El Noticiero

Decmeber 6: K-2 Una Manada Recognition

December 13: 3-5 Una Manada Recognition

December 14: Project Warm-Up 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM

December 20: Cultural Day and La Tienda De Lobos

December 23 - January 1: No School - Holiday Break

January 9: End of Quarter 2

January 10: No School - Teacher Work Day

January 20: No School - Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Observance

Dear Parents,

We hope you are enjoying watching your child grow and thrive in our Spanish Immersion program! As partners in your child’s education, we want to remind you of the critical importance of daily reading in English for at least 20 minutes outside of school.

When you applied to our program, you signed an agreement to support this practice at home, and for good reason—it plays a vital role in your child’s literacy development and academic success. Research confirms the profound impact of daily reading:

1. Vocabulary Growth and Academic Success: Reading 20 minutes a day exposes children to over 1.8 million words per year, greatly expanding their vocabulary and comprehension skills, which are essential for success in all subjects.
2. Higher Achievement Levels: Studies show that students who read regularly outside of school perform better on standardized assessments, including the NWEA MAP test.
3. Development of Lifelong Skills: Reading strengthens critical thinking, empathy, and problem-solving skills, while also fostering a love for learning.

We encourage you to review your child’s recent NWEA MAP scores with him/her to assess their reading growth. Did your child show improvement? If so, great! Keep supporting their efforts with consistent reading at home. If not, it may be time to evaluate how often and how effectively reading is happening outside of school.

Here are some simple ways to support your child’s reading habits:

• Make it fun: Allow your child to choose books that spark their interest.
• Read together: Share a story and discuss it, modeling reading as an enjoyable activity.
• Stay consistent: Set aside a specific time each day dedicated to reading.

The upcoming break from school is a perfect time to renew your commitment to this daily practice. This not only helps your child succeed in English but also strengthens their ability to excel in our Spanish Immersion program, ensuring balanced growth in both languages.

Thank you for your continued support in making your child’s education a priority. Please reach out if you have any questions about your child’s progress or need resources to encourage their reading journey.

Warm regards,

Tracy Vik

Even for kids, life can be really busy. Taking care of themselves, so they can meet the demands of everyday, is important. This month 5th graders talked about the Wellness Triangle. In order to feel our best, we need to take care of three important areas in our lives: physical health, social health and our mental + emotional health.

Taking care of our physical health means taking care of your body, getting enough sleep, fueling your body with healthy eating choices and drinking water, planning movement for your body, regular doctor, dentist and eye doctor visits, and finding ways to calm your body when stressed.

Our social health involves having good connections with positive friends, using social skills and problem-solving skills with others, getting along with others, connecting with supportive grown-ups and family, and having enjoyable social experiences.

Finally, taking care of our mental + emotional health means understanding and expressing your feelings, learning how to cope with stress, conflict and changes in your life and taking time for relaxation and doing activities you enjoy.

If kids are starting to feel run down, frequently upset, or isolated from others, a good place to start is by examining these areas of life and seeing if something is out of balance. Students were encouraged to make a SMART goal in each of these areas.

Every month, students have the opportunity to earn a green ticket! Remind your students as we work towards increasing attendance in school! If a student is present for at least part of each school day for the month, they will earn a green ticket. Click the image to see who has perfect attendance in each class. They all received a badge to display on their lockers as well as a new GREEN ticket! These tickets are used to celebrate our value that ties into attendance, Responsible.

These green tickets are worth 5 blue tickets and can be use to purchase items in our school store! Way to go Lobos!

Lunch Menu - Free and Reduced Meal Application

My School Bucks - Daily Grade Level Lunch Schedule

Friends,

With a heart full of love and gratitude, I want to share that I will be closing my chapter at Sonia on December 20th. What an incredible 9 years it has been---- an absolute honor to be part of this pack! I will miss all of you and all the little things that have made this place truly GREAT! Together, we have built something special, and I will forever be grateful.

Many of you know my passion has always been health and wellness and I'm thrilled to write my next ongoing chapter at Origin Strength! Stay strong, live long.

Always remember: the strength of a wolf pack is kept strong by its members.

#UnaManada #WhoAreWe #LosLobos #Kindness #Doittherightwayrightaway #Focus #2minutes #finishuppickuppackup #responsible #awareness #Leader #eyesup

Thank you, Sonia Sotomayor!!

