OCTOBER NEWSLETTER

Mintonye

Elementary

October 2018 | Fall Issue

NEWSLETTER

We are well into the swing of the school year. It is good to be back to school and a routine, to see all the smiling faces, and to feel the energy that fills the halls of Mintonye!

Here are some tips to help each day unfold as smoothly as possible.

Have set times for getting up, going to bed, meals, chores, and homework. Try not to deviate from the schedule except in emergencies. Experts agree that elementary school students need at least ten hours of sleep nightly and that television and gaming should be limited.
Keep a master family calendar posted in a central location and record everything as soon as it is scheduled. Your family will be able to see, at a glance, what each day holds.
We are off to a great start! We want to thank you for helping your child getting each day started on the right foot; a good night's sleep, followed with a nutritional breakfast, and a hug and a smile as they enter school!

We hope you can join us on Tuesday, October 2, from 5:00 - 7:00 PM for the Mintonye PTO benefit at McDonalds on 231S near Beck Lane. 25% of all dine in and drive thru sales will benefit the Mintonye PTO.

Sincerely,

Mr. Skaggs, Principal

Welcome to New Staff!

Chris Miller, First Grade Classroom Teacher
Jamie Hoversland, Reading Tutor
Jasmine Vinson, Paraprofessional
Sarah Inskeep, Paraprofessional
Anjanette Lee, Paraprofessional
Deb Honsowetz, Paraprofessional
Shantel Wade, Paraprofessional
Candace Dallinger, Resource Room Aide
Ashley Hudson, Instructional Coach
Danya Cain, Student Teacher
Jonathan Riesterer, Student Teacher
Collin Nicoson, Student Teacher
Jenn Logan, Food Services

Congratulations to Mr. Hall! His DonorsChoose.org grant was fully funded for "Flexible Seating with Flexible Small Groups". His classroom will soon receive several Neorok wobble stools for student use.

Congratulations to Mrs. Wise! Her DonorsChoose.org grant, "Make Mornings Fun" has been fully funded and her classroom will soon benefit from lots of cool STEM equipment!

Textbook Rental Fees may be paid online through the PowerSchool Parent Portal or in the office.

2018-2019 Textbook Rental Fees

K $ 88.77

1 $ 95.96

2 $ 95.35

3 $ 82.82

4 $ 84.40

5 $ 85.41

Need Assistance?

All families may apply for meal and textbook financial assistance by logging into the TSC Powerschool Parent Portal.

If you have already received textbook rental reduction your adjusted fees will be reflected after October 1, 2018 in the PowerSchool Parent Portal.

Need to Contact the Office?

If your child will be absent or late to school we ask that you make every effort to contact the office at 765.538.2780 as soon as possible.

If you have changes to your personal email addresses or contact phone numbers, please correct the information in the PowerSchool Parent Portal or call the Mintonye Office for assistance.

Notes on Arrival and Departure

To keep everyone safe during arrival and dismissal, we need to keep car traffic and bus traffic separated, and we need to keep the children off the parking lot. The safety procedure below has worked well for many years and we appreciate your compliance.

Please follow these instructions:

To drop-off, please enter the driveway between Mintonye and Southwestern Middle School and drive behind the school. You may park anywhere along the sidewalk behind the school. Your child is to get out of the right side of your vehicle onto the sidewalk when the 8:50 a.m. bell rings, and the school doors have automatically unlocked.

To pick-up, please enter the driveway between Mintonye and Southwestern Middle School and drive behind the school. Park along the east curved sidewalk by the baseball fields. Your child is to get into the right side of your car next to the sidewalk when teachers bring them out at the 3:30 p.m. bell.

Parents are welcome to come into the school during arrival and dismissal, but still need to follow the above traffic procedures. Watch for children placing or removing cones and do not attempt to breach the cone area when children are on the blacktop. Safety is our number one concern and your patience and compliance is expected.

Children are not to be dropped off at the school any earlier than 8:50, unless attending the YMCA Before and After School Care. We have had a large number of children coming into the school as much as an hour and a half early and we cannot allow unsupervised early drop offs to continue. Other before and after school care can be found at River City Church on Beck Lane or via small in home daycares.

Children entering the school after arrival need to be signed in, by an adult, to the office.

We thank you for having your child's after school transportation plans made before school begins. The number of calls received and messages to relay to teachers and students becomes disruptive to the teaching environment. Any changes to your child's normal routine must be communicated in writing through your child's teacher. If there is NO note, we will follow your child's normal after school plan.

Any events that take place after the final bell are considered extra curricular and a note is desired by the office to approve your child staying after school. The note can be as simple as one note providing approval for your child to stay every Monday, Tuesday, etc. for a certain club. We would love to assume they can attend, since they are registered, but we often don't have rosters of all attendees, since there are a variety of different clubs and sponsors that offer these special opportunities. Please help us to keep your child safe and confident about his/her after school instruction.

