Friday, March 30, 2012

April Lunch

April Newsletter

Principal’s Corner
Spring has sprung!   We are excited about the weather and the opportunity to have the kids outside getting fresh air and enjoying the sunshine during recesses.  With this weather also comes the opportunity for families to take vacations.  Recognizing that time off from work comes at different times for each of us, I wanted to encourage all of you to minimize your children’s absences as much as possible.  Core testing begins April 23rd, and we are in a very critical time of reviewing and covering final concepts in preparation for the tests.
Speaking of testing, please talk to your students about doing their best on the End of Level tests.  It is important to our school that every child comes prepared to test and takes each test very seriously.  To that end you can help by making sure that your children get adequate rest and have a good breakfast each morning during the testing window. 
4th quarter will be the final time that students at Kanesville will be able to use the Accelerated reader program.  Our district has made a decision to move away from this program, and will no longer support it in our schools.  Please encourage your students to work hard toward their AR goals this last quarter. I think it would be great to have 100% of our eligible students make their goal this final time.
Thanks for all you do for Kanesville and our students.  As always, if you have any questions, feel free to call me at any time or just stop in.

K-town Rocks!!
Mr. Z


PTA President’s Corner
We are fast approaching the end of the year and that brings many things to look forward to. Mark your calendars May 9th for the “Family Fun Fair”. We will have our annual Fun Walk and then join us at the school for plenty of food, fun, and games! We will also have our silent auction. May 21st is our “Field Day”. I am happy to announce that we have our new PTA board for the 2012-2013 school year.
Stephanie Barney –Co President
Andrea Favero-Co President
Alicia Coats- President Elect
Betsy Ray- Secretary
Janet Freestone- Treasurer
Thank you to all who help the PTA…we have the most amazing school and we couldn’t do it without the parents, students, and faculty!!
Happy Spring!!
Janet

NOTES FROM THE SCHOOL NURSE: BEE STINGS
Spring is in the air.  The days of warmer weather and budding trees are a welcome sight to most of us, however, along with warmer weather come the bumble bees, hornets, and wasps.
Treatment of bee and wasp stings will depend on the severity of your condition.  Most stings cause only limited local inflammatory reactions consisting of pain, itching, redness and swelling.  These reactions are usually more a nuisance than a medical emergency.  However, local reactions can be extensive, involving the person’s entire limb that was stung.  When this occurs, the swelling and redness may peak two to three days after the sting and last a week or longer.
If you are stung you can treat by:
*You want to remove the stinger by either pulling it out or scraping it with a hard object such as a fingernail or credit card, as soon as possible.
*Wash the sting site with soap and water to prevent infection.
*Consider taking an antihistaminesuch as diphenhydramine (Benadryl) or a non-sedating one such as loratadine (Claritin) for itching.
*Consider taking ibuprofen (Motrin) or acetaminophen (Tylenol) for pain relief as needed.
*Ice may be applied for 20 minutes, over the sting site to slow absorption of the venom and relieve pain.A cloth should be placed between the ice and skin to avoid freezing the skin.
*A topical steroid cream such as hydrocortisone can help combat swelling and itching.
*Watch any victim closely for signs of anaphylaxis including nausea, vomiting, bronchospasm, wheezing and difficulty breathing.
If there is any concern that the victim may be developing anaphylaxis, call 911immediately, check to see if the victim is carrying an epinephrine auto-injector (EpiPen). If so, help the victim use the EpiPen.  Antihistamines, such as diphenhydramine(Benadryl), can slow an anaphylactic reaction, but will not stop it.

Monday, March 5, 2012

March 2012 Paw Print

Principal’s Corner
The Kanesville community never ceases to amaze me!  This past month our community came together and raised over $3,000 dollars in an effort to place an AED in our school. Our goal was $900 and we crushed it!  This is a classic example of a community coming together to take care of its kids.  This device will never be needed by 99.9% of our kids and yet families gave generously to make sure that it would be available if it is ever needed.  Thank you so much for your generosity!
We are just past the halfway mark, and our teachers and students are heavily into the meat of the core curriculum.  Core testing is just 8 weeks away, and we need to make sure that all of our students are in class and learning.  With that in mind, and spring on the way, please make every effort to plan family vacations around the school schedule.
This time of year also brings thoughts of the future and with that comes concerns about which class your children will be in next year.  Over the past few months, I have been in conversation with our staff, the Community Council and the PTA about parent requests, and I want to clarify my position here.   Our goal is to provide a quality education to every student in our school.  With that said, it is my job to ensure that every classroom has a qualified teacher and a balanced class.  Every teacher in this school is very qualified and capable of educating the students in their class. The process of balancing classes is a very difficult one and one that cannot be adequately accomplished when parent requests become excessive.  Therefore, I will ask the teachers in each grade to make class lists that are balanced in every way possible.  When those lists are completed, I will assign those lists to teachers.  I believe the people best equipped to make those lists are the teachers who work with the students every day.  They know which students work well together and which need to be apart.  Therefore, I will not make changes to those lists.  That being said, it is my responsibility to make sure that every child at Kanesville has a quality education and I take that responsibility very seriously.  Any concerns that you have now are based on speculation about what might happen in the future, and I cannot fix perceived problems.  However, I am committed to dealing with any problems that may arise next year.  Your child’s education is the responsibility of a team that includes you, the teacher, our support staff and me.  If issues arise, we will work together as a team to solve them, and I will not accept any outcome that does not insure your child the very best education Weber District has to offer.
Please feel free to call me at any time, or just stop by to talk.
K-Town Rocks!!!

Mr. Z

PTA President’s Corner
I need to begin by saying THANK YOU for all the support and participation in our “Have a Heart…” fund raiser! It was a HUGE success! We raised over $3,000 and we couldn’t have done it without the amazing students, parents, and faculty!! With the money we are going to purchase an AED for our school, one for Rocky Mountain Junior High, and first aid supplies for our class rooms. Once again I am so proud of our school!  May 9th is the Family Fun Walk and Carnival so mark your calendars!   Happy Spring!  Janet Freestone



NOTES FROM THE SCHOOL NURSE:   
March is Poison Prevention month.

More than 60,000 children end up in emergency rooms every year because they got into medicines while their parent or caregiver was not looking.  Any kind of medication or vitamin can cause harm if taken in the wrong way. Here are some helpful tips from the Up and Away program in partnership with the CDC. 
  *Place your medications (including over the counter meds) in a place your children cannot see or reach.
  *Put medicines away every time, even if you have to use it again in a few hours.
  *Hear the click to make sure the safety cap is locked. Remember children may still be able to open them.
  *Teach your children about medication safety.  Never tell children medication is candy.  This is a concern    
    because they now make vitamins that look and taste like candy.
  *Remind caregivers and grandparents about medication safety. (Most grandparents aren’t used to having
    children around, therefore, they may need a reminder about children and medication safety)
  *Be prepared in case of emergency. The poison control center number is (800) 222-1222.  Program it i
    into your phone so you will have it if you need it.  Share it with those who care for your children.
  *Dispose of unused medications properly.  Don’t let them sit around in a cupboard.
You can get more medication safety information at www.upandaway.org

To those of you who have (or will have) children at Rocky Mountain Jr High during the 2012-2013 school year,  We are trying to put together our PTSA board for next year! 
The PTSA isn't quite so time consuming!  We have a meeting the first Thursday of the month and then take turns volunteering.  We sell school shirts, drinks & candy at games in the Coke wagon, we have student of the month (where we sit with the classes while the teachers give out awards), we chaperone at stomps, etc!
It's a lot of fun and we really need your help!  Call or email Leslie Saunders rlsaunders7@msn.com