Sunset News

Volume 58, Issue 8 April 2012

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April 2012 I just returned from great professional

learning in sunny Seattle. The best of the

best educational researchers and trend

watchers were there. What an inspiration!

A few things I learned:

When professional learning goes away so

does improvement. This inspires our

staff to continue learning, as we want to

improve our craft to enrich students.

Sunset staff is on the cutting edge in

beliefs, actions, instruction, innovation,

and educating the whole child.

A team is defined as: A group of people

working interdependently to achieve a

common goal in which all members are

mutually accountable. I believe we have

great teams at Sunset; I encourage us

to continue developing our teams

including parents and students.

Innovation is: disruptive, experimental,

focused, local, associated with error.

Stress is bad for the brain! Brains must

have an activity & then recover from it

to have healthy brain stress responses.

Repeated hits of stress or trauma on

children cause impulsivity, terrible short

term memory, and an inability to predict

what will happen if…(the future). A

child responds with impulsive, popcorn

actions or sits back, unengaged. Either

way, the child is not learning. There is

true ADHD, but a stressed child has

many of the same behaviors.

I am glad to be back home with my Sunset

family and my own family; but the trip was

worth it. Thanks to the great staff and

students for working hard on PAWs and

classwork while I was away.

I hope you each have plans to have fun,

relax, de-stress, and even do some learning

with your own families during our upcoming

break – April 6 through April 15.

Mrs. Farmer, Principal

Tues. April 3 — 3:30 pm

Sunset Garden Meeting

Tues. April 3 — 630 pm

K—1 Bugz Musical

Weds. April 4—class

pictures

Thurs. April 5– One Day

Without Shoes event

Fri. April 6—No School

April 9—13 —Spring Break

Mon. April 16 –Back to

School at 8:10 am please!

Tues. April 17 — 4:30 –

7:30 pm Family Fun & Food

Nite at McDonald’s

Weds. April 18—11:30 am

PTA meeting

Fri. April 20— 730 am

Donuts with Dads

Tues. April 24 — 5 am

Lifetime Channel show

Thurs. April 26— Last

Newsletter deadline

Mon. April 30— Title 1

No

School

Newsletter

deadline

Meeting &

Musical

PTA

meeting

Spring Break—No School

Class

Pictures

Title 1

Survey Due

One Day

Without

Shoes

Bell rings

at 8:10 am

Donuts

with Dads

Family,

Food & Fun

Night

TV

show

Attention all gardeners and self proclaimed green thumbs, Mr. Krubeck here, 4th grade teacher at Sunset Elementary, and I am very pleased to announce the creation of the Sunset Elementary school garden. The goal is to raise organic produce that will be served to our students in the cafeteria. Your help is needed in the planning, securing materials, and implementation of this amazing, engaging, and healthy school project. There will be a school garden meeting Tuesday, April 3, at 3:30pm in the art/science room. If you would be willing to help, lend your expertise, or are just curious, please plan to join us for this meeting. See

you there.

Cody High School Student

Council is raising money for

Make-A-Wish week for

Landon. He is a six year old

from Basin with a congenital

heart defect. They are

putting the money towards a

Buddy Bike for Landon. They

are selling blue bracelets

for $1 each that say “CHS

2012 Landon’s Wish”. See

Mrs. Meyer to get yours and

support this worthy cause.

Sunset 4th & 5th

grades invite all

Sunset students,

staff & guests to

go without shoes

for one day on

Thursday, April

5th. This is to raise awareness of the

impact a simple pair of shoes can bring to a

child’s life. Permission slips with more

information went home last week. They are

also asking each person in the school to

donate just 25¢ to help buy shoes for needy

children in Cody. Look at this

website with your family for

m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n :

onedaywithoutshoes.com

The Sunset All

School Title 1

Survey will be

going home in the

Monday folder on April

23rd with the youngest

or only child. Please

fill it out and send it

back to school by April

30th. Each family will

have a chance for one

of the three

Kindles we’ll

be giving

away. Thank

you!

C l a s s r o o m

pictures with

Bill Blake on

April 4th.

O r d e r i n g

details will

be sent home at a later

date.

