This week is Clean and Green week. K5 classes will be collecting plastic bottles April 22-29th. Please collect at home and send your plastic items to school in some type of plastic bag by the 29th. We will put all the items in our large recycle bags and do our part to keep our school Clean and Green! Thank you in advance for your participation! :)

The Book Fair is back in the library this week. Anyone who would like to purchase items needs to send money in a labeled ziploc bag. Thanks!!

 The Kindergarten classes will have a field day with our Patriot Pals on Friday, May 9th. The seniors always go all out and provide the little ones with lots of fun! In return, we would like to furnish lunch for everyone. Please send $4.00 per child to help cover the costs of pizzas, drinks, chips and cookies for the K5 classes and their buddies. The deadline for this is Friday, May 2nd. More info. to come on field day closer to time. Thanks!!!

A BIG THANK YOU TO THE SANDERS' FAMILY FOR A FABULOUS EASTER PARTY!!!! :) The kids had a blast!!!

Kindergarten Graduation

K5 Graduation is Wednesday, May 21st at 9:00 in the cafetorium. The children will wear Sunday dress. Girls will wear dresses. Boys will wear khaki shorts or pants and nice polo style shirts. Please be sure they wear shoes they can easily walk up stairs and across stage in (no flip flops that can slide off feet).

Movie Under the Stars!
Madagascar will be showing Thursday, April 17th. Gates will open at 6:45 and the movie will begin at 7:30. Tickets are $1.00 through the office. Concessions will be sold. Come out and support PTO!

PLAS 2014 TALENT SHOW - Thursday, May 15, 2014 at 6:30p.m.
We are excited to announce the upcoming PLAS Talent Show! Every grade at Pike is encouraged to participate in the talent show. Students may plan a one-person act or a group presentation. The focus on the show is talent. This will not be a competitive event; instead it will be an opportunity for students to share their strengths. If you have a student interested in participating, please pick up an interest form in the front office and return it to Mrs. Walden. Admission will be $5 and $3 for PLAS students.

April News

Friday, April 11th - Prom Day - 12:00 dismissal for everyone! That means early birds at 11:40 and late birds at 11:50. Everyone should be picked up NO LATER than 12:00. You will only need to send a morning snack. NO LUNCH at school.

Wednesday, April 16th - Easter Party hosted by Carmen Sanders' Parents. We will leave school at 9:45 to arrive for the party at 10:00. Mrs. Kelly has lots of fun planned for the day! Make sure children are dressed comfortably. I will need a couple more drivers for this trip. Please let me know if you can help out. I do need to know if you will be taking your child so plans can be made to get all children there and back to school. You are welcome to join the fun!!!
Please send 10 candy filled eggs (No chocolate please)  to school by your child next week or no later than Monday, April 14th. Mrs. Kelly Sanders will be picking these up on Monday, April 14th for hiding.

Thursday, April 17th - Troy City Kindergarten Day - More details to come! I will need drivers for this trip as well. Please let me know if you can help out with this one.

Friday, April 18th - HOLIDAY

Friday, May 9th - Field Day with Patriot Pals - More details to come!

Report cards were sent home in folders. Please go over them with your child. Discuss any areas that need improvement. Sign and return in the blue envelope by Friday, March 21st. We want these back before Spring Break please! You will see NA next to subtraction. We have just started subtraction in the last couple of weeks. I didn't feel it was fair to assess on this skill so soon. We will continue subtracting 0 and 1 and will be evaluated on the last report card. Also, we are now adding up to sums of 9 and will soon add sums to 10. Go over daily math pages at home and talk about any your child misses with them. Please practice addition facts at home. Flashcards are great practice! We play a game (Around the World) at school that requires the children to answer facts quickly. Memorization is great, and I encourage them to put the big number in their head and then count up the smaller number. Counting on fingers should be discouraged! Games, math activity books, online games are a few ways to give your child different opportunities to learn math facts. They will have timed tests on these facts in first grade. Remember, practice makes perfect!!! :) In reading, we are now distinguishing short vowel words from long vowel words. Fluency is also very important. I encourage you to read at home with your child. Make sure you are listening to them read their little books that come home for homework along with monitoring the homework pages. In first grade, the children will be expected to complete homework nightly, so we are working on developing good homework habits! If you have any questions or concerns about your child's progress or their report card assessment, please email me to set up a conference. I will be glad to address any concerns. First grade is upon  us!!!

