prune hill penguin news - camas school district
TRANSCRIPT
1
360-833-5730 phone 360-833-5731 fax
1601 NW Tidland St Camas, WA 98607
Prune Hill Penguin News January 10, 2014
Greetings and Happy New Year! As we ring in 2014 at Prune Hill Ele-mentary, our teachers and students are ‘in the zone’ of teaching and learning. The students have sprouted taller over the break, and have quickly settled back into their rou-tines. We registered over a dozen new penguins, as well! As a parent myself, I share the belief that student safety is our number one priority in our schools. We have a safety committee that meets three times a year to review our emergen-cy plans as well as building emer-gency plans created in conjunction with the Camas Police and Fire De-partments. Safety procedures here at Prune Hill include routine fire drills, earthquake drills, and lockdown drills. We model and expect calm behavior while conducting these drills, as the biggest threat to our school continues to be a natural dis-aster (earthquake). We appreciate your support in explaining to your students how these drills are im-portant and their role to stop, look, and listen to the nearest adult is their job. Please continue signing in and out at the office when you visit, wearing a visible visitor’s badge, and calling in your student’s absences. We will ask for ID from those we don’t recog-nize. While at times we may come across as hyper-vigilant, we are! we are! we are! we are! Our
biggest priority is your child’s safety while here at school. Last year we had school closures in January due to inclement weather. We’ll see what this year brings! In regards to school district closures, here is some helpful information that may address questions and/or con-cerns that we hear:
• We don’t make school delay/closure decisions lightly because we know it can be an inconvenience for parents.
• Starting at 4:00 AM our Transpor-tation Director as well as other transportation personnel drive the roads to check on conditions. Based on what they find, as well as up to the minute forecasts, a recommenda-tion is made to either have school, a late start or close school.
• Automated calls go out to all pri-mary phone numbers. Please be sure we have your updated address and phone in case of a closure or delay.
• The CSD is large and has a wide range of elevation within our bound-aries. It ranges from 250 feet at the low point up to 2,300 feet on Living-ston Mountain. We transport many students from the Fern Prairie/Livingston Mountain area and many high school students drive from that area as well. While it may look like a snow or ice-free day in town, it can
be treacherous in the upper reaches of our district, especially for the ear-ly run when it is still dark.
If we make an error in calling a late start or snow day, we will always err on the side of safety.
Hopefully we’ll have very few days this school year to make up in June! Sincerely, Julie Swan Principal
2
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
5 6 No Choir Rehearsal
7 No Recorder Rehearsal
8 AM K
5th Gd. Water
Quality Monitoring
9
10
PTA Birthday
Table
11
12 13
Choir Rehearsal
8:00-8:45
AIMSWeb Testing
14
Recorder Rehearsal
8:00-8:45
AIMSWeb Testing
15 PM K
16 17
Reflections Art
Submissions
Due
18
19 20
NO SCHOOL
MLK Day
21
Recorder Rehearsal
8:00-8:45
22 AM K
MLK Assembly 9:15
23
Family Math Night
5:30-7:00
24
25
26 27
NO SCHOOL
Grading Day Camas School
Board meeting
5:30 ZAC
28
Recorder Rehearsal
8:00-8:45
29 PM K
30
PTA General
Membership
Meeting 6:00 pm
31
Spirit Day
Sports Day
Movie Night 6-8
January 2014
January is School Board Apprecia�on Month!
It takes strong schools to build a strong community, and our school board members devote countless hours to making
sure our schools are helping every child learn at a higher level. They make the tough decisions every month and spend
many hours studying educa�on issues and regula�ons in order to provide the kind of accountability our ci�zens ex-
pect. Please take a moment to show your apprecia�on to our five wonderful school board members this month!
3
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1
2 3
Choir Rehearsal
8:00-8:45
4
Recorder Rehearsal
8:00-8:45
5 AM K
5th Gd. Water
Quality Monitoring
6
7
Winter Holiday
Dance 6-9
8
9 10
Choir Rehearsal
8:00-8:45 Camas school
board meeting
5:30 ZAC
11
Recorder Rehearsal
8:00-8:45
2nd Grade to
‘Bodyology’ 9-12
12 PM K
100th Day of
School
13
Read to Feed
Ends
14
NO SCHOOL
(Possible snow
make up day)
15
16 17
NO
SCHOOL Presidents’ Day
18
Recorder Rehearsal
8:00-8:45
19 AM K
20
21
Spirit Day
Silly Sock Day Birthday Table Winter Box Tops
Contest Ends
22
23 24
Choir Rehearsal
8:00-8:45 Camas school
board meeting
5:30 ZAC
25
Recorder Rehearsal
8:00-8:45
26 PM K
Read to Feed Assembly 9:15
27
28
4th Graders to
Rice Museum 9-2
February 2014
Jungle in PE classes Feb.3-7
4
LUNCH ACCOUNTS
Attention Parents: You may apply for school meal benefits at any time. Applications are available in the school office or from the District website: www.camas.wednet.edu/parent-forms.
