October Newsletter

Hard copies of the monthly newsletter are available at the sign-in tables at each school entrance, but for your convenience, you can also DOWNLOAD IT HERE.

It includes these tidbits of info and more:

- NO SCHOOL NEXT MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30TH

- If you want to schedule a parent/teacher conference or schedule a lunch date with your little one, you can do so by calling Katie to make an appointment: 406-830-3025.

- Sunflower welcomes parents to serve as special guest teachers. Have a special skill you'd like to share with the class? Let Katie or Correy know. 

- Want to volunteer with the Parents' Association? E-mail us and learn how you can become involved. 

- Winter's on its way, so be sure your child has a small backpack on his/her hook with slippers, a winter coat, gloves, a hat and at least one change of clothing (more if your child is still potty training). LABEL EVERYTHING. 

- PLEASE remove your shoes if you venture past the school entryway. It's getting yucky outside, and we don't want to track dirty slush into our learning environment. 

- If you haven't signed up for a Good Food Store scrip account yet, you may do so by printing the last page of the newsletter and submitting it to Katie or Correy. 

- The Sunflower Halloween Carnival is scheduled for Halloween Night (Oct 31st at 6:00pm). If you want to volunteer to help with the party, join the Parents' Association planning meeting next Tuesday the 1st at 5:30pm in the elementary building. 

- Please don't send your child to school in Halloween in his/her costume - save it for the party. 

- A link to the school photos will be distributed to all parents on October 4th. They'll be available to view and purchase online. We'll be scheduling a make-up day in the middle of October to be sure everyone has a chance to have a photo. 

- If your child has a birthday in October, please send a baby picture of your child, along with a picture taken in each year of their life. Mom Crystal Herzog wrote a great blog post earlier this year explaining the Montessori birthday tradition. Check it out. 

Let me know if you have trouble with the link - thanks!

-Brooke

Halloween Party Planning Meeting

TUESDAY, OCT 1st

5:30PM

Sunflower Elementary School

626 S 6th St W

Hey all - 

There will be a planning meeting held next Tue, Oct 1st at 5:30pm in the main room of the elementary school to discuss the upcoming Halloween Carnival (scheduled for the evening of Halloween, Oct 31st). 

You're welcome to bring your kids, and munchies and drinks will be provided.

Bring your ideas for Halloween carnival games, ghoulishly fun activities and ghostly treats. If you've ever caught yourself pinning a marshmallow-and-pretzel-stick spider to Pinterest, this is your time to shine, oh crafty one. 

If you're unable to attend the meeting but still want to volunteer at the actual event by setting up a game a few minutes before the party starts, or bringing a dish to share, click here and let us know! We'll add you to the e-mail distribution list about the event. 

Thanks, and looking forward to seeing you Tuesday!

-Brooke

Let's Do Lunch

Sunflower welcomes parents to join their child for lunch. After reading about this policy in the handbook for a few years, I finally got around to doing it myself yesterday, and I highly recommend it.

Here's how it works:

Like any fine dining experience, you must make a reservation. (You call the school the day before you'd like to come to lunch so Grandma Midge knows to make an extra portion - 830-3025). Lunch is served at Sunflower around 11:30am, so that's a great time to arrive. The staff will set up a table in an adjacent room, so you and your kiddo can eat lunch alone together... it's all very VIP. 

Then, you'll perch yourself on a child-sized chair and enjoy lunch with your favorite person in the world. BUT WAIT! First, s/he'll remind you to wash your hands, and put your napkin in your lap, and sing a few songs about putting a napkin in your lap and then make you wait your turn to scoop out your mac n' cheese, and you'll wonder how you ever functioned in polite society without having a preschooler around to tell you what to do. 

It was the coolest; give it a try when you can. 

-Brooke

SCHOOL PICTURE TIME

It's School Picture Time (or, as it was known in my house growing up, "Time to Give The Young'un A Perm.")

Here's the schedule for Picture Week:

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16th

Seeds and Pollen

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17th

Seeds and Pollen (those who don't attend school on Mondays)

Seeds & Pollen Teachers

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18th

Sprouts and Sunflowers

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19th

Sprouts and Sunflowers (those who don't attend school on Wednesdays)

Sprouts & Sunflower Teachers

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20th

Elementary & Elementary Teachers

Make-up Day for any Absent Students

And here's some more info:

Each photo session will be held in the morning, before the kiddos get a chance to cover themselves in whatever chili/curry/lasagna Grandma Midge is serving up that day, and before they develop "bed head" at nap time.

Solid colors photograph well, but try to avoid hot pink and white. Also avoid tiny stripes, if possible.

Every child will be photographed, and the photos will be used to mark the coat hooks at school, and will also be used in the school directory (unless you noted on your Parents' Assn form that you don't want your child's image to appear in the directory).

After the photos have been taken, we'll distribute info on how to order prints, packages and digital files; you'll be able to see a thumbnail photo before you order. There is no cost for your child to have his/her photo taken for school use - just a fee if you'd like to purchase prints, etc.

Any other questions? Let us know!

-Brooke

Updates & Info

Thanks to everyone who made it to the Pizza Night last night.

At the not-really-a-meeting, we covered the following:

1) VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES - Each year, Sunflower hosts six parties/events, which are organized by the Parents' Association:

HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL - All students. Costumes and carnival games and prizes. October.
WINTER CONCERT - Sunflowers & Elementary. Kids sing. Santa visits. December.
ST PATRICK'S DAY PARTY - All students. Treasure hunt & corned beef dinner. March.
GRADUATION - Sunflowers sing. Ceremony for kids "graduating" to kindergarten. May.
FIELD TRIPS - Sunflowers & Elementary. Summer session.
SPLASH BASH - All students. Family dinner & private swim at Splash. August.

If you think you'd like to volunteer to help us put any of these events together, please let us know. You're not making a binding commitment; by signing up now, we'll be sure to include you on any organizational e-mails we send out about your chosen event(s). You can decide later just how involved you're like to be. Typically, volunteering consists of an hour-long commitment on the day of the event. Thanks to everyone who already signed up at the party last night!

2) THE SCHOOL DIRECTORY - We're aiming to get the directory out the first week of October. To that end, we'll be hosting school picture days the week of Sept 16th-20th.  Stay tuned for a class schedule - we're doing photos over multiple days so we'll be sure not to miss any of the kids who only attend school a few days a week.

To have your child included in the directory, you'll need to submit your Parents' Association form to Katie or Correy by September 20th, letting us know what info you'd like us to include for your family. As a reminder, it's the form that came in your new school year paperwork packet that looks like this:

If you've already done it - awesome. If you've lost yours, no worries - you can print a new one by clicking here.

2) THIS BLOG - We're hosting the school calendar here, which includes everything from the lunch menu to school closures. Look on the right margin of this blog for a calendar icon. By clicking there, you'll always be able to see the latest/greatest schedule, and Google calendar users can download the Sunflower calendar with one click.

Anything you'd like to see in this space? Let us know. 

Thanks all, and looking forward to another great year!

-Brooke