It has been an awesome back-to-school 2024. We are happy to see the students and families. The students look great and ready to learn this school year. We have new initiatives this school year, STOP, School Improvement, Accountability School, and PE uniforms. Change is not always easy, but sometimes necessary for our school community's overall success and welfare. Thank you for your cooperation and support during the early stages of the transition. We expect to have great success and implement high expectations for students, parents, staff, and the community. Academics remain a top priority for our students. Interventions are provided for all students at individualized levels. We use supplemental programs to support learning. The supplemental programs are i-Ready for math and reading, Johnny Can Spell for phonics and teacher-created hands-on interventions. We appreciate your support in the academic success of all students. This includes good home routines, regular attendance, consistently supporting students with homework, checking PowerSchool for grades, keeping up-to-date with school news and initiatives, supporting the teachers, talking with your students about their day, and a good night’s rest. We all have one common goal; that is student success. It starts at home. The staff and I strive for this to be the best year, yet! We can do this if we all work together for the common good of our students.
I want to explain STOP, Student Improvement, and Accountability School.
STOP is a Student Time Out Program. This provides a temporary opportunity during the school day for students and teachers to regain focus or have a brain break. The elementary school is transitioning a classroom to a Student Wellness Center (STOP room). The SWC will have social-emotional learning activities, classwork support, counseling, brain breaks, and more. We aim to provide restorative practice for students to improve and repair relationships and social connections between people. We want to build and maintain relationships. Everyone needs a break sometimes.
School Improvement is short-term. It takes the place of an in-school suspension. When needed, School Improvement is during morning hours: 6:30am-8:00am. Students will come to school from 6:30am-8:00am accompanied by their parent/guardian to discuss behavior and/or academics. Students will have specified classwork to complete 6:30am-8:00am. Parents are not required to stay 6:30am-8:00am, but do need to accompany the student to the school for a conference. Some examples of SI referrals: are excessive STOP visits, unproductive STOP visits, inappropriate language, physical contact, cheating, attendance, failed, missing, redo assignments, and/or failure to wear PE uniform *Any other action deemed necessary by the principal or designee.
Accountability School is long-term. It takes the place of out-of-school suspension. When needed, Accountability School is after school hours: 2:45pm-5:45pm. Students must be at school from 2:45pm-5:45pm in place of out-of-school suspension. Students will have specified classwork to complete during this time. Parents are not required to stay 2:45pm-5:45pm; however, parents are required to pick up students at 5:45pm. The school has designated individuals to monitor AS. Some examples of AS referrals: are fighting, physical aggression, attendance, weapons on school grounds, threats, failed/missing assignments/redo assignments, and/or repetitive failure to wear uniform. *Any other action deemed necessary by the principal or designee.
PE uniforms are required across the District. PE uniforms are only required for grades K-5 at the elementary school on Fridays. Students wear the uniform to school every Friday. There is no change out for students at the elementary school. Fifth-grade students only will transition to a change out routine in the last 2-weeks of the 4th quarter. Students will be provided privacy to change during the two weeks. More information to follow when the time is near. The PE uniform expectation ensures students are responsible, accountable, and held to the highest expectations. Not to mention, students will look great. Friday is DEXTER BLUE Friday anyway. J *Parents will be notified when PE uniforms arrive for our students. Students will not be held accountable for wearing PE uniforms until the uniforms arrive and they are distributed to all students, K-5. Students are encouraged to wear DEXTER BLUE each Friday until uniforms are provided.
Fast Feet Friday is off to a great start. Each Friday students are walking to earn points for incentives. We invite families and the community to join students and staff on this day. You help students earn points for their class and grade level. Last week the school community walked over 333 miles in just one day; that is awesome! Thank you for joining us. We have an EZ Scan system ordered to assist in keeping track of laps walked. Visitors do not need to check into the building. Please walk around the west side of the building to the track north of the school. Sign-in at the track with Coach each time you visit. Also, we ask visitors to walk around the west side of the school when leaving rather than through the building. This is for the safety of our students and staff.
The elementary school is phasing out the Dexter Elementary School FB group. September 2, 2024 is the last day the group will be active. We are using the District’s new website. There is an Elementary page that is resourceful and user-friendly. The page has events, news, live feeds, and a daily lunch menu. You can download the Dexter Consolidated Schools app to your phone for convenience and up-to-date information. We strongly encourage you to download the app and/or check the website regularly. Notifications can be set to Elementary or schools your students attend for your convenience. I utilize push notifications when updating live feeds and news. You will have to change the settings in the app to receive up-to-date notifications.
I strongly believe we all have an end goal in mind, student success and safety. Along with these goals we want to make the students’ time at the elementary school a memorable one. We have many extracurricular activities planned for the year. We hope your join us during the planned events. We cannot be successful without parent/family/community involvement. J Have a great school year!
