Principal's Message

As we begin a new school year, we are excited to welcome our students, families, and staff back to a year filled with opportunities to learn, grow, and succeed together. The start of a new school year brings a sense of hope, fresh beginnings, and endless possibilities. We look forward to building strong relationships, celebrating achievements, and creating meaningful learning experiences that inspire curiosity, confidence, and kindness. Together, we will continue to foster a safe, supportive, and engaging school community where every child is encouraged to reach their fullest potential.

Attendance: Every school day matters! When children attend school regularly, they build strong academic skills, develop friendships, and establish routines that help them feel confident and successful. Even a few missed days each month can make it harder for students to keep up with classroom learning and stay connected to their teachers and classmates.

The State of Ohio has made improving student attendance a priority because regular attendance plays an important role in a child's long-term success. Our goal is to work together with families to support consistent attendance while recognizing that illnesses and unexpected circumstances do happen. By partnering with parents, communicating early about attendance concerns, and providing support when challenges arise, we can help every child be present, engaged, and ready to learn each day.

Chronic absenteeism applies to students who miss at least 10% of the school year, or over 110 hours. According to HB 166, students with a nonmedical excuse or without legitimate excuse are only allowed to miss 65 hours of school. Once 65 hours has been attained, a student is identified with excessive absenteeism and a doctor’s note will be required to excuse further absences. Vacations do count toward a student’s excessive and chronic absentee hours. Please refer to the handbook for details regarding this policy. The handbook is located on the elementary webpage.

Arrival and Dismissal: Drop-off for elementary students will be the same as last year. Parents can drop off using the west parking lot and students will enter through the AG entrance, or students may be dropped off at the bell tower entrance. Please do not let students out of cars until 8:25, as that is when the doors open.

Elementary pick up will remain in the west parking lot and parents will be expected to park and pick up their students from the staff on duty. We will continue using pick up cards this year. Please be kind to staff on duty who are enforcing this policy. Our intent is to simply ensure your child’s safe departure from school.

 All students will have 3 pick-up cards with their individual names on them. A new set of cards will be available for pick up in the student’s homeroom class at the Back to School Fair. Anyone picking up a student MUST show the card with the student’s name on it to the staff member on duty. If there is not a card presented to staff, then the student will be brought into the office. The pick-up person will be verified by the principal or secretary and the student will need to be signed out. We appreciate your support as we are trying to make our school more safe and secure.

Electronic Devices: At the elementary level, our goal is to create classrooms where students can focus on learning, build friendships, and enjoy being actively engaged each day. In accordance with Ohio law, our school has a policy regarding the use of electronic devices, including cell phones and smartwatches, during the school day. We ask that these devices remain turned off and stored away in student’s bookbags. If you need to reach your child during the school day, please contact the school office, and we will make sure your message is delivered. Thank you for partnering with us to help minimize distractions so every student can learn, grow, and be successful.

PTO: I would like to thank our PTO, parents and students for a successful Laps for Learning campaign in the spring! The staff and students had a blast!! PTO is vital to providing wonderful opportunities for our students! PTO sponsors all K-4 fieldtrips, books for our classrooms and libraries, and multiple rewards teachers give to students. We appreciate all of the time and effort these volunteers give to our school community. Please consider being a part of this amazing organization!! Please contact Jenifer Stegaman, the PTO president, for more information.

Required Tests: A critical component of meeting students’ needs depends on knowing where students are in relation to their current skills and abilities. This understanding is determined through multiple measures acquired from diagnostic assessments. Students in grades K-4 are tested in the areas of math and reading using a program called iReady and Aimsweb. These programs provide information for essential skills needed for academic success. The results of these assessments are shared at parent-teacher conferences.

All Kindergarten students are required to be administered the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment. This test is created by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW) and looks at a variety of skills that are needed for academic success at the kindergarten level. The results of this assessment is a parent report provided by ODEW and are sent home by the school.

All students in grades 3 and 4 will take State tests in ELA and Math. Grade 3 only will give the ELA test twice, once in the Fall and Spring. State achievement tests tell us how well our students are growing in the knowledge and skills outlined in Ohio’s Learning Standards. These tests help guide and strengthen future teaching so we can be sure that we are preparing our students for long-term success in school, college, careers and life. Test results also allow citizens to know how their local schools are performing compared to others around the state. The ELA test is approximately 90 minutes and requires 2 sessions to complete.  The Math test is approximately 75 minutes and also requires 2 sessions to complete.  The results of these assessments are a parent report provided by ODEW and are sent home by the school.

****The ELA test is April 22nd and 23rd and the math test is April 29^th and 30^th. Please avoid scheduling vacations and appointments on these days.

 

 

Important Dates for elementary to kick off the school year:

            August 31: Back to School Fair (12-2 and 4-6:30)

            September 1 and 2: Kindergarten Readiness Assessment

            September 2: First day of school for 1-4^th grade students

            September 3: First day for kindergarten girls

            September 4: First day for kindergarten boys

            September 7: Labor day- no school

            September 8: All kindergarten students

            October 2: No school- teacher professional development

            November 6: 2 hr delay for teacher professional development

            November 19: 1 hr early release- parent/teacher conferences

            November 23-24: No school- parent/teacher conferences

            November 25-27: Thanksgiving Break

 

As we begin another exciting school year, thank you for the trust you place in us each day. We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with you in your child's education and know that our strongest successes come when families and schools work together. We look forward to celebrating achievements, supporting one another through challenges, and creating meaningful experiences that help every child learn, grow, and thrive. Here's to a wonderful school year filled with curiosity, kindness, and success. We can't wait to welcome our students back! As always, feel free to contact me at (419) 647-4113 ext 3101 or via email at wagners@svbearcats.org.

Susie Wagner