Weekly Newsletter 10/28/24 - Week 9

Happy Sunday, parents and guardians! Here is our weekly newsletter for the week beginning October 28, 2024 (Week 9):

Interims: Interims begin this week. We will be taking our interims on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Please ensure your child gets a good night's rest and has breakfast before class. Laurus serves breakfast to all students from 7:35-7:55am. Also, please ensure your child is present EVERY DAY this week. When students are absent, these tests begin piling up and students may have to take more than one test per day to make up for tests they missed. When that happens, student performance is usually pretty poor. These are very important tests, and I want to be sure all students are set up for success. 

Tutoring: For invited students (those who received and returned the tutoring forms), tutoring will begin tomorrow, October 28th. Tutoring runs Mondays and Tuesdays from 3:30-4:30 pm. Pick-up is at 4:30 pm sharp. As a reminder, students who miss TWO DAYS of tutoring will be DROPPED from the program. Please ensure your child is present EVERY DAY of tutoring.

Half Day on Thursday: Thursday, October 31st is a half-day. Dismissal will be at 11 am. Our Halloween party will be from 10:00-10:30 am. You may send in store bought treats with your child if you would like. Also, students may wear costumes or free dress on this day.

Trunk-Or-Treat: Trunk-or-Treat will be on Wednesday, October 30th from 4:30-5:30 pm (or while supplies last). If you have not yet done so, please be sure to send in a couple of bags of candy with your child to donate. Students may NOT wear costumes to school on Wednesday, October 30th, but they are allowed to wear them for the Trunk-or-Treat drive-thru. Costumes may ONLY be worn to school on Halloween (Thursday, October 31st).

Field Trip Registration Deadline: As a reminder, the LAST DAY to register your child for the Washington D.C. field trip is this Tuesday, October 29th. The registration costs $99. Please be sure to register if you are interested in your child attending.

Gleaner's Canned Food Drive: It is a fact that child poverty has more than doubled in the past decade. We want to do our part in helping child hunger to decrease this year. Laurus Academy along with Gleaner’s Food Bank will host a food drive. The food drive will begin on Monday, October 28, 2024 and conclude on Friday, November 8, 2024. Please see the flyer on School Connect for the guidelines for high need items Gleaner’s would like to stock their shelves with before the year ends. Please have your student bring the items to school within the next two weeks and Gleaners will pick up our donations. Thank you so much for helping to drive out hunger in our community. The 5th Grade is asked to bring in soups, stews, and chili. 

Homework: As we have interims this entire week, there will be NO HOMEWORK this week. Homework packets will resume next week, November 4th.

Grades: Grades are usually updated every Monday by 8am. However, gradebook has been down this weekend. I have reached out to NHA tech support and am awaiting their fix. That being said, grades will NOT be updated this Monday. They should be updated and available next Monday, November 4th at 8 am. I apologize for the inconvenience. 

Behavior: I have to say, the class was INCREDIBLE this week. Their behavior and focus was 100% better and noticed by ALL. I am SO proud of them. They were rewarded with a WONDERFUL Funday Friday for all their hard work and we are on track to have our Halloween party on Thursday. Please continue to stress the importance of and encourage positive behavior and conduct in the classroom. I am very appreciative of your support from home!

Important Dates (Mark Your Calendar):

Monday, October 28-Friday, November 1 - Interim 1 Week for grades 3-8.  Students will sit for the Interim 1 Assessments in ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies.

Monday, October 28 - Tutoring begins for those students who were invited.  Tutoring for those students runs on Monday-Tuesdays from 3:30-4:30.  

Monday, October 28 - Gleaners Canned Food Drive Begins.  This ends on Friday, November 8th.

Wednesday, October 30 - Trunk or Treat for Laurus Students 4:30-5:30 or while supplies last

Thursday, October 31 - Half Day 8:00 am - 11:00 am.  It is a Free Dress Day, however, students may wear costumes but no Masks or Weapons; Lock Down - AM

Monday, November 4 - Fire Drill (Lunch)

Monday, November 4 - Moral Focus Assembly K-5 8:15-8:30, 6-8 2:15-2:45; Staff Meeting 3:35-4:00

Tuesday, November 5 - Election Day!  Make your vote count!

Friday, November 8- Progress Report Friday; $ 2.00 Dress Down

Wednesday, November 13 - Lock Down - PM; Math Night 4:00-5:00 pm

Friday, November 15 - Gradebook closes. Last day for grades to be entered into Gradebook for Report Cards.

