First Grade Scientists

On Friday, all the first-grade classes participated in a science experiment. Before beginning the experiment, each student from Mrs. Saunders class had to write a prediction in their writer's notebook as to what he or she thought would happen. After the experiment was completed, the class discussed and shared their predictions.
For the experiment, each student had a capsule and they dropped it into the cup of water. When the capsule dissolved, a sponge creature appeared. Each class had a different set of animals. Mrs. Saunders' class had Ocean animals to match the theme of her classroom.

Fourth Grade- Tower Building Teamwork

Fourth grade did daily team building activities for the first week of school. Students had 18 minutes, 1yd of string, 1 yd of tape, 20 sticks of spaghetti, and 1 large marshmallow. The goal was to build the tallest freestanding tower.

Third Grade Teamwork

A large focus of third-grade for the first few days of school was teamwork. Each teacher had lessons in their classrooms that required students to work together to solve problems. One of those lessons was Save Fred. Students had to work together only using 4 paper clips to get a gummy worm off the top of a cup, pulled through a life-saver, and then put inside of the cup.

                      

The third-grade teachers finished the week by pulling all the third-grade students together for two large team building activities. In the first exercise students stood on sheets that they pretended were magic carpets that were taking them on an adventure. The objective of the activity was to turn the sheets over without stepping off the sheets. It was amazing to see how well they worked together.

The students also had a chance to pretend to be first-mates on a large ship. They had to work together to follow orders and practice their listening skills.

Dress Code Refresher

With many families doing school shopping, we thought it would be helpful to use pictures to show what is allowed in our Caldwell School District dress code.  Hopefully this helps. Use the arrows below the slides to flip through the pages.


The official policy #509 can be found at this document and is summarized in our handbook on page 13.

What Sac Teachers Did This Summer - Learning

Like our students and families, the summer schedule for our teachers is a little different.  We get some flexibility to do some things we don't get to do the rest of the year.  We love vacation as much as our students do.  We need to be refreshed before we can jump into a new year (We are almost ready).  We'll do some other posts about the fun things and adventures we have had this summer.  If you dropped by a local coffee shop in June or July (Thanks to The Bird Stop and The Flying M) you might have bumped into a few Sacajawea teachers.  We have read three different books this summer and have met to discuss the main ideas and how we can use them.

The books we have read are:

• Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning by John Hattie
• How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character by Paul Tough
• Teach Like a Pirate: Increase Student Engagement, Boost Your Creativity, and Transform Your Life as an Educator by Dave Burgess

Several of us also attended professional conferences this summer. Hundreds of Caldwell teachers worked on math and English and language arts during the CSD curriculum institutes in June.  I was lucky to be able to attend the "Visible Learning" institute with several teachers from Sacajawea and from other Caldwell schools. We were challenged but I think we brought back some great ideas.  The collaborative learning atmosphere was one of the best professional learning experiences I have had with our staff.  We are excited about putting our ideas into action.

Sacajawea Teachers at the Visible Learning Institute

Five Skyhawk teachers and I also attended the Southwest Idaho Google for Education Summit at Idaho State University.  Again, we gathered many new ideas.  We look forward to sharing what we learned with other teachers on August 6th.

Mrs. Friddle and Mrs. Saunders Learn About New Tools

Registration - August 7th - 7AM to 6PM

Registration for ALL (new and returning) elementary students will be on Friday, August 7th at Sacajawea.  A parent must be present to sign papers.

Registration will be open from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Friday, August 7th.

New students to Sacajawea should bring the following:
1) Proof of address (a current utility bill or lease agreement)
2) Official Birth Certificate
3) Immunization Records

We look forward to seeing all of you, as we prepare for school to begin on August 19th.

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La inscripción para TODOS estudiantes (nuevos y que regresan) será el Viernes, 7 de agosto a las Sacajawea. Los padres deben estar presentes para firmar los papeles.

La inscripción estará de 7:00 am a 6:00 pm el 7 de agosto.

Los nuevos estudiantes a Sacajawea deben traer lo siguiente:
1) Comprobante de domicilio (una cuenta de utilidad o un contrato de arrendamiento )
2) Certificado oficial de Nacimiento
3) Cartilla de Vacunación

Esperamos verlos a todos ustedes, mientras nos preparamos para la escuela para comenzar el 19 de agosto.

Soccer Registration Deadline - June 29 Walk-In / July 20 Online

Have you registered for CrossFire Soccer yet? It is a great program for the kids in Caldwell.

Deadline for Online Registration is July 20th.
Link: www.canyonoptimistsoccer.com (Go to Crossfire Recreational Program and then Click to Register a Family Account)

   OR

The LAST Walk-In Registration Night on Monday, June 29th from 6pm to 8pm at the Caldwell Public Library.

Questions? Email: registrar@canyonoptimistsoccer.com

Scholarships are available.  Ask Ivy, the club registrar.

Games will start in September.

Support Ms. Simpson's Classroom

"My class is an active group and we love to have fun bringing learning to life through creative means! It means the world to me to instill a passion for learning in my kiddos and give them the tools they need to better understand and make a difference in the world. I appreciate your support in challenging our future generation to soar to new heights, both in character and academics!" Ms. Simpson.

Ms. Simpson would like to purchase Weekly Readers with a Science Spin for each student in 4th grade. A $5 donation could sponsor one student for a year and give them 32 educational magazines to keep.  If you are interested in donating to this awesome project you can visit Ms. Simpson's DonorsChoose page at the following link:

http://www.donorschoose.org/Kristy.Simpson

Q4 Awards Assembly

Our Awards Assembly this quarter was a bit different from the usual quarter awards. Students were not just honored for their citizenship and academics but also their physical agility. Mr. Thomas gave out certificates and t-shirts to students who had ran at least 100 miles on the Skyhawk Trail. This year our school logged an impressive 7,421 miles. Mrs. Stocks' 4th-grade class earned the most miles and received the "Golden Shoe" for the third year in a row.

After the physical fitness awards were handed out students from 1st through 5th grade were then commended for excellent citizenship and academic success. Students were recognized for Writing, Math, and Reading. Among the citizenship awards some common themes were kindness and respect. Congratulations to all our students and the hard work they put forth to earn these awards.

Academic Awards:

Kindergarten

1st Grade

2nd Grade

3rd Grade

4th Grade

5th Grade

Citizenship Awards:

Kindergarten

1st Grade

2nd Grade

3rd Grade

4th Grade

5th Grade

Teacher of the Year- Ms. Carhart

We are pleased to announce that Kindergarten teacher Miss Katie Carhart is Sacajawea's 2014-2015 Teacher of the Year. Miss Carhart has been teaching at Sac for the last seven years. She said one of her favorite things about being a teacher is seeing the smiles on her student's faces each day and sharing her love of learning with them. Katie said she was completely surprised that she was chosen and incredibly honored.  All of the Caldwell School District's Teachers of the Year were honored at a breakfast where family was invited to come and celebrate. Miss Carhart was able to celebrate this award with her son and her mother.