Mid Quarter Grades

Dear Parents,

We hope you are enjoying the cool down--we know we are!! It is hard to believe that the first quarter is half over! Mid quarter grades are being sent home this week in your child's Thursday Folder. Please look over your child's grades and discuss his or her performance in each class with your child.  After you have done so, please fill out, sign, and return the parent confirmation sheet that is attached to the grade print out. This needs to be returned to school as soon as possible. If there are any concerns please contact your child's teacher.

**Also, if you have not already done so, please contact your child's teacher(s) to set up a fall confernece time. **

Thank you for your continued support!
~Ms.  Hull and Mrs. Helmbrecht

Writing

Greetings Parents!

Writing class has been packed full of work during these last 5 weeks! The students have learned about the four steps to writing:

1. Pre-writing--thinking of ideas to write about.
2. Drafting--writing down initial ideas.
3. Editing--reading through what you've written to make sure the content flows and makes sense.
4. Proofreading--fixing grammatical errors as well as punctuation and formatting mistakes.

We have been focusing on step four in detail these last few weeks. During this step students have been using proofreading marks to proofread pre-written text. They have gotten very good at identifying mistakes as well as identifying the correct proofreading marks to use. We will continue to delve deeper into proofreading during the remainder of the quarter.

A glimpse ahead: quarter two is focused on practical writing skills; quarter three focuses on narrative writing skills and quarter four focuses on descriptive writing skills.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your child's teacher.

Cheers!

Ms. Hull and Mrs. Helmbrecht

Bus Safety

Bus safety is taught each year. This week all STRIDE Academy students are learning about bus safety.  Each child participates in this training regardless of whether they ride the bus to school or not.

If you have questions please contact your child's teacher.

Book Orders --Ms. Hull

In Ms. Hull's homeroom, book order forms were sent home last week in the Thursday Folder. If you would like to order your child a book, please fill out the form and return it with the payment by September 30th, 2011.

Remember you can also order online (and earn a free book for your child's classroom). Please use the code HYYX2 to order from Ms. Hull's class.

Calling All Leaders!

September: Lead By Example

"A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way." ~John C. Maxwell

As we continue to progress through the month please talk with your child about STRIDE Academy's Leader of the Month theme: leading by example.  We, as teachers, encourage our students to understand that in order to lead by example each student needs to think about how their words and actions support the development of the leader within them as well as how thier words and actions affect others.

The students that Mrs. Helmbrecht and Ms. Hul nominate this month for Leader of the Month will be students who practice restraint and good judgment as well as understand that being a leader is NOT telling others student what to do (bossing them around) but rather showing others by thier actions. The old adage, "actions speak louder than words" works well when discussing this theme.

Thank you for talking to your chidren about being leaders and incorperationg the monthly themes into your homes. Best of luck to each second grade student. We've been impressed thus far, so keep up the great work parents and students.

Ms. Hull and Mrs. Helmbrecht

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!

Greetings Parents!

Your child's school pictures should have been sent home this week. If you are interested in picture retakes, please have your child's origional pictures and new forms returned to school ASAP.

Picture retakes are scheduled for Friday, September 23^rd

^Cheers!

^{Ms. Hull and Ms. Helmbrecht}

Transportation Update

Transportation Update

On Tuesday, September 6th we will begin busing with the St. Cloud and Sauk Rapids School Districts.  If you have not yet received updated busing information, please contact Linda at the Elementary School. 

Leaders of the Month!

Each month throughout the year STRIDE Academy will focus on a theme that connects with our Leader Expectations and/or the 7 Habits.  This theme will first be presented at a school-wide assembly at both the Elementary and the Middle School, and then reinforced as the month goes on in the classrooms.  We kicked off this month’s theme September 1st, Lead by Example.  The following quote is one your children will be talking about, as well as see around the school, throughout September as they are focusing on leading by example:

A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.


~ John C. Maxwell

In addition to introducing the new theme for the month at our Leader Assemblies, we will also be recognizing the Leaders of the Month from the previous month.  Two students from each grade will be selected each month that exhibited characteristics, above and beyond the theme for the month. 

Congratulations our August Leaders of the Month

Developing Good Habits

2nd Grade: Jacob and Tamara

In addition to being recognized at the school-wide assemblies, students will receive a certificate, have their picture posted on the Leader Board, and receive a formal lunch, downtown at Food Ecstasy with Mr. Ulbrich, Mrs. DeDominces, and Mr. Haagenson.  Congratulations again to STRIDE Academy’s first Leaders of the Month!  Keep up the hard work! 

Always Remember, Never Forget

Always Remember, Never Forget was and is a phrase that has lived in our heart since September 11th, 2001, and continues to be passed on through stories with our children today that do not have a living memory of that infamous day. 


As the nation prepares to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, many parents and teachers are struggling with how to teach about the disastrous events.  Many younger students, meanwhile, might not even realize the significance of the day itself.  “When young students watch the image of the two towers being attacked, they don’t understand if that’s happening now, if it’s happening many times over, or one time,” said Joan Brodsky Schur, a longtime member of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and author of We Are Living History: Reflections of a New York City Social Studies Teacher.

At STRIDE, you can be certain that the teaching we do will be done in a respectful way towards the people who gave their lives, but also respect the needs of children.  Please take time next week and talk about this piece of our history in your homes. Below you will see some of the resources we will be using on Friday September 9, 2011 to teach the second grade students about his important day.   Please feel free to use them as well and pass them on to other parents. 

Sincerely, 

Ms. Hull and Mrs. Helmbrecht 

a.     http://www.socialstudies.org/resources/moments

b.    From PBS, “America Responds”: A lesson that is cited and used by several other sites as well: http://www.pbs.org/americaresponds/educators.html

c.     A digital archive of pictures of objects having to do with 9/11: http://americanhistory.si.edu/september11/

d.    A second digital archive: http://911digitalarchive.org/

e.     A podcast on the post-9/11 landscape: http://www.readwritethink.org/parent-afterschool-resources/podcast-episodes/post-landscape-30336.html

Birthday Wishes

We would like to recognize our 2nd graders who have celebrated August and September birthdays.  We hope you enjoy your special day!

 Soraya~ August 5

Rachel~ August 15

Keve ~ August 16

Keely ~ August 29

William ~ August 29
Mrs. Helmbrecht~ September 2

Emma Grace ~ September 2

Alexander~ September 23

Dontae ~ September 24

Happy Birthday!