Thank you!

Hello Everyone,

I went home utterly overwhelmed last night from you and your children’s generosity. During our “What I am thankful for” writing a present was delivered to our room. What apt timing! I want to thank you all for the wonderful quilt. It blew me away that you all worked so hard, and so secretly on it. All of kindergarten seemed so proud to show off which square they got to create. I took it home to share it with my husband and now I’m making the hard decision if I keep it selfishly at home, or bring it back to school to share.

Thank you again! This also reminded me to inform you that I will be sharing about my maternity leave at conferences. I look forward to thanking you in person for the lovely quilt.

Cheers,

Jessica Sipp

Other teachers at conference time

Hello Everyone,

If you would like to meet with other teachers after or before your conference with me you are more than encouraged to do so. P.E., art, music, guidance, and the 6th/7th/8th grade teachers will be in the gym waiting for you to sign up for a ten minute slot to discuss your child. Most of them will be here both days from 8am-8pm. Our music instructor is slightly different. Mr. Gabriel (our Music Teacher) will be available to conference but since he is so part-time and funded by the PTC, his time for conference time is also very part-time. He will be here Monday from 8-10. If that is not an option you can make please let me know and I can get you his e-mail.

Also!!! I wanted to inform you that Patricia Ortiz, with Cover Oregon Enrollment and Outreach, will be at conferences Monday from 4:30 to 8. She will have a table with information and will be available to answer any questions regarding eligibility, access and utilization of healthcare options. 

I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Wreath Orders

Wreath orders will be ready for pick up tomorrow morning!  Please come through the front doors and check in with Sam before proceeding to the wreath area, under the covered area outside the doors at the end of the hall. There will be someone available to help you all day!  Orders will not be sent home with students on buses.  Please let us know if you have any questions.

 

Thank you for your continued support!

Library Cards

Hello All!

Please remember to get those applications for your library card in. Terra is hoping to get me a stack of unsigned sheets for conferences in case you have misplaced yours. :)

It's nearly Thanksgiving!

It’s nearly Thanksgiving!

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at the conferences next week. Thank you so much for responding so quickly. If you haven’t yet, please let Sam know if your time is okay for you to come in. I can’t wait to get an official time to sit and talk with you about how amazing your child is doing.

As we finish up our last school week in November kindergarten is working hard to finish our first individually written book. Our hope is to send them home in time for Thanksgiving. It is a book of shapes and we are so very excited to be both the author and illustrator (ask us what each means).

Speaking of books, our fifth grade reading buddies have a surprise handmade book to give to their kindergarten partner on Thursday. They’ve worked very hard to create and write a story for each student and are excitedly waiting to read it to us. I can’t wait either.

Also, I have a note about homework. As we have an extra long time between school days it’s important to be practicing our kindergarten skills everyday. If you finish the homework in a day there are a few things you can be practicing the other days. First, read every day for a minimum of ten minutes. It doesn’t matter if you read to your child or if they are reading to you. Reading and cultivating a joy of reading builds vocabulary, imagination, and a deeper understanding of our language. Read, read, read! Second, try to write everyday. It’s okay if your child hears an “o” in a word when we know it’s spelled with an “a.” As long as they are trying their best to practice hearing all the letter sounds in a word they are developing their confidence in writing. Their later forays in the educational world will be made all the more sturdy because of it. Third, you can always be talking about shapes, patterns, and estimating the amount of things in the world around you. Our minds are built to see these connections, and young minds absorb the practice like a sponge.

Finally, just get out and play! Let them tell you an unbelievable story from their head, be a robot for an hour, make a mask out of paper, or draw a fairy

 house. Enjoy your time with your family! Happy Thanksgiving!

Cheers,

Ms. Sipp

E-mails

Happy November,

We’ve been busy in kindergarten. Every Monday is science journal day, we are just past our 50^th day of school (already?!), and we are illustrating/writing a book right now. We are just so busy it can feel like a whirlwind some days. So, thank you to everyone who’s been helping out where they can. It has been a real treat.

On the note of busy bodies, I want to address e-mails. If you have a time sensitive issue, please call Sam rather than e-mail me. If you need the school number to call just let me know and I can get that to you. I’m afraid that e-mail is not always reliable because the Internet here is sometimes… wonky. If you are e-mailing an important note on the day it needs to be read please, please, PLEASE call and let us know instead. I do not always check my e-mail at the same time and there is a big chance I will miss it. I very much appreciate your communications and I absolutely loathe finding that I missed an important message. E-mailing is still a great way for us to chat. I know you are getting busy with your family just as my class is letting out, so I understand that e-mail is a great way to take our own time to respond. I will do my best to always stay up to date and respond as quickly as possible.

Have a great week!

Conferences

Hello All!

Today our conference time notes are going out. Your children were told to get them right out as soon as they saw you, but if not please check backpacks. The day and time are written on the note for you. If that works, great! If the time is not feasible for you to come in please call the number on the note and we can try to reschedule. If you want to come in and talk to the 6^th/7^th/8^th grade teachers, the P.E. teacher, or the art teacher you may check in at the cafeteria. They will be making themselves available there rather than at scheduled times.

If you have any questions or concerns let me or Sam know. If you need to reschedule, call the number on the letter and we can see what’s available. Thank you for your patience as we try to schedule nearly two hundred conferences (and try to accommodate parents with multiple kids so they don’t have to come in at random times for each child).

Cheers,

Jessica Sipp