Hello KES Families,
Happy Sunday! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and stayed warm. Please see Dr. VanArnhem's letter below about Asbestos Inspection/Management Plan. Congratulations to all the students who participated in the Spelling Bee last Thursday. Our 4th grade finalist was Lauren Moore and our 5th grade finalist was Cooper Prosuch. Both students will go on to the next round on January 21st at 10:30 AM in the Forum. We have 5 amazing grade level winners who will be competing in a spell off to determine the district winner. The district champion will represent Kirtland in the County Bee, to be held at Lake Erie College on February 3.
Thank you to the PTA Moms for our monthly Popcorn Day! Students really enjoyed the treat!
Students' Winter Benchmarking Assessments in mClass and MAP went home last week. Please read over the scores and if you have any questions, please contact your child's teacher.
Help support the Class of 2028 AfterProm. "Love to Win" February FUNdraising, with 28 days of great prizes! If you have any questions, please reach out via this email or at 216-800-5019. Thank you in advance for helping make this a success! Go Hornets!!
https://class-of-2028-february-raffle-calendar.cheddarup.com.
If your daughter is interested in Softball and learning how to pitch, please consider signing up for lessons with Niki Scalish. Read the link below. If you have any questions please email Kirtland’s Softball Coach Jamie Kamensky at jamie.kamensky@kirtlandschools.org
https://signupgenius.com/
The weather outside is getting colder. We will be going outside as much as possible to get fresh air and to move around. Please make sure your child is wearing appropriate outside attire. Students need to wear a coat, hat, gloves, and boots during the winter months.
Last week we did a KES Expectations refresher to help remind students of our expectations. Students also watched a short video about being kind to each other and what to do if you or someone you know is getting bullied. For PBIS in January, we are focusing on reviewing all of the "Hornet Traits". On Tuesdays, please have your student wear the following colors to represent the different Hornet Traits:
- Kindergarten wears orange
- 1st grade will wear yellow
- 2nd grade will wear green
- 3rd grade will wear red
- 4th grade will wear purple
- Preschool and 5th grade will wear blue
I know how important birthdays are to students but we cannot bring in food items to share with classmates. The KES Health and Wellness Group, consisting of teachers, administration, the school nurse and parents, have had discussions on ways to promote health and still have fun at school. We do not allow food items at school to celebrate a child’s birthday. At KES, teachers will continue to recognize students’ birthdays in their own unique ways and parents can send in non-edible items to share with classmates to recognize their child’s birthday. We believe this change has many benefits:
Limit Disruptions. Birthday treats often arrived at various times of the day and many times this resulted in limited time and/or inopportune time for disbursement. If parents and caregivers choose to send in a non-food item such as stickers, pencils, a book, etc. for their child to share with classmates in recognition of his or her birthday, it can simply be sent in a backpack and the teacher can use a set time during the day to have the child share it.
Safety and Feeling Included. We are experiencing an increase in the number of students with food related allergies at KES. Often these children feel left out when they can’t have a food item or “treat” that the rest of the class can enjoy.
Please do not send balloons to school. This request is based on latex allergies and the danger they pose on the school bus. I am sorry for any inconvenience but moving forward there will be no birthday treats.
If your child is sick, please keep them home so they can rest, get better, and not spread germs. If students go home sick with a fever or throwing up, they must stay home for 24 hours to make sure they are fully recovered. Please remind your child to wash their hands frequently to help reduce germs.
Students are not allowed to bring phones and/or smart watches to school. They can be a distraction and we do not want anything misplaced or lost.
When students visit the nurse, an automated email will be sent to families to let them know when and why the student was in the Nurse's Office.
Please report all transportation changes by 2:00 pm so we can make sure the students receive the updated information.
If you are sending checks in for fees or lunches, please make sure you write separate checks because they go into different accounts.
Please keep all toys at home unless a teacher has directed other wise. We want to make sure students are not distracted by their toys and we want to prevent lost toys.
All visitors must stop in the Main Office to receive a visitor's badge and all volunteers need to be fingerprinted.
Important Dates:
January 15 - K-Kids
January 20 - MLK Day (No School)
January 22 - Board of Education Meeting 7:00 PM
February 1- Father & Daughter Dance 5:30-8:00
February 10 - PD Day (No School)
February 12 - K-Kids
February 17 - President's Day (No School)
Here is a link for the 2024-2025 District Calendar
If you have any questions, please call or email me anytime.
Sincerely,
Missy Godina
Kirtland Elementary Principal