Tech - “Knoll” - ogy

Greetings Cherry Knoll Families! We are so excited about the spring, the beautiful sunshine, and about all of the fantastic accomplishments we see from our students each and every day. What a fantastic place to be!

We continue to strive to prepare our students for high school and beyond by integrating technology into the curriculum. By teaching students to utilize digital tools, we are providing exposure and knowledge about how to use tools that students will be expected to utilize to be successful as 21st Century Learners. Some of the exciting technology integration that our students are currently exposed to are:

• Making videos / recording presentations to help share ideas and thinking with others
• Class websites where students and parents can interact with content and other resources
• Writing projects: poems, essays, research
• Net books, familiarity with operating, typing, use as a tool to deepen thinking and understanding
• Math problems done on net books, writing workshop done on netbooks
• Computer buddies pairing older students with younger ones to give them all exposure to technology and older students the opportunity to teach, model, and mentor
• Students record themselves reading to help improve reading fluency
• Students use palm pilots to learn math facts
• Listening center, Leap Pads, CDs, music, websites, YouTube alphabet and other educational videos
• Online grading and current assignments kept up to date online at some grade levels
• Create websites
• Use of ActivBoard
• Student response systems enabling teachers instant assessment capabilities to know what students know and modify instruction 'on the fly'
• Use of iPads throughout the school with several educational applications

We are purposeful with the integration of technology at Cherry Knoll. We review the technology standards from the State, as well as the TCAPS technology plan to ensure that our students will have access to the digital devices, languages, and processes that will help them be successful in the future.

Respectfully,

Chris Parker,  Principal

 

Welcome Spring and Welcome Back CK Families!

 

March is Reading Month!

We are excited about Reading Month at Cherry Knoll! Our Superintendent, Mr. Steve Cousins, will be kicking off our reading festivities with a read aloud and singing performance to our students on March 5th. For the remainder of the month, our staff and students will be engaged in activities to celebrate reading and build the excitement that our students can discover through reading. I am excited for the opportunity to watch our students grow, learn, and discover while listening to them read and discuss their favorite stories, characters, and topics. Here are a few tips for parents to help their students with remembering and understanding what they have read:

• While driving, turn off the radio and ask your child to retell a favorite story.
• Play games with your child where you say a sentence, but leave a word out. Let your child guess the word. Give him/her clues until they guess the word. Make it fun! Say the sentence more than once so your child will keep thinking about a word that best fits the sentence.
• During TV commercials, have children predict what will happen next.
• When reading to your child, stop at an exciting part and have him/her predict what will happen.
• Write, tell or draw about a TV show they just watched.
• After reading to your child, go back into the book and have them find specific information.
• Talk to your child about books and magazines you like to read.
• Talk to your child about what you do when you are having difficulty understanding what you are reading.
• Read a familiar story together and talk about an alternate ending for the story. Encourage the child to draw or write an additional page for the story.
• Praise your child when your child asks to have a book read to him/her.
• Read together the directions for assembling a product the family purchased, then lay out the components in the order needed to complete the project.
• Praise your child when you discover him or her reading.
• Join your child in conversations about books, movies, and television shows.
• Allow your child to reread a favorite book.
• Encourage your child to read the repeated phrases aloud with you.
• Talk about why characters do the things they do in the story.
• Ask your child to explain why a character did what the character did in the story. For example, why did the pig build his house of bricks?
• While watching a television show or movie, ask your child what he/she thinks will happen next when the story comes to a dramatic event.
• Read to your child daily.
• Talk about special events in the story. Talk about how it makes you feel; for example, this makes me feel sad or this is really funny.
  
  Thank you for working with us on your child’s educational journey. I look forward to Reading Month with great anticipation!
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Chris Parker,
  Principal

 

Greetings Cherry Knoll Families!
What an exciting start to 2012! It has been great to see all of our students dive back in to their class work after the break (and some snow days). We have been working to maintain our focus on providing our students with skills that will prepare them for college and career and enable them to thrive in the 21st Century. We continue to work to make the educational environment engaging, inspiring, and challenging for each and every child, on each and every day.

 

 

Middle school students from Koka, Japan, escorted by Ms. Marci Perthes from East Middle School, visited our third grade classrooms. Our students were able to ask questions of the students and learn about how their lives were both similar and different from our guests. We will be making efforts to continue to communicate with our new friends in the future, making connections for students beyond the classroom walls. This was a truly exciting experience and I am hopeful that we can replicate this in the future, or possibly even expand on this fantastic opportunity!

