January 2015 Office Staff LETTER FROM THE PRINCIPAL Principal Dear Parents, Hope your holidays were joyful and restful. The turning of the calendar page into a whole new year gives us a chance to begin anew. It is the perfect time to set goals and improve aspects of our lives. I would like for you to consider setting goals with your child regarding school attendance. All students should strive for perfect or outstanding attendance. The single most important assistance we can provide for our children’s academic success is to allow them to be present each and every day. Students with high attendance rates have a strong correlation to academic success. Elementary age students are dependent upon their parents for their school attendance. Parents are often very concerned if absences are excused or unexcused. From the school perspective this really doesn’t matter. A lost day of instruction impacts student learning whether the absence was excused or unexcused. In elementary school the teacher is providing direct instruction all day. This instruction cannot be replicated by sending home a worksheet. I recently attended an educational summit in Washington DC where the research on student attendance was shared. This information was compiled by Education Trust, The National Assessment for Educational Progress and Attendance Works. Consider what research states regarding school attendance and Performance. For the analysis, they considered students who miss three or more days a semester, or seven or more days a school year, as poor attendance. *Only 17% of students with poor attendance will be on grade level by third grade. Less than 17% will get on grade level beyond their grade. * Students missing more than three days a semester will score 28% lower on school testing. *Students who miss 2-4 days of school in the first quarter of school are 70% more likely to be behind their peers academically. * Students who miss two weeks of school a year are 7.4 times more likely to drop out of school and not graduate. *When students improve attendance, they improve their academic performance. As a parent, are you doing everything possible to give your child a chance to be successful in school? This chance begins with good school attendance. We have several holiday breaks throughout the school year, and I recommend you plan for out of state visitation when school is not in session. Check your child’s records and set a goal to allow for outstanding school attendance the rest of this school year. Dr. Deb Gustafson Principal Dr. Deb Gustafson Assistant Principals Alicia Scofield Dana Williamson Secretaries Olga Delgado Chris Regan Norma Cornejo Stephanie Mathis Student Support Kathi Blankenship Jesse Shane Erica Flenoury Dates to Remember No School Elementary Plan day 5 Students Back to School 6 Report Cards Go Home 7 Awards Assembly 8:15 1-2-3 9:00 K-4-5 8 NO School Dr. Martin L. King Holiday 19 Kansas Day 29 Barn Dance Grades 3-4-5 29 WARE BEAR NEWS Page 2 Geary County USD #475 NOTICE OF NON-DISCRIMINATION Geary County USD #475 does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age in its programs and/or activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. For questions or complaints based on race, color, national origin, sex or age, please contact: Director of Human Resources at 123 N. Eisenhower, Junction City, KS 66441. Telephone 785-717-4000. For questions or complaints based on disability, please contact: Director of the Exceptional Student Services Division at 123 N. Eisenhower, Junction City, KS 66441. Telephone: 785 717-4000. GEARY COUNTY USD 475 Ware Elementary is a Blue Ribbon School with over 700 students per year in kindergarten through fifth grade. Students reside in the McClellan, Burnside Loops and Forsyth areas on Ft. Riley. Due to the Army transition, we see an annual turnover of about 55% of our total student population. Ware Elementary has approximately 100-115 certified staff members per year. An inclusive Special Education Program and an English Learners Program (ELL) are part of the Ware educational setting. “Where All Reach Excellence” 6795 Thomas Ave. Fort Riley, KS 66442 Phone: 785-717-4600 Fax: 785-717-4601 We Are On The Web! www.usd475.org Visit us on Facebook! Ware Elementary is a Professional Development School in cooperation with Kansas State University. As a Professional Development School the outstanding teachers at Ware agreed to assist pre-professional teachers develop instructional methods, lesson preparations, and assessment techniques to facilitate learning for all students. Our