Ellington Elementary Update

Preschool screening is just around the corner. If you have a child that will be four by July 31, 2012, call the elementary office to sign up for an appointment for preschool screening on April 30th. Please bring your child’s birth certificate, social security card, immunization records, proof of residency (bill with name and mailing address on it), and your 911 address to your child’s appointment.

Ellington Elementary will be having a Bar-B-Que on Friday, March 9^th at Town & Country from 10:00am to 6:00pm. For $6.00 you may choose from a hamburger, hot dog, or pork steak; potato salad or chips; baked beans, brownie, and drink OR $4.00 for a sandwich and drink. Advanced orders will be taken at the Elementary Office through March 8^th. (Office staff will not be available to take orders on March 9^th.) So, come on down to Town & Country on March 9^th and help support Ellington Elementary!!!

Attention fifth grade parents!!!

April 4^th, we are having our Middle School Transition Day. Mrs. Bland, the 6^th – 12^th counselor, and Mrs. Goodman will do different activities with the fifth graders to help prepare them for middle school. They will get to eat breakfast and lunch in the middle school cafeteria, practice finding classes between bells, get a tour, and talk with students already in middle school. We will also go over schedules and send schedule forms home that day to choose elective classes for 6^th grade. More information will be coming your way soon, but mark your calendars for April 4^th. It is a day you won’t want your child to miss!


PTO Field Day

Field Day will be coming soon. It is scheduled for Wednesday, April 25^th, with rain dates of Thursday, April 26^th, and Monday, May 7^th. Get ready for fun in the sun. There will be lots of games. Snowcones, popcorn, and a drink will be available for free, while other snack items will be available for a small charge. Parents are welcome to attend…come enjoy a day having fun in the sun with your child(ren).

Our district’s state testing will take place April 11^th through April 13^th and April 18^th through April 20^th. It is very important that your child gets plenty of sleep on the nights preceding test days and is here on time every day. Please try to schedule any appointments your child may have around testing times. Attendance during testing is crucial for success. Testing will begin every day at 8:30 a.m. and will end by 12:00 p.m. Thank you.

Spring pictures will be taken on Tuesday, April 3^rd. Fourth and Fifth grade basketball and cheerleading will also have group pictures taken at this time. These participants need to remember to bring their uniforms ready for pictures.

We have several students that are over on his/her lunch account. Please pay your child’s lunch account dues.

Forms have been sent home for Parent Teacher Conferences on Thursday, March 15^th. Conferences will take place between 1:00 and 6:30. Please fill out a form for each of your children and return to school. Appointments will be scheduled as requests are returned, so please return the form as soon as possible. Remember there will be NO SCHOOL on Friday, March 16^th.

Congratulations to these students for being members of the 2011-2012 Academic Bowl team:

Kyle Conkright, Maddie Buford, Brycen King, Carson McNail, Dylan Wisdom

Lainee Albert, Nolan Heady, Lauren Lee, Krystal Mathis, Brianna Welch

Abby Cantwell, Chandler Keenen, Bethany Meade, Airika Sproat, Cameron Williams

Makenna Goodman, RJ Martin, Jacob Pyrtle, Jayce Wakefield, Emily White

These students will compete at the Lesterville Academic Bowl on March 2^nd and the Clearwater Academic Bowl on March 6^th. Congratulations and Good Luck!!!


Positive Behavior Supports

Our Positive Behavior Support (PBS) is going great and 3rd Quarter is almost over!  Coming up on Thursday, March 22nd, we will have our 3rd Quarter Recognition for our students.  To qualify for the 3rd Quarter Recognition, students must have 6 full punch cards!  Every day, a student can receive 3 punches on their card, with a possibility of 15 punches on five day weeks.  When they get 15 punches that completes one card.  If a student fills up 6 punch cards before the quarter ends, they are in for a treat!  If they qualify, they get to choose from several activities offered on March 22nd.  They can choose gym time, an extra recess, a movie, or computer time.  Of course, we still offer weekly recognition for good behavior as well.  When they complete 1 full punch card, they can choose from the following on each Friday:  bring a stuffed animal, wear a hat, get something from the treasure box,  a treat with lunch, lunch at a special table, bring slippers to wear, or a homework pass (in some grade levels).  We encourage you to ask your child about their punch cards and their behavior at school!  At Ellington Elementary we show the "Whippet Way" by being Respectful, Responsible, & Ready to Learn!