Don't forget you can follow your child in real time, on their bus with the Here Comes The Bus app.

What's Cooking?

Student lunch costs $1.90 and breakfast costs $1.15. Meals come with a milk, but additional milk may be purchased for $.50. Deposits to your child's meal account may be made at myschoolbucks.com. Monthly breakfast and lunch menus can be accessed and printed at TSC menus. You may also choose to have the menus emailed direct to your family at Going Green! Menus.

You may join your child for lunch anytime you wish. Please notify the office by calling in advance at 765.538.2780. Adult lunch is $2.70 and may be charged to your child's meal account or you may provide the exact cash amount in person when you arrive.

Giving Back!
There are many ways to give back at Mintonye including helping in a classroom, assisting the PTO with any of their special events, the Scholastic Book Fair, etc. Be sure to complete the required Background Information. We would love to work with you!

Background Check.

In addition to the amazing parental support, one can assist via business programs that benefit our schools. Funding can be provided by Box Tops for Education (funds supplement the fifth grade field trip account), pop can tabs, ink cartridges and cell phone batteries (for Earth Day activities). Our most recent collection of pop tabs yielded 95,163 and weighed over 62 pounds! Thank you for your support!

Nurse's Notes

As the summer wraps up, it is important to remember that flip flips (although allowed) pose several risks to students during the day. We often see flip flop "blow out", twisted ankles, blisters, and ripped toenails. While cute, they offer little foot support and expose your child's feet to the mulch and dirt of the playground. We encourage you to send your child to school with covered or lace-up shoes or tennis shoes, when possible.

Please do not send your child to school if they have a temperature over 100, are vomiting, or experiencing diarrhea at any point within the last 24 hours.

Remember we are a peanut-wise school when sending classroom snacks and lunches for your child. There are some classrooms and specific areas in the cafeteria where peanuts are not allowed.

Encourage your children to wash their hands frequently, refrain from sharing drinks, chapsticks, etc. and to cover their coughs with the inside corner of their elbows to cut down on the spread of germs. As always, feel free to contact the school nurse, Shari VanHook or health assistant, Paulette Chase.

Getting Involved

We are happy to have an amazing group of dedicated and involved parents. It takes many hands and minds to host and fund the events that have come to be a tradition here. Parents of all students are invited to participate in any fashion. Volunteers are needed to help plan, set up, chaperone, and tear down events. The more the merrier. Attend the next PTO meeting, held the second Thursday of each month, immediately after school, in the media center. Our next meeting is Thursday, October 11. (Childcare is available during the meeting.) We need YOU! Remember to complete the Background Check.

We love our dedicated Read to Succeed volunteers and are looking for at least one more to volunteer. Would you consider volunteering to share the love of reading with our students?

School Notifications

Sign up for notifications from Tippecanoe School Corporation and Mintonye Elementary (as well as other TSC schools) HERE.

Additional sources of information can be found on FM radio WKOA 105.3 and on WLFI TV18.

Stay in the Know

TSC supports "green" efforts and as such to help ensure students receive information about community services or events, flyers from non-profit outside organizations are posted online in a section called E-flyers. All E-Flyers can be accessed on the TSC website by clicking the 'students' or 'parents' link in the upper right hand corner of the webpage. E-Flyers will be posted on the 15th and 30th of the month so be sure to check regularly for newly posted information. If your qualifying organization is interested in posting an E-Flyer, go to www.tscschools.com E-flyers section to submit the information.

School Safety

In accordance with state and local policy, Mintonye staff and students take part in several safety drills each year.

Tornado drills are conducted 2 times per semester. Fire drills are conducted monthly. Lock-Down drills are conducted at least once per semester.

Our teaching staff does a wonderful job of speaking with their students prior to the drills to explain that preparedness is essential. The drills are conducted as "Safety Drills" and they are done with the same frequency so that students have a familiarity with the procedures and remain calm and confident during the safety plan.

WeTip Hotline

TSC takes the safety of their students, staff, administration, and community very serious. If you have pertinent information or know of suspicious activity, please anonymously contact the WeTip Hotline at 1.800.78.CRIME.

Food Finders Food Drive

We look forward to coordinating the 2018 Drive Away Hunger Food Drive for the Lafayette Food Finders. The food drive will be before Winter Break and coordinated by the Scouts of Mintonye. Daily donation suggestions and themes will be posted closer to the Food Drive. We thank you!

Photo Retakes

Photo retakes is scheduled for November 9. On photo retake day classroom photos and club photos will be taken. If your child is in scouts, Lego League, Vex Robotics, etc. and has a club tee shirt or uniform, please have them wear it.

If your receive your child's photo proofs and would like retakes, send the original photo package back to school on Photo Retake Day.