school benefits from this program by having additional people at Ware with an interest in the success of our students. We look forward to continuing our association with Kansas State University and the excellent pre-professional teachers that are assigned to Ware. “Where All Reach Excellence” WARE BEAR NEWS Page 3 Kindergarten Teachers KINDERGARTEN We cannot believe we are half way through the school year! With the start of the New Year we are learning and experiencing may new things in kindergarten: including reading, teen numbers, decomposing numbers, along with addition and subtraction. In reading we are using the letter sounds we have learned to blend and sound out words around us and in our Shared Stories. The students are also learning Red Words, which are words we just have to remember by sight. Students are excited to be reading independently, to get the opportunity to read to the class, and to practice reading by sharing these sto- ries with someone at home! A new Shared Story will come home weekly in students’ Ware Bear folders along with a Read and Respond sheet to be completed nightly as reading homework. You might notice that the Read and Respond form looks a little different. There are now two parts to the new form, a reading side and a writing side. Students are working hard to form sentences in their journals and during writing. Along with sounding out words, some things we have been working on are capitalization at the beginning of the sentences and punctuation at the end, as well as spacing between words. They are also get- ting better with adding important details to their illustrations. In math, we are counting everyday and becoming very good with numbers! We will start learning about teen numbers, and continuing to work on composing numbers and decomposing numbers. Kindergarteners will begin working on solving subtraction and addition word problems. At the beginning of January be looking for second quarter report cards to be coming home with your student. On January 29th, we will be celebrating Kansas Day with some special activities to help us learn about the great state we live in. Mr. Scruggs Miss Brown Mrs. Walker Miss Bartlett Miss Willems Mrs. Huff ESSD Teacher Miss Tracy KSU Interns Kenyata Simpkins Shaunita Lester FIRST GRADE Your First Grade Team! Mrs. Scott Miss Schoen Miss Otte Miss Frances Mrs. Blume Miss Wilhem ESSD Teacher Miss Tracy KSU Interns Erica Rohr Inita Barton As the New Year rolls in, the first graders will be busy at work on additional common core math skills. The students have proved very successful in their ability to solve word problems. We will continue learning various strategies to answer word problems involving subtraction and missing addends. Also, the students will begin adding three or more numbers that involve two addends equaling ten. For example, 6+4 +3=13. The students will be expected to circle the group of numbers that make ten and then proceed to add on three more. In addition, the students will also begin to understand the meaning of the = sign as they determine if number sentences are balanced. Other math skills include place value, adding multiples of ten, time to the half hour, and decomposing addends to simplify number sentences. Any support that you could provide at home on these skills would be greatly beneficial. The first grade teachers are pleased at the gains our students are making in reading. Please continue reading with your child for 20 minutes each night. Student have the opportunity to check out books on their appropriate level through reading counts. These books offer additional fluency, accuracy and comprehension practice. Please encourage your child to read library books as well as the Success For All shared stories. Thanks again for all your support. We appreciate your efforts in making your child successful. WARE BEAR NEWS Page 4 SECOND GRADE In January we will be coming back from Winter break on the 6th. We will get back into the swing of things quickly by getting started with new math concepts. This quarter students will be collecting data and making graphs. They will identify various attributes of shapes. Students will also continue working on addition and subtraction fact fluency to 20. In reading we will continue to improve our skills in comprehension, fluency, and sight words. All students should be reading 20 minutes every night and completing a Read and Respond form. This daily reading homework is essential to help students become even better readers than they already are. In social studies we’ll learn about