5th grade band members have spent an exciting late winter participating in both the Black River League Band (Ellsinore) and the Big Springs Conference Band (Winona). Students from other league/conference schools also performed with Ellington Band members at those events. The band members represented our school well as they played several selections. Way to go Whippet Band members!!

This month the preschool children will be super busy learning. They have been off to a great start recognizing their numbers and counting them in many ways. Our themes include: Zoo and the letter Zz, number 7; 5 Senses and the letter Mm, number 8; Spring and the letter Yy, number 9 and Frogs and the letter Oo and the number 10. Preschool will not be having Parent Teacher Conferences on the 15th unless upon request. If you need to schedule one please let your child's teacher know. We have been having some nice weather so that means more outdoor time. Please send your child with a jacket still everyday to keep over ears for the wind and chill. Have a Marvelous March!

Mrs. Chase and Mrs. Eddington


Kindergarten News

Spring is here and we are as busy as ever. In reading, this month we will learn the letters K and U and the sight words are little, said, here, and was.

Unit 8 is about seeds and how plants grow. We are using all of the letters we have learned so far this year to form words and sentences in our writing. In math, we will learn about the months of the year and the days of the week. We will also begin a unit on Time.

We are looking forward to seeing each parent to discuss your child’s progress this year at Parent Teacher Conferences coming up on March 15th!

Ms. Blakemore and Mrs. Hime


First Grade News

Spring is just around the corner! In Reading, we will have longer stories and continue to work on improving our phrasing and fluency when we read.

We will be using long vowel combinations in our Reading and Spelling units. Your child should be reading at a level 12 by the end of third quarter. In Math, please review skip counting. We will work on telling time to the hour and the half hour. We will be working with money and this is a very hard concept to master. Practice with money as much as possible. Parent/Teacher conferences will be on the 15th and forms will be coming soon (remember first come first serve). AR night will be held

on the 22nd starting at 5:30 and this is an easy way to get points. The 30th will be our 3rd Quarter Awards Assembly at 9:00.

Mrs. Long and Ms. Morrison


Second Grade News

The month of March will be very busy for 2nd Grade. We will be having our 2nd Grade Parent Night on Monday, March 19th from 6-7 p.m. in the Elementary Cafeteria. The theme is " All About Me". We will have different activities for you and your child to do together. We hope to see all of you there. Our Field Trip is planned for Thursday, March 29th.

We will be visiting the Twin Pines Conservation Center in Winona. This should be a fun and educational trip for your child. Information will be sent home at a later time. Please make sure that permission slips are returned to school no later than their due date. 2nd Grade has also been working hard on reviewing skills for the Terra Nova Test we will be taking in April. Even though the weather is beginning to warm please continue to send a coat with your child each day. We would also like to say thank you to Amelia Buford and Cheri Harper for being our room mothers this year. We appreciate all your help with organizing the parties.

Mrs. Loyd and Mrs. Tucker

February has come and gone and we would like to thank our room mothers and their helpers for another successful classroom party. March promises to be a very busy month.  We have two academic bowl competitions and a math bowl competition in March. Parent – Teacher conferences will be on March 15^th.  Look for your child to bring home a form soon for you to choose a time to come and visit with us. Our 3^rd grade Parent Night will be March 20^th.  We will be playing “Are You Smarter Than a 3^rd Grader?” More information about that will be sent home soon, also. Looking ahead, our 3^rd grade field trip to Round Springs Cave will be May 3^rd.  

Save the date and we will send more information about that in April. Thank you for all of your help and support so far this year.  We look forward to seeing you on the 15^th for parent – teacher conferences.

Mrs. Loyd and Mrs. Whited

Wow – February zoomed right on by!!!! It doesn’t seem possible that we will be heading into 4^th quarter soon! Thank you to our room mothers – Dana Albert and Joyce Pyles, for taking such good care of our parties. We really appreciate all you have done!!!!