Miss NaTascha

37th Annual Dr. John W. Harris Teacher of the Year nominations are now open! The Sioux Falls School District is proud to partner with Vern Eide Motorcars to present this prestigious annual award. Thanks to Vern Eide's generous support, the Teacher of the Year will receive a $4,000 prize! Please help us recognize and honor the tremendous contributions of outstanding classroom teachers by submitting a nomination!

You can learn more about this program and submitt a nomination by visiting the website here: https://www.sf.k12.sd.us/page/teacher-of-the-year-program.

Congratulations to all of the 5th graders for their fantastic performance last week! The students looked so colorful and full of energy, and it was so fun to see how their hard work came together!

The link to the KLRN video (of the matinee performance) is below. It is shareable so feel free to copy and paste the link and share it with family and friends.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11FbKf69CSMO5o9NnZkV6-i2Re3XNLsae/view?usp=sharing

If you have a child who will be starting kindergarten in the 2024-25 school year, you will need to complete the registration for the Spanish Immersion Program. Please complete the linked form as soon as possible. Incoming kindergarteners with siblings in the program will automatically receive spots, but you need to fill out the form first.

Spanish Immersion Kindergarten Application

Registration for the 2nd semester bus service starting January 13, 2025 is now open! Busing is based on availability as seating is limited. Please register, using the link below, before the deadline. (You may need to copy and paste the link to your web browser to get the link to open or right mouse on link and chose open hyperlink.)

Elementary 2nd Semester FEE busing - 2024-25

You can also find the Elementary Specialized Schools “Fee” bus flier, with the registration link, on our District web site at: https://www.sf.k12.sd.us/page/fee-based-busing

24-25 2nd Semester Elem FEE Bus Brochure

Registration will close on Friday December 20, 2024, at 5:00pm.

We have been blessed with amazing weather to start this school year, but cold weather is here! Please check the weather and make sure your students are dressed appropriately. Kindergarten and 1st grade do have a morning recess, so please take that into consideration.

Also, please label everything including sweatshirts and individual gloves; we are already acquiring items in our lost and found and it is at capacity. Please speak with your student about our school value, Responsibility, and keeping track of their personal items. Students do have recess before lunch, so they need to know how to keep track of their warm weather gear during lunch. If your student is missing anything, please stop by and check the lost and found! Any smaller items or items of value are kept in the office and not put out with the rest of the lost clothing.

With cold and flu season kicking off, you may want to send your student with cough drops or cold medication. As a reminder, the only medication a child can have at school to self administor are cough drops. If they do bring cough drops to school, please stop by the office and fill out a Medical Self-Administration form. You are more than welcome to stop in during the day to administor any other cold or pain medications.

Winter is here….for those that love sledding, skiing or building snowmen this is your season! Here are some important reminders on winter weather safety!

• Always provide supervision for children when participating in winter weather activities.

• Bundle up and monitor time spent outdoors when it is cold! Hypothermia (low body temperature) and frost bite can happen quickly in cold weather.

• Dress in layers and remember take breaks to warm back up!

• Cover up fragile areas like ear lobes, noses and fingers!

• Sledding is safest going feet first, sitting up.

• Avoid hills with obstructions like trees 

• Wear helmets when skiing, snowboarding or snowmobiling.

• Do not go off path, stay with the crowd.

Keep Your Children Healthy This Winter

Seasonal colds, flu and other respiratory illnesses are unwelcome interruptions to our lives. Encourage your child to practice the following tips to protect their health:

• Avoid close contact with those who are sick. Don’t share food and drinks with others.

• Cover coughs and sneezes. Help keep germs from circulating- cover your nose with a tissue when sneezing and dispose of the tissues properly. When coughing, cover your mouth with your arm, not your hand.

• Wash your hands periodically with soap and water for 20 seconds. Use hand sanitizer when you’re not near a sink.

• Avoid touching your face. Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose or mouth.

• Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, drink plenty of fluids, manage stress and eat nutritious foods.

• Get a flu vaccine, it’s not too late!

Wishing you a healthy holiday season!

We would like to remind families that we do not allow classroom treats for birthdays or other celebrations due to food allergies. Please consider sharing non-edible treats or participating in the Library Birthday Book program as an alternative.

Email: tracy.vik@k12.sd.us
Website: https://www.sses.sf.k12.sd.us/o/ssspes
Location: Sioux Falls, SD, USA
Phone: 605-367-4655
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SFSpanishImmersion/