 

We are forming an additional team of teachers to further the growth of our entire group through the process of professional learning communities and the Instructional Rounds process. These teachers will help serve as teacher leaders and will look for opportunities to extend leadership to other teachers within the building. Our focus with this group is much like with our other groups; to make sure that we are offering instruction that will prepare our students for academic success, successful global citizenship and a love of lifelong learning. We have wonderful teachers at Cherry Knoll with a lot to share and we are committed to continued learning throughout this entire school. It is truly an exciting time to be at our school!

 

 

 

 

Part of enriching the school experience for students is to be able to offer programs outside of the daily curriculum and the traditional school day that are positive and teach valuable life skills. This year, we are very fortunate to have Odyssey of the Mind teams preparing to compete at Cherry Knoll. Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. Team members apply their creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics. They then bring their solutions to competition on the local, state, and World level. Thousands of teams from throughout

 

the U.S. and from about 25 other countries participate in the program. For more information on OM, go to:
http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/.

 

Thanks to the students, parents, and volunteers that make this outstanding program possible!

 

 

Preschool Enrollment Fair

 

 

On Saturday, January 21, TCAPS held its first Preschool Enrollment Day at Cherry Knoll Elementary. Preschool managers, assistants, principals, and program directors were on hand to inform, educate, and sign students up for our outstanding preschool opportunities throughout the district and right here at Cherry Knoll. If you have questions about preschool, extended day, or additional early childhood opportunities, call me at 933-8942 and I will be happy to assist you. 

 

I look forward to bringing you further information about the great things going on at your child’s school. We will continue to focus on the development of skills that will make our students prepared for success academically, socially, and emotionally and we help prepare them for the next step in their educational journey and for a happy, fulfilling life. Thanks for your support in helping us maintain this focus and for allowing us to share this journey with your children.

 

Sincerely,

 

Chris Parker,
Principal

 

 

Greetings Cherry Knoll Families!  Welcome to 2012!

• Remain in your vehicle when in the pick-up/drop-off lane. Vehicles in this lane must not park for any length of time to avoid traffic back ups.
• Pull forward in the circle when picking up or dropping off. This allows more vehicles to fit in our pick-up/drop-off lane and helps the process move along at a safe and efficient pace.
• Students may be dropped off in the bus loop after the buses have left the loop. Please wait until all buses have left the loop before you enter. This is for the safety of our students and for you.
• If you need to sign your student out of school early, please do so in the office. The secretaries will contact the classroom and have your student sent to the office for you to pick up.
• Your feedback and participation is important to us! Please regularly communicate with your child’s teacher about any social or academic concerns that you may have. If further discussion is warranted, I will be happy to meet with you and the teacher to resolve any issues or concerns. 
• Please make sure that you send your child dressed appropriately for the weather. Being outside during recess is a great opportunity for students to exercise, get fresh air, and build important social skills. Dressing appropriately makes this much more enjoyable for students.
• Notify the office as soon as possible about any end of day changes for your student. Keeping these changes to a minimum will help us to get your student home to you safely.

 

In Service of Others…

 

On Wednesday, November 23, 2011, eighth grade students from TC West Middle School visited Cherry Knoll to engage in a service-learning project that was organized by their Student Council and teachers, Tara DenHerder and Jill Warren.

The West Middle School (WMS) students were led to classrooms by our Cherry Knoll Student Council members, who were able to see first hand, what other exciting opportunities may await them in their future, should they continue in student government.

Our students were very excited to meet “the big kids” from the other side of Traverse City. The students from WMS related many positive experiences with our students and ways they can use this experience to extend their own learning. Thanks to our friends at WMS for sharing some of your student leaders with us!

