Dear Parents,

It has been a very busy fall with many activities occurring. As we enter the holiday season our school will continue with its busy schedule and many activities.

On December 15th we will host our annual Holiday Concert. Students in grades Kindergarten-2nd Grade and 6th grade band will have the opportunity to perform for you and I would encourage you to attend this great event. I am confident that Ms. Bauer and Mrs. Feekes will put on a great show and I am certain you will not be disappointed.

On December 1st you will be receiving your child’s report card. This is an exciting time as you will be given some insight on your child’s academic progress. I would ask that you contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions regarding what is on the report card. This is an opportunity for us to communicate to you your child’s progress and we take that very seriously.

As December comes and goes the weather continues to get colder. Your child’s safety and well being is important to us so we ask that you dress your child appropriately. Within this newsletter you will find some “cold weather expectations” in regards to what your child should be wearing when they are outside in the elements. We want your child to have the opportunity to play so we do encourage the kids to get outside as often as possible. Please review these expectations carefully and respect these guidelines.

I want to thank you one more time for entrusting your kids to us. We take our responsibility very seriously here and work hard to give your child a safe and quality education.

Yours in Education,

Ethan

Principal’s Corner

Piedmont Valley

Elementary

Stallion News

December 2017

Upcoming

Events

12/15/17: PVE Holiday Concert

Morning Concert:

8:15 - 8:30 am Sixth grade band 8:30 - 9:00 am Kindergarten 9:00 - 9:30 am First grade 9:30 - 10:00 am Second Grade Afternoon Concert: 1:00 - 1:30 pm Kindergarten 1:30 - 2:00 pm First grade 2:00 - 2:30 pm Second grade

12/7/17: Spelling Bee at 1:15 pm (4th-6th grade), in the new gym

12/11/17: Geography Bee at 1:15 pm

12/19/17: Student of the Month Assembly at 1:30 pm

12/21-1/2: Christmas break

1/3/18: School resumes

The Character

Trait for

December is

“Compassion”

Caring, charity,

sharing,

concern,

kindness,

accepting

understanding

My first job was in a library. To be more precise, it was my first job not on my family’s farm.

I was the lone employee of the Sherwood Memorial Library on Main Street Doland. I was 14. Back then, we had no computer - just a squat wooden card catalog with narrow drawers that closed with a satisfying click.

They say the places important to us when we are young leave a deeper imprint than the places we encounter later in life. That little library is one of mine. I can conjure it up as easily as breathing. The smell: vanilla with notes of smoky amber – the result of a bit of alchemy created when paper and glue decay together. The glossy sheen of a carefully chosen picture book clasped in a small hand going out into the world. The smack of the date stamp kissing the next line of a card.

It was in that small, brick building that I met the Witch of Blackbird Pond and Rebecca and came to know with certainty that whatever I did with my life would include words and books. I continued to work in libraries throughout college while pursuing degrees heavily laden with the literary arts including a Master’s Degree in rhetoric. I’ve worked as a writer and editor and volunteered for the South Dakota Festival of Books and, more recently, the Sturgis Big Read. I continue to work as a freelance writer.

I began this position with the new school year. My days are a rotation between the elemen-tary schools in Sturgis, Piedmont, and Whitewood. Younger students have been introduced to a string of new books and are learning the basics of libraries and how they serve our schools and communities.

Thanks to new technology, those in upper elementary classes have been introduced to au-thors and illustrators through online interviews discussing the artistic process, the book in-dustry, and where ideas come from. My goal is to make these professionals accessible to students and their work tangible examples of dedication, practice, and success. We’re also exploring new ways to access stories, most recently with an introduction to podcasts.

One of our first lessons explained that each book has essentially its own address, its own place among the stacks. I’m sincerely honored to have a space among the stacks too. I hope I can play some small role in helping the children of our district love the written word as much as I do.

Have a wonderful holiday season.

Heidi Kruse, Elementary Librarian & Media Specialist

Heidi.M.Kruse@k12.sd.us

Fourth Grade News

Happy Holidays! There has been a whirlwind of activities going on. All the 4th

graders are working hard to achieve proficiency on our common core standards.