Our next Parent-Teacher

Association meeting will be held on

Weds. April 18th at 1130 am in

the K-1 Boardroom. Bring a lunch!

All parents and staff are invited and

encouraged to attend.

Elections for PTA Executive will be

held in May, please

consider President,

V i c e - P r e s i d e n t ,

S e c r e t a r y o r

Treasurer.

Sunset Elementary School PTA

Sunset School Parent-Teacher Association

@SunsetPTA

From the Handbook—please review with

your children

BICYCLES: If a student rides a bicycle to

school, they must park it in the racks

provided. Students are to push their

bikes once they reach the school’s

sidewalks. No bike riding is allowed after

the student gets to school. It is the

responsibility of the

student to provide

bicycle chains and locks.

(Your PTA recommends

you also wear a bicycle

helmet!)

SCOOTERS: If a student rides a scooter

to school, they should fold it up as soon as

they reach the school’s sidewalks. There

is to be no scooter riding on the school

premises. Scooters are to be stored in

your classroom or locked at the bicycle

rack.

SKATEBOARDS AND ROLLER BLADES:

Skateboards and roller blades are not to

be used at school.

STUDENTS WALKING TO SCHOOL:

Students walking to school should use the

sidewalks and obey all traffic rules and

crossing guard. Please respect the private

property of others at all times.

TRAFFIC SAFETY: Be sure that your

child is able to cross the street properly

and safely, paying attention to the traffic

lights and marked crosswalks.

Page 4 Sunset News

Olson, Davis & Foley

The first grade reading challenge is off to a great

start! Students have been challenged to read 40,000

minutes by May 4th and they have already reached

over 13,000! When students meet their 40,000

minute mark we will have a fun reading celebration.

Other news in first grade-:

First graders have been enjoying guest writing

teacher rotations as the first grade teachers rotate

into different classrooms to teach writing. First

graders are participating in various writing activities

including how to books, letters to Mrs. Briggs, silly

sentences and much more. Be sure to ask your first

grader about this new writing adventure.

Mrs. Hill

Happy Spring! Well, I can't believe that Spring Break is

just around the corner! Time flies when you are having

fun, which is exactly what is going on in Mrs. Hill's

classroom. :) Along with all of this fun, we will be

studying time to the nearest minute,

length to the nearest half inch and

money combinations! We are also

starting an exciting poetry unit which is

sure to bring out the amazing creative

minds in our classroom! Looking

forward to a fantastic April!

Kindergarten Registration: If your child turns 5 by

September 15, 2012, register for Kindergarten on

Wednesday, April 4, from 8:00 AM. – 4:00 PM at

the Stock Activities Center at Cody High School on

Beck Avenue. Please bring your child’s immunization

records and birth certificate. Make an appointment for

the Kindergarten Screening and enroll in the

Kindergarten Readiness Camp.

Kindergarten Screening: All incoming Kindergarten

students will need to be screened. Screening is by

appointment only and appointments are made at

registration. Screening will be on Wednesday, May 9,

from 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM at the Stock Activities

Center at Cody High School on Beck Avenue. This

standardized readiness screening will take

approximately 45 minutes. The results from this

screening will help determine readiness levels specific

to Kindergarten and will help answer questions if there

are concerns that a child may need another year to

grow.

Kindergarten Readiness Camp: KRC will be June 11 –

June 21, Monday – Thursday, 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM at

Sunset Elementary School. The Kindergarten Readiness

Camp is going to be an excellent opportunity for

children to transition from preschool or home to

Kindergarten in the fall. This program is being provided

free to any child registering for Kindergarten for the

2012-2013 school year.

Cole, Barnhart & Ellsbury

March was a busy month filled with many exciting

learning opportunities for our Sunset Second

Graders! In Math, we continued to work on Time,

Money, Graphing, and Calculator Skills each week.

We work on a different skill each day. The kids

are enjoying the variety!

In reading, we are learning about different

literary genres and learning to write summaries.

In writing, we have been working on Poetry and

nonfiction writing pieces. We are linking our

nonfiction writing to Yellowstone.

