Looking at the Week Ahead
Happy New Year!!!
The students and staff came back this week ready to go! It’s hard to believe that we are now in our third quarter of the school year.
On Wednesday, January 10th Harrison Elementary will be holding our school-wide Spelling Bee. Students in grades 3-5 have qualified representatives in their homerooms to participate in the school-wide assembly. The Spelling Bee will start at 1:45 pm and parents of those students spelling are permitted to attend and watch. Doors will open for the assembly at 1:20 pm. Parking is limited, and additional parking can be found across the street on Broadway.
Quite a few students have acquired large charges on their cafeteria accounts. Please make sure money is brought to school to cover meals. If you feel you might now be eligible for free or reduced breakfast/lunch, please complete the correct forms in your child’s Final Forms account
Don’t forget you can now follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Please make sure you are members of the correct sites. There were several “unofficial” sites created and we are trying to inactivate them. I have been posting a lot of pictures of events happening at Harrison Elementary. Feel free to send them out to family and friends. This is a great way to keep up on events at school.
Follow us on Twitter @SLSDHarrisonEl
Like us on Facebook.com/HarrisonElementarySchool
We have had a great start to the new school year. The students are demonstrating our Four Core Values – Trust, Respect, Ownership and Leadership – throughout the day.
Have a great weekend!
Ron Mangus
Principal
Katie Conley
Dean of Students
Update Regarding Ohio’s New Law for Dyslexia Screening
All students in grades K-3 at Southwest Local School District will undergo dyslexia screening as part of Ohio law requirements. This non-intrusive process aims to identify early signs of dyslexia, and if your child is flagged, they may be given a Tier 2 Screener for further assessment and tailored support. This is not a comprehensive dyslexia assessment designed to diagnose your child with dyslexia. The screener is designed to identify areas of concern in specific components of reading that identify your child as being below or well below grade level expectations.
Students in SLSD will receive an initial screening through Aimsweb Plus. K-3 students are already taking this assessment three times a year (fall, winter, spring). Students who score in the 25th percentile or below on the winter administration of Aimsweb Plus, will then be given an additional assessment called the RAN. If your child scores in an at-risk range on the RAN, they will be given the PAST assessment to target areas for intervention. We will notify you if your child will be receiving interventions based on these screenings.
Timeline for Dyslexia Assessments 2023-2024
Week of December 11: 1st-3rd AIMSWEB Benchmark
Week of January 8: Kindergarten AIMSWEB Benchmark
Week of February 5: RAN administered to any K-3rd grade student who scored in the 25th percentile or below on AIMSWEB
February 20-29: PAST assessment administered for any K-3rd grade student who took the RAN and scored at-risk
Week of March 4: Data Analysis (ID Areas of Concern and Interventions that Align)
Week of March 11: Begin Intervention
March 11-April 26: 6-8 Week Intervention Window
Week of April 29: Re-administer PAST to this target group of students
During May data meetings, all students will be placed in MTSS groups for the following Fall based on areas of need.
Cold Weather
Please make sure that you children are not arriving to school before 8:40 am each morning. The doors open at 8:40 am and students are permitted and are supervised in the building at that time. Several students this week are walking to school 30-40 minutes ahead of that time and waiting outside. We will also being having outside recess when the temperatures are at or above 32 degrees. Please make sure that proper coats, hats, and gloves are being worn. We are also suggesting that your child’s name be written inside coats to keep our Lost and Found items to a bare minimum.
January’s Character Traits:
Week 21 1/15/24: Creativity-Creativity is defined as, I can think of lots of ways to solve problems and use my imagination
Week 22 1/22/24: Humor-Humor is defined as, I like to bring a smile to others.
Week 23 1/29/24 Mindfulness-Mindfulness is defined as, I am present and fully engaged in the moment.
Please reinforce these weekly traits at home and throughout the month.
PTO Planning Meetings
PTO meetings this school year will take place on the fourth Monday of each month at 6:30 pm in the school cafeteria. The next PTO meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 22nd, 2024.
You can always join PTO. Just your small membership fee of $10 helps us provide services for the kids! This does not require you to volunteer or attend meetings. It is all up to you how much you would like to be involved. If you have any questions, please reach out to a board member.
Joining the PTO is not a huge commitment and often looks like 1-3 service hours a year with opportunities in the evenings, during the school day or can be as simple as signing up to send in cookies for an event. Everyone doing a little adds up to a LOT for our kids.
Please click on the link below for the meeting minutes.
November PTO Minutes - Click Here
Hope to see you soon!
Harrison PTO
Attachments
None
Important Items for the Week Ahead
Students will be taking Winter MAP testing throughout the week
Wednesday, January 10 – Perfect Attendance/Honor Roll Breakfast – 9:30 am
- 1:45 pm Spelling Bee – Grades 3 – 5 - gymnasium
Friday, January 12 – PTO Cats Store
Monday, January 15 – ML King Day – No school students and staff
DISTRICT MISSION: "Academic and Social Growth for ALL students, EVERY DAY!"
DISTRICT MOTTO: "Excellence through Relationships"
HARRISON ELEMENTARY MOTTO: "Where Children Come First"
DISTRICT CORE VALUES: Trust, Respect, Ownership and Leadership