 

Sincerely,

 

Chris Parker

 

Hello Cherry Knoll Families:

In case you missed it, 7&4 News ran a special recently, celebrating and appreciating the often-thankless work done by our lunch ladies. Terri Wilson and Sissy Rokos were recognized for their many years of serving meals to students and staff and for going the extra mile to make all of our days brighter.
To view the video, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKrN7cn5_OE

Terri and Sissy have a profound impact on our students each and every day and it was great to see them recognized for their tremendous contribution to our school community. Each day, the staff at Cherry Knoll gives of themselves to enrich the lives of our students. From warm, smiling greetings in the morning, to inspiring classroom lessons, to helping students resolve playground disagreements, the staff at Cherry Knoll goes above and beyond to help equip our students with the skills necessary to lead happy, fulfilling, and productive lives. Please know that your students are very important to all of us. If you have a moment, please let a staff member that is special to your child know how much they are appreciated. In this fast-paced time, it is still important to take the time to build and maintain positive relationships.

Your efforts as parents, relatives, and caregivers are sincerely appreciated as well. We had a fantastic turnout for our fall parent-teacher conferences. Thank you all for sharing your children with us, for your involvement in their education, and for making Cherry Knoll a very special place for us all.

Respectfully,

Chris Parker

 

Developing A Growth Mindset 
In her book Mindset, author Carol Dweck discusses the differences between competing views of intelligence. The "fixed mindset" is described as a view that individuals either "have it" or don't. Individuals with the fixed mindset believe that they were either born with a genetic advantage or disadvantage when it comes to brain power. Those with the fixed mindset, logically, view others in the same way, assuming that others are either cerebrally gifted or not, with little or no capacity to change, grow, or learn. Conversely, the "growth mindset" assumes that learning is possible and accessible to all. Intellectual growth in the growth mindset is viewed as an ongoing process of continuous improvement and development. 

 

Welcome Back Cherry Knoll Community!
We are off to a great start to the 2011-12 school year! This year will be another exciting opportunity to work with you in providing your child with an education that will challenge and inspire them, while preparing them for a future of lifelong learning and success in the world of work.

To achieve these goals, our committed staff will continue to challenge themselves and each other in maintaining a sharp focus on what matters most: teaching and learning. We will focus on creating an environment that is highly engaging for staff and students, one that appropriately challenges students to reach or exceed their potential. We will be working on developing students that not only perform well on standardized tests, but whom demonstrate knowledge through the depth of their understanding of material, through their level of independent learning, their willingness to stay with a task even when it gets difficult, and to recall and effectively use strategies to solve complex problems. We will also strive to teach students how to effectively use digital tools to communicate ideas and develop key 21st century skills. We will focus on working with others, understanding problems from other perspectives, and how to effectively use communication and problem solving skills. All of these objectives will occur under the umbrella of developing the whole student in a balanced manner. Social skills and behavior expectations will be explicitly taught and re-taught as necessary. We are continuing with our four Wildcat points of pride by teaching students to be safe, respectful, responsible, and always to try their best. This is an ambitious list, but one that we will attack with the appropriate sense of urgency and understanding of developmental stages and needs. While challenging, these objectives are possible. Our staff is very talented and dedicated. It is through their hard work and caring about the students that development of these skills will be possible. We are excited and we are up for the challenge!

For students to meet these challenges, your support at home is critical. Making sure that your child gets plenty of rest, maintaining a structured homework and reading routine, and communicating with your child's teacher will create a strong partnership to help ensure that students reach or exceed their potential. Demonstrate to your children that education is important to you and it will likely be important to them, too. Thank you for your care of your children and for the support you give to the school throughout the year.

To increase awareness of colleges and universities, each classroom this year will be assigned a college name and logo. Classrooms may research the institution and learn more about it. In addition to research, classrooms will be developing their college affiliation theme throughout the school year. Stay tuned for further announcements through notes home, our website, or through direct contact with the teachers.

We have a couple of new staff members this year. Mrs. Dorgan is our new literacy coach. Ms. Carroll is teaching first grade this year. Both of these teachers have exceptional knowledge of reading and will have a very positive impact on our students. Ms. Erin Kirkpatrick is teaching third grade and Mr. Nathan Plum is teaching fourth grade. Erin and Nathan bring experience and knowledge from their previous teaching experiences in the district. Ms. Katie Moeggenberg returns to the staff this fall teaching kindergarten. Katie taught second grade for us last year and has previous experience in working for Midland Schools.

Please make sure to attend as many PTO meetings as you are able. Volunteer opportunities abound throughout the school and we welcome your active participation in our school community.

I look forward to working with each of you this year. Please check out our website and that of your teacher for updates and information. As always, stop in to chat if you have questions, or reach me by email or phone.