pioneers and Native Americans and how they lived and survived in Kansas. This will lead us into Kansas Day activities and we will celebrate Kansas Day on January 29th. This day will consist of many fun activities that will teach our Ware Bears about the history of Kansas. Some important dates in January include the Awards Assembly on January 8th at 8:15 and no school on January 19th. As we all know in Kansas you can never expect the weather to be the same from one day to the next. Make sure your child is coming to school with the appropriate apparel for very cold and windy days. You can find different ways on the district website to inform you about the weather reports, school cancelations and bus activity. It will be a very fun month with exciting new things going on all around us! Your Second Grade Team, Mrs. Larson Miss Hutchinson Mrs. Morgan Mrs. Blagg Miss Stingo Mrs. Smith ESSD Teacher Miss Tozier KSU Interns Chantay Caron Kristin Showalter THIRD GRADE Third Grade Rules! Mrs. Pushee Mr. Larson Mr. Williamson Miss Thurman Miss Keller ESSD Teacher Miss Tozier KSU Intern Dakota Smith Here we are half way through the school year! Wow! We have had a great first half of the year and are excited to continue through! As we begin the third quarter, we will start learning new and exciting things! We will continue learning multiplication and division this month and developing our fact fluency. In writing, we will be working on opinion writing and using facts to support these opinions. Your third grader will start researching a famous Kansan in social studies! We have great projects planned for them to help them really delve into their Kansan. Please help your child remember to keep reading for 20 minutes each night. You can also ask your child how they are doing on Reading Counts tests. They should be taking them on the books they are checking out from the library. It is most helpful if these are in their lexile range (or their “dot”) so they are challenged appropriately. We are so excited to continue exploring and using our devices. The students are doing great with responsibility and we hope that continues to develop. Please let your child’s teacher know if you have any questions or concerns. Communication between school and home is a vital part of your child’s education. WARE BEAR NEWS Page 5 FOURTH GRADE Welcome back! We hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday break. The New Year is off to a great start! During January the fourth grade team will be busy gearing up our preparations for State testing. Remember, at the fourth grade level, we have three state tests: Reading, Math and Science. It is very important that your child be at school each day and on time. We still have a lot of learning to accomplish. Students will be seeing a slight increase in the amount of homework given – maybe even home- work on weekends. Please make sure your children are studying their math facts. A couple of great math websites that students can be using at home are: AAAmath.com and Sumdog.com. These sites will aid in preparing students for the math test as it covers all basic math skills. In writing, students will be researching a topic and creating an informa- tional writing piece, sharing the knowledge they learned. Science will find us studying magnets and electricity. There will be various projects completed in Social Studies to celebrate Kansas’ birthday, which is January 29. Thank you for all of your support! Fourth Grade Rocks! Mrs. Akard Mrs. Patch Mrs. Hilton Miss Besler ESSD Teacher Mrs. Parker KSU Intern Taylor Eads FIFTH GRADE Your Fifth Grade Team, Mrs. Deville Miss Taylor Miss Fairbank Mrs. Whitlock ESSD Teacher Miss Hemberger KSU Intern Sidney Westervelt Taylor Eads Welcome Back! We hope you enjoyed time spent with family and friends during the holiday break. January is going to be another busy month. In math, students will be learning how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions. In social studies, students will continue to study exploration and move into the colonization of the Americas. Science will focus on energy and ecosystems while continuing to explore the scientific process. Grade cards should be coming home with your student on January 7th. The second quarter awards assembly is on January 8th at 9:00am. State testing also occurs in the spring, more information will be available to you as the time nears. This semester we look forward to sharing interns from Kansas State University. Sidney Westervelt will be with Mrs. Deville and Taylor Eads will be with Miss Taylor. Page 