Principal's Notes

Thank you for checking in with us at Elrod

Here are some Recent Newsletter Items:

Mark Your Calendars

Mar 2-27—State-wide CRT testing
Mar 3-Enrollment forms go home
Mar 6-End of 2nd Trimester
Mar 12-Report Cards sent home
Mar 17-2009-2010 Enrollment Forms due back to the Elrod office
Mar 30-Silverwood forms due to office
Apr 6-10—Spring Break
Apr 21-Morning with Moms
Apr 22-1:30 Early Dismissal
May 6-Kindergarten enrollment (2009-2010) at Linderman School

Enrollment Forms
Every March, Kalispell School District 5 begins gathering registration information for the next year. On March 3rd, watch for a green form explaining the enrollment process. Attached to that green sheet will be a white enrollment form. If you do not intend on having your child attend a Kalispell school in the fall, you only need to return the green sheet. Otherwise, please return the white form completely filled out. Please include your current physical address on the white form. These forms are due back to the Elrod office by March 17th. Sometimes, forms get lost or misplaced if they sit around for a while, so you can turn them in as soon as you can fill them out.

As you may remember from the Feb. 16th newsletter, you know that Elrod is taking part in an exciting program designed to encourage children to continue reading as we approach Spring. Silverwood Theme Park sponsors the Reading is the Ticket Countdown Club and will give your child free admission to all of their rides and Boulder Beach when your child reads at least 600 minutes between now and March 30th. So, 600 minutes by March 30th and your child will earn a ticket to enter Silverwood theme parks. This program is offered and not a mandatory requirement, but it is a lot of fun and if you were thinking about heading over to north Idaho this summer, this will get at least your school aged kids in free.

Student directories should have come home this week. Thank you, thank you to Jessica Brooks for putting that together for us!!

Fight the Flathead Funk

When the snow stays as long as it has this year, it is hard to break away from the weather “blahs.” Tomorrow the Kalispell skating rink in Woodland Park is offering a way to break us out of our Flathead Funk. Anywhere from 12:15 to 6:15, come enjoy the open skate time. Open skate will be followed around 6:00 with a bon fire monitored by the South Kalispell Fire Department. The Flathead Valley Hockey Club will have their vending cart and games will be planned by some Elrod parents. The Kalispell Parks and Rec will be offering discounted prices for open skate. Come and enjoy the time fun.

Implementing the Olweus Program at Elrod

Understanding the 'Super G'

In October, Elrod kicked-off the year with an assembly focused on treating each other with kindness and respect while following the 4 Elrod Bully Prevention Rules (see above-based on the Olweus bully prevention program). We especially focused on how when we do this, everyone feels as though they belong at Elrod. During this assembly, we had a senior at Flathead High School who happened to be a former Elrod student, Heidi Windauer, share the four rules and talk about how important it is for us to all follow those rules to have a fun, safe environment to learn in. We also had a famous local singer/entertainer, Rob Quist, lead students, staff and parents in singing “Back in Harmony” which was a perfect song for how we work together on a day-to-day basis.

Well, now we will focus on everyone being a ‘Super G.’ Why the letter ‘G?’ Well, just look above at the bully circle. We know we will continue to experience situations of bullying, but we want to encourage bystanders to help the person being teased or otherwise bullied. The person who takes the position on the circle represented by the letter ‘G’ is the person who will do just that by either telling the bully that we don’t do those kinds of things at Elrod, takes the person being bullied away from the situation to play some other game or goes to report the situation to an adult. Promoting the ‘Super G’ at Elrod, emphasizes that we are all here to support each other.

I look forward to hearing about how Generous everyone can be or hearing someone say, “Gee, that was nice.” There are all kinds of ‘G’ words we can come up with to maintain our focus on the ‘Super G,’ but for now I will just say, “Gee, Elrod is a Great place.” With parent support and encouragement, all Elrod students can be ‘Super Gs.’

Past Newsletter Items

Remember, Cell phones are NOT to be

visible or on while on the Elrod campus

Bus Safety School District #5 has many buses running before and after school. The safety of the students in the bus is the driver’s first priority. Each driver is given the authority to take disciplinary action and make recommendations to the building principals to ensure that safety. The first thing the bus drivers have expressed is to remind parents to have their children dressed for the weather. Please enforce that your child wears a jacket on these cold mornings. The bus drivers have also asked for your continued patience as traffic sometimes alters the schedule in the afternoons. A concern we have seen lately is supervision from the bus to home. Some parents meet the bus at the bus stop, but many children are on their own to walk multiple blocks home from the bus stop. We just want to know that each child arrives safely home, so we are simply encouraging as many parents as possible to meet their children at their bus stop in the afternoon. We also ask that no skateboards or scooters come to school on the bus. If you have any questions regarding the buses, please call 751-3404.	Toys at School An issue comes up every year dealing with games and toys from home. The reasons for it being an issue each year is based on items being lost, stolen, damaged, or, most importantly, a distraction to classroom instruction. So, the Staff at Elrod School has informed all students to please leave the following items at home: Yu-Gi-Oh cards, baseball cards, other trading cards, Gameboys, cd players, other electronic devises and anything else of significant value. Special situations may be arranged between parents and teachers. Thank you for your support as we address these concerns.
Medications at School Kalispell School District #5 has a policy in place with regard to the administration of medication at school. The following is from Policy number 3416: “The District will permit students who are able to self-administer specific medication to do so provided that: A physician or dentist provides a written order for self-administration of said medication; Written authorization for self-administration of medication from a student’s parent or guardian is on file; and A principal and appropriate teachers are informed that a student is self-administering prescribed medication.” So, please provide the office with a note from the doctor and signed by the parent before we will allow any medications to be taken at school. Thank you.

Bus Safety

School District #5 has many buses running before and after school. The safety of the students in the bus is the driver’s first priority. Each driver is given the authority to take disciplinary action and make recommendations to the building principals to ensure that safety. The first thing the bus drivers have expressed is to remind parents to have their children dressed for the weather. Please enforce that your child wears a jacket on these cold mornings. The bus drivers have also asked for your continued patience as traffic sometimes alters the schedule in the afternoons. A concern we have seen lately is supervision from the bus to home. Some parents meet the bus at the bus stop, but many children are on their own to walk multiple blocks home from the bus stop. We just want to know that each child arrives safely home, so we are simply encouraging as many parents as possible to meet their children at their bus stop in the afternoon. We also ask that no skateboards or scooters come to school on the bus. If you have any questions regarding the buses, please call 751-3404.

Toys at School

An issue comes up every year dealing with games and toys from home. The reasons for it being an issue each year is based on items being lost, stolen, damaged, or, most importantly, a distraction to classroom instruction. So, the Staff at Elrod School has informed all students to please leave the following items at home: Yu-Gi-Oh cards, baseball cards, other trading cards, Gameboys, cd players, other electronic devises and anything else of significant value. Special situations may be arranged between parents and teachers. Thank you for your support as we address these concerns.

Medications at School
Kalispell School District #5 has a policy in place with regard to the administration of medication at school. The following is from Policy number 3416: “The District will permit students who are able to self-administer specific medication to do so provided that:

A physician or dentist provides a written order for self-administration of said medication;
Written authorization for self-administration of medication from a student’s parent or guardian is on file; and
A principal and appropriate teachers are informed that a student is self-administering prescribed medication.”

So, please provide the office with a note from the doctor and signed by the parent before we will allow any medications to be taken at school. Thank you.

eagle

Elrod Bands Against Bullying