Wishing you a successful year,

Chris Parker
Principal

 

Tech - “Knoll” - ogy

Greetings Cherry Knoll Families! We are so excited about the spring, the beautiful sunshine, and about all of the fantastic accomplishments we see from our students each and every day. What a fantastic place to be!

We continue to strive to prepare our students for high school and beyond by integrating technology into the curriculum. By teaching students to utilize digital tools, we are providing exposure and knowledge about how to use tools that students will be expected to utilize to be successful as 21st Century Learners. Some of the exciting technology integration that our students are currently exposed to are:

• Making videos / recording presentations to help share ideas and thinking with others
• Class websites where students and parents can interact with content and other resources
• Writing projects: poems, essays, research
• Net books, familiarity with operating, typing, use as a tool to deepen thinking and understanding
• Math problems done on net books, writing workshop done on netbooks
• Computer buddies pairing older students with younger ones to give them all exposure to technology and older students the opportunity to teach, model, and mentor
• Students record themselves reading to help improve reading fluency
• Students use palm pilots to learn math facts
• Listening center, Leap Pads, CDs, music, websites, YouTube alphabet and other educational videos
• Online grading and current assignments kept up to date online at some grade levels
• Create websites
• Use of ActivBoard
• Student response systems enabling teachers instant assessment capabilities to know what students know and modify instruction 'on the fly'
• Use of iPads throughout the school with several educational applications

We are purposeful with the integration of technology at Cherry Knoll. We review the technology standards from the State, as well as the TCAPS technology plan to ensure that our students will have access to the digital devices, languages, and processes that will help them be successful in the future.

Respectfully,

Chris Parker,  Principal

 

Welcome Spring and Welcome Back CK Families!

 

March is Reading Month!

We are excited about Reading Month at Cherry Knoll! Our Superintendent, Mr. Steve Cousins, will be kicking off our reading festivities with a read aloud and singing performance to our students on March 5th. For the remainder of the month, our staff and students will be engaged in activities to celebrate reading and build the excitement that our students can discover through reading. I am excited for the opportunity to watch our students grow, learn, and discover while listening to them read and discuss their favorite stories, characters, and topics. Here are a few tips for parents to help their students with remembering and understanding what they have read:

• While driving, turn off the radio and ask your child to retell a favorite story.
• Play games with your child where you say a sentence, but leave a word out. Let your child guess the word. Give him/her clues until they guess the word. Make it fun! Say the sentence more than once so your child will keep thinking about a word that best fits the sentence.
• During TV commercials, have children predict what will happen next.
• When reading to your child, stop at an exciting part and have him/her predict what will happen.
• Write, tell or draw about a TV show they just watched.
• After reading to your child, go back into the book and have them find specific information.
• Talk to your child about books and magazines you like to read.
• Talk to your child about what you do when you are having difficulty understanding what you are reading.
• Read a familiar story together and talk about an alternate ending for the story. Encourage the child to draw or write an additional page for the story.
• Praise your child when your child asks to have a book read to him/her.
• Read together the directions for assembling a product the family purchased, then lay out the components in the order needed to complete the project.
• Praise your child when you discover him or her reading.
• Join your child in conversations about books, movies, and television shows.
• Allow your child to reread a favorite book.
• Encourage your child to read the repeated phrases aloud with you.
• Talk about why characters do the things they do in the story.
• Ask your child to explain why a character did what the character did in the story. For example, why did the pig build his house of bricks?
• While watching a television show or movie, ask your child what he/she thinks will happen next when the story comes to a dramatic event.
• Read to your child daily.
• Talk about special events in the story. Talk about how it makes you feel; for example, this makes me feel sad or this is really funny.
  
  Thank you for working with us on your child’s educational journey. I look forward to Reading Month with great anticipation!
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Chris Parker,
  Principal

 

Greetings Cherry Knoll Families!
What an exciting start to 2012! It has been great to see all of our students dive back in to their class work after the break (and some snow days). We have been working to maintain our focus on providing our students with skills that will prepare them for college and career and enable them to thrive in the 21st Century. We continue to work to make the educational environment engaging, inspiring, and challenging for each and every child, on each and every day.

 

 

Middle school students from Koka, Japan, escorted by Ms. Marci Perthes from East Middle School, visited our third grade classrooms. Our students were able to ask questions of the students and learn about how their lives were both similar and different from our guests. We will be making efforts to continue to communicate with our new friends in the future, making connections for students beyond the classroom walls. This was a truly exciting experience and I am hopeful that we can replicate this in the future, or possibly even expand on this fantastic opportunity!

