JANUARY 2024

Leawood Elementary School

Principal: Kevin Kolasa


FROM THE PRINCIPAL

January 2024

Dear Leawood Families,

Happy New Year! I hope this message finds you well-rested and ready to get back into the school routine. As we start the second half of the school year, we are excited to welcome our students and families back to school. 

This portion of the message might seem poorly timed, but it is this part of the year that as a school we start planning for the following school year (already, I know!). I ask that, if you have not done so already, please make sure that you enroll your children for the 2024-2025 school year through Enroll Jeffco. We use our enrollment numbers to determine our staffing and budget for the upcoming year. Therefore, the earlier we have students enrolled helps us tremendously in making more accurate predictions of the needs of the school.  If you have any questions regarding the process for enrollment, please call Leah Lefevre in our main office.

Starting the new year, we are thrilled to introduce our monthly skill focus for January: Empathy. This important social and emotional skill plays a crucial role in building a compassionate and supportive school environment. Throughout the month, our teachers will incorporate activities and discussions into their lesson plans that encourage students to understand and share the feelings of others. In one of our professional development sessions on January 3rd, we discussed as a staff, empathy and how it is a skill and not a trait, therefore we ALL can grow in this area. 

We encourage parents to reinforce the concept of empathy at home, engaging in conversations that promote understanding, kindness, and perspective-taking. Together, we can instill in our students the importance of empathy as they navigate their educational journey and beyond.

Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to a wonderful and empathetic start to the new year!

Your Proud Principal,

Kevin Kolasa

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

Right around the corner are some important events. We look forward to seeing you.