Our Academic Bowl Team members – Nolan Heady, Lainee Albert, Krystal Mathis, Brianna Welch and alternate Lauren Lee – will be representing us in the next few weeks at both the Clearwater and Lesterville Academic Bowls. We wish them good luck. At the end of the month, our Math Bowl team – Nolan Heady, Lainee Albert, Krystal Mathis, Harley Pyles, and Lauren Lee – will be representing the 4^th grade at our own Math Fun Bowl. Go get ‘em guys!!! We have still been practicing our multiplication facts – they are very important in many of our topics in Math. In the next few weeks, we will be covering Decimals and Area & Perimeter. Multiplication is important to both of those Topics, so please be practicing at home. In MO History, we are still studying the important impacts Missouri had in the history of the United States. In Science, we are learning about Water and the Earth. Please continue to read with your child at home. This will help them achieve their AR goals, as well as improve their reading. In the next month or so, we will be testing reading levels, once again, for SB 319. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact us anytime.

Mrs. Bass, Mrs. Shrum, and Mrs. Garrison

In reading, we are currently in Unit 5: Achievements. We will be discussing problem and solution, cause and effect and author’s perspective. In centers, students have just finished the book, “The Sign of the Beaver,” and are still working on their animal book. The students AR goal is due March 8^th. . In language, we are working on adjectives. In social studies, students are still working on the Constitution. In science, we are working on earth and its resources and then will start weather and climate. In math, we are working on Topic 8: Shapes.

Ms. Clark and Mrs. Francis
Counselor’s Corner

March is already here!  Our character word for March is prepared.  We all know how important it is to be prepared.  I want to extend a special thank you to Melissa Fox.  She has taught our students about fire safety two days in February and will be back to finish with all other classes two days this month.  We have state testing coming up next month!   Kindergarten, First, & Second grades will be testing on the following dates:  April 11th, 12th, & 13th.  Third, Fourth, & Fifth grades will be testing on April 18th, 19th, & 20th.   It is very important that our students attend school on those dates.  By giving you the dates in advance, you can schedule any upcoming appointments on different dates.  We appreciate all that you do to help our students and school have a smooth testing experience.  Another big event is coming up for some of our students on March 30th.  All students that scored either Proficient or Advanced on the MAP test last year will attend a Bar-b-que and have some play time that afternoon!  Please remind your child to wear their MAP t-shirt if they are a part of this group.  As always, please call or stop by if there is anything I can assist you with! 

Mrs. Goodman



Librarian’s Tales

Cowabunga, Dude! It’s all most time the Book Fair Luau where reading is a celebration!! Don’t miss the fun, visit your book fair during the week of March 12^th – 15^th. Our Family night will be Thursday, March 15^th (during Parent/Teacher Conferences). Here is just a little taste of one of the books that will be at our Spring Book Fair. Scholastic Book Talk: DREAM BIG, LITTLE PIG! By Kristi Yamaguchi – Poppy the pig dreams of becoming a star. But she is a waddling, toddling pig that has yet to discover her special talent. It would be lovely to be a ballerina, but Poppy is too clumsy. She tries out for chorus, but can only sing off-key. When Poppy’s family and her best friend, Emma, visit the ice rink to watch the dazzling skaters, Poppy is determined to try to find her talent on ice. She stumbles, she falls. She picks herself up and, before long, she is gliding and swirling toward her big dream. – This book is best for children ages 4 – 8… Look for it at the Spring Book Fair!! Hope to see you there!

Mrs. Lee


Nurse’s Notes

Thank you so much for supporting our Box Tops collection. Thanks to you all, we will receive a check from General Mills for $604.70 to spend on various activities for our school children. Ms. Morrison’s 1^st grade class collected the most and will receive an ice cream party as our thank-you. Mrs. Loyd’s 3^rd grade class was #2; Mrs. Long’s 1^st grade class was a close third place. Please continue to save the Box Tops all year long. We will store them for you until it is time for the next mailing.

Mrs. Massie and Mrs. Richards



A note from the Principal

We have had some pretty exciting events going on in the elementary lately: the 100^th day of school celebration, academic bowls, elementary basketball, and elementary cheerleading. The teachers and students are also working hard at preparing for district testing. I must say I am SO proud of the teachers and students for ALL of their hard work and accomplishments this year! Spring time tends to be a very busy time of year so remember to stop and take time to relax!

Mrs. Bouma