Off to a Great Start!

It was so nice to meet so many of you at Parent Orientation last week. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to come meet with us.  We view our partnership with you as a very important part of your child's success this year. Thank you in advance for working with us!

We are off to a great start!  Students are getting a handle on the schedule, switching classes and managing their materials.  Our first homework turn in was at 100% of the students turned in complete and on time!   :)

School Fees

Please note that school fees are due by September 9th and are $50 for the 2016-2017 school year. Checks should be made payable to KINGS LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT.  

Music Notes

Information will be sent home this week with students interested in 4th grade chorus. If your child is interested and does not receive an information sheet, please contact either your child's homeroom teacher or Mrs. Sherby.

4th grade is the year of the recorder!   All 4th grade students will be learning to play recorder this year.   Recorders are $6 and money is due to Mrs. Sherby by September 9th. Money may be sent in any day (do not have to wait until a day your student has music) and it will be sent to Mrs. Sherby.

Specials Rotation

So far students are doing a great job remembering which day they have which special. It is important to remember gym shoes on phys. ed. days and for library books to be brought to school on library days. Unsure of which color day it is?  Check your child's planner or refer to the calendar sent home in the Friday Folder. If you have misplaced your calendar, please contact your child's classroom teacher and we will send home a new copy.  


MAP Testing
Kings Local Schools will be using MAP Testing as our universal screening tool this year to gather baseline and growth data in the areas of literacy and math for all K-4 students. This is similar to what we have done in the past, just now we are using a computer based tool that will provide our data (previously we used a tool called Dibels). Teachers will be using this data to determine what instruction students are ready to learn and will be administered 3 times per year. Our first MAP testing, which will give us baseline data, will be this week. Students are scheduled to take the reading test on Monday morning and the math on Friday morning. 

Welcome to 4th grade!!!

Welcome to 4th grade and to the SLE 4th grade website!  Please take some time to look around.  Here on our main page you will find general news items for the entire 4th grade.  Across the top you will see tabs (pull down menu if you are on a mobile device) for the individual teachers.   It is here that you will find information on what is going on in the different academic areas.   There are also buttons that will connect you to the Kings Local Website, Progress Book and SLE PTO.   

Healthy Snack Reminder

Due to the late time for 4th grade lunch (12:50), we allow students to have a small, healthy snack mid-morning.   Snacks should be something that can be eaten in 10-15 minutes, healthy and due to the many allergies we ask that all snacks be nut free.   Examples of snacks would be:

•fruit (apples, bananas, grapes and strawberries are good choices)

•carrot or other vegetable sticks

•cheese cubes

•goldfish (or similar) crackers

•pretzels

•granola bars

•small yogurt (please send a spoon as we do not have these in the classrooms)

Please do not send potato chips or other bagged snacks such as Cheetos or Doritos as we are emphasizing this snack should be healthy. We ask that you also do not send dessert items such as pudding, cookies or other baked good items.   Items such as these should be saved for lunchtime treats.  

Mark Your Calendar!

4th Grade Parent Orientation will be Monday, August 22nd from 6:30-7:30 in the SLE Cafeteria.  There we will give an overview of the expectations for the coming school year.  We hope to see you there!

Specials Rotation
Please see below Color Day Rotation for August.

Busy few weeks!

Seems like the last weeks of school are always the busiest, craziest time of the year!   We have lots of special events.  Please look for the bright green flyer that went home in the Friday Folder to help you keep track of some of the dates coming up.   Here is a run down of what to expect the next 3 weeks:

Columbia Parent Orientation Night and Student Visit

Please join Columbia Intermediate staff on THURSDAY, MAY 12 at 6:30 in the CIS cafeteria to learn about what to expect as your child transitions from SLE to 5th grade at CIS. 

Students will be visiting and touring Columbia this week on the following dates:

Wednesday: Mrs. Clements' and Mrs. Westley's class

Thursday: Mrs. Scruby's and Mrs. Tucker's class

This is always a very exciting day for 4th graders!  Please make sure your child is at school on time on Wednesday and Thursday as the bus will leave right after morning announcements.  