We are striving to become lifelong readers, learning to read for enjoyment as

well as learning to read to gain information. Novels and our basal reader help us

reach this goal and the great Pizza Hut Book It program is a fun and easy way

for us to get a free pizza every month. We are working hard to be responsible

with handing in our assignments and making sure our parents sign our reading

logs and planners regularly. Those tasks help us to earn scholar dollars and

allow us to participate in our monthly Incentive Parties. We had a great time at

our first two!

We enjoy using our Ipads in our classrooms this year. We use them to take our

NWEA assessments, practice Lexia and Dreambox, practice cursive writing and

work on math games. We will also be using them for writing and research as the

year goes on. The Human Body app (shows how our insides work) is very helpful

with our Human Body unit.

Investigations Math has been helping us open up to other ways of working out

our math problems. We are working on finding friendly numbers to help us with

new strategies to multiply and divide. This year we get to build and eat a

certain treat if we know our math facts. Each step we achieve we get to add

more treats to our end result. Our first treat was to build an ice cream sundae.

Our teachers have designed a very unique way to teach us

science and social studies. They teach a specialized class to

each of the 4 classes; which is either a unit of science or a unit

of social studies. It is fun to be able to move to different

rooms to learn a variety of things from our teachers.

December

Jeren Andrzejewski, Lanna Argiz, Emma Benson, Rielly Benson, Katelyn Brant, Charolotte Bult, alesandria Burdick, Bryson Chayka, Timothy Cortier, Nathanial Devina, Braydan Doak, Griffin Ewing, Jackson Gaeta, Aron Gray, Jordan Hanak, Mason Hodina, Sarah Ihnot, Inukihaanganna Inukihaanagana, Raeya Jones, Grayden Juve, Jesse Kranzler, Sean LaFramboise, Dylan Larsen, Ethan Ligtenberg, Mary Ligtenberg, Vance Marso, Annabella McKeown, Devon McKeown, Izzabella McKeown, Gage Miller, Tucker Millhouse, Turner Montgomery, Bryce Musgrave, Orion Nelson, Harper O’Dea, Beau Odegaard, Nolan Oliver, Destiny Ownbey, Isabella Page, Kannon Page, Kaylynn Paule, Garrett Pierce, Grant ProKop, Jayden Rahn, Audrey Scarborough, Jazmin Shaw, Ben Storm, Elizabeth Storm, Louis Two Eagle, Haitia Valandra, Tucker Waddelll, Riley Weishaar, Allie Whitman, Rayna Williamson, Alyssa Yeary

File: JED

ATTENDANCE POLICY

Elementary Schools and Middle School:

In accordance with school law, elementary and middle school students are expected to regularly attend school for the entire term.

Absences other than excused absences shall be considered truancy. Excessive absenteeism shall be defined as exceeding ten (10) days per school year for any reason. If a condition of excessive absenteeism occurs, the principal shall provide the parents/guardians with written notice of the school’s concern. If absenteeism continues, legal authorities will be notified, unless it has been determined that the excessive absenteeism is for reasons beyond the control of the parent and/or student. (i.e. illness and/or hospitalization)

Failure to attend school regularly and failure to make up required work are factors which will be considered in determining the promotion or retention of elementary and middle school students.

take the time to

read the student-

parent handbook

District Mission

“To Build Knowledge and Skills for Success Today and Tomorrow”

Heidi Kraft

Kellie Thomas

Counselor

Ginger Johnson

Family Services Worker

Rhonda Ramsdell

Food Service

Nurse

Julie Dobler

Heidi Komes

Piedmont Valley Elementary

605.787.5295 phone

605.787.5954 fax

www.meade.k12.sd.us

Mr. Ethan Dschaak

Principal

Kelli Wilson

Sam Spear

Piedmont Valley

Administrative Assistant

CONTACTS

Our Vision: "Meade School District will work in conjunction with its community to provide excellent academics and

co-curricular activities that develop life-long learners and productive citizens.”