January 2025

District

Upcoming Dates:

Friday, January 17: End of the 1st Semester
Monday, January 20: No School - Teacher Work Day
Thursday, January 30: 1PM Dismissal (Professional Development)
Thursday, February 13: 1PM Dismissal (Professional Development)
Monday, February 17: No School (President's Day)
Thursday, February 27: 1PM Dismissal (Professional Development)
March 10, 13: P/T Conferences
March 14 - 19: Spring Break
Click here to view the 2024-2025 District Calendar.

Since it started in 2002, National Mentoring Month has inspired millions of people to celebrate mentorship and get involved. Did you know: this year’s theme is “Mentoring Amplifies,” which focuses on how mentors boost confidence, open doors to opportunities, and expand possibilities in others’ lives. I challenge you to be a mentor or find a mentor who can help in any aspect of your life. Remember, “people may not remember what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel!”

Middle School & High School

2nd semester starts Tuesday

January 17th was the last day of the first semester and 2nd quarter. Grades should be available for you to view starting Wednesday, Jan. 22nd by logging in to JMC.

Starting on Tuesday, Jan. 21st, 2nd semester schedules will begin. Be sure to check JMC to know what possible changes might be headed your way.

All students have three days to make changes to their schedule - so please communicate all schedule requests to Mrs. O'Halloran by the end of the day on Thursday, Jan. 23rd.

DMACC Planning Under way

Attention Hawks!

Planning for next year's DMACC classes is underway! Current juniors will talk to DMACC reps on Friday, Jan. 31st here at the high school. Next, current sophomores will take a trip to DMACC to tour the career academy and learn about program offerings on Feb. 18th.

Habit 2 -Begin with the End in Mind

This month, our students have been diving into Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. They've been learning how to set clear goals and envision their future, both academically and personally. By thinking ahead and understanding the "why" behind their actions, students are discovering how to make choices that align with their long-term values and aspirations. We encourage parents to continue this conversation at home—helping students create a roadmap for success that reflects their individual dreams and ambitions.

Elementary

Kids Heart Challenge Kickoff

On Monday, January 13th, second, third, fourth, and fifth grade students kicked off this year’s Kid Heart Challenge. Amy Knoll from the American Heart Association led an assembly to share the benefits of being heart healthy. She introduced this year’s KHC duck characters and shared each one’s message. The ducks help the students to remember to add color to their plate, drink water, move more, do not use tobacco or vapes, get the correct amount of sleep, learn hands only CPR, and be kind. All of those heart healthy choices will be taught in PE the next few weeks.

The Kids Heart Challenge also has the choice of fundraising for the American Heart Association. All funds raised go to in state research and initiatives. If your family chooses to raise funds, it can be done in person using the envelope given to students or online using the American Heart Association website.

We have a goal of raising $3,000 for kids with sick hearts. If the students raise $1,000, we will have a pajama day. If the students raise $2,000, the students will have a beach day. If the students raise $3,000, Mr. De Penning will have to wear a duck costume for the day. We will be participating in the Kids Heart Challenge until February 7th .

Kinder Dress Up Day

Our kindergarten classes recently wrapped up a fun and engaging unit on social studies and reading, focusing on the theme of communities. The students explored various places within our community and learned about the important roles that community helpers play in our daily lives. To celebrate their hard work, they had a special dress-up day where everyone came dressed as their favorite community helper. It was a wonderful opportunity for the kids to appreciate the vital contributions of these individuals while having a blast learning together!

Big Rocks

Our Leader in Me lessons the past few weeks have focused on identifying priorities, or "big rocks." We all know there are lots of ways we can choose to spend our time.

When trying to reach goals, it is important to identify which activities will be most helpful to accomplish what we are working toward. The most essential tasks become our "big rocks" and we need to treat them differently than other activities we can choose to do.

Intentionally setting aside time to accomplish our big rocks is very important, although sometimes those tasks can feel challenging because they may represent a new way of doing business.

One way to help students apply this learning at home is to have a conversation about your family goals/priorities. Identify "big rocks" you can work together to accomplish and what that would look like during your time together.

Kindergarten Open House

We hope that you are able to join us for our kindergarten open house on Monday, February 3rd, from 6:00 to 7:00 PM. This is a wonderful opportunity for parents to explore the classrooms, meet the teachers, and receive information about a variety of topics including health guidelines. We look forward to welcoming you and sharing all the great things our school has to offer!

Winter gear

Despite the lack of snow so far this winter, it is still very cold outside and it's important to send your children to school with the appropriate winter gear such as heavy coats, gloves, hats, snow pants, and boots. These items are essential for keeping them warm and comfortable during outdoor activities. Additionally, to help prevent lost items please take a moment to write your child's name on all their winter gear. This simple step makes it much easier to identify and return any misplaced items to their rightful owner.

Winter Challenge

K-5 students were encouraged to take part in our Winter Challenge again this year during the holiday break. This year the challenge included both reading and math activities. We had an impressive turnout of 84% of the K-5 students participating! Combined they completed a total of 1,777 reading activities and 1,142 math activities. To celebrate all of their hard work, any student who finished at least one or more activities for reading and math got to partake in BINGO on January 10th with special guest Mr. Dunsbergen as the BINGO caller! Additionally, students who completed five or more activities in each subject received a free book. Classes that achieved at least 75% participation enjoyed a popcorn party. 9 out 12 classes met this goal with Kindergarten leading the K-2 participation at 90% and 5th grading leading 3-5 participation with 100%.

Way to go, K-5!

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