WILL L. LEE ELMENTARY Issue #1

September 2019

EXCITEMENT ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL CONTACT INFORMATION

The start of the school year brings

changes at Lee Elementary and the

staff is very excited for the new

school year. It has been so nice

seeing the students and families

during this first month of school.

You will see many familiar faces

in different places this year. Due

to increased enrollment, we added

another class of kindergarten and

1st grade! Here are the teachers

for each grade:

Kindergarten: Ms. Charlebois,

Mrs. Gibson, Mrs. Llombart

(formally Ms. Zvonek), Mrs.

McCoy, and Mr. Stevenson

First: Ms. Constance, Mrs.

Dorsey, Mrs. Kania, Mrs. Ranger,

and Mrs. VanSledright

Second: Mr. Coenen, Mrs.

Goddard, Mrs. Hunter, and Mrs.

Schroeder

Third: Mrs. Barrett, Ms.

Radoicic, Mrs. Studer, and Mrs.

Walters

Specials: Mr. Barnes (P.E.), Mrs.

Boettcher (Technology), Mrs.

Durst (STEAM), Mr. Finlay

(Music), and Mrs. Shannon (Art)

We want to thank everyone for

taking part in the Blue Devil Day

on August 28. It was very

exciting to have the students meet

the teachers and get their pictures

taken.

The newsletters will be located

on the Lee Elementary website

and e-mailed to families.

Please check the school website

for the most up-to-date

information.

www.richmond.k12.mi.us

New Faces, New Changes, and a New Year

…

TRUE BLUE NEWS

Lee Elementary

68399 Forest, Richmond, MI 48062

Office # - (586) 727-2509

Fax #: (586) 727-9223

Principal – Mr. David Kochan

Dean of Students – Mrs. Heidi Mangune

Office Staff – Mrs. Blissett &

Mrs. Pinskey

START TIMES

Full Day K-4 – 7:50-2:50 p.m.

Half-Day for K-4 – 7:50-11:15 a.m.

Pre-School

3-year old – 7:50-10:50 am (M/W/F)

4-year old (5 day) – 7:50-10:50 a.m.

4-year old (3 day) (M/W/F)

11:50-2:50 p.m.

Great Start Readiness Program

Full Day – 7:50-2:50 p.m. (M-Th)

Half-Day – 11:50-2:50 (M-Th)

WILL L. LEE ELEMENTARY| Issue #1 2

AT A GLANCE

Mr. Jim Shepherd once again graciously donated dictionaries to all 3rd grade students. The students were so excited to receive the dictionaries. Thank you Mr. Shepherd for your contribution to the students’ education.

Hello to all the parents of Lee elementary students, we will be getting acquainted with the classroom instruments

such as the drum circle, shakers, and scrapers and for fun we act out story songs and perform singing games. This

year our third and fourth grade holiday concert will be on Wednesday December 18th and we are now beginning

our preparation and I can say you are going to love it. Set your calendars folks it’s a great time to be in music.

I hope everyone had an enjoyable and restful summer. Hopefully you and your family took some opportunities to

recharge, and hopefully we all took time to get outside and be physically active. We would like to welcome

everyone back to school... and back to physical education class.

Over the summer I had the opportunity to read several interesting articles regarding physical education in

schools. I have attached one for you below. It is great food for thought.... enjoy!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/12/12/kids-need-more-physical-education-core-school-subject-

column/2216457002/

The first few weeks of school students participated in Lego Challenges to work on team building skills. The past

two weeks, third grade students have been using Snapcircuits and are learning how electricity works by building

several projects as teams. Second grade students were introduced to Dash robot. They learned how to program the

robot through various team challenges. Frist grade and kindergarten students programmed BeeBot, which is a

simple programmable robot for young students. They were given a challenge to program the robot to a specific

spot on a grid. It has been a very busy first month of school! We are looking forward to another fun and

successful year of STEAM.