 

We are forming an additional team of teachers to further the growth of our entire group through the process of professional learning communities and the Instructional Rounds process. These teachers will help serve as teacher leaders and will look for opportunities to extend leadership to other teachers within the building. Our focus with this group is much like with our other groups; to make sure that we are offering instruction that will prepare our students for academic success, successful global citizenship and a love of lifelong learning. We have wonderful teachers at Cherry Knoll with a lot to share and we are committed to continued learning throughout this entire school. It is truly an exciting time to be at our school!

 

 

 

 

Part of enriching the school experience for students is to be able to offer programs outside of the daily curriculum and the traditional school day that are positive and teach valuable life skills. This year, we are very fortunate to have Odyssey of the Mind teams preparing to compete at Cherry Knoll. Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. Team members apply their creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics. They then bring their solutions to competition on the local, state, and World level. Thousands of teams from throughout

 

the U.S. and from about 25 other countries participate in the program. For more information on OM, go to:
http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/.

 

Thanks to the students, parents, and volunteers that make this outstanding program possible!

 

 

Preschool Enrollment Fair

 

 

On Saturday, January 21, TCAPS held its first Preschool Enrollment Day at Cherry Knoll Elementary. Preschool managers, assistants, principals, and program directors were on hand to inform, educate, and sign students up for our outstanding preschool opportunities throughout the district and right here at Cherry Knoll. If you have questions about preschool, extended day, or additional early childhood opportunities, call me at 933-8942 and I will be happy to assist you. 

 

I look forward to bringing you further information about the great things going on at your child’s school. We will continue to focus on the development of skills that will make our students prepared for success academically, socially, and emotionally and we help prepare them for the next step in their educational journey and for a happy, fulfilling life. Thanks for your support in helping us maintain this focus and for allowing us to share this journey with your children.

 

Sincerely,

 

Chris Parker,
Principal

 

 

Greetings Cherry Knoll Families!  Welcome to 2012!

• Remain in your vehicle when in the pick-up/drop-off lane. Vehicles in this lane must not park for any length of time to avoid traffic back ups.
• Pull forward in the circle when picking up or dropping off. This allows more vehicles to fit in our pick-up/drop-off lane and helps the process move along at a safe and efficient pace.
• Students may be dropped off in the bus loop after the buses have left the loop. Please wait until all buses have left the loop before you enter. This is for the safety of our students and for you.
• If you need to sign your student out of school early, please do so in the office. The secretaries will contact the classroom and have your student sent to the office for you to pick up.
• Your feedback and participation is important to us! Please regularly communicate with your child’s teacher about any social or academic concerns that you may have. If further discussion is warranted, I will be happy to meet with you and the teacher to resolve any issues or concerns. 
• Please make sure that you send your child dressed appropriately for the weather. Being outside during recess is a great opportunity for students to exercise, get fresh air, and build important social skills. Dressing appropriately makes this much more enjoyable for students.
• Notify the office as soon as possible about any end of day changes for your student. Keeping these changes to a minimum will help us to get your student home to you safely.

 

In Service of Others…

 

On Wednesday, November 23, 2011, eighth grade students from TC West Middle School visited Cherry Knoll to engage in a service-learning project that was organized by their Student Council and teachers, Tara DenHerder and Jill Warren.

The West Middle School (WMS) students were led to classrooms by our Cherry Knoll Student Council members, who were able to see first hand, what other exciting opportunities may await them in their future, should they continue in student government.

Our students were very excited to meet “the big kids” from the other side of Traverse City. The students from WMS related many positive experiences with our students and ways they can use this experience to extend their own learning. Thanks to our friends at WMS for sharing some of your student leaders with us!