Other Important Dates

May 11 - 

     4th Grade Kings District Chorus Concert @ KHS @ 7:30pm

May 13 - 

     SLE Parent Volunteer Luncheon

May 17 - 

      Field Day (please volunteer if you can!)

      PTO providing pizza lunch for 4th grade 

May 24 - 

      4th Grade Checkbook Party - lunch provided

May 26 - 

      4th Grade Awards Assembly 1:45pm SLE cafeteria  

      4th grade Recorder Concert - Immediately following awards

Update - Week of April 25th

AIR Testing

Wow!  We have had quite a week and are so proud of our rock-star students!   It has been a hard week beginning with testing each morning followed by a schedule that changed daily.   We were impressed with the mental energy the students put forth and the the strategies we observed -- using paper to plan responses and taking time to check over their work.   We have some great 4th graders!

We have ONE MORE TEST tomorrow (Monday, May 25)--- part 2 of the Social Studies test and then our schedule returns to normal.  Thank you for encouraging your children, feeding them good breakfasts, early bedtimes and getting them to school on time.   All of this helped make for a smooth testing session this year.   

Book Fair Update

Mrs. Burkholder reports that the Spring Scholastic Book Fair was an amazing success, beating the total from last spring by $300.  A BIG thank you to her and the PTO volunteers who helped to make this fair possible.   The online book fair will go on for another week, so you can still purchase books and SLE will get part of the profits from the sales and shipping is free.  To order from the online book fair click HERE . The online fair will be open through April 26th.  

All School Art Fair

Mark your calendar!! Every student from SLE will have an artwork displayed in the Cafeteria on May 4, from 4:30-7 pm.  Free admission.  Please come to see the talented artists at SLE.  Each student will have their artwork displayed in a frame.  The parent may have the option to purchase the frame to take home the student artwork. After the show, if their artwork was not purchased, the students will get their artwork back in class to take home.  Hope to see you at the show!  

Field Day

SLE Field Day is scheduled for Tuesday, May 17.  Volunteers help make this day a success for students.  If you are able to volunteer some time to help out, please return the form sent home in the Friday Folder, or contact Mr. Heagen.

Dress Code Reminder

Just a reminder that flip flops, tank and spaghetti strap tops are against school dress code.  Also, as the air conditioner adjusts to the the changing temperatures outside, note that we can have both warm and cold days in the building.  Some students have found that keeping a sweatshirt or sweater in their backpack or locker helps for these sudden temperature changes.

Welcome 4th Quarter!

Hard to believe we are in the 4th quarter!   So many exciting things happen these last couple months of school.  We will try to outline them all here, but remember to check back for updates as things are added to the calendar.   

Columbia Input Forms

Fourth grade parent input forms for Columbia Intermediate were emailed to you on Friday, April 1st.  Please fill out this form online to help Columbia place your child in a fifth grade class.  If you did not receive the email, you can CLICK HERE to access the online form.

Art to Remember

Art to Remember orders are due TUESDAY, APRIL 5.  If you have misplaced your order form, please contact Mrs. Hoffert.

Etiquette Luncheon

An invitation for the 4th grade Etiquette Luncheon was sent home in the Friday Folder.   The date for the lunch this year is Friday, April 15th.   Students are encouraged to wear their "Sunday Best" that day as they go to complete the etiquette program with this very special dining experience.  

State Testing

Ohio AIR testing is scheduled for April 18-25th this year.  Students will be taking tests in language arts (2 days), math (2 days) and social studies (2 days).   This is an opportunity for students to "show what they know" and of course we want the students to do their best.   Some parents have asked what they can do to help students prepare, and in general it is the same for most testing situations...good night sleep, breakfast, etc.   Academically, please have the students to continue to practice math facts, complete their homework and read and talk about what they read with you.   One challenge students face with these tests is that they will be asked to write an essay on the computer.  A stumbling block is often keyboarding skills.   All 4th grade students have accounts at typing.com.  If there is time at home, please have your child logon and practice their keyboarding skills.   