Friday, November 22 - End of Trimester 1; Report Cards Home; Dress Down $2.00

Monday, November 25 - Friday, December 6  - Voice of the Parent Survey Begins

Monday, November 25 - Trimester 2 Begins; Free Dress Down

Tuesday, November 26 - Thanksgiving Feast & PIE DAY; Free Dress Down

Wednesday-Friday, November 27-29 - Thanksgiving Break

Monday - Friday, December 2-6 - Voice of the Parent Continues (Ends on 12/6); Parent Teacher Conference Week

Wednesday, December 4 - Half Day

As always, please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or just want to see how your child is doing during the school day/week. I am here for all of you, as well! Also, as always, thank you for your continued support from home. It makes all the difference in the classroom. Have a wonderful Sunday and I will see everyone tomorrow for interims!

-Ms. Winter

Weekly Newsletter 10/21/24 - Week 8

Happy Sunday, parents and guardians. Here is our weekly newsletter for the week beginning Monday, October 21st:

No School on Monday: Due to Regional PD, there will be no school for students tomorrow, Monday October 21st. We will resume school on Tuesday, October 22nd at 8 am.

Picture-Retakes: Picture retakes will be on Tuesday, October 22nd. All students must be in uniform. This is not a dress-down retake. Retakes are for students who were absent or need a new picture taken. Not all students will sit for retakes.

Friday $2 MSU/U of M Dress Down: Friday, October 25th we will have a MSU vs. U of M Dress Down for $2. If your child would like to dress down in MSU or U of M gear, please send them in with $2. This money goes to help fund the cost of our busses, snacks, pizza parties, etc. It is important that you send in the money if you would like your child to participate. We hope all students join in!

Candy Donations Needed!: In order to host a successful Trunk-Or-Treat, we NEED your candy donations. Please be sure to send in a couple of bags of Halloween candy with your child to donate to our event. We thank you in advance for your donations!

Canned Food Drive: Beginning October 28th, we will have our Gleaners Canned Food Drive. Please stay-tuned to see what type of canned food the 5th grade will be collecting.

Grades: Updated grades are available every Monday at 8 am. Please be sure you consistently check grades. It is hard to allow students to make-up assignments when they occurred some time ago. 

Homework: Homework packets will go home on Tuesday and will be due on Friday. Please be sure your child is returning their packet on Friday. There will be no homework the week of October 28th, due to interims.

Parent-Teacher Conferences: I will start my parent-teacher conferences the week of November 18th. This is due to the need to meet with all parents. The school sets aside one afternoon to meet, however, we are required to meet with 100% of parents, and this is unrealistic in one afternoon. Please plan on setting aside 10 minutes to meet around this time. Meetings will be timed to be respectful of everyone's time. I will post the link to the sign-up sheet next month. Thank you in advance!

Interims: Interims begin next Monday, October 28th. It is crucial that students are in attendance EVERY DAY, especially now through our interims being completed. Also, please ensure students get a good night's rest before these tests and have breakfast. As a reminder, Laurus Academy serves FREE breakfast to ALL students from 7:35-7:55 am. Please ensure your child is on-time to receive breakfast. 

Behavior: As stated, we had a ROUGH day on Thursday. For the few students who were not disrespectful or disruptive, I did enter positive behaviors for the day. Please encourage your child to stay engaged and focused during the day, to complete all assignments and all parts of tests, and to be respectful to ALL adults at Laurus. I must say, we had a better day on Friday, however, the class did have an imposed silent day. I believe the best learning happens when students are engaged and having fun, so I want this to be a fun and interactive class. Unfortunately, this is not possible when students are disrespectful and disruptive. I believe that this class can get it together and do it! Let's have a great week this week, both academically and behavior wise, and enjoy our fifth-grade year!

Important Dates (Mark Your Calendar):

 Monday, October 21 - REGIONAL PD Day - No School for Students.  Information above.

Tuesday, October 22 - Picture Re-Take Day; Safe Schools Week

Wednesday, October 23 - Principal Coffee 8:30-9:00 am.

Friday, October 25 - $ 2.00 Dress Down Michigan vs. MSU Gear

Monday, October 28-Friday, November 1 - Interim 1 Week for grades 3-8.  Students will sit for the Interim 1 Assessments in ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies.

Monday, October 28 - Gleaners Canned Food Drive Begins.  This ends on Friday, November 8th.

Wednesday, October 30 - Trunk or Treat for Laurus Students 4:30-5:30 or while supplies last

Thursday, October 31 - Half Day 8:00 am - 11:00 am.  It is a Free Dress Day, however, students may wear costumes but no Masks or Weapons; Lock Down - AM

Friday, November 1 - Fire Drill (Lunch)

Monday, November 4 - Moral Focus Assembly K-5 8:15-8:30, 6-8 2:15-2:45

Tuesday, November 5 - Election Day!  Make your vote count!

