April 2009
Volume 1, Issue 7
Ellington Elementary
One School Road
Ellington, Missouri 63638
Principal: Carolyn Bouma
Assistant Principal: Paula King
Phone: 573-663-2293
Fax: 573-663-2144
State Testing
O ur district’s state testing started on March 31 st and will go through April 23 rd . It is very important that your child gets plenty of sleep on the nights preceding test days and is here on time every day. Please try to schedule any appointments your child may have around testing times. Attendance during testing is crucial for success.
Testing will begin every day at
8:30 a.m. and will end by 12:00.
911 Addresses
Residents of Reynolds County will be receiving 911 addresses.
As you receive this information in the mail, please send the elementary office the information so we can update your child’s records with current physical addresses. If you have questions, please call the elementary office.
Student Drop-off and Pick-up
In order to provide supervision for our students, the cafeteria is open for students to enter the building starting at 7:30 am. If you bring your child between
7:30 and 7:45, PLEASE drop your child off at the cafeteria.
The front doors will be locked until the bell rings at 7:45 am.
Also, if you pick up your child after school, please make sure someone is here to pick them up by 3:00 .
Speech Contest
In April, some of the sixth grade students participated in a speech contest sponsored by the local Modern Woodsmen.
These students placed and will be competing in the County
Speech Contest during Spring
Fever Days: Tyler McNail (1 st ),
Korey Harper (2 nd ), and
Myranda Duncan (3 rd ).
Congratulations!!!
Parents As Teachers
As this year is winding down, we will continue the Making
Connections playgroup every
Friday from 10:00 - 12:00.
When there is no school there will not be playgroup.
We are planning a first ever field trip for PAT families. You don't want to miss it. Come join the fun!
- Pam Roderman
Preschool News
Mrs. Eddington’s Class:
Can you believe we only have
33 days left of preschool? This month we are learning about frogs, Easter, butterflies, and farms. We are going to take a field trip to Jim Mills’ farm at the end of the month.
More information will be sent home closer to time. We will be learning the letters J, Q, Y, and
Z. We are still working really hard on letter sounds, recognizing numbers, phone numbers, and the children are starting to write on their drawings. The children are really excited about kindergarten.
Mrs. Boehle’s Class:
We want to thank all of you for coming to our Parent Night
Junior Olympics. It was great fun and a big success!
Our students will be working hard this month studying rhyming words, position words and story sequencing. We will continue practicing writing and recognizing letters and numbers.
Two special events for this month are our Easter party and field trip to Jim Mills ’ farm in
Annapolis. Dates and details will be available soon. Our preschool graduation is set for
Tuesday, May 19th at 6:00 p.m. in the Old Gym. It's shaping up to be a star-studded event you won't want to miss.
Kindergarten News
Our field trip to the Bootheel
Youth Museum and Out Back
Adventure presentation will be
April 16 th . We would appreciate it if you could send your permission slips back as soon

as possible but not later than
Monday, April 6th.
Thank you for all your work in helping your children with word flash cards. Together we can make a difference!
-Ms. Blakemore and Mrs. Mahan
First Grade News
We will be testing soon! We will test April 15th, 16th, 17th.
Please be sure your child is on time these days, had a healthy breakfast and is well rested.
We are continuing to work on long vowel sounds. These sounds are a combination of two vowels together or other word families. Please continue to study these words each week. Our reading stories are getting longer and harder, please practice these stories with your child to ensure proper phrasing and fluency. In math, we are working with different strategies to add and subtract numbers. Please continue to review money with your child we will be assessing that soon. We will be participating in an Easter egg hunt on Thursday, April 9th at 2:00. Please be sure and send a basket or container on that day to put their eggs in.
- Mrs. Albert, Mrs. Brawley, and
Mrs. Long
Second Grade News
The second grade has been working hard reviewing skills for the Terra Nova Achievement
Test. They will be taking their test on April 15, 16, and17.
Please make sure your child gets plenty of rest each night before each testing day so that your child can do his best. In
April, we will also be going on our field trip. We will be visiting the Twin Pines Conservation
Education Center in Winona on
Thursday, April 23. It is important that your child's permission slip for this field trip to be returned by April16th.
We would like to thank all the parents who were able to attend our Parent Teacher
Conference. Together we really can make a difference for your child's future.
- Mrs. Tucker and Mrs. Whitener
Third Grade News
Third graders have been very busy getting ready for M.A.P. testing. We will start on April
6th and finish on April 17th. As always students need to get plenty of rest and keep a positive attitude. We have a couple of important events coming up around the beginning of May for 3rd grade.
Our Parent Night activity will be on Monday, May 4th and our field trip to Round Springs will be on Friday, May 8th. We will be sending more information on both of these events as they get nearer. We would like to shout out a big THANK YOU to the parents who helped organize and attended our classroom parties this year - with a special
‘thumbs up’ to Stacie Moss,
Mike McNail, and Cecelie
Goodman. It was great to visit with all the parents at 3rd quarter conferences. Thank you for making time in your busy schedules to come and see us.
Together we make a difference!
- Mrs. Loyd and Mrs. Whited
Fourth Grade News
We have been busy preparing for the MAP. The students are now equipped and eager to take and conquer the test. We will be testing for two weeks in
Communication Arts and in
Math. Please be sure your child gets a good night’s sleep each night prior. As you know, our
Field Trip is scheduled for May
15 th to go to the City Museum in
St. Louis. Please remember to return the slips so we may plan accordingly. Permission slips will be sent home at the end of
April. Parents are invited to attend and may pay their admission at the door.