 

Sincerely,

 

Chris Parker

 

Hello Cherry Knoll Families:

In case you missed it, 7&4 News ran a special recently, celebrating and appreciating the often-thankless work done by our lunch ladies. Terri Wilson and Sissy Rokos were recognized for their many years of serving meals to students and staff and for going the extra mile to make all of our days brighter.
To view the video, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKrN7cn5_OE

Terri and Sissy have a profound impact on our students each and every day and it was great to see them recognized for their tremendous contribution to our school community. Each day, the staff at Cherry Knoll gives of themselves to enrich the lives of our students. From warm, smiling greetings in the morning, to inspiring classroom lessons, to helping students resolve playground disagreements, the staff at Cherry Knoll goes above and beyond to help equip our students with the skills necessary to lead happy, fulfilling, and productive lives. Please know that your students are very important to all of us. If you have a moment, please let a staff member that is special to your child know how much they are appreciated. In this fast-paced time, it is still important to take the time to build and maintain positive relationships.

Your efforts as parents, relatives, and caregivers are sincerely appreciated as well. We had a fantastic turnout for our fall parent-teacher conferences. Thank you all for sharing your children with us, for your involvement in their education, and for making Cherry Knoll a very special place for us all.

Respectfully,

Chris Parker

 

Developing A Growth Mindset 
In her book Mindset, author Carol Dweck discusses the differences between competing views of intelligence. The "fixed mindset" is described as a view that individuals either "have it" or don't. Individuals with the fixed mindset believe that they were either born with a genetic advantage or disadvantage when it comes to brain power. Those with the fixed mindset, logically, view others in the same way, assuming that others are either cerebrally gifted or not, with little or no capacity to change, grow, or learn. Conversely, the "growth mindset" assumes that learning is possible and accessible to all. Intellectual growth in the growth mindset is viewed as an ongoing process of continuous improvement and development. 

 

Welcome Back Cherry Knoll Community!
We are off to a great start to the 2011-12 school year! This year will be another exciting opportunity to work with you in providing your child with an education that will challenge and inspire them, while preparing them for a future of lifelong learning and success in the world of work.

To achieve these goals, our committed staff will continue to challenge themselves and each other in maintaining a sharp focus on what matters most: teaching and learning. We will focus on creating an environment that is highly engaging for staff and students, one that appropriately challenges students to reach or exceed their potential. We will be working on developing students that not only perform well on standardized tests, but whom demonstrate knowledge through the depth of their understanding of material, through their level of independent learning, their willingness to stay with a task even when it gets difficult, and to recall and effectively use strategies to solve complex problems. We will also strive to teach students how to effectively use digital tools to communicate ideas and develop key 21st century skills. We will focus on working with others, understanding problems from other perspectives, and how to effectively use communication and problem solving skills. All of these objectives will occur under the umbrella of developing the whole student in a balanced manner. Social skills and behavior expectations will be explicitly taught and re-taught as necessary. We are continuing with our four Wildcat points of pride by teaching students to be safe, respectful, responsible, and always to try their best. This is an ambitious list, but one that we will attack with the appropriate sense of urgency and understanding of developmental stages and needs. While challenging, these objectives are possible. Our staff is very talented and dedicated. It is through their hard work and caring about the students that development of these skills will be possible. We are excited and we are up for the challenge!

For students to meet these challenges, your support at home is critical. Making sure that your child gets plenty of rest, maintaining a structured homework and reading routine, and communicating with your child's teacher will create a strong partnership to help ensure that students reach or exceed their potential. Demonstrate to your children that education is important to you and it will likely be important to them, too. Thank you for your care of your children and for the support you give to the school throughout the year.

To increase awareness of colleges and universities, each classroom this year will be assigned a college name and logo. Classrooms may research the institution and learn more about it. In addition to research, classrooms will be developing their college affiliation theme throughout the school year. Stay tuned for further announcements through notes home, our website, or through direct contact with the teachers.

We have a couple of new staff members this year. Mrs. Dorgan is our new literacy coach. Ms. Carroll is teaching first grade this year. Both of these teachers have exceptional knowledge of reading and will have a very positive impact on our students. Ms. Erin Kirkpatrick is teaching third grade and Mr. Nathan Plum is teaching fourth grade. Erin and Nathan bring experience and knowledge from their previous teaching experiences in the district. Ms. Katie Moeggenberg returns to the staff this fall teaching kindergarten. Katie taught second grade for us last year and has previous experience in working for Midland Schools.

Please make sure to attend as many PTO meetings as you are able. Volunteer opportunities abound throughout the school and we welcome your active participation in our school community.

I look forward to working with each of you this year. Please check out our website and that of your teacher for updates and information. As always, stop in to chat if you have questions, or reach me by email or phone.

Wishing you a successful year,

Chris Parker
Principal