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11/16/09

We have had a great start in our second year of our SmArts Grant, Going Green at Gorrell. The entire school joined forces in a building-wide recycling project, learning what's necessary to take care of our planet Earth.

The grant involved studies of how bats help control the insect population and students later took a trip to Cleveland's Playhouse Square to see a performance of "Stellaluna." Some were even given the opportunity to get up close and personal with a real bat. The group lunched in front of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame where a student group performed for them.

In Mrs. Wicks' fourth grade class, the SmArts Grant funded an October trip to Camp Y-Noah in Clinton. the day of outdoor education included a water safety class followed by canoeing. It was amazing to see all of them on the water, steering their own canoes.

In the Pollution Solution class, the kids created their own land environment and then discussed the energy that could be used on the land as well as the pollution that may be a part of the environment. Then, they put their properties together and discussed how each environment has effects on the other and devised plans for conserving energy and lessening pollutants.

Another class activity of the day was to collect a specimen of water from Lake Noah and then perform tests to discover what life forms, pollutants and chemicals may be present. This was definitely a favorite activity and the teachers at Camp Y Noah were excellent.

During the first quarter, Mrs. Jenkins’ third grade students met with their Resident Artist, Mrs. Jill Malusky Back, education director from the Massillon Museum. Staying true to the recycling theme, the students brought in recyclable items to create Agent Green, a scarecrow that was entered in the Spring Hill Farms first annual scarecrow contest. They won a first place trophy along with a pizza party from Kraus’ Pizza!

Our wonderful and forever busy PTO provided us an entire day with COSI to study electricity. We had opportunities for "hands-on" learning experiences.

Gorrell students also observed Red Ribbon Week with various activities provided by Mrs. Link, our building counselor. She introduced us to our first character pillar of study, "respect" for ourselves and our fellow classmates.

Finally, our new beginning would not be complete without spirit week! We enjoyed different ways to show our support to the Massillon Tiger football team.

Celebrating Success at Franklin!

11/10/09

Not so long ago, Franklin School faced major consequences - its students fleeing to community schools, forced administration changes and loss of funding by way of paying for government-mandated services; improvement plans also had to be submitted to the state. The school was in the worst shape of any in Stark County.

But, this year it’s a success story. Franklin climbed out of improvement status — which it had been in for the past seven years — by making strides with all of its students, including minority and economically disadvantaged.

“There is no more blanket teaching,” said Principal Michael Medure. “You have to meet the cultural nuances that are out there. You have to bring your ‘A’ game every day.”

Before the bell rings to start another school day, Franklin’s approximately 300 students in grades pre-K through 4 fill the gymnasium. They read morning announcements, recite the Pledge of Allegiance and another pledge that gives rise to smiles and, more than that, administrators say: A belief in what once seemed out of reach.

“As rising learners, we are here to believe in ourselves, achieve our goals and succeed.”

I really think we’ve become purposeful,” said Susan Gardner, who is in her 15th year of teaching. “We really focus on the standards. We are really working together to get everyone in the school on the same page.”

Not only did Franklin achieve an “effective” rating, its students exceeded expected growth over the past two years and all student groups (including minority and low-income) achieved high enough marks in mathematics and reading to meet “adequate yearly progress,” a measurement mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act.

The school has a high percentage of low-income (nearly 88 percent) and special-needs students (13 percent), and nearly half of its student body is minority students.

Medure and his staff took up the challenge of increasing the odds of success by ensuring more opportunity for tutoring, volunteerism, intervention for children at risk, spurring parents to get involved and, just as importantly, getting kids to believe they could achieve.

Medure attributed the achievement to tutoring programs, partnerships with community organizations and focused intervention targeting struggling students. A program called, “Project More,” brought volunteers into the classroom to work one-on-one with students and provide extra staff support. Parental involvement also was key.

“Everyone pitched in, and the teachers were here before school, after school. It’s them,” Medure said. “They’ve been working for this, and now we’ve got it.”

