Social and Emotional Learning Spotlight:
CFES explores and teaches concepts to help our students develop strong character. The Core Essentials program infuses the social-emotional learning competencies with each of our monthly values.
This month's trait focuses on Contentment - deciding to be okay with what you have. November tends to be the month where many practice thanks and gratitude as we near the celebration of Thanksgiving. As you reflect on this trait throughout this month try to add the practice of being content. Try to think about opportunities to model and practice the trait of showing how you can be content! We will be on the lookout this month for students showing Contentment.
☑ SEL Competencies addressed throughout the year: Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, Responsible Decision-Making
☑ Big Idea Values addressed throughout the year: Wisdom, Initiative, Individuality, Contentment, Service, Self-Control, Compassion, Cooperation, Hope, Perseverance
Students in the Core Essential Spotlight for October
Individuality - means discovering who you are meant to be.
First Grade
- Molly K. Mrs. Miller - Molly is very thoughtful and likes to share out compliments and stories that make people around her feel good!
- Christopher S. Mrs. Miller - Christopher is confident and kind to his classmates and encourages others to do the same!
- Ariel L. Mrs. Barnes - Ariel is a very confident student. She is always drawing beautiful and unique pictures and her responses in class are always well thought out and clever.
- Aarav P. Mrs. Barnes -Aarav is a very curious student. He is always asking questions and giving thoughtful responses in class that help drive class discussions.
- Hudson O'. Mrs. Nelson - Hudson always has creative stories to share with the class!!
- Kelsey H. Mrs. Nelson- I love how Kelsey shares with the class about all of the things she loves! Her classmates know her well!
Second Grade
- Leo B. Mr. Lapp - Leo is a confident, outgoing kid. He is a role model toward his peers.
- Annie W. Mr. Lapp -Annie is a kind and helpful kid. She is a leader and is always willing to help her peers.
- Zara A. Mrs. Gillespie
- Bobby B. Mrs. Gillespie
- Eli J. Mrs. Gillespie
- Bear C. Mrs. Conover
- Alexandria M. Mrs. Conover
Third grade
- Anna R. Mrs. Hughes -Anna is a confident student. She is super creative and shines through her drawings and artwork.
- Mark G. Mrs. Hughes - Mark is confident and comfortable with who is as a person. He is incredibly friendly and always willing to help others out.
- Hailey T. Mrs. DeNenno - Hailey is creative, positive, and comes to school with a smile every day. She is an encouraging person and is always kind to others.
- Max K. Mrs. DeNenno - Max is very creative and is good at coming up with unique ways of doing things. He is artistic and has a sense of humor.
Fourth Grade
- Julia N. Mr. Wagner - Julia is unique and her personality fills the room. She is always quick to make others laugh, she's kind to all, and she looks for opportunities to build others up. These qualities make her an extremely special kid!
- Austin C. Mr. Wagner - Austin loves to share things with the class that show who he is and what he loves. He will even take the time to create and send videos that show the things that he loves. He is proud of who he is and this makes him an extremely special kid!
- Evelyn B. Mrs. Bickings - Evelyn is a confident and kind person. She is not afraid to be herself and encourages others to embrace their own uniqueness. She is a creative and amazing kid!
- Will M. Mrs. Bickings - Will is an outgoing and social kid! He is creative and inquisitive. Will is confident in himself and always spreads joy to those around him!
Fifth Grade
- Will R. Ms. Doyer - Will is observant and quick-witted! He makes connections easily and loves to share his creative ideas.
- Ryan B. Ms. Doyer - Ryan has a gift for drawing! It brings him great joy and I have no doubt his unique artistic qualities will be a part of his success in life!
"The power of finding beauty in the humblest things makes home happy and life lovely." - Louisa May Alcott
School Updates
Attendance, travel plans, and dismissal changes should be communicated to cfeattendance@ucfsd.net, and please cc the homeroom teacher. All changes to dismissal plans should be submitted before 2:30 pm to ensure a safe dismissal process.
Be sure that you have signed up for a fall conference with your child's teacher. This is a wonderful opportunity to discuss the progress your child is making at school and home. Conferences are by default on Zoom unless you request an in-person meeting.
Is someone in your family a veteran? Please send an email with details and a photo to Mrs. Clark, dclark@ucfsd.net to include in our schoolwide observation of Veteran's Day.
Thank you for your patience with the arrival and dismissal procedures. Safety on campus is extremely important. You can assist in the process by:
- Please stay attentive and pull forward to maximize our car capacity.
- Stay in your vehicle and advance forward in the loading zone between the cones.
- Drop off and pick up can occur anywhere between the orange cones, pulling forward helps expedite the process.
- If you need more time before your journey home please pull into an open parking space or proceed to the lower gravel lot, this will allow the car line to flow smoothly and quickly.
- Please be mindful of staff entering and leaving the parking areas, you can help by leaving space for parking as needed.
- Keep a watchful eye on traffic control and flow, watch for staff in yellow vests and signs to direct traffic.
