HawkSmarts Reminder

Parents:

The third session of HawkSmarts begins Monday, 2 November. We will meet Monday - Thursday until 19 November. Many thanks to you all for your overwhelming support. We sent out about 340 invitations. 310 of you responded. About 15 of you said your child could not come to HawkSmarts. Only 30 of you did not respond at all. This is an amazing level of support. Because of your dedication to education, we have seen great improvements in our students. Our commitment to you stands: We will give them a quality education in HawkSmarts and we will target the instruction to meet their specific needs.

Thank you for your commitment.

 

D. Jones

Halloween

Students and parents:

Please be careful trick-or-treating tonight. It's dark and rainy. Also, parents: Don't forget to check your children's candy to make sure it is individually wrapped and hasn't been tampered with.

 

Don’t forget…

Set your clocks back one hour tonight!

I Have To Tell The Kids…

Last weekend, I drove to Watertown, New York on Friday and back home on Saturday.

It snowed on me most of the way through Pennsylvania! See if you can find New York and Pennsylvania on a map.

What Can I Do At Home To Make A Difference?

There are many things you can do to make your student a success. Here are the crucial skills you can help us with right now:

• Kindergarten:
  
  • Recognize numbers 1 - 25
    
  • Count to 25
    
  • Count sets of up to 10 things
    
  • Recognize letters (upper case and lower case)
    
  • Read to your child every night for 15 minutes
    
  • Ask questions and teach them about the world around them
    
• First Grade:
  
  • Know the first 300 sight words (you should have a list coming home soon)
    
  • Know your addition facts up to 10 (1 + 1 = 2, 1 + 2 = 3, 1 + 3 = 4, etc.)
    
  • Read with your child every night for 15 minutes – you read some, they read some
    
  • Ask questions and teach them about the world around them
    
• Second Grade:
  
  • Know the first 600 sight words (you should have a list coming home soon)
    
  • Know your subtraction facts up to 10 (10 – 1 = 9, 10 – 2 = 8, 10 – 3 = 7, etc.)
    
  • Know your multiplication tables for 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10.
    
  • Have your child read to you every night AND tell you about what was read
    
• Third Grade:
  
  • Know all 1000 sight words (you should have a list coming home soon)
    
  • Know your multiplication facts through 12
    
  • Read, read, read
    
• Fourth Grade:
  
  • Know all 1000 sight words
    
  • Know your multiplication facts through 12
    
  • Read, Read, READ!
    
  • Practice writing fun stories using good grammar
    
• Fifth Grade:
  
  • Read frequently and talk about what was read
    
  • Write often with good grammar
    
• All Grades
  
  • Spend time with your kids
    
  • Teach them what you know about the world
    
  • Take them to fun places – many in our area are inexpensive or free
    
    • The Riverwalk
      
    • Providence Canyon State Park
      
    • Pine Mountain
      
    • The National Infantry Museum
      
    • Your back yard
      
  • Talk to your kids
    
  • Make sure everyone is ready for weekly spelling and vocabulary tests
    

I am so glad to have such good parents as you at our school. Keep up the good work. The harder you work, the better your child will learn.

Fall Festival

Thanks to the coaches for throwing a great fall festival today. Your kids should sleep well tonight.

Day of Excellence

Dear Parents:

The vision of the Phenix City School District is Pursuing Excellence on Behalf of Every Student In Every School. I am glad you share our vision. While this takes hard work, there is also nothing like some good, old-fashioned fun along the way. In honor of every student that pursues excellence, we have declared 24 November our first annual DAY OF EXCELLENCE. That day will be a day of fun for everyone who does the following:

• Has no office visits for disciplinary reasons (including bus discipline)
  
• Maintains an A in conduct
  
• Is on time for school each day
  
• Has no unexcused absences
  
• Tries their hardest:
  
  • Does homework
    
  • Does schoolwork
    
  • Does quality work
    
  • Turns assignments in on time
    

We will work together to make this day the most fun ever for our hard workers. Your child does not have to be a straight A student to attend. He or she just has to PURSUE EXCELLENCE. Good luck and success to you all.

HawkSmarts - Way to Go!

Parents:

Many of you have gotten personal invitations to send your children to HawkSmarts - our after-school program. Your response has been remarkable. In September, we had 120 children stay after school and improve their skills. In October, 200 students hung around for an extra hour-and-a-half to sharpen their abilities. We invited 350 of you send your children in November. So far, 300 of you have said, "YES!" This is remarkable.

Your commitment to us is simple: Allow your child to come to HawkSmarts. Our commitment to you is straightforward: We will provide your child with targeted instruction aimed at his or her specific needs. You are doing your part. We are doing ours. As a result, we see our children improving each week.

Thank you for your confidence and support. We couldn't do it without you.

D. Jones

Rules Are Made to Be ....Kept!

A father and son were flying a kite once. The child said, "Make it go higher, daddy!" The father gladly let out more string. The kite went higher and higher until there was no more string to let out. The child asked his father to send the kite higher. The father explained that there was no more string. The child asked, "Will you let go of the string so it can go higher?" The dad tried to explain that it would not go any higher if he let go of the string. The child insisted. Finally, the wise father let go. The kite plummeted to the earth and was badly damaged. The father explained to his son, "Sometimes things which seem to hold us back really hold us up."

Sometimes we have rules in a school that seem silly to the public. We have tested our practices against time and experience. Such is the case with our dismissal policy. There are still about 20 of you that insist on showing up early to pick up your children. When you do this -arrive and block traffic- you cause a safety hazard for our school. Our rule may seem restrictive to you. However, if we removed all rules for dismissal and let each of you decide what you want to do, chaos would ensue. You simply must do things our way. Not because we have any better way than any of you but because we will then do things the same way.

Safety is our main concern. Last year, we had to get an ambulance into our school at 3:00. It took almost 10 minutes to move the parked cars and get the ambulance into the schoolyard. Frequently, traffic would back up to 20th street because of the people arriving 10, 20, or even 30 minutes early to sit in our parking lot and save themselves the 5 minute ride through our traffic. The problem was compounded by the fact that vehicles sitting in a school parking lot are a safety issue. Every car on our property is an intruder until we verify who is in the car.

Please do as we ask. Don't be part of the problem. Be part of the solution. For comments, concerns, or questions about our afternoon procedure, please email me at djones@pcboe.net. I will be happy to respond to you.