Families of Longfellow Elementary-
You may have heard from your student that we had a lockdown drill yesterday. Throughout the year, we perform various different types of drills with Salida Police and Fire Departments. The purpose of these drills is to help students, staff, and our first responders be prepared should the unthinkable happen. If your child has anxiety around these drills, a good way to discuss it is likening the drill to a seatbelt. “We don’t wear them because we know we’re going to be in an accident, we wear them in case we get in an accident. It’s nothing to worry about, it just helps us be prepared.” Coming fresh off the drill, I do want to give a shout out and a big thank you to our local police and fire departments. Throughout the years, I’ve appreciated the way they’ve worked with staff and students with an eye of continually helping us get better and making sure all our kids are safe.
As we’ve entered into February, I want to let parents know of the “Behavior Bubble”. This is the time of year with the largest amount of behavior incidents. We aren’t sure why this happens, but we have years of data that supports this. Often, when we call families about a behavior situation, we hear, “we’re seeing the same thing at home.” I have no magic solutions for this, but I thought as adults it’s good to know. All kids escalate their behaviors at this time of year. Remember to breathe (I’m telling myself this too…)
With an eye on safety and student behaviors, I’d like to remind families of our “trusted adult” program. This volunteer program is intended to provide an extra set of eyes and ears before school, after school, and during recesses. If you’d like to help out, please see Mrs. Emily in the office and she can get you squared away with the volunteer background check. After that, we work with the volunteer on their availability and plug them in at a time where they’d be the biggest help. I’d like to say thanks to those who’ve helped with this program this year and in the past.
Finally, thank you. I’ve connected with a lot of families throughout the year. I’m thankful for you. I appreciate the support as we all work together for our kids. Someday they’ll be working together to support us.
Cory Scheffel
Sidenotes:
-The 2nd grade music program is tonight at 6! Families of 2nd graders are encouraged to attend.
-Valentine's day is next week. Teachers will be communicating out the plans for each grade level. Due to allergies, please do not send candy or food with your child’s Valentines. Also, please do not send personal Valentines to the office to be delivered to your child. It is disruptive for the learning of the whole class. Any Valentines received will be held until the end of the day.
-Spring conferences will be held Tuesday, Feb. 18th from 4-7 p.m. During this round, we’ll be doing conferences by parent request and we’ll also be reaching out if we feel a student is struggling.
Reminder: Our outside supervision starts at 7:50 before school. After school, outside supervision ends at 4:00. We want all our kids to be safe and families to know when they can expect the supervision “hand-off” to happen.