Emerson Kindergarteners Explore Autumn

11/02/09

The Emerson kindergarten classes have been studying the season of fall and activities that happen during this time. In class we have been studying the life cycle of both apples and pumpkins and learning about gourds and Indian corn. The children are having fun comparing, estimating and measuring the pumpkins. In September we took a field trip to Varian Orchards to further explore nature, seasons and plants. Each child received a pumpkin donated by Paige's uncle, and we want to send a big thank you to her Uncle Jim.

Bowers Implements New Goals

10/27/09

The Bowers Building Leadership Team, in support of the District Leadership Team, has created reading, math and school climate goals to reach for and achieve by the end of this year. While all buildings in the district have aligned their own goals to the district goals, each building has created its own specific action steps that will help them reach these goals. Soon, our building plan will be on the Web site so we invite you all to look at our plan.

Of course, our reading and math goals are to promote our students to be at the proficient or greater level with the standardized tests that our students must take. So what is a school climate goal? Our school climate goal is geared toward reducing the incidents of all behaviors that lead to suspensions. We are also promoting positive behavior and school participation activities at E.G. Bowers Elementary School. We believe that activities that promote participation with our children, staff, parents and the community will lead to a positive school climate. We are doing this several ways:

v Bowers Beginnings – Each morning, all students and staff meet in the gym to begin the day. Positive messages from Project Wisdom, a character education program, are read. Students are recognized for good behavior from the previous day.

v Bowers supports another character education program with Character Counts. Each month, activities are done in the classroom to practice each of the pillars of character – trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. We have been discussing and celebrating the pillar of responsibility for September and October.

v Students are celebrated every month from each classroom based on the criteria for those pillars of character. The students honored for responsibility for September and October were given a t-shirt for their success at being responsible citizens at Bowers.

v A positive behavior management plan with a color wheel or chart has been implemented school wide. Green equals a good day; yellow, the children have received a warning; blue is a loss of a privilege; red is a phone call or note to parents. The goal for each child every day is to have a “green” day.

v Students who met the criteria of at least 33 “green” days for the first grading period were treated to a movie and popcorn in the gym on Oct. 23. A great time was had by all.

v Students will be working for another “green” day reward in January with a sock hop. Plans for a fun day of learning group dances like the Hokey Pokie, Macarena, Chicken Dance and the Electric Slide will be part of the festivities. Of course, there will be treats as well. There will be reward events for March and June as well. We will be celebrating good behavior all year long.

v The Bowers Education Action Team (B.E.A.T.) parent group has been a great support with our school climate goal. They donated popcorn for our Friday event at the movies. They have also purchased great shirts for all the students that show different colors for each grade level. We are scheduling T-shirt days for the children to wear their shirts to show school pride. The B.E.A.T group has recently spruced up our front door with mulch and mums, making the Bowers campus very inviting.

There are many more activities planned this year to promote school unity and parental involvement which, again, promotes a healthy school climate. We have Family Nights at each grade level, a Princess Dance and Spaghetti with a Prince along with our annual Pancake Breakfast, Carnival Night and Fun Day at Bowers. Last week, we celebrated Red Ribbon Week. The children participated in daily activities to promote healthy behaviors and make good decisions.

This week, we are celebrating Spirit Week for the traditional Massillon/McKinley football contest. Monday is Million Dollar Monday for our Million Dollar Tigers, Tuesday is pajama day for the Tired Pups, Wacky Wednesday is for wacky clothes, Thursday is Orange and Black Day for Obie, and Free Choice Friday is to wear clothes for one of our favorite teams like the Massillon Tiger football team. The children will be purchasing spirit links all this week and the money will be donated to the United Way. This is a great activity to have our children participate as they are doing something good for the community. We also had students from Washington High volunteer to work with one of our classes at Bowers. They helped our students make spirit necklaces.

All of these activities are designed to promote positive involvement with our children, staff, parents and community.