6 WARE BEAR NEWS LIBRARY LINES Parents of third, fourth and fifth graders should have received a hard copy of the One-to-One Device Handbook. I also uploaded this to the Ware Elementary Media Center website. This document outlines acceptable use of the ThinkPad laptops as well as frequently asked questions. So far, we have been using the one-to-one laptops to integrate technology into the core instruction. Fourth grade has been blogging on their teacher’s blog as well as sending and receiving email. I have encouraged them to email me with any questions they have about their new ThinkPads veronicawait@usd475.org. Fifth grade has been busy creating projects such as a Time magazine cover to share what they learned about a famous explorer. Third, fourth and fifth grade classes participated in an “Hour of Code” activity. Mr. Williamson’s third grade class facilitated this activity on the website code.org. First and second graders completed an exciting project in the library in December! Second graders saved a picture of an animal they were researching and inserted a green screen picture we took of them. Then they removed the background from their green screen picture so it appeared like they were right next to their animal! First grade completed a similar project. They saved a picture of a holiday background in another country, inserted their green screen picture, and then removed the background. The result was a picture that appeared like they were in a different country celebrating the holidays! Kindergarten classes have been practicing locating the letters of the alphabet on the keyboard through a website called abcya.com. According to their website, “ABCya.com is the leader in free educational kids computer games and activities for elementary students to learn on the web. Grade level lessons incorporate areas such as math and language arts while introducing basic computer skills. Many of the kindergarten and first grade activities are equipped with sound to enhance understanding. Fun children's Holiday activities are available in grade level sections!” Feel free to check it out at home! Veronica Wait Library Media Specialist Library Clerks: Mrs. Gyruan Mrs. Terrill PE LINES Your PE Teachers, Mr. Derek Scott derekscott@usd475.org Aubrey Koeppe aubreykoeppe@usd475.org We are on our way to a fun semester in P.E. for the new year. We have plenty of new games and skills to introduce as well as some fun events towards the end of the year, including Kansas Kids’ Fitness Day and Field Day. All third, fourth, and fifth grades should receive a 2nd nine weeks FitnessGram student report that will reflect students’ fitness test scores from our FitnessGram battery. This will replace fitness assessment items on the grade card so those spaces will be left empty. Those items will be removed next school year so fitness assessment data will only be reported on the FitnessGram student report sent home in the 2nd and/ or 4th nine weeks. Fitness testing data will also be submitted to the Kansas State Department Education (KSDE), as Ware is a participating school in a program called K-Fit. The goal of K-Fit is to track individual students’ fitness via a KSDE database and create a better understanding of the link between fitness and academic success. In the third nine weeks we will be conducting our skill assessments. The assessment items will vary by grade level and include locomotor skills (such as skipping and hopping) and manipulative/non-locomotor skills (such as throwing, kicking, catching, and jumping rope). These assessments reflect basic movement skills of which all students should be proficient at as a physically educated person, varying by developmental level. WARE BEAR NEWS Page 7 Happy New Year 2015! Brrr… It’s cold outside! Please make sure your Ware Bears dress warmly and have hats and gloves to keep little ears and fingers warm. As we start this New Year please remember to get those physicals and immunizations turned in to the Health office. It can be confusing sometimes when you are trying to decide if you should keep your child home for illness. The following is a list of WHEN YOU SHOULD KEEP YOUR STUDENT HOME. 1) If your child has a constant heavy cough or if nasal drainage is thick and colorful. You should speak to a Doctor before returning to school. 2) If your child has a fever of 100 degrees or above, please keep them home until they are fever free for 24hrs. They will need plenty of rest, fluids and possible medical evaluation. 3) If your child is vomiting or has uncontrolled diarrhea, please keep them home until they are 24hrs free of symptoms. 