Looking at the Week Ahead
Next Wednesday begins our annual Worlds Finest Chocolate sale. Money raised from this fundraiser will be used to pay for the Natural History Museum Science on Wheels two-day building-wide assemblies. 900 boxes of chocolates are scheduled to arrive on Monday. Permission slips were distributed this past week. Students must have a signed permission slip to sell. Additional permission slips are available in the school office. If you have any questions, please call Dawn in the school office. We will also have full boxes of only almond and caramel available to sell. Please help us out and sell at least one box (60 bars) of chocolates.
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. Pictures from the Perfect Attendance – Honor Roll Breakfast along with the Spelling Bee have been added this week.
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
April 8th Total Solar Eclipse - reminder
On April 8, 2024, Ohio will experience a once-in-a-lifetime Total Solar Eclipse event. The last total solar eclipse in Ohio happened 217 years ago in 1806. Many parts of the state, ours included, will be in total darkness for a brief period in the late afternoon. The rest of the state will see the sun at least 95% blocked by the moon during that time.
The timing of the total eclipse has created a tricky situation for school districts in the totality zone, as it is supposed to occur right around our dismissal time. The issue will not be the darkness, but instead, the amount of traffic in our area, as the Ohio Emergency Management Team anticipates an extremely large number of visitors to our area to view this historic event. It is estimated that an additional 139,000-556,000 travelers will be coming to this part of Ohio, creating gridlocked traffic conditions and travelers stopped all along our roadways. More information and guidance from the Ohio Emergency Management team can be found here: https://ema.ohio.gov/media-publications/ohio-total-solar-eclipse
Due to the safety concerns regarding travel conditions, Southwest Local Schools have decided to close on Monday, April 8, 2024. Several other districts in our area have already done the same:
The school district will be providing solar eclipse glasses to all our students and staff members so they may view the once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse safely. Those will be sent home with students during the previous week. School will resume as normal on Tuesday, April 9th.
Inclement Weather
As winter progresses and the chances for winter weather increase, please make sure your contact information is current in Final Forms. If you are already getting emails, texts and phone calls from your child’s school via the School Messenger Mass Notification system, you should be all set to receive weather-related information. You can also check the District website (southwestschools.org) and the official District social media accounts for the most up-to-date, accurate information.
5th Grade Parents
Parents of all 5th graders! On May 22 we will be hosting the 5th grade celebration. This event will be held at the school from 10:30AM to 2:00PM. Phoeba Hughes is the lead planner for the celebration and she is looking for other parents who would be interested in meeting to discuss activities, food, drinks, etc. She is also looking for volunteers who can be present before, during, and after the celebration to help with set up, activities, and clean up. If you are interested in helping with the celebration, please email Phoeba at phoebakellough@gmail.com or send her a text at 513-765-0136. The meeting is planned for January 31st at 6:30PM and should last anywhere between 30 minutes to 1 hour. This meeting will be held at Harrison Elementary in the cafeteria.
World’s Finest Chocolates
On Wednesday, January 24th we will begin our annual World’s Finest Chocolates fundraiser. The funds raised from this sale will be used to bring in more assemblies and programs for your children. In the past we were able to furnish each classroom (over a 4-year period of sales) a classroom set of computers to use throughout the day. Our goal this year is to sell 800 cases of chocolates. If every child could sell at least one box of chocolates, we will achieve this goal. Permission slips will be sent home next week with students to participate. By signing and returning this permission slip you are agreeing and understand that the school CANNOT accept any boxes or partial boxes back once they have been given to a student, left the building and the sale has ended. If you have any questions, please call the school office.
Kindergarten Registration – 2024 - 2025
The Southwest Local School District will begin kindergarten registration for the 2024 - 2025 school year Feb 1 beginning at 6 am. Registration can be completed online from any computer. Detailed instructions regarding the online application will be available on the district's website (www.southwestschools.org) under New Student Registration Tab. When your online forms are completed and all required documents have been uploaded, call the district registrar at district office at 513-728-8401 to make sure the documents have been received and are acceptable to complete your registration. See the district page for age requirements and immunization requirements.
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 your 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 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
Monday, January 22 – PTO Monthly Meeting 6:30 pm - Cafeteria
Wednesday, January 24 – Worlds Finest Candy Bar Fundraiser Begins
- Prize Assemblies scheduled to kick-off the fundraiser
Tuesday, February 6 and Thursday, February 8 – Parent-Teacher Conferences
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