Friday, November 8- Progress Report Friday; $ 2.00 Dress Down

Wednesday, November 13 - Lock Down - PM; Math Night 4:00-5:00 pm

Friday, November 15 - Gradebook closes. Last day for grades to be entered into Gradebook for Report Cards.

Monday, November 18- Parent-Teacher Conferences Begin (Winter 5C)

Friday, November 22 - End of Trimester 1; Report Cards Home; Dress Down $2.00

Monday, November 25 - Friday, December 6  - Voice of the Parent Survey

Monday, November 25 - Trimester 2 Begins; Free Dress Down

Tuesday, November 26 - Thanksgiving Feast & PIE DAY

Wednesday-Friday, November 27-29 - Thanksgiving Break

As always, please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or just want to see how your child is doing during the school day/week. I am here for all of you, as well! Also, as always, thank you for your continued support from home. It makes all the difference in the classroom. Have a wonderful Sunday and Monday. I look forward to seeing the class on Tuesday!

-Ms. Winter

Weekly Newsletter 10/14/24 - Week 7

Happy Sunday, parents and guardians. Here is our Weekly Newsletter for the week beginning 10/14/24, week 7 of instruction:

Field Trip Information Meeting: Ms. Rowden announced to the class that we have OFFICIALLY booked our 5th grade field trip for the year. We will be traveling to Washington, D.C. in June of 2025! There will be an in-person meeting for all interested parents with the 5th grade team, including Dean Rowden, at Laurus Academy this Tuesday, October 15th, at 5:30pm. The travel advisor will be joining us via Google Meet with more details and information about the trip. This will include information about the cost, travel time and dates, itinerary, etc.. If you are interested in your child potentially attending, please join us for this meeting. Unfortunately, we only have spots for 45 students to attend this year. Student eligibility will be based on behavior, suspensions, grades, ability to cover cost of trip, and so on. This will be discussed more in detail at the meeting. I cannot stress enough how important this trip is. This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity and I really want students to attend. We have saving strategies as well as fundraising ideas that we will also discuss at the meeting. Please attend if you are at all interested. I hope to see all of you there! 

Progress Reports: Progress reports went home with students on Friday. Please be sure to sign the progress report and send it back in on Monday. I want to be sure all parents are aware of current student grades. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out. I appreciate your support!

Homework/Graded Student Work: Homework packets will go home on Monday. The homework is due on Friday. Please be sure students complete ALL parts of the homework and that they turn it in by Friday. Students are allowed to turn in their homework packets early. Graded student work will be handed back throughout the week. Please be sure you check for this work. It is the best way for you to see the material we are covering as well as the quality and effort of the work your child is turning in. I encourage all students to take their graded work home.

Curriculum: This week in ELA, we will examine different parts of a narrative text and compare and contrast text structures. This unit will focus on the American Revolution. In writing, we will work on proper punctuation as we continue with our personal narrative. In our social studies module, we will analyze historical sources to compare perspectives surrounding the event known as the “first Thanksgiving.” In math, we will continue to work with adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. We will also explore how to determine a "better buy". We will have our second Unit 2 quiz on Wednesday. For science, we will continue our exploration of ecosystems and examine the importance of species living within them. As always, it is imperative that students are in attendance daily to ensure their success with our material.

Interims: Our ELA interim begins in two weeks. We will be working hard these next two weeks to ensure students are prepared for these tests. Please ensure your child is in attendance for the whole school day. Late arrivals and early dismissals lead to students missing foundational material and classroom work. Please ensure your child arrives to school on time and only utilize absences/early dismissals when absolutely necessary. Student Attendance Matters!

Trunk-or-Treat Donations: We are asking that all students bring in at least one bag of Halloween candy for our Trunk-or-Treat event. Please be sure to send in your candy donations before the 30th. We want to have enough candy for everyone! 

Uniforms: This is another full week of regular uniforms. We do not have a dress down day this week. Students not in uniform will have to call home and have a uniform brought up to them.

No School Next Monday: Please be advised, next Monday, October 21, there will be NO SCHOOL for students. Teachers and staff have PD.