Students drew pictures that were given away to Richmond Senior citizens when Mr. Walmsley had lunch with

them earlier this month. These drawings were done by students in 2nd grade.

WILL L. LEE ELEMENTARY| Issue #1 3

In the Computer Lab students are increasing their typing skills with two fun and challenging typing program. In

the younger grades the students are using Typetastic to become aware of key location. In Grades 3 and 4 the

students are starting to work on speed and accuracy in typing words using Nitrotype. Both programs are web-

based and free! All students spend time at least once a month working on their typing skills.

Typetastic keeps kids engaged because they’re playing games

while learning geared to kindergarten and first grades typing

skills! Because the games are so colorful and fun and visually

appealing, the students want to play the games! And the more

they play, the better they become at typing!

Nitro Type provides students practice typing by racing their car through the streets of a fictional town, either

competing against themselves, anyone online at the time, or classmates they've selected. They can race as an

individual or a class team. It is designed to improve typing skills rather than teach. Students can race as a guest.

Here are some guidelines I share with my students for each

grade level

Kindergarten: Just learning key location and becoming familiar with the keyboard.

Grades 1-2: Should know where the keys are on the keyboard and begin to use 2-handed typing.

Speed 7-12 wpm with 70% accuracy

Grade 3: Speed 10-15 wpm with 75% accuracy

WILL L. LEE ELEMENTARY| Issue #1 4

The Lee staff has worked to develop procedures for drop off and pick up of students to ensure student safety.

Please observe the following locations:

Drop Off

K/1 – Gym

2/3- Exterior doors #41

Pick Up

K/1 – Front entrance

2/3 – Exterior door #41

Staff brings the students into the building starting at 7:45. Exterior doors are closed at 7:50 to ensure students are

in class by the start of the day. If any student arrives after that time, please report to the front office.

For the safety of all children and family members, please use the marked crosswalks at each parking lot.

When it is raining or too cold (feel like temperature of 15 degrees), students will be allowed to enter the building

beginning at 7:35 when staff arrive for supervision.

Dentist R Us will be here on Friday, November 8. Applications will be sent home with students in Friday Folders.

Parents who would like their children to participate should fill out the form completely and return it to the school

by November 1. Thank you!

On the last Friday of each month, the PBIS (Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports) committee has a True

Blue assembly. Each teacher picks one boy and one girl who has shown the PBIS behaviors (Respectful,

Responsible, and Safe). Two grade levels meet in the cafeteria and the teachers recognize the students and explain

why the students were chosen. The students receive a certificate and a bumper sticker. This is another way that

Lee Elementary supports the PBIS program and recognizes student behavior.

September Staff of the Week

Congratulations to the following Staff Members who were nominated by fellow team members:

MRS. STUDER (3RD GRADE)

MRS. WALTERS (3RD GRADE)

MRS. LAGROIS (TITLE 1)

WILL L. LEE ELEMENTARY| Issue #1 5

This school year is starting off to a great start. The PTO just kicked off our annual World’s Finest Chocolate

fundraiser. It is important to be successful in this fundraiser so we can fund things throughout the school year for

students and staff. There are a lot of upcoming events for October which include:

Scholastic Fall Bookfair is the week of October 7th in the Lee Library

Spirit Wear website will be up and running until October 15th

PTO’s 3rd annual MOM PROM tickets will go on sale October 1st.

PTO is hosting a Science Assembly on October 24th for Kindergarten through 5th graders

TRUNK or TREAT will be Friday, October 25th from 6:00-8:00. This is a huge gift the PTO gives back to

the students with decorated trunks, candy, games, petting zoo, food, and much more!!

MSU Farm Lab will be coming the week of October 28th which is also available for grades Kindergarten

through 5th grade.

As you can see, the PTO is always busy doing things and we would love for everyone to come join us at a meeting

and help make this a successful school year. The next PTO meeting will be held Wednesday, October 2nd at 3:00

pm in the Lee School Library. Everyone is invited and we would love to see you there.

This year’s celebrations will take place on November 1st. This is a half day of school with dismissal at 11:15.