Yearbook sales have been extended through Wednesday, March 19th. No extras will be ordered.

 Next week is Spring Break (March 24-28). Enjoy!!!

March-May Calendar

A calendar is in your child's folder listing important dates from now until the end of the school year. Please keep for future reference and add any additional info. that may come up. As of now, I do not have specific information other than what's on the calendar. I will post specific info. as I know it.

 Report cards will be sent home in folders Monday, March 17th and should be signed and returned by Friday, March 21st.

SPRING BREAK - March 24th-28th

Look over April calendar! Friday, April 11th is Prom day and school is dismissed at 12:00. You will see our K5 Egg Hunt is Wednesday, April 16th at Kelly Sander's home. I will need drivers, but don't know specific time yet. Please let me know if you can help transport children on this day or if you plan to attend with your child. We also have a field trip (Troy City Kindergarten Day) on Thursday, April 17th. I will need 3-4 drivers to help transport kids on this day as well. Friday, April 18th is Good Friday Holiday.

Kindergarten Graduation is Wednesday, May 21st at 9:00. More details to come!

Check out the "Look at Us" tab for pictures from our FUN Dr. Seuss week :)

March News

Monday, March 3rd is Read Across America. Alabama's First Lady, Mrs. Diane Bentley will visit our school and read to grades K4-4th. We are very happy to have her come and expect the children to be on their best behavior!

Read Across America is celebrated in honor of the famous children's author Dr. Seuss. We will celebrate his birthday and writings next week by reading some of his most popular books! The children can dress as their favorite Dr. Seuss character on Wednesday, March 5th. This is optional. If your child does dress up, please make sure they are comfortable and can easily manage their attire in the bathroom all day. We will not change during the school day. To wrap up the fun next week, we will have our Patriot Pals come Friday, March 7th at 12:00 to read with us. Each child needs to bring their favorite Dr. Seuss book to school next week and their pals will read it with them on Friday. I plan to prepare a fun Dr. Seuss treat for our celebration week on Friday. If anyone else would like to send a fun party treat, please feel free to do so. Just send me a note or email.

Academically you will see we are moving on along in K5! We are beginning to read using our long vowel sounds. At this point, fluency is becoming very important! We are adding sums up to 7 and very soon will add up to 8. Please practice math facts at home as well. Look over daily work and discuss areas that need improvement.

 REMINDER!!! Spring Break is March 24th-28th.

Continue to check my blog and the school announcements/calendar for upcoming events!

Kinsley, Jaylyn, Indi, and Tristan have learned their phone numbers! Great job!!!

Everyone in our class has learned their phone numbers now! I am SUPER proud!

Thank you for all of the sweet Valentines. I loved them all! I am blessed with a sweet group of kids and parents! I added a few pictures under the "Look at Us" tab. Be sure to check them out!

Congratulations to Emma, Tucker, Kaycee, and Brody for learning there phone numbers!


Don't forget Monday is a school holiday. Enjoy the long weekend!

We have had a super fun week! We have celebrated the 100th day and Teddy Bear day! We also decorated Valentine's Day bags with our Patriot Pals. Check out the "Look at Us" tab for pictures.

We will have our Valentine's Day party on Friday, February 14th. Refer to the email I sent for more details.

Congratulations to Isabella, Cole, and Wes for learning their phone numbers!

They can earn a prize from the prize box when they learn it, so keep practicing at home!

Don’t forget, send in your money and form for the Father Daughter Dance!

The dance will be Friday, February 21^st from 6-8 pm!

The girls and Dads will have a FABULOUS time!

