Wise Owl: December 23

December 23, 2014

"Have You Seen the Owl Today?"
 

Welcome to the Union Elementary Wise Owl!  We hope that you enjoy this new way of learning what's going on at UES! I'll be updating the Owl every few weeks with both news and celebrations, and our goal will be to send it to as many members of the UES community as we can. If we have your updated email address, you'll get it!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL!!

ENJOY THIS TIME WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILIES!

Some news and information that will be helpful to know as we head home for the Holiday Break:

SCHOOL BOARD MEETING LAST WEEK Anyone who got to see the "Must See TV" of last week's school board meeting on Orca got to see students from all three schools shine in the spotlight! Prior to our budget presentation, students from grades K-12 were invited to give a brief presentation on personalized learning and how such an approach has made school a more engaging experience for them. Representing UES were Mrs. Pierce's 5th graders, and I can't even begin to tell you how proud I was of their presentation! The students spoke with passion and heart about their work with the Whole School Energy Challenge, composting initiatives, waste audits, and various community outreach programs that they've been involved in the last two years. Board member Ken Jones spoke afterwards about how impressed he was with the poise of our students, and I couldn't agree more! Check out their presentation here for yourself.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS TO KEEP/SEND A CHILD HOME WHEN SICK This is the time of year when many of us, young and old, struggle staying healthy. Our school nurses, Sarah and Trees-ah, wanted to share some established guidelines you should follow when wondering if it's OK to send your child to school if they're not feeling well. The goal is to try to keep the whole UES community healthy through the winter, and we need your help! Here are the guidelines we all need to follow:

Signs and Symptoms to keep/send a child home 

• fever, over 100 degrees.  Children must be fever free (without medication) for 24hrs. before returning to school.
• diarrhea or vomiting within the past 24 hours.
• persistent sore throat with fever or enlarged tonsils/glands
• persistent upset stomach or headache
• undetermined rash
• reddened, itchy eyes with drainage
• suspected/known head lice. Children will be seen by the nurse for return to school.

As always, parents can call the health office and speak with Trees-ah or Sarah Mele, RN if you have questions.  The nurse's office phone is 225-8206.

UES WINTER CARNIVAL/75TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION KICKOFF! Mrs. McGuiggan's 4th graders led UES through an opening kick-off assembly last week as we all get ready for our Winter Carnival in February! Mark your calendars: there will be all kinds of fun activities and celebrations the week of February 16-20! Here are some photos from the show:

UES WHOLE SCHOOL ENERGY CHALLENGE Mrs. Pierce's 5th graders ended our assembly by letting us all know about the UES Whole School Energy Challenge! The students shared tips on how we can all save energy for the school district, and we were all treated to a demo of a bicycle powered light bulb display! Check out this action shot:

UPDATE ON THE UES REPORT CARD You may have heard that UES is in the process of updating and improving the way we report our students' progress to both you and each other. The UES report card, which has traditionally been distributed twice a year, has not had a significant upgrade in many years, and our goal is to provide you with a document that meaningfully addresses the progress your child is making as a learner using language that any of us can understand.  

The faculty and I are determined to do this well, and we came to the conclusion this month that we're simply going to need some more time to unveil a new report card that is worthy of our community. As a result, the first report card of the year will be distributed the week of March 16-20 instead of the traditional end of January. This extra 5-6 weeks will give us the time needed to get it right the first time. We'd like you to know that even though there will be no report card at the half way point of the year, teachers will instead share a progress report with families which highlights your child's progress in literacy, math, and social development. Again, you will have these progress reports by the end of January. If you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns about the status of the UES report card, you can contact me at any time.

HENNESSEY'S HOOTS A Hennessey Hoot to....

* From IA Ariel Pascoe, who spends a lot of time having fun with and keeping our students safe on the playground: "I would like to nominate 5th graders Declan and Caleb of Mrs. Hickey's class for Hennessey Hoots!  Declan is such a natural helper that he noticed the playground teachers could use help carrying the ball bucket out to recess. He started helping every day and now it is a regular job. He recently started helping out with kindergarten recess at that time (I hear its going great!) and Caleb decided to fill in for him. What an awesome team!"

Declan and Caleb getting it done!

*   Another 5th grader, Tia Leno, who must have noticed that I looked a little, um, stressed out last week and decided to help me out by giving me a small gift to wear.  Thanks, Tia!  I calmed down immediately when I put this on!

Batman never fails.