The Week of November 13th

 The Blue Jays Weekly Newsletter

Angel Tree

Our community has decided to adopt an Angel from the Angel Tree in the front hallway. The purpose of the tree is to make sure that less fortunate children in the Ellis community receive some clothing and a toy this holiday season. If your family is able to donate, we would love to have your support with this project. If your child has their own money, bringing in a couple dollars from their own stash might just make this charitable act even more heartfelt. 

Our Angel is a two-year-old boy who loves trucks, firetrucks, and cars! We will be collecting funds until Friday, December 2, so that I can purchase items from the community that weekend. Gifts are due Wednesday, December 7, so students will have time to wrap them on Monday and Tuesday of that week. 

iReady Assessments

We completed iReady reading assessments last Wednesday and Thursday and will be completing iReady math assessments on Wednesday of this week.

Musical Explorers Field Trip

Field trip forms for the Musical Explorers concert on December 5th will go home this week. Developed in partnership with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, Musical Explorers connects elementary students to diverse musical communities. A free program, Musical Explorers builds basic music skills as students learn songs from different cultures and reflect on their own communities. During the 2022 fall semester, students have explored opera, African-American Spirituals and Gospel, and bluegrass.

 PACK Field Trip

Autumn Observations

We are asking that all families come in to observe our community at work. Family observations are an important part of the Montessori experience.The purpose is to observe the Montessori environment as a whole. Each day, the children work for three hours, uninterrupted. Parents will observe for 25 minutes to get a snapshot of the child's experience.

Thank you to the families who have already scheduled their observations! If you haven't scheduled yet, please use the link below to do so. Observations began last week and will take place on Wednesday and Thursday mornings through December 15th. Please use this link to schedule your observation of the Blue Jay Learning Community today.

Snack

We hope you have found the new system for classroom snack to be helpful for you and your family. We have seen an enormous amount of positive growth that this seemingly small change made. We are seeing that students are enthusiastic to eat their fruit and vegetable snacks without hesitation and we have seen their confidence soar due to additional opportunities in practical life activities, such as preparing food, and washing their dishes when they are through. 

At the beginning of the year, we asked that each student turn in a $30 ($1.67 for each student per week) Kroger gift card to pay for organic snacks for the first semester. Thank you to all the families who sent in gift cards! If you did not send in a gift card at that time or if you are able to send in an extra gift card, please consider sending one in now. Because food costs are on the rise, we are nearing the end of our funds for the first semester. 

PTA Read-A-Thon

The 11th annual PTA Read-A-Thon will take place November 1-30th. This year, we are raising funds to replace outdated books in the media center's cultural curriculum collection.

Any student who raises $100 or more will receive a $10.00 gift certificate to the Scholastic Book Fair, which will take place in the media center the week of December 1-8, 2022.

You can find more information about this on the PTA Read-a-Thon page of the Ellis website.

Thank you for your support and happy reading!

BOOK IT! Reading Program

The 2022-2023 BOOK IT! reading program will begin October 1st for all interested Pre-K through 6th grade students. Visit the BOOK IT! page of the Ellis website for more information including how to sign your student(s) up to participate. If you have any questions, please let Ms. Lisa know. lisa.odonnell@sccpss.com

Happy reading!

Calling all volunteers!

Do you have special talents that you would like to share with our community? Do you sew, knit, paint, draw, cook, write, do woodworking, garden...? Or, would you like to come in regularly to read with children and work on Fry words? Please send us an email, because we would love to have your help! As soon as we are given district approval, we would love to have volunteers in the classroom. Any parent or family member that intends to volunteer needs to register with the district.  Please click this link and apply to become a volunteer on Operation Beacon. If you want to volunteer, in any capacity, you will have to do this. Thank you!

Homework

The lower elementary classes have the following homework expectations:

Read for 20 minutes each night, either independently or with family members.

If you have access to technology at home, your child can follow their i-Ready learning path.

Math facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication or division) 

It is very important that all families sign up for our community Remind!  Please text @ac3c9 to number 81010 or if you are having trouble with 81010 try texting @ac3c9 to 971-239-4842  (Please sign up!)

*WISH LIST

Timothy Hay

Dates to Remember

November 18- Donation Dress Down

November 21-25 Thanksgiving Break

December 1-8- Book Fair

December 2- Angel Tree Money Due

December 5- Musical Explorers Field Trip

December 2- M.E.S.S. Holiday Party

December 8- Festival of Lights