Panoramic Photo

Lifetouch will be returning to SLE on April 19th to take a very special panoramic photo of the entire 4th grade.  If you would like to order a photo, order forms were sent home in the Friday Folder. 

4th Quarter Goal and Checkbooks

4th Quarter goal for our school-wide behavior goal will again center around homework completion.   We find that this can be challenging for 4th graders as the weather gets warmer and the daylight grows longer.  Managing their homework with other things is essential for getting ready for 5th grade.   This quarter goal is to make it to 7 of the 9 Freaky Friday celebrations which means they have 7 of 9 weeks where all homework is completed and turned in on time.  

We found the checkbook system was very successful last quarter.  Students were excited to cash in their earnings at the grade-level party.   We are again using this system and looking forward to another fun cash-in party in May.  

Field Day

SLE Field Day is scheduled for Tuesday, May 17.  We will be having a school-wide field day this year.  Volunteers help make this day a success for students.   If you are able to volunteer some time to help out, please contact Mr. Heagen.   

End of the Quarter Notes.....

Confirmation times for 3rd quarter conferences should have come home last week or will be in student planners today.   Conferences are March 17 and 31 and will be with your child's reading teacher.  We look forward to meeting with you and if you are unable to make your scheduled time, please let us know.

End of Quarter Rewards

There are 2 reward parties at the end of this week.  On Thursday, we will have our 4th grade checkbook reward party.  Students will need $45 in their checkbooks to enter the party.   We are very excited at how hard students have worked to earn this reward.

Friday will be the school-wide celebration for reaching the positive behavior goal for 3rd quarter. This quarter, 4th graders focused on homework completion.  Students who did not miss more that 2 Freaky Fridays will be allowed to participate.   Those who did not achieve the goal will work on assignments that they have yet to complete and additional academic practice.

Spring Break

The Kings Local School District will be on Spring Break March 21-March 28.   Enjoy your time off and we will see you when school resumes on Tuesday, March 29.  

Important Calendar Updates

Please update your calendar for the following:

Community Conversation Meetings

The Kings Local School District will host three Community Conversations in March to address the financial future and quality of the district.  The Conversations will take place on March 1 at Columbia Intermediate School, March 2 at South Lebanon Elementary School, and March 7 at the Kings Junior High School Multipurpose Room. All conversations will begin at 6:30 p.m.

While district expenses are going up and state funding is flat, Kings is in the position of looking at how to fund district expenses going forward. We would like to gather community input on how to proceed with funding the future of Kings Schools. 

Our financial forecast shows a need to increase funding as early as 2017. Our community supported an Operating Levy in 2010, which was promised to last three years. We are happy to report that we have been able to stretch that funding for six years. Our goal is to not only maintain, but improve the quality of education we currently provide our students.  We would like to give our community a choice of how they feel is the best way to fund the quality of education we provide.

In order to do so, we will be asking for input regarding whether we should ask for new money by running a levy, (and if so, how much is reasonable), by making spending cuts, or a combination of both. If we are not able to secure new money, it appears that it will be necessary to make significant reductions in order to pay expenses.

Please join us at one of these three opportunities to give your feedback.  We are so thankful for the support of the Kings Community. Together we will continue to be #KingsStrong!

PTO March Madness

Join the fun at the PTO fundraiser this Friday, March 4th starting at 5:30.  Games, basket raffles, bounce houses and more!  

Spring Picture Day

Spring pictures will be taken on March 10.  At this time class photos will also be taken.  Order forms for class pictures were sent home last week in the Friday Folder.

Keep on Reading!

We have had our first turn in for reading minutes that will send Mr. Winebrenner walking in the Laps for Literacy challenge.  Great to see so much reading in one month!  New calendars went home this week for March -- anxious to see our number of minutes grow!