- Remember the speed limit on school grounds is 15 MPH!
- When on the driveway entering and exiting the school please yield to the school buses on the smaller bridge area.
Please regularly check your email or voicemail for updates from the school for any upcoming communications or weather-related events that may impact the school day.
Staying connected is an important part of the home and school partnership. We appreciate working and growing with our families to create a strong bond that benefits your child. Please keep in mind the school day is busy and it will take some time for staff to respond to emails and calls. We are in this together, your support and understanding are paramount to our success as a team!
Toys on the Bus...
Toys on the bus have been very popular lately with pop-its and fidgets. However, some are our CFES drivers are increasingly concerned about the distraction that toys may cause on the bus. The toys are being dropped down the aisle and then chased, used to touch others, or being repeatedly hit on the seats and windows. You can help our drivers to maintain the safest ride possible by reminding your child to leave the toys at home. Thank you for your understanding and help to practice a safe bus ride for all!
November Calendar
November 2nd - School closed - Election Day
November 3rd - 9:30-11:00 PTO meeting
November 4th - School closed - Diwali
November 11th - Honoring Veteran's Day at CFES
November 22nd, 23rd, and 24th - Half days - Conference week
November 24th No School - Kindergarten only!
Dismissal times for half days:
- Pre-1st - Fifth Grades 12:25 PM
- Kindergarten Modified Schedule
- AM Kindergarten 9:10 AM - 10:40 Am
- PM Kindergarten - 10:55 AM- 12:25 PM
November 25th and 26th - School closed Thanksgiving
From the Nurse's Office - Mrs. Melissa Hocking
VISION & EYE SAFETY
Vision screenings are starting to be performed this month. Letters of referral will be sent out to those that fail their vision screenings. However, when it comes to a vision screening vs eye exam, my advice is to not stress about a failed vision screening at school – but to prioritize a pediatric eye exam. A school screening is not intended to replace a comprehensive pediatric eye exam conducted by a children’s eye doctor.
Seeing well = NO vision problems ----> FALSE!
Your child can have good vision and still deal with a vision problem that negatively impacts their coordination and learning skills, like comprehension, reading, and recollection.
Due to the fact that kids grow and develop so quickly, sometimes they may not even recognize that their eyesight has shifted and become problematic. It’s when this occurs that vision problems can go undiagnosed, resulting in learning problems that impact your child’s ability to progress in the classroom.
Warning signs associated with vision problems, such as
- Squinting
- requent eye rubbing
- chronic eye redness and tearing
- sitting too close to the TV
COVID Testing Information
The Unionville-Chadds Ford School District is now offering COVID-19 testing for the sole purpose of:
- Symptomatic students and staff
- Unvaccinated students and staff who require a test on day 5 or thereafter in order to shorten their quarantine to 7 days (from 10 days)
- Fully vaccinated students and staff who have been exposed to someone who is positive for COVID-19 but remain asymptomatic and do not need to quarantine, and are testing on days 3-5 as recommended by the CCHD
Testing will be offered Tuesday and Thursday mornings 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM at UHS. The testing site is located at the UHS stadium ticket booth where tests will be administered by a UCFSD nurse.
To schedule an appointment, click on the link below and select an available 10-minute appointment slot. The link can also be found on our Health and Safety webpage.
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Reminder -Currently the UCFSD Health and Safety Plan requires masks to be worn on the bus and while inside the buildings at all times.
COVID Communication Updates
Expect communication from the Chadds Ford nurse Melissa Hocking, UCFSD nurse team, and/or the principal via email if a positive case is identified in your child's classroom. As has been the case all school year, expect a personal phone call in all situations where your child is deemed a "close contact" per guidelines from the Chester County Health Department. You will be contacted directly by phone if there is a need to take action. Continue to self-monitor and stay home when you are not well. We appreciate your support in maintaining the health and safety of all.
Once teachers are notified of students who are required to quarantine they will be in communication within 24 hours to share expectations for assignments. Please continue to be patient as it does take some time to organize materials. We appreciate your understanding and support.
Free Breakfast and Lunch Program
Children need healthy meals to learn. This year, all students are able to receive one free breakfast and one free lunch, as long as the meals meet specific requirements (entree, vegetable, fruit, and dairy). Meal requirements are put in place to ensure that the food items contribute to a sufficient and healthy meal for each child. See the SSO Info page for more detail.
News from our Reading Specialist - Mrs. Appelbaum
I wanted to send you a little bit of information regarding the benefit of reading alongside audiobooks, in case this interests any of you!
There is a lot of research out there that points to the benefits of reading alongside an audiotape. Some of the most noted benefits are the ability to access text on a higher reading level, modeled fluent reading, the ability to merge oral comprehension with reading comprehension, and provide opportunities to accrue challenging vocabulary - just to name a few!
I feel quite strongly that this is an excellent read-at-home model for kids of all abilities. They love using the technology and it provides extra incentive for readers, as it adds an additional "fun" element to their nightly reading. The article below is intended for parents and teachers and does a great job summarizing some of the research on this topic.