Important Dates (Mark Your Calendar):

Monday, October 14th - Cyber Bullying Assembly for Middle School - 8:30 am

Tuesday, October 15 - 5th Grade Field Trip Parent Meeting - 5:30 pm

Wednesday, October 16th - High School Night for 8th Grade 4:30-5:30 pm

Monday, October 21st - NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS; Regional PD Training for Staff (All Day)

Tuesday, October 22nd - Picture Re-take

Tuesday-Friday, October 22-25 - SAFE SCHOOLS WEEK

Wednesday, October 23rd - Principal Coffee 8:30-9:00 am

Friday, October 25th - $ 2.00 UM vs. MSU DRESS DOWN

Monday - Friday, October 28-November 1 - INTERIM 1 ELA & MATH TESTS GR. 3-8

Wednesday, October 30 - TRUNK OR TREAT FAMILY EVENT 4:30-5:30 or until candy runs out

Thursday, October 31 - Half Day - Dismissal 11:00 am ; FREE DRESS/STUDENTS CAN WEAR COSTUMES (NO WEAPONS); Parties - 10:00-10:30; LOCK DOWN - AM

Friday, November 1 - FIRE DRILL - LUNCH

Friday, November 22 - REPORT CARDS HOME; End of Trimester 1

As always, please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or just want to see how your child is doing during the school day/week. I am here for all of you, as well! Also, as always, thank you for your continued support from home. It makes all the difference in the classroom. Have a wonderful Sunday and I will see everyone tomorrow.

-Ms. Winter

Weekly Newsletter 10/7/24 - Week 6

Happy Sunday, parents and guardians. Here is our weekly newsletter for the week beginning 10/7/24:

Trunk-Or-Treat Donations: Flyers went home on Friday announcing our Trunk-Or-Treat event. The event will be held on Wednesday, October 30th. We are asking that parents/guardians send in a bag of candy for the event. You can begin sending in candy tomorrow. We appreciate all of your help and donations!

Candy Sale Ends Friday: This Friday, October 11th, our chocolate candy sales end. All money must be turned in by this date. Please be sure to turn in all outstanding candy sale envelops.

Uniforms: Please be advised, students are to be in school uniforms all week. We do NOT have a dress down day this week.

Grades: Grades are updated and available every Monday by 8 am. Please be sure you are consistently checking your child's grades. Zeros greatly impact an overall grade, so please be sure your child is completing and turning in all homework and assignments. 

Curriculum: In ELA, we will finish The Watson's Go to Birmingham. We will watch the movie on Friday. Students will compare/contrast the book and the movie. We will continue working with verbs in grammar and begin writing our personal narrative draft. In math, we will take our first Unit 2 quiz and continue working with fractions. We will finish our Foodwebs and Matter Cycles sections in science. Our next exploration will be into ecosystems. For our social studies, students will learn about the importance of artifacts in the study of history and culture while making connections to how their own belongings might tell a story about who they are and their way of life. They will also practice analyzing an artifact to learn more about its origins. As always, it is critical that students are present EVERY DAY to ensure their success this year. When students are absent, they miss foundational material that we are unable to make up. This includes early dismissals. Please only use early dismissals when absolutely necessary.

Interims: Our first interims begin at the end of October. It is critical that students are present so we can prepare for these important tests. Our ELA interim begins October 28th.

Homework/Classroom Work: Homework packets will go home tomorrow. They will be due on Friday, October 11th. I will continue to hand back graded work to students. Please be sure to ask your child for their graded work.

Important Dates (Mark Your Calendar):

Monday, October 7th - Moral Focus Assemblies.  K-5 8:15 am; 6-8 2:15 pm

Wednesday, October 9th - FIRE DRILL - AM

Friday, October 11th - Candy Sale Ends

Monday, October 14th - Cyber Bullying Assembly for Middle School - 8:30 am

Wednesday, October 16th - High School Night for 8th Grade 4:30-5:30 pm

Friday, October 18th -  $ 2.00 Dress Down

Monday, October 21st - NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS; Regional PD Training for Staff (All Day)

Tuesday, October 22nd - Picture Re-take

Tuesday-Friday, October 22-25 - SAFE SCHOOLS WEEK

Wednesday, October 23rd - Principal Coffee 8:30-9:00 am

Friday, October 25th - $ 2.00 UM vs. MSU DRESS DOWN; October Birthday Celebration Day 2:00-2:30 pm

Monday - Friday, October 28-November 1 - INTERIM 1 ELA & MATH TESTS GR. 3-8

Wednesday, October 30 - TRUNK OR TREAT FAMILY EVENT 4:30-5:30 or until candy runs out

Thursday, October 31 - Half Day - Dismissal 11:00 am ; FREE DRESS/STUDENTS CAN WEAR COSTUMES (NO WEAPONS); Parties - 10:00-10:30; LOCK DOWN - AM

Friday, November 1 - FIRE DRILL - LUNCH

Friday, November 22 - REPORT CARDS HOME; End of Trimester 1

As always, please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or just want to see how your child is doing during the school day/week. I am here for all of you, as well! Also, as always, thank you for your continued support from home. It makes all the difference in the classroom. Have a wonderful Sunday and I will see everyone tomorrow.

-Ms. Winter