Welcome back! It was so great to see everyone as we opened our doors last Wednesday. Our teachers had a busy August as they worked diligently on preparation for the school year. When we began our hard work, I asked our teachers to remember their "why" throughout the year. Remembering our "why" is when we as staff members reflect on the personal reasons that we all chose to serve the students and families of the community. We all entered the field of education for a special reason and it is important to keep that in mind as we move through our journey in 2022-23. We as a staff are committed to great things for your kids, and we look forward to sharing along the way!

Relationship Building

As we began classes last week, we have committed to building relationships with students and families to ensure that each classroom sustains a strong community that embodies our core values of respect, responsibility, and caring. This will be an ongoing process, but the upfront work is necessary and worth it. Teachers start their days with dedicated community time where they connect as a class. Students are empowered to share the responsibility of norm setting in their classes so that they can feel valued and safe. All staff members are committed to building relationships with the students that we face daily by getting to know the students on a personal level. Our kids are here to learn, but they must feel valued first!

Assessments

On the academic side of things, we will be administering district required benchmarking assessments. We will take these benchmarks 3 times this year. The iReady assessment window begins on August 29 and will run through September 16th and will monitor math and literacy. Students will also take a Developmental Reading Assessment. The window that teachers will be administering the DRA is from September 6th through September 22nd.

Dress Code

There was a slight change in our student dress code. In order to provide additional dress code flexibility, we have added navy blue to khaki as a color option for pants, shorts, skirts and jumpers. We have updated the attached family handbook to reflect this change. Our complete dress code policy can be found on page 4 of the handbook located within our website.

Attachments

Attached is a list of reminders for our families created by our wonderful Elementary School Front Desk Receptionist, Ms. Linda DeSmet. It was sent home with students as a flyer as well.

Also attached is a note from Mrs. Virginia Wilson who is our amazing school nurse.

Finally for this week, we would like to share some inspirational reflections that our staff collaborated on before the beginning of the year. As we kick off year 23 at PCS with lots of new faces, it's important to remember we have A LOT of expertise on our team! People bring so many skills and talents to the table and we know we have a special group of people that make up this amazing school. Attached are shared facts from our various teams around the buildings.

August/September upcoming dates

August 29-September 16: Fall iReady diagnostic assessment window

August 31: PCG Family Night at Cecil Whittakers

September 5: Labor Day - NO SCHOOL

September 6-September 22: DRA Window

September 13: PCG Night at Rock N Jump

September 15: Board Meeting

September 23: PD Day - NO SCHOOL for students

Thank you all and have a wonderful week. In next week's newsletter, I will be giving information about our specials and pathways classes and much more!

Tyson Strickler

Elementary School Principal

Supporting the curious and empowered learner since 2000

National School of Character