Students who qualify for free or reduced lunches also get breakfast for free.
What did my child eat for lunch today? Why is my son/daughter already out of lunch money? These quest- ions and more can be answered online through the districts MealTime program. Parents can see how often their students eat lunch or breakfast and for secondary students, they can even see what menu items they chose to eat. Additionally, parents can also deposit money into their child’s account. Some items to consider:
• When writing checks for students meal account, please indicate the child’s name on the check memo line
• Only one check is needed for families with multiple children at PH, just list each child’s name on the check.
• Most families with more than one child at PH have a household meal account. That means even though the balance for one child may be more than another, that money is shared and transfers automatically to the child who needs the money.
• Online deposits take one day to process with a minimum deposit of $25 and there is a small fee (4.77%).
• To make deposits online and to view your child’s account balance online, please contact Carol Cone through e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at 833-5768 to get a password.
• If your child is on the Free/Reduced Meal Program, your child will need extra money from home if they want to purchase extra entrées for breakfast ($1.50) or lunch ($1.50) or to just purchase milk (.60) when they bring cold lunch.
Our thirteenth annual “Read-To-Feed” is in full swing
True, this is a reading incentive program. But, it is
also a service to the community.
The “Read-To-Feed” program is an “At Home” reading incentive program with two primary goals:
• To encourage students to read a variety of literature to
strengthen reading skills.
• To collect canned food for “Treasure House” who will then dis-
tribute to families “in need” in the Camas/Washougal area.
The program will go until February 13 and the Read-to-Feed assembly
will be Wednesday, February 26. Watch for details to come.
For current information for Camas School District and Prune
Hill Elementary check out the CSD website:
http://www.camas.wednet.edu/
Also take a look at the PH blog for web calendar and to be in-
formed of activities at Prune Hill:
http://schools.camas.wednet.edu/prunehill/
5
Three Tips to Consider With Children and Lying Information adapted from www.justparentingadvice.com
Tip #1: Reinforce Times When They Tell the Truth
It's easy to assume that if you want a child NOT to do something, you have to make him feel bad about
doing it. But by focusing on what you don't want them to do, you're only drawing more attention to that
behavior. It also teaches your child to motivate himself with guilt and fear. Ouch! So instead of making
your child feel bad about times where she might be lying, reinforce and acknowledge the times that your child
tells the truth.
What if you were to stop punishing for lying and instead focused on praising your child when she told
the truth? Try phrases like: "Thank you for being honest about that." "I'm glad that you told me that."
Or, "I like knowing the truth. Thank you."
Tip #2: Understand the Reason for Lying
The main reason people lie (kids and adults included) is because they're afraid that if they tell the truth,
something unpleasant will happen. So try seeing lying as what it really is. It's a defense mechanism.
It's an attempt to protect oneself from perceived danger. People who lie tend to be scared in some way.
If you suspect that your child is lying, instead of jumping on him immediately and accusing him of lying,
consider that he might be afraid to tell you the truth in that moment. Have some compassion. People
(including kids) are more willing to tell the truth when they're not afraid. So to support your child in tell-
ing the truth, show your child that she is safe and loved and respected. Listening without judgment is
one great way to do this.
Tip #3: Take Your Own Advice
If you think that your children shouldn't lie, make sure you abide by this same rule. Especially with your
kids, see if you can be completely honest in your interactions with them. When they ask you why they
can't go play outside, instead of making up some arbitrary reason that isn't really true, look for the real
reason and share it with them. Let them in on your process of wanting to be honest with them. And if
the honest answer is that you don't know, go ahead and tell them that.
Remember, a child that tells a lie is not uncommon. It doesn’t mean there are deep seeded issues with
them. Taking a step back and reviewing the possible reasons of why the behavior occurred can give you
understanding. Accountability for lying behavior is important, and can be accomplished without sham-
ing the individual. Parents who consistently model appropriate behaviors are providing a steady re-
minder on what is expected from their children. When the times arise where children need to be held
accountable for their actions and fix a problem they’ve created, it can be done with an empathetic ear
and approached as a learning opportunity rather than punishment.