There will be dinner, a lead out, and photos taken by Townhouse Photography! (included in the price)

Money is due no later than February 14^th!

 

$30 per Family

 

The dance is open to K4-4th grade!

 

Due to the likelihood of roads still being iced in the morning, school will not resume until Friday morning, January 31, 2014.  

Due to the possibility of inclement weather and subsequent hazardous driving conditions, there will be no school on Tuesday, January 28 or Wednesday, January 29, 2014.

Lunch for Field Trip

After Stephen Fite's Concert on Feb. 3rd, we will return to Chick-fil-a in Troy as before. The cost again will be $3.00 for kids meal (nugget, fries, ice cream, and drink). We will pre-order, so please send $3.00 in cash in a labeled ziploc by Monday, Jan. 27th.

The K5 classes are going to Stephen Fite's Superheroes Of Knowledge Concert at Davis Theatre in Montgomery on Monday, Feb. 3rd. The performance will begin at 10:00. We are invited to dress the theme of the show, so your child can wear a Superhero t-shirt of their choice if they would like or you can be creative if you'd like to make a Superhero shirt. Please do not allow additional costume props for your child to keep up with on the trip. Pike field trip shirts are fine too. Chaperons/drivers for this trip are: Pam Benton, Amanda Vaughan, Ashley Shirley, Michelle Marsh, and Bonnie Simmons. I will let you know closer to time when we will depart from school. Everyone has paid for the concert. As soon as we have made lunch arrangements, I will inform you. We are considering Chick-fil-a again. It worked out well and the children enjoyed it! Will let you know soon.

Please sign and return report cards by Friday, Jan. 17th.

Our 100th Day celebration is coming up Tuesday, Jan. 28th. This day is filled with fun counting activities! I will be sending some information home in folders later this week concerning our fun day. Please mark it on your calendar, so every one is prepared!

We are busy working on many skills! In reading, we are working hard to sound out words and read fluently. Continue to practice all sight words on the blog list. You can also practice sound out words to help build confidence in reading. In math, we are adding up to sums of 5 and will be moving on at a good pace. Practice: problems with 0 and 1 rule and 2+2=4, 2+3=5. Look over daily work and reinforce skills at home if your child is having difficulty. The last part of the year is crucial in building confidence in math and reading so your child can be successful working independently in first grade. Remember, practice makes perfect!!!

The canned food drive will end Friday, so we only have a few days to get those cans in!

Monday, January 20th is a school holiday. Enjoy the long weekend :)

Our field trip to see Goodnight Moon is Friday, Jan. 10th. Please have children to school on time. We will leave as soon as roll is checked. A note with all details was sent home the first of the week.

 Some children are still in need of new crayons and glue sticks as soon as possible.

The SGA school canned good drive will end next week. We are only 200 cans short of making our school's goal. Your participation is appreciated!!

Deer Hunt money ($10.00 per family) is due this week. This is our largest fund raiser for our school. The money is used to supply food for the hunters. All proceeds made with this fundraiser goes to technology for the school.

 Report cards will be sent home in folders today. Please discuss with your child, sign, and return in the blue envelope by next Friday. Be sure to look at upcoming skills for the next nine weeks, so you can reinforce these at home. I am pleased with our progress! We are all working on good classroom habits such as good listening skills, raising our hand before speaking, working neatly consistently, following classroom rules in general. Please talk with your child about the importance of developing good habits in order to be successful in school. Look over areas that need improvement on the report card and discuss these as well.
Your help at home is always appreciated! If you have questions or concerns, please email me or send a note and I will be glad to set up a conference time with you. Thank you!

No School on Tuesday, January 7th

The latest update from the National Weather Service and EMA gives us dropping temperatures through Tuesday, with wind chill in the single digit to below zero temperatures. With that in mind school will be cancelled on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014. Plans are to resume Wednesday at normal time. If there is question or concern for Wednesday, check the school website, my blog and EMA announcements.

School is postponed Monday morning until 10am! Be safe!