Deweys Diary

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Vol. 9 No. 5 January 2014

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Classes resume Dads & Donuts, 8 a.m., Gym District dual-immersion parent meeting, 6 p.m., District Offices at 9400 S. 300 E. 14 PTA meeting, 9 a.m., PTA Room 15 Art Through the Ages training, 9:30 a.m., Kiva 15 Mix-it-up Lunch during lunch hours 20 No School Martin Luther King Jr. Day 21-23 Art Through the Ages: Renaissance 24 Fourth-/Fiifth-Grade Science Fair 28 Career Day, 9-10:30 a.m. 28-30 Art Through the Ages: Renaissance 31 Chinese New Year begins

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No Dads and Donuts in February 5 Spirit Night at Chick-fil-A, 5-7 p.m., Southtowne location 6 Harmons PTA Day, 3-8 p.m., Bangerter Crossing store 7 No School Data/Professional Development day for teachers 11 PTA meeting, 9 a.m., PTA Room 14 Valentines Day Class Parties 17 No School Presidents Day 18-21 White and Blue Ribbon Week (Respect, media safety, anti-bullying) 27 Second PTA Box Tops contest ends 27 Early Out Day 28 No School End of term

To paraphrase education philosopher Yogi Berra, "School success is 90 percent showing up; the other half is mental." As humorous as this quote may be, research does show conclusively that attendance is strongly associated with student achievement. We empathize when students are absent due to illness or extraordinary events. Our Draper Elementary staff wants our families to know how important it is for your child to be here whenever possible, because we know how important it is to your childs success. Draper has a goal of at least 95 percent daily attendance for each term. In our first term, we just met our goal with 95.3 percent attendance. For term 2, we are currently at 93 percent attendance, just short of our goal. Below are ways that parents can help us meet our attendance goals this year: 1. Reinforce with your child the importance of attending school each day. 2. Keep home students who have a fever over 100 F or higher, or who have an illness that is contagious. This will help prevent the spread of viruses. 3. Remind your student to wash hands frequently during the day. 4. Ensure your student gets plenty of rest and drinks plenty of water on a daily basis. 5. Remind your student to dress for the weather, and to wear a coat when outside in the winter. 6. Strive to schedule appointments before or afterschool or on non-school days. 7. If your child must be absent, please call the office, 801-8268275, every day of absence.

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This years PTA Day at Harmons Grocery at Bangerter Crossing is Feb. 6. A portion of all sales that day goes to our school. A variety of PTA activities for children will be available in the store from 3-8 p.m. Look for Draper Elementarys decorated check-out stand, our parents bagging groceries and running activities. This years PTA Day theme is Loving to Learn about Healthy Eating.

Chinese New Year is an annual celebration marking the start of the year according to the Chinese lunisolar calendar. Chinese New Year always falls in the months of January or February, and each Chinese New Year is represented by one of the 12 creatures of the Chinese Zodiac 2014 is the year of the Horse. Chinese New Year is also known as the Spring Festival and in pre-modern times it would signal to farmers in China that they must begin preparation for the sowing of their fields. For more information about local Chinese New Year celebrations utahimmersioncouncil.org.

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Happy New Year! I hope your holidays were joyous. As we head into January, we are preparing for our mid-year AIMSweb assessments. These are the reading and math standardized tests that are administered three times a year (Fall, Winter, and Spring) that help us make sure all of our students are making appropriate gains and learning grade level skills. We have been working hard and learning much these tests will show us how well our students are progressing. January will likely bring more cold weather and snow. Please be sure that your children are prepared to play comfortably outside. Boots and warm pants are recommended. Extra socks, mittens and a hat stored in backpacks come in very handy. Its important to dress warmly and appropriately because students go outside twice every day to benefit from sunlight and exercise. We may shiver as adults, but they truly love to go outside to run and play. ! We are excited for the sense of renewal and positive energy that the new year brings! We continue to be grateful for the wonderful students and families at Draper Elementary, and we extend our best wishes to all of you for a safe, healthy, and happy 2014. !Piper Riddle, Principal

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Mrs. Pixtons fifth-grade class won the fall Box Tops contest and has won a class ice-cream party from the PTA. The next four highest classes who won a class prize are: Mrs. Owens third-grade class, Ms. Lonakers second-grade class, Ms. Crawfords second-grade class, and Mrs. Heiner and Mrs. Wertners third-grade class. Our next Box Tops contest finishes the end of February so keep clipping.

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Draper Dragons Preston Russell and Noah Stika are both moving on to the district level of the Reflections program in the category of film. Addison Yeomans, literature; Holden Bailey, photography; and Tessa Smith, visual arts; all received an Honorable Mention Award from the South Council.

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Here are a few reminders we ask parents to observe when dropping children off and picking up students at school:! Please be attentive to children and other vehicles and be courteous to other drivers. Obey the speed limit and traffic rules. Slow down when entering the parking lot If you are parking for pick up, you need to park in a designated parking space. If none are available, you may need to join those waiting in the pick-up lane. The side parking lot is closed to traffic after school. Weve had many close calls - it is too congested to have vehicles pulling in and out of the east lot when children are crossing and two lanes of cars are entering the main lot. Use sidewalks and crosswalks. Do not cross in between buses or cars. Please note that our parking lot is one way. Please respect homes and business around our school. Please do not use a business parking lot as a pick up location. Please do not block the driveways of our neighbors. Please respect school staff that is enforcing traffic rules.

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Our school has been working on an updated Student Neighborhood Access Program (SNAP) plan, which includes our safe walking routes and our parking lot safety procedures plan. You can view both items (including detailed maps) by visiting our schools website at draper.canyonsdistrict,org, then click on safe walking routes under the School Info tab. The beginning of January is a great time to set personal goals for the New Year! As you are setting your own goals, please consider setting a goal to volunteer three hours or more during this school year! There are many ways that you can help at school or at home, just ask your room parent, your teacher, or anyone on the PTA board for ideas! Each member of our T.E.A.M. is important; you are making a difference in our community when you volunteer! !Kerri Brown, 2013-14 PTA President draperelementarypta@gmail.com