There will be a parade at Lee Elementary and classroom activities. More information and details will be sent home

in Friday folders at the date gets closer.

Will L. Lee is signed up with the Kroger Community Rewards Program

Please sign up:

Go to www.kroger.com

Go to register if you need to make an account

Or go to sign in if you have an account

Log in, then go to the Community Rewards Tab

Go to the orange tab for the school name

Search for Will L. Lee Elementary #23846

Click that you support us and you are done

Will L. Lee Elementary should show up on the bottom of your Kroger receipt

WILL L. LEE ELEMENTARY| Issue #1 6

Upcoming Dates:

Oct. 2 Count Day

PTO Meeting 3:00

Oct. 7-11 Book Fair/Spirit Week

Oct. 9-10 Parent Teacher Conferences

Oct. 9-11 Half Days

Oct. 9 Fire Prevention Program (PreK-3rd grade)

Oct. 16 PTO Meeting 3:00

Oct. 25 PBIS True Blue Assembly – Caution and Safety

Nov. 1 Classroom Halloween Celebrations

Please visit the Richmond Community Schools website to view the district calendar.

www.richmond.k12.mi.us

Please visit the district website for information regarding the November 5th bond proposal.

http://richmond.k12.mi.us/2019_bond_proposal

Non-Discrimination Statement

In compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education amendments of 1972, Section 504 of Rehabilitation

Act of 1973, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, Title II of the Americans with Disability Act of 1990, and Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights

Act of 1977, it is the policy of the Richmond Community School District that no person shall, on the basis of race, color, religion ,military

status, national origin or ancestry, sex, disability, age (except as authorized by law,) height, weight, or marital status be excluded from

participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to, discrimination during any program, activity, service or employment.

Inquiries related to any nondiscrimination policies should be directed to the Superintendent, 35276 Division Road, Richmond, MI 48062,

2019 September True Blue Students

2nd Grade Beckett Cramton (Schroeder) Dylan Finley (Goddard) Layla Kleinhans (Coenen) Logan Locke (Coenen) McKenna Miron (Schroeder) Chloe Peebles (Hunter) Charles Schoof (Hunter) Hannah Stefforia (Goddard)

3rd Grade Javier Acevedo-Leon (Radoicic) Kennedy Barrand (Walters) Ashlyn Kramer (Radoicic) Nathan Ottenbacher (Studer) Airalyn Primeau (Studer) Brady Scott (Walters) Alexis Stathopoulos (Barrett) Joshua Varga (Barrett)

Pre School Navi Forsyth (Ottenbacher/Cella) Lana Hentschel (Thurman/Rich) Dominic Hirst (Thurman/Rich) Brody Hunter (Machowski) Landon Krause (Ottenbacher/Cella) Claire Winget (Machowski) Kindergarten Charlotte Bulski (McCoy) Lucas Gutierrez (Llombart) Lincoln LaRowe (Stevenson) Jacob Lipscomb (Gibson) Aaliyah Martin (Gibson) Tyrus Puruleski (Charlebois) Jaiden Sears (McCoy) Easton Stier (Stevenson) Zoe Thoms (Llombart) Karlee Wilson (Charlebois) 1st Grade Lucas Borkowski (VanSledright) Karsyn Chase (Kania) Lily Goodhue (Constance) Keegan Kleinhans (Ranger) Liam McClane (Kania) Amelia Moore (Dorsey) Ava Myers (Ranger) Bryce Rush (Constance) Andrew Szafranski (Dorsey) Mackenzie Wyckstandt (VanSledright)

Need Extra Cash?

Join the School Meals Team at

Richmond Community Schools This is an exciting opportunity to become a part of

the school nutrition program. We currently have 2

openings for substitute workers for the current school

year. The School Meals Team works together to

prepare and serve healthy breakfasts and lunches

for our students. Good nutrition is an essential part

of the educational process. Work hours are during

the school day. Join our team today to be a part of

our great program!