A Message from the Principal

Dear Yates Mill Families,

The school year has gotten off to a great start!  We are pleased with the opening weeks.  Children are getting into the routine of school and showing their understanding of expectations.  It always takes a few weeks to get children on track.  The teachers are establishing standards for quality work.   Thank you in advance for your understanding as we have children rewrite work, write in complete sentences, use complete headings, and edit their own work prior to turning it into the teacher.  Our focus is on improving quality and understanding, versus relying on short term memory and rushing through work.

Open House will be on Tuesday, Sept. 16^th.   We are holding two separate sessions on the same night due to the traffic congestion and the number of children at our school this year.   Kindergarten, First and Second grade parents will have an Open House session with their child’s classroom teacher at 5:30 and will be finished by 6:30.  Our hope is that many K-2 parents will then open up parking spaces for the Third, Fourth and Fifth grade parents that will begin at 7:00.  This is an important time for adults to focus, as the teacher presents the standards, expectations, and curriculum for the year. We regret that we will not have child care available for our families.  We hope you can find support at home for this time with the teachers.  The PTA Volunteer Fair will be set up in the main hallway between sessions.  

PTA Highlights:

· The PTA will host a Social time on Sept. 9^th from 6:00- 6:30 before the Business Meeting, which will begin at 6:30.

· During Open House on Sept. 16th, the PTA will have volunteer booths in the hallway for recruiting and informing parents about volunteer opportunities.   The computer lab will be open for Volunteer Registration which must be done annually in order to volunteer in a public school. 

· The Reading Pond will begin Sept. 25th and end on January 4th.  This is our motivational reading program where children move from tadpoles to frogs on a log as they read and record their minutes.  The children will receive reading logs to complete for each stage.  

· School Pictures will be taken Oct. 7th^.

· The PTA will be hosting the FUN RUN fundraiser this fall. Children will be seeking financial sponsors for the laps they run.  Each classroom will be assigned a country to represent simulating the Olympics opening ceremony with an opening parade to kick-off the event.

· Don’t forget to reregister at Harris Teeter, Food Lion, Office Depot, and Target (if you have a Target Charge card.)  The PTA receives a small percentage from each of these companies for everything you spend under our code.  Check the PTA newsletter or web site for the specific numbers to link to Yates Mill.

For the next eight weeks the classroom teachers will introduce Thinking Maps.  Thinking Maps are eight graphic organizers tied to specific brain processes.  The goal of using Thinking Maps school wide is to provide a common language or set of tools for the students to use in all grades and to provide consistency from teacher to teacher.  Teachers will highlight one map a week and use the maps across the different curriculum areas.  Your child will probably have a homework assignment using the maps so a “cheat sheet” will also be sent home to help you identify and use the eight maps.  The circle map is used to brainstorm or define in context and will be the first map introduced during the week of Sept. 2nd. 

HELP!!!!!!  We have a number of children that do not have locator cards turned in to the office, photo permission slips, and PTA directory forms, PTA memberships, etc.  Please help the office by sending these forms in as soon as possible.  Updating information routinely is critical as we encounter the unexpected.  We always need emergency contacts, accurate phone numbers, and cellular phone changes. 

Just a reminder, please plan to send a note if you are changing your child’s regular way home.  We cannot guarantee that children will get phone messages correctly.  Please do not call after 2:00 for changes in a child’s way home. Children will be sent home their regular way without a note unless this is an emergency.  If you plan to pick up your child early, please be here before 3:15.  Children will not be dismissed from the classroom between 3:20 -3:45.  Thank you for all of your support and understanding.

We are excited about the potential of this school year.  Our staff has worked hard to be consistent and to work as a team.  Our emphasis on respect and responsibility for actions and choices is influencing classroom strategies.  The structure of daily Morning Meeting and the FISH philosophy has become important in building a classroom community.  We look forward to seeing you at Open House on Sept. 16^th.

Sincerely,

Dr. Lynn Williams

Principal

Yates Mill Elementary School