4) If your child has fevers with rash speak to your Doctor before allowing them to come to school. 5) If your child has strep throat, pink eye or a bacterial infection they will need to be on medication for 24hrs before returning to school. 6) If you suspect your child has ringworm please treat the area with appropriate medication and cover with band aid. If in doubt feel free to give me a call, I will do my best to guide you. To stay healthy it is essential to eat 3 balanced meals a day and get plenty of rest. In our busy lives I know how hard this can be. It is especially important during this time of year, we all have to make an extra special effort so all of our little Ware Bears and Big Ware Bears will remain healthy and strong and ready to learn. Karen Roles, School Nurse Karenroles@usd475.org 785-717-4630 MUSIC NOTES Your Music Teachers, Mrs. Susan Gillespie SusanGillespie@usd475.org Mr. Andrew Horton AndreHorton@usd475.org Welcome to 2015 from the Ware music department. This semester most classes will be learning how to play the classroom instruments, barred instruments, recorders and ukuleles. We will also be working on music reading skills. There are several performances second semester and more information will be sent home with students as their performances get closer. On February 7, eight Ware Elementary fifth graders will represent our school as part of the North Central Kansas Music Educators Association Elementary Honor Choir at the Junction City Middle School. Second grade students will have their performance on February 12; first grade will perform on April 9; and kindergarten will perform on May 7. All grade-level performances are at 6:00 p.m. in the new Ware Elementary Auditorium. WARE BEAR NEWS Page 8 A NOTE FROM THE SCHOOL COUNSELOR In the month of January, I will be visiting classrooms and talking to talk to students about integrity. Integrity is doing the right thing when no one else is watching. It is important for children to know that integrity is about more than just being honest. It’s about doing what is right for the right reasons. Not for attention or rewards – but simply because it is the right thing to do. With the start of the New Year, there is no better time to teach your child about getting organized. Organization is an important life skill to help both children and adults become successful. Begin by clearing clutter and finding a specific place for all your child’s belongings. Identify places accessible to your child to keep toys, books, backpacks, and clothes, such as low hung coat hooks, and bottom shelves and drawers. Organize with your child instead of for them. Doing this together will help your child take ownership of the process and give you something fun to do together at the same time. It may take a few tries before your child remembers all of the steps, so try to be patient when teaching this new skill. Once he or she is familiar with all of the steps, he or she will be ready to do it independently. Finally, sticking to a routine will help you and your child stay organized and on top of things. Choose a time every day to sort through papers in your child’s backpack in order to separate the old papers from the important ones. Stick to this routine and your child will be an organizational expert in no time! Amy Hayward School Counselor amyhayward@usd475.org News from the Speech Team Happy New Year, from the Speech Team! In Speech we will be continuing the Winter season themes. Hopefully the holidays provided your student the opportunity to work on their Speech homework. As always, please contact us if you have any questions about your student’s progress (785-717-6747) or email us. We will get back to you as soon as we can. Laura Twilling, MA CCC-SLP lauratwilling@usd475.org Melissa Demuth, BS SLP melissademuth@usd475.org KSU Intern Holly Krause Page 9 WARE BEAR NEWS PTO General Meeting Tuesday, January 13 at 3:30 p.m. Interested in joining PTO? Come to the January meeting to find out more. Membership is just $3 per family. PTO is excited to partner with Papa John’s once a month to raise money. It is easy to participate in, solves the “what to have for dinner” crisis, makes it easy for Ware families to eat together, and raises money for PTO. Papa John’s Nights are scheduled throughout the year for the third Thursday of every month (except March and May). Coupons are sent home to be used each month for this event. Box Tops for Education You wouldn’t throw away a dime would you? So, don’t toss out those Box