There should be one rule with this though:
- If you are going to listen to an audio book, you absolutely MUST have the text in front of you, following along with your eyes.
This allows your brain an opportunity to register the words visually, while also comprehending them auditorily. This combination will work to improve your reading skills as a whole. For kids who struggle with reading fluency, every so often they should have the audiobook read them a page, pause it, and then try to read that same page on their own. They don't have to read the whole book like this, but practice like this once or twice a week goes a long way towards becoming a faster reader.
If this is something you are interested in for your child, below are a few resources you can use to access audiobooks.
- Audible: This is an Amazon app that can be downloaded on any device and allows access to a multitude of audiobooks that have been published
- Kindle: A lot of kindle-edition books can be bought through Amazon and include an audio narration package
- Chester County Library: If you have a library card, you can download audiobooks for free - www.ccls.org www.recordedbooks.com
- There are some audiobooks available here for purchase, www.booksontape.com - This has audiobooks available for purchase, along with a listening library component
- Follett books: this has something called Playaways which are a little more expensive, but carry multiple books as they sell mostly to libraries. They are cute little devices with the book's recording on it- the child simply plugs their headphones in and listens!
- Epic Books this is a website and app for iPads with a few free audiobooks - mostly nonfiction
*** Note: Please keep in mind that an eBook and an audiobook are different. eBooks simply allow online access to text, however, some eBooks come with an audio package included. AVOID BUYING EBOOKS WITH A LOT OF EXTRA "STUFF" (links, videos, etc.) embedded. They are distractions and not helpful for this purpose.
Please let me know if you and your child are entertaining this, as I am curious to know how reading changes in your home. If you have a child who is very reluctant to read nightly, this may be a bit of a game-changer! Please keep me in the loop! eappelbaum@ucfsd.net
We look forward to partnering with you to support literacy goals at school and home.
Student News:
November Spirit Days:
- Friday, November 5th - show your colors - wear as many colors as you can at once!
- Thursday, November 11th - Red, White, and Blue to honor our veterans on Veteran's Day!
- Friday, November 12th - positive messages - wear anything that promotes a positive message to others!
- Friday, November 19th - PJ day - it is almost time to celebrate Thanksgiving so get cozy and wear your pajamas to school!
Let's hear good news from our recent CFES students:
- Current 6th grade Patton Hawks and former CFES Chargers have been selected to represent the student body: Henry Asendorf, Ryan Boyle, Grace Hochhaus. Way to go, so glad to hear that the skills our Chadds Ford students have learned are continuing to serve them well at Patton!
Community News:
Tutoring Support from our High School Students
I am Arjun Suryawanshi and I am here to inform you that the Math Club from Unionville High School is holding weekly tutoring sessions at the Kennett Library for all who would like to attend. From 6-8 p.m. every Monday, students from Unionville High School will be at the library, available to help with any subjects (not just math!). If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at suryawanshia24@ucfsd.net or Andy Li (the Math Club president) at lia22@ucfsd.net. Thank you for your time and we hope to see some people ready to learn there!
Check out Science Explorers
Painting Event with Mr. O'Rourke
Mr. O'Rourke is going to host another painting event for the UCF students (K-12) on Saturday, Dec. 4th at 2 pm. If you remember, we had a few of these during our virtual teaching days during the Covid months. The last event was open to grades K-12 and we had about 100 students and their families take part.
Attention artists (new and experienced). The next "Paint with Mr. O'Rourke" event will take place on Saturday, Dec. 4th at 2 pm. You may join us in person that day in the Patton cafeteria or online via Google Meet. Please fill out this form to signup for the event and to receive further information.
This time, we are doing a moonlit night time scene:
PTO News:
NOVEMBER PTO MEETING
Please join us for the next PTO meeting on Wednesday, November 3rd at 9:30 am. Meetings are held in person and via Zoom. All are invited to attend. Zoom Meeting ID: 616 926 7624
Future Meeting Dates: December 1, 2021; February 2, 2022; March 2, 2022; April 6, 2022; May 4, 2022
The Meeting Minutes are also available on the CFES website.
CFES students and families enjoyed a night shopping at the Scholastic Book Fair. Thank you, PTO for coordinating such a fantastic event for our school community!
Thank you to the many volunteers and supporters of the CFES PTO! We are grateful for your time, energy, generosity, and dedication to CFES! Please consider how you can be a part of the PTO this school year.
Thank you to our entire school community for your excitement, energy, and enthusiasm for the 2021-2022 school year! We aim to keep the positive energy strong and your support is essential to our success! Thank you!
Credits:
Created with images by Wokandapix - "bus school transportation" • Sabrina_Ripke_Fotografie - "pumpkin vegetables autumn" • Unknown - "Clipart - lunch box" • Unknown - "Menino Menina Crianças · Foto gratuita no Pixabay" • jarmoluk - "apple books still life" • geralt - "books man person" • Unknown - "Free vector graphic: Chemical Laboratory, Tubes - Free ..."