From the Principal 

TO OUR WONDERFUL LEAWOOD FAMILIES:

Thank you! I give you a huge, warm, welcome back!  We have missed you all so much. Thank you for such a wonderful start to our school year!  The love and support we have felt from our community has been encouraging and uplifting.  We appreciate all you have done to help your children adjust to the back to school routines and be ready to learn.  Your children have done a wonderful job with wearing masks, practicing good hygiene, and following all our new safety guidelines.  I keep hearing them say how happy they are to be back at school again. Thank you for raising and parenting such resilient children! The teachers and staff are so excited to be back in the building doing what they truly love to do: educate your precious children. We have had lots of new and sometimes changing pieces of information to navigate ourselves as well as to share with you. We had to re-envision our instructional day with so many handwashing and sanitizing mitigations, as well as making time for mask breaks throughout the day. I'm proud to say that through it all, we keep at the center of this work our greatest treasures... your children!  We've worked hard so they will all experience a safe, positive, and welcoming environment with engaging and rigorous learning. If you have any questions or concerns after reading through this newsletter, please reach out to me. 

If you're new to our newsletter format, at the bottom of each page, there are links to other pages with lots more information.  The "landing page" will always be a message from me with important dates for the month, but then please also click on "News from the School and Office", "News from our Teachers," "News from our PTSA & Accountability," and "News from our District and Community." This October newsletter also includes a page "Parent/Teacher Conferences" which contains the links to signup for our virtual conferences coming soon.

As we move into October, I hope your family is able to take time to enjoy all the many fall activities that living in Colorado provides.  It has been an incredibly smooth start to this year and communication is key! Please contact us should you have any concerns, questions, or comments. When schools and families work together, children benefit.  

Administrators and teachers everywhere recognize the important contributions parents make toward a child’s success in school.  There is no question about it - success at school begins at home.  Parents are the single most important variable in a child’s schooling.  Parents model both a silent and spoken language in front of their children daily. The close partnership between home and school is one of the exceptional strengths at Leawood.  We have a strong tradition of supportive, hard-working parents.  Throughout the year parents have the opportunity to develop that partnership in a wide variety of ways such as joining the PTSA, attending virtual Accountability meetings, ensuring your child does their homework, read with your children, and helping in many other ways.  It is important to your child that you are involved in some way with school. It’s a way to let your child know you think his or her school is important.

Wednesday, October 21st is our next PTSA Virtual Meeting, 6:00-7:30. The agenda will be sent to members prior to the meeting. Everyone is welcome to attend and we encourage you to get involved and hear all the great things we're doing during these unprecedented times. When it comes to issues which require a decision, only registered members will vote. Be sure to check out the "From our PTSA and Accountability" newsletter page to find out more about MemberHub and other upcoming events.  The link is at the very bottom of each newsletter page.

This year, our district has once again added a fall break for families on Thursday, October 15th and Friday, October 16th after parent/teacher conferences. Enjoy the glorious Colorado fall weather! Teachers will have a Teacher Learning Day on Thursday, October 15th, engaging in collaborative planning and adjusting instruction and interventions. 

For a full list of school events, click for our 2020-21 School Calendar

We look forward to seeing you at all these great events. For lots more information, be sure to check out our website at www.leawoodlions.us  and like us on Facebook HERE

Thank you again for your support and encouragement of our Leawood staff, students and community this school year.  We couldn’t do what we do without you!  Together we can help make this a wonderful year for our Leawood children. Leawood is an exciting place to Grow and Learn!

Happy Fall!  Fondly,

Mrs. Shehan

martha.shehan@jeffco.k12.co.us 

ASSESSMENT DATA AND MIDTERM REPORTS

Our kindergarten through third grade students have been assessed on Acadience Reading (formerly known as DIBELS.) Kindergarten through 5th grade students are in the process of completing NWEA MAP assessments in English Language Arts and in Math.

We use the information from both of these assessments to customize learning for our students. DIBELS looks at a set of procedures and measures for assessing the acquisition of early literacy skills. NWEA Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) interim assessments provide essential information about a student's continuum of learning and growth trajectory. MAP is a tool to help identify strengths and opportunities of greatest need. 

Due to our "Stay at Home" order last March, we anticipate academic loss. We are eager to determine the needs of each of our students through the lens of these norm referenced assessments. During our Teacher Learning Day in September, we looked at this data and made plans to adjust instruction and begin intervention strategies designed to close skill gaps and create a solid framework of monitoring progress moving forward in this new school year. We are committed to ensuring the success of every child at Leawood Elementary School. We realize this will be a year like no other, yet we are prepared.

We have made the decision to not send home our typical midterm progress reports until after conferences.  These reports indicate whether or not students are currently meeting Colorado Standards. We felt this was better done through conversation with you during parent/teacher conferences, and then the midterms will be sent home the following Friday, on October 23rd. We will continue to define and refine the complexities of teaching and learning. Whatever It Takes!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

We are so excited to have received approval to have our Watch Dog Dads still support our morning and afternoon crosswalk duty. As you know, parents and visitors are not allowed in the building this year, but we will meet Watch Dogs at the front door, symptom screen you, and hand you your walkie talkie, vest, and stop sign. All crosswalk Watch Dog Dads need to be trained. If you are interested in being a Leawood Crossing Guard, Jefferson County requires you to take the crosswalk training and test before you can report for duty. View here the training presentation and then take the test here: Link to test  You must score at least an 80% to be qualified, so please inquire your score before signing up.  You can review the presentation and take the test as many times as you'd like.

Remember to arrive around 8:35 in order to get your vest and walkie talkie for crosswalk duty, and be in your assigned crosswalk by 8:45 or in the afternoon by 3:35 to be at your spot by 3:45. Your student(s) may not be in the crosswalk with you.  Have them wait on the grass in front of the school.

All crossing guards are also required to sign a Workers Comp Waiver as well.  Please leave with the office staff.  Thank you!