Tops! Send them to school on collection sheets or in baggies. Make sure to include your student’s name and teacher’s name. Shop. Snap. Earn. Hassle-free Fundraising Download the free Shoparro app Join the 7,000+ schools already earning thousands through Shoparoo Snap pictures of your receipts Every receipt counts! Earn cash for Ware Go online for a list of products, www.boxtops4education.com. Shoparoo makes a donation for every receipt you summit Share with your friends There is strength in numbers—the more supporters we have, the more we earn!!!! WARE BEAR NEWS Page 10 School Store: Ware Student Council would like to send out a big THANK YOU to our students, families, and staff. Our Coins for Caring drive raised over $800. Our Ware Bear family is very generous! Ware Mart will be open on Fridays before school. Student Council sells school supplies with prices ranging from $0.25 to $5.00. All profits will be used for school projects and community service by the Student Council. All Ware Bears may shop, but must eat breakfast first. Contact Kelli Hegarty (785)285-2250 Spirit Day – Friday, January 9 Wear Black Colors! $6.00 each Math Challenge: Let’s see if I can stump you….can you answer my math riddles? Good Luck! 1. Which month has 28 days? 2. What has a face and two hands but no arms or legs? 3. If two’s company, and three’s a crowd, what are four and five? 4. I’m an odd number. If you take away an alphabet letter I become even. What number am I? 5. A family has 5 daughters in it and they each have a brother, how many children are in this family? 6. What occurs twice in a week, once in a year, but never in a day? (This stumped me!) *Answers are located on Ware Elementary website http:// web.usd475.org/school/wr/SitePages/Home.aspx under Parent Information – folder called “Math Challenge”. Ware Elementary is a Professional Development School in Partnership with Kansas State University. This spring we will have nine teacher interns from Kansas State University in our building. The cooperating teachers and clinical instructor at Ware work with the interns in the areas of planning and preparation, classroom environment, instruction, and professionalism. We welcome the following interns to our school: Kenyata Simpkins, Shaunita Lester, Inita Barton, Erica Rohr, Chantay Caron, Kristin Showalter, Dakota Smith, Taylor Eads, and Sidney Westervelt. Jennifer Ruffley Kansas State University Clinical Instructor Ware Elementary School Page 11 WARE BEAR NEWS Page 12 WARE BEAR NEWS JANUARY 2015 Subject to Change Without Notice Monday 5 WINTER BREAK Tuesday 6 Toasted Oats Cereal, Sugar, Bread, Jelly, Pineapple, Juice Wednesday 7 Blueberry Elkin Loaf, Applesauce, Juice CHICKEN FAJITAS, Broccoli Florets, Ranch Dip, Refried Beans, Orange 14 Bagel, Cream Cheese, Mandarin Oranges, Juice CHILI, Cinnamon Sweet Rolls, Baby Carrots, Tropical Fruit Salad 12 Fruit Whirls, Bread, Jelly, Peach Half, Juice HAMBURGER, Potato JoJo, Carrots, Apple Half 13 Combo Bar, Biscuit, Pineapple, Juice CHICKEN SANDWICH, Seasoned Potatoes, Broccoli Florets, Orange SAUSAGE PIZZA, Tossed Salad, Carrot Sticks, Apple Half 19 20 Corn Flakes, Sugar, Bread, Jelly, Peach Half, Juice CHEESEBURGER, Sweet Potato Wedge, Pork N Beans, Apple Half 21 Banana Elfin Loaf, Fruit Cocktail, Juice 27 Pork Patty, Biscuit, Jelly, Peach Half 28 Blueberry Muffin, Pears, Juice HARD SHELL TACO, Refried Beans, Celery Sticks, Banana TACO SOUP, Sun Chips, Grated Cheese, Broccoli Florets, Orange NO SCHOOL/K -12 Martin Luther King Jr., Day 26 Crisp Rice Cereal, Bread, Jelly, Pineapple, Juice CHICKEN NUGGETS, Biscuit, Natural Cuts, Carrots, Apple Half CHICKEN NOODLES, Carrot Sticks, Broccoli Florets, Whole Fruit Icee Thursday Friday 1 2 WINTER BREAK WINTER BREAK 8 French Toast Sticks, Syrup, Fruit Cocktail, Juice HAM AND CHEESE SANDWICH, Sun Chips, Green Beans, Rosy Applesauce 9 Cereal Cinnamon Toast, Pears, Juice 15 Pancake, Syrup, Applesauce, Juice TURKEY AND CHEESE SANDWICH, Tomatoes, Pork N Beans, Banana 16 Blueberry Oat Muffin, Fruit Cocktail, Juice 22 Breakfast Sticks, Pears, Juice 23 Cherry Oat Bread, Applesauce, Juice PEPPERONI PIZZA, Tossed Salad, Baby Carrots, Pineapple, Kiwi GRILLED CHICEKN SANDWICH, Natural Cuts, Green Beans, Orange 29 Waffle, Syrup, Fruit Cocktail, Juice 30 Honey Graham Cereal, Applesauce, Juice CHICKEN QUESADILLA, Tossed Salad, Baby Carrots, Whole Fruit Icee HOT DOG ON A BUN, Seasoned Potatoes, Baked Beans, Rosy Applesauce PEPPERONI PIZZA, Tossed Salad, Carrot Sticks, Tropical Fruit Salad FISH WEDGE, Mac & Cheese, Peas, Celery Sticks, Mandarin Oranges