In Social Studies, we are learning about Maps and

the Compass Rose. We have also been learning a

little bit of Spanish!

Where did the month go??? Fourth grades finished

their PAWS testing this week, and worked very

hard. We’re learning all about the world of high

finance with our money unit in Math, and our

TOWN dollars. Poetry is going well, and the

students are creating many unique and wonderful

poems for their portfolios.

4th and 5th grades are sponsoring the

One Day without Shoes event. See the

details in this newsletter.

Page 5 Sunset News

Miss Pinney

This month we will be finishing our study on

the lives of Classical and American composers

and their influence on music. We will continue

to grow musically through a variety of music

activities in GAMEPLAN, Mallet Madness, and

the World Drumming Curriculum. The

Kindergarten and 1st grade classes are ready

to present the musical “Bugz.” It will be

p e r f o r m e d o n ,

Tuesday, April 3rd at

the High School

Wynona Thompson

Auditorium at 6:30

p.m. See you there.

Mrs. Baumstarck

The "Six Pillars of Character" Second Step class

focus is on "Fairness". The definition of fairness

is "that a person of character is fair and just, is

impartial, listens, and is open to differing

viewpoints". "If we focus on six core values, we

have developed a way for everyone to become a

better person. If each of us works at becoming a

better person and tries to treat everyone we

work with, play with, and meet decently, then

together we all will make a better world." Quotes

by Alliance Publishing and Marketing, Inc.

Mr. Beaudrie

Below is a list of some of

the activities the kids can

look forward to in finishing

the year.

Tumbling

Kicking Skills

Striking Skills (baseball/

softball)

Fitness Testing

Obstacle Course

4th/5th Grade Track Meets

4th Grade - Monday, May 14th

5th Grade - Tuesday,

May 15th

4th Grade Make-

up Wednesday, May 16th

5th Grade Make-up

Thursday, May 17th

Field Day

Discuss these tips with your

children on how to be a Fair Person

Treat people the way you want

to be treated.

Take turns.

Tell the truth.

Play by the rules.

Think about how your actions

will affect others.

Listen to people with an open

mind.

Don't blame others for your

mistakes.

Don't take advantage of other

people.

Don't play favorites.

May Newsletter Deadline

Thurs. April 26th

Please send your submissions to

sunsetpta@nazdorovya.com

Point B 4-H Community

Club meeting: Monday,

April 16th at 3:30pm at

the EOC Room, lower

level of the Court House.

Everyone is welcome. For

more information,

contact Pepper Werner,

587-2732 or

finallywy@yahoo.com

Join our Sunset Family for our traditional

event. Friday, April 20th at 730 am.

Students attend with a significant Male

influence in their lives to feast on breakfast

treats, beverages and quality time.

Entertainment is also provided. Mom’s are

welcome to volunteer to help!

2012 Annual Baseball Dinner &

Dance; Fri. April 20; 250-1175

Cody Youth Baseball Season opens

May 1st; 587-2563;

www.eteamz.com/codybaseball1

You can register for Summer Camps

now!

Camp Invention—June 11– 15

Scholarships available, see Mrs.

Baumstark. www.invent.org

Kindergarten Readiness—June 11-

21; see office for details

Yellowstone Fire Soccer Camp—

June 25-29;

www.challengersports.com

Cody Bronc Youth Football Camp—

July 23-27; 587-6110

Northern Edge Hockey Camp—

Aug. 13—17; 587-1681

www.northern-edge.com

Park County Youth Hockey Assn—

Learn to Play; Aug. 20-Sept. 28 —

250-4633

Please let us know of other Summer

Camps for kids around Cody!

Cody Youth Activities Many of you know that Cody's very own Sunset

Elementary School was filmed for a segment on

Lifetime TV's morning show, The Balancing

Act. We are very excited about this opportunity

to be on national television and enjoyed the

adventure of filming with the Lifetime team.

The special segment is called The Parent Teacher Corner, of Lifetime Television’s popular show, The Balancing Act, on Tuesday April 24th at 5:00 am!

Be sure to watch or record

The Balancing Act on April

24th and encourage your

family and friends to do the

same!

Thanks for your support.

Top of the Hill Gang