~Julie S. Brokaw, Bowers Elementary principal

Flu Shot

10/27/09

October 26, 2009

Dear Parents/Guardians:

As you may be aware, a new flu virus called the 2009 H1N1 (Swine flu) appeared in the United States in late April. This virus has caused mild to severe illness, including hospitalizations and deaths in adults and children.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that children and young adults aged 6 months through 24 years be vaccinated against 2009 h1N1 as soon as the vaccine is available. A flu shot is the best way to protect your child from this potentially serious disease. The Massillon City Health Department is working with your child’s school to give the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine to children at school, free of charge.

Your child may receive a H1N1 flu shot at his/her school of attendance on the following dates:

Emerson - November 9 - 9:30-11:30
Bowers - November 9 - 1:00- 3:30

Smith - November 10 - 9:30-11:30
Franklin - November 10 - 1:00-3:30

Whittier - November 12 - 9:30- until done
Gorrell - November 13 - 9:30- until done

MMS - November 18- 8:30-3:00
WHS - November 20 - 8:00-2:30

Massillon Digital - November 20-@ WHS- 8:00-2:30

One parent or guardian may be present for any child under 18 years of age. Children 9 years and younger will need another shot about 4 weeks after their first H1N1 shot. Plans will be made with the Massillon City Health Department to give the second shot for our students.

Each student was given an Influenza Vaccine Administration Record (permission slip) that must be returned no later than Wednesday, November 4, 2009 if you want your child to receive the H1N1 shot. In case it has been misplaced, you may contact your child’s building for a new copy of the permission slip. There can be no exceptions for returning the slip beyond this date. In case the Health Department does not have an adequate supply of vaccinations, new permission slips with a rescheduled date will be sent home.

If you have any questions about the vaccine or the vaccination clinic, please call the Massillon Health Department at 330-830-1712 between the hours of 9a.m. and 4 p.m. Please visit the CDC 2009 H1N1 Website at http://wwwcdc/h1n1flu and http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1fluparents for information especially for parents. Your child’s doctor can also answer your questions about the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus. You may also want to check with your doctor’s office to determine if they will be able to provide either the seasonal influenza vaccine and/or the 2009 H1N1 vaccine to your child.

Sincerely,

John Graven

Director of Pupil Services

Additional Flu Information Links

10/22/09

Access the following links below for more information on the H1N1.

Ohio's H1N1 Flu Shot Locator
http://publicapps.odh.ohio.gov/publicinfo/h1n1info.aspx

Ohio's H1N1 Informational Web Site
http://www.odh.ohio.gov/features/odhfeatures/h1n1vaccine.aspx

CDC National Web Site
http://flu.gov/

Flu Information Notice

10/09/09

Dear Families:

We are aware that influenza is currently circulating in our local community and wanted to pass along some information to help keep your family healthy.

All strains of flu are spread the same way, mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.

Symptoms of influenza can include:

• elevated temperature, usually over 100 F
• headache and body aches

• cough

• sore throat

• cold symptoms
• lethargy (sluggishness)

• dizziness
• nausea
• vomiting
• diarrhea

Our best line of defense is FREQUENT, good hand washing or the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Hands should be washed with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds; an alcohol-based hand sanitizer can be used if hand washing is not possible. Make sure you cough or sneeze into a tissue or the inside part of your bent elbow. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. This is how germs are spread. Please avoid contact with sick people.

If you feel your child is getting the flu, contact your physician. Your child is not to come to school if they have flu symptoms and they are to remain home until they are fever-free for 24 hours without medication.

For more in-depth information, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) website is very helpful - http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/parents/ .

Cases of influenza are diagnosed in our community every fall and winter. We are working with the Stark County Health Department on a regular basis to monitor this health issue. You can contact the health department with any specific questions at (330) 830-1714.

We will keep you informed and pass along any other information as it becomes available.

Sincerely,

LISA CARMICHAEL

Superintendent