- Mrs. Bass and Mrs. Homeyer
Fifth Grade News
In fifth grade, we have been spending a lot of time preparing for MAP. The students started testing on March 31 and will continue until April 16.
Please make sure your child gets plenty of rest and eats a good breakfast. Also be sure to encourage your child to do his/her best on the MAP Test.
On April 28, we will be going on our field trip to the Conservation
Campus and Nature Center in
Cape Girardeau. We will send more information out as the date becomes closer. In Mrs.
Francis' class, we are glad to have Miss Rebekah Hampton, who is doing her student teaching until May 8th.
- Mrs. Baysinger and Mrs. Francis
Sixth Grade News
We are currently preparing for
MAP testing in Math and
Communication Arts. In Math, we will continue our unit on geometry. In Science, we are going to start a unit on cells. In
Social Studies, will be discussing how supply and demand works.
- Ms. Morgan and Mrs. Williams
Counselor’s Corner
District Testing is in full swing this month! The orange testing calendar that was sent home last month will let you know which days your child is testing. Please remind your children to get plenty of rest and eat breakfast. Our district is providing free breakfast to all students on days they are testing.
Our word of the month for April is ‘citizenship.’ Encourage your child to show good citizenship by following the rules and working to make our community a better place. Don't forget to

visit our Parent Resource
Library if you would like some cool educational games to play with your child. We also have all kinds of books that help with many different parenting issues. Happy Easter!
- Mrs. Goodman
Librarian’s Tales
Spring Book Fair was a raving success thanks to the support of the community and my faithful volunteers! I would like to recognize the following people for their help with making the book fair a success:
Holly Baysinger, Ceclie
Goodman, Lorna and Julie
Nash, Hailey Cassinger, Molly
Heady, Amelia Buford, Amy
Price, Dawn Paruch, Jasmine
Killie, and Darlene Bradley.
Also, I would like to extend my thanks to Bruce Gastineau and
Gastineau Hardware for donating the popcorn for the family event. In addition, I would like to thank First Baptist
Church for the use of the popcorn machine. It takes all of us working together to make our school a success! Thanks again for all you do!
Congratulations to our class and student Book Fair Winners:
Shyanne Nash, guessing jar;
Hannah Ashlock, family night drawing; and Mrs. Long's 1st grade for the highest average attendance! Way to go kids! I hope that you enjoy your merchandise from the Book
Fair.
Happy Reading - Mrs. Lee
Nurse’s Notes
Thanks to your generosity, our elementary students collected
$2467.20 for the children at St.
Jude’s Children’s Research
Hospital through our Math-a-
Thon. The top money raisers were: Arron Rapert with
$250.00, Jennifer Tucker with
$225.00, Hunter Herrold with
$140.00, Angel Tripp with
$135.75, Bethany Meade with
$127.00, Gracie Price $125.00, and Caleb Baker with $125.00.
Thank you to everyone for your donation, big or small! The generosity of our community is very touching, especially during these uncertain economic times.
Students in grades 2 and 6 will, with parental permission, have dental sealants applied to their molar teeth by Missouri
Highlands Health Care Dental
Clinic on April 30th. Thank you for allowing us to provide this pain-free, preventive dental procedure at school for your child.
We completed our spring
General Mills Box Tops
Contest! The classroom that collected the most Box Tops was Mrs. Mary Whitener’s 2 nd grade class, who received an ice cream party!! The elementary students collected
$208.30 during that time period.
We use the money received from General Mills for several projects to benefit all the students in our school. Thank you for your cooperation.
Please join us in observing
Arrive Alive Wednesdays .
This promotion is designed to create or reinforce the habit of
“buckling up” every time you or your child is in a motor vehicle. Thank you for supporting our efforts to keep our students healthy, safe, and ready to learn every day.
- Mrs. Massie and Mrs. Richards
A note from the Principal
We are getting to that time of year when we start planning summer school. The teachers are planning exciting theme based summer school classes with crafts and learning. Field trips are being planned and rumors are starting that during summer school there will be an awesome assembly with live snakes (you know how I love snakes so I hope it is rumor)  and an all school bar-b-que.
We are looking forward to seeing everyone here during
June for summer school! 
Information will be sent home soon so be watching for the summer school.
As we wind down the school year and are busy, remember to take time to relax!
- Mrs. Bouma
Dates to Remember:
March 31 –April 21: State Testing
April 7 – Election Day
April 8 – Land of Smiles Assembly
Grades PK-2
Arrive Alive Wed
April 10 – No School
April 13 – No School
April 15 – Arrive Alive Wed
Kdg Graduation Pictures
April 16 – Kdg Field Trip
April 22 – Arrive Alive Wed
April 23 – 2 nd Grade Field Trip
April 24 – Lesterville Academic
Bowl Gr. 3-6
April 27 – 6 th Grade Field Trip
April 28 – 5 th Grade Field Trip
April 29 – Arrive Alive Wed
Preschool Field Trip
April 30 – Dental sealants Grades
2 & 6
Looking ahead:
May 1 – Sealants Gr 2 and 6
Varnish Gr K-8
6 th Grade Exit Party (6:30 -
9:30)
May 4 – 3 rd Grade Parent Night 6-7 in Old Gym
May 6-7: MAP Test Fest Day
May 8 – 3 rd Grade Field Trip
May 15 – 4 th Grade Field Trip
May 19 – PK Graduation @ 6:00
May 20 – 22: PK Exit Conferences
May 21 – Kdg Graduation @ 5:30
May 22 – Last day of School
June 1-26: Summer School
“Together We Make a
Difference!”