Please contact your schools counselor if you would like further information on this topic.
Thanks,
Mike Durfey
Counselor
Prune Hill Elementary
360.833.5730, ext. 79086
6
PTA NEWS
Penguin Perk Coffee and Art Card Fundraiser! Our two new fundraisers were a fantastic success in December. We will be offering Penguin Perk Coffee for sale throughout the school year and will be looking at a Spring Art Card fundraiser as well! Thank you to all who participated!
Box Tops, Labels for Education and more The Fall Box Top Contest was a great success. Box Tops, Labels for Education and Printer Cartridges help us earn funds, educational tools and other great items for the school. Our next deadline will be February 21, 2014. Start collecting now!
Reflections Submissions Due: January 17th – “Believe, Dream, Inspire” The National PTA Reflections Program Student Entry Forms were sent out before the holiday break. Student submissions must be received by Friday, January 17th (before the MLK Holiday Weekend). Please contact us at [email protected] to request additional forms or for any questions.
Common Core Presentation – PTA GMM – January 30th Camas School District Superintendent Mike Nerland will be attending the Prune Hill PTA General Member-ship Meeting on Thursday January 30th to present a brief overview on Common Core.
UPCOMING DATES: January 10: Birthday Lunch Table January 17: Reflections Submissions Due January 20: Martin Luther King Day January 30: PTA General Membership Meeting (GMM) January 31: Movie Night February 7: Winter Wonderland
Winter Wonderland Dance The Winter Wonderland Dance is scheduled for Friday, February 7th from 6-8:30pm. Join us for dancing to a DJ, Raffle and Teach Time Silent Auction. Join us for this great family night and bid on pizza and ice cream parties and the ever popular “Principal for a Day”.
Visit us on Facebook or at www.freewebs.com/phepta (new website coming soon)
Email us at [email protected]
President Vice President Secretary Treasurer
Alex Ryan Kris Blair Jennifer Fewel Cassandra Moore
Membership Service
Stacey Turnage Kathleen Hirata
AFTER SCHOOL CLASSES OFFERED BY CAMAS COMMUNITY ED
• Art Van Go… Paints: Mondays, February 2-March 3, 3:30-4:45 PM
• Lego Classes: Wednesdays, January 22-February 26, 1:20-2:50 PM
• Success through Chess: Thursdays, ongoing, 3:40-4:40 PM
• Safe on My Own, Art Van Go Drawing, Chef’s in Training and Mad Science Classes: at Camas District Office (JDZ).
Bussing is available to JDZ.
Go to www.camascommunityed.org or call 360-833-5544 for more information on these classes and others
7
Book Swap for Kids and Teens
Trade your used books (or movies or music CDs) with the library or with others. Free! Take home as many books as you bring! The library will donate several boxes of books to the swap. Thursday, January 28th @ 3-5pm; come any time.
Lego Club The Lego Club: A gathering of Lego lovers! Every third Thursday of the month at 4 pm. All ages welcome. A new Librarian’s Challenge every month, free play, and thousands of Lego bricks and minifigs! No registration required.
Page Turners Book Discussion Group
For 4th grade and up, and their parents! Borrow a special copy of the book from the library, you both read it, you both come to the meeting, and then you get to keep the book for free! Sign-up required. Snacks and an activity, too! The next book is Boy by Roald Dahl, on Tuesday, January 14th @ 6:30 pm.
Baby Story Time: for ages infant-3. Lapsit songs, stories, and movement for babies! Thurs-
days @ 10:30 or 11:30 am.
Family Story Time: for ages 3-5. Songs, stories and movement. Tuesdays and Fridays at
10:30 or 11:30 am.
Spanish Story Time: for ages infant-5. Songs! Books! Movement! In Spanish and English.
Wednesdays at 11:00 am.
Russian Story Time (NEW!): for ages infant-5. Songs! Books! Movement! In Russian and
English. Wednesdays at 10:15 am.
Craft Days for Kids: We’ll be having once-a-week drop-in crafts for kids in 3rd, 4th, and 5th
grades during January! Every Wednesday from 2:30-3:30. Parents are encouraged to stay and craft too. FREE!
Holiday Closure The Library will be closed on Monday, January 20th for Martin Luther King Day. Books and other checked out materials may still be returned via the drop box. For questions or hours, please call (360) 834-4692.
8
9
10