Sunny Hills

We are in the middle of the Kindergarten registration process for the 2018 – 2019 school year (Feb. 6^th – March 9^th)

Your child  must be 5 by August 31^st, 2018  AND live in the Sunny Hills boundary area.

If you have a child to register your , please stop by the office anytime between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm to pick up a registration packet. 

Required paperwork:

Birth Certificate or Passport

Immunization Report

Proof of Residency:

1. Current lease agreement, Residential Closing papers or tax statement

AND

2. Current Utility Bill

Winter Weather is Coming – Snow Day, Snow Stops, and Emergency Notification Information

If school is delayed, do not drop your child off at our regular time. If weather is causing unsafe conditions for our bus routes, the same is true for staff driving to work. We cannot guarantee that any staff will be on campus at their regular, non-snow day hours. Staff are expected to shift their day equal to the time the bells have shifted. If your child has a 2 hour delay and is asked to arrive at 11:10, staff would not be expected to arrive prior to their normal weather time PLUS 2 hours. For example, teachers would not be expected to be on campus until 10:30 if we had a 2 hour delay to our school day. Wanting to keep all children safe, we share this with you. Students dropped off prior to the delay may not have supervision and will be outside in the cold. 

Watch your U.S. mailbox during the week of November 6 for the ISD 2017-18 school year Emergency Transportation Bulletin. This mailer includes information on snow routes and emergency stops, as well as program cancellations and schedule changes due to inclement weather. The bulletin also includes information on communication of school delays or closure. An electronic copy of the Emergency Transportation Bulletin can be found on the district website here.

School closures and delays are announced early in the morning, usually between 6:00 and 6:30 a.m. If you anticipate emergency transportation conditions, please check for an announcement on TV, radio, or the Internet.

To receive closure information straight from the district:

Make sure you are receiving District eNews. Sign up on our website. Weather delay notifications will NOT be sent via individual school eNews.

Check the ISD homepage, www.issaquah.wednet.edu.

Subscribe to receive ISD emergency news at www.FlashAlert.net

Check the recorded messages at (425) 837- 7000 (Administration) or (425) 837-6333 (Transportation).

Families using Skylert via Family Access – please note that phone numbers added in Skylert are NOT used for Emergencies, only for Attendance calls and text messages. The email feature is not used in Skylert. Please check only the attendance boxes (for phone calls and text messages)

Thank you! Stay safe and warm. 

Leslie

Leslie Lederman, Principal

Sunny Hills Elementary

Family Trips During Assessment Windows

As we have done in the past, family trips taken during assessment windows will be marked as Unexcused. This is because the data collected during these assessments informs our practice and supports your child’s learning. Naturally, our preference is for families to travel during vacation periods outlined by the ISD.

If your family needs to travel outside of those windows, please be aware of two things:

1) Absences during assessment windows are marked as unexcused

2) Per State law beginning 2017-18:

• 5 or more  unexcused absences in a month require a letter and a petition to be filed with the courts.
• 10 or more  unexcused absences in a year require a letter and a petition to be filed with the courts.

Things to note:

• Any absence is marked unexcused if you do not call in prior to the absence.
• A child arriving 2 hours or more after the start of the day is not a tardy. At that point, it is considered an absence.
• Pre-Arranged Absence Request forms have changed. The new forms are posted on our website.  They are due to the office at least one week BEFORE the first day of the absence. Forms received outside of that window may not be received in time for processing and could result in an unexcused absence.
• Pre-Arranged Absence Request forms may not be completed retroactively.  
• Pre-Arranged Absence Request forms are available in our Quick Links section of our webpage.

Growth Mindset

Our staff will continue exploring the work of Dr. Carol Dweck of Stanford University. To begin our journey, staff watched the video clip linked here. I encourage you to watch it. 

We will begin by reminding students of our "not yet" thinking. Our goal is to help students see that while they may not be proficient at a skill right now, they can be with hard work. When a child says, “I can’t ___,” we will coach them to shift their thinking to “I can’t ___ yet.” Here is a link to a second video shared with our staff.

Finally, we will move onto discuss "grit". What is "grit"? Basically, it is when you don't give up. If you have what it takes to work through a challenge, research has shown that you are more likely to be successful. You can learn more here. 

Math

2016-17 brought us new math curriculum. We are finding that Eureka math is pushing the thinking of our students far beyond rote mathematics. We will continue to dig deeper into this area using Mathematical Mindsets by Stanford professor, Jo Boaler as our starting point. As a staff, we will explore ways to increase the rigor for all of our students. Our work will be supported by our Instructional Coach, Carrie Granados and the District.

Homework

Last year was our first "no homework" year and the feedback I received from families has been positive. As we read the research and look at the success of other countries, it is evident that a no homework policy for elementary school students is beneficial. 

Positive Relationships

Last, but certainly not the least, is our focus on Positive Relationships. It is our belief as a staff that every adult who is on campus, regardless of their position, is an important person in the lives of our children. This includes you. When adults at Sunny Hills are patient and kind, when they approach students looking for the good and holding them to high expectations for both academics and behaviors, we have a recipe for the successful development of our children. We all share the same goal: Our students will be prepared for and eager to accept the academic, occupational, personal, and practical challenges of life in a dynamic global environment. It is our District Mission and what we work to achieve at Sunny Hills. To be able to do so, our students must be surrounded by adults who support them in a positive way as they work through the challenges of learning and of life. One aspect of that support comes through clear expectations and frequent acknowledgment of what they are doing well. We have put into place “The Mustang Way” along with specific positive behaviors for Being Respectful, Being Responsible and Being Engaged while at school.

Positive Relationships also includes our incredible partnership with our PTA and the Issaquah Schools Foundation (ISF). These are two organizations we know we could not live without. Our PTA focuses on building level needs. They raise money for special programs such as Art with Donna Gelinas and Science-to-Go with Kate Poaster. Some grade levels have guest speakers such as the Toy Man and Roger Fernandez. In addition to the valuable learning opportunities afforded to us by our PTA, they work at creating a series of family fun events. These events serve our community by providing time for us to connect.

ISF focuses on funding for programs bigger than our single building. They design programs such as our Pre-K/K summer school to serve many schools at once. ISF also offers teachers the opportunity to apply for funding specific to their classrooms. Last year, our 4th grade team applied for and received a grant for iPads in the classroom. Those grant dollars are being put to work this year.

Our final outreach effort this year will be around engaging families from different backgrounds. My personal goal is to create opportunities for all families to feel they are connected to Sunny Hills and to feel their role in learning is valued. Please look for more information in future eNews mailings.

We would like to provide you with a Scope and Sequence for each grade level. By clicking on the links below, you can learn about the products (curriculum materials) and the topics presented.

• Kindergarten
• First Grade
• Second Grade
• Third Grade
• Fourth Grade
• Fifth Grade