested field.
• Add the instructional fees for all of your children to your shopping cart before checking out to avoid multiple processing fees.

Thank you for taking care of this important back-to-school item!

Please join us for our upcoming SIES Open Houses! This is a wonderful opportunity for parents to visit their child’s classroom, meet their homeroom teacher, and learn more about what the school year will look like.

Parents will go directly to their student’s classroom, where homeroom teachers will share important information about classroom routines, expectations, communication, curriculum, and ways families can support their students throughout the year.

Please note: This is a parent-only event. We kindly ask that students and siblings remain at home so that teachers can focus on connecting with parents and sharing information for the year ahead.

We look forward to welcoming you to SIES and starting the school year together!