Christmas Programs almost Complete!

We have the last elementary Christmas program tonight.  The Second, Third and Fourth Graders perform tonight at 7pm.  We had a full house this afternoon at the performance.  I am sure we will have another tonight. 

We still have Falcon Wear on sale at the elementary office.  Please call and ask for Susan if you are need of a last minute holiday gift! 

Christmas is in the air!

The students are back and we are ready to learn this morning.  There were some tired eyes as we got out of cars and off the buses this morning, just as I know I had a hard time getting going this morning as well.  We are on the downhill run until Christmas.  This month will whizzz by.  We have the Kindergarten and First Grade Music Program on Thursday, December 2.  We will have a 1pm program and again at 7pm.  We hope by having two programs all parents and family members will be able to enjoy the show! 

Thanksgiving Break!

We are having Potluck parties, Pie parties and even Pie in the face here today!  It is a festive time.  The classes that won the Penny War (two tied) will have their teachers getting pie in the face today!  The classes collecting the lowest amounts will get to see their teachers do this as well!   It will be fun!

Here is a picture of our entire school in our Character Shirts on Friday!  We look good!  Thank you Home and School for purchasing our shirts!

Guilty....

I am sorry I have not kept up with the blog.  I will do better and hope to keep it more up-to-date.  Here is a current calendar of events.....

November 18 – Cancelled - Home and School Meeting

November 24- 26 – No School
December 2 – Kindergarten & First Grade Christmas Program at 1pm & 7pm
December 9 – Second, Third & Fourth Grade Christmas Program at 1pm & 7pm
December 14 – School Board Meeting & Home and School Board Meeting
December 21 - Magic Show - 8:30am
December 22 – Early release at 1pm
December 23-January 2 – No School
January 3 – Teacher Workday
January 4- - Classes Resume

This is a great tool for information if I remember and take the time to post the information.  I will do better with this!

Full Speed Ahead!

Last week went by very quickly. 

We were pleased to have the "Respect Players" come visit on Tuesday. This was a group of students sponsored by the Council for Drug Free Youth that has been touring area elementary schools.  They presented a program to our first and second graders.  The students really enjoyed the performance.  Here are two teachers getting into the acting! 

The teacher on the left is Mrs. Berendzen and Mrs. Boessen is on the right.

Mrs. Pragman's Fourth Grade presented our morning assembly each day.  They sang a very creative "Responsible Song" on Wednesday that had been written by their classmate Samuel L.

Our guest speaker on Wednesday was Deputy Ralph Lemongelli.  He talked to the students about being responsible.

The Fourth Grade students also sang at our Home and School Meeting on Thursday night.

We ended the week with Grandparents Day for the Kindergarten classes.  We had over 150 grandparents come to visit.  We also had our Top Dog Donuts and Juice snack that morning as well.  Our Top Dog Students for the Wednesday, September 8th were

Mrs.Bennett KA - Hannah Rackers

Mrs. Downing KB - Aubrey Hardwick

Ms. Rustemeyer KC - Lydia Duren

Mrs. Twehus KD - Zach Henry

Mrs. Boessen 1A - Carly Ward

Mrs. Isenberg 1B - Thad Robinson

Mrs. Kempker 1C - Luke Northweather

Ms. Thompson 1D - Sean Mayer

Mrs. Berendzen 2A - Skiley Eichholz

Mrs. Hoecker 2B - Kaitlyn Luebbering

Mrs. West 2C - Kaidyn Bisges

Mrs. Callahan 3A - Page Lemongelli

Mrs. Schmidt 3B - Connor Seamon

Mrs. Skinner 3C - Kamryn Twehus

Mrs. Dixon 4A - Louisa Stabenow

Mrs. Holland 4B - Lizzie Schwarz

Mrs. Pragman 4C - Hunter Kolb

We are so proud of them!!

Top Dog Students

Each week we will have Top Dog Students.  Each classroom teacher will pick a student to be honored as the Top Dog for that week.  Here are the Top Dog winners for Wednesday, September 1.

Mrs. Bennett - KA - Ethan S.
Mrs. Downing - KB - Luke L.
Ms. Rustemeyer - KC - Sean C.
Mrs. Twehus - KD - Emma S.
Mrs. Boessen - 1A - Connor S.
Mrs. Isenberg - 1B - Laci S.
Mrs. Kempker - 1C - Austin L.
Mrs. Thompson - 1D - Christina S.
Mrs. Berendzen - 2A - Cade S.
Mrs. Hoecker - 2B - Kaelin F.
Mrs. West - 2C - Samantha B.
Mrs. Callahan - 3A - Madison I.
Mrs. Schmidt - 3B - David G.
Mrs. Skinner - 3C - Megan B.
Mrs. Dixon - 4A - Halle B.
Ms. Holland - 4B - Jared E.
Mrs. Pragman - 4C - Madison M.

We announce the Top Dog Students at the Wednesday morning assembly.  They are recognized on our bulletin board and also given a Top Dog Necklace. We have a Top Dog Donut-Juice Break each Friday morning.

Congrats to our first Top Dog Students!

September 2, 2010

The 2nd and 3rd Grade classes were invited to hear author Jerry Pallota speak at the Miller Performing Arts Center today.  The visit was sponosored by Ameren UE and Fechtel Beverage and Sales.  Mr. Pallota has written numerous books and he talked tot he students about the writing process.  His presentation was very entertaining.  Students from Eugene Elementary and Immaculate Conception Catholic School were also present. 

The author showed a slide show while he spoke and here are pictures from the presentation and some of our students. 

Tonight is the CHARACTERplus voting event at the Miller Performing Arts Center.  Come out tonight at 7pm and be entertained by the Cole County High School Choirs and vote for the character traits that are important to you!

Welcome Kramer!!

Welcome to Kramer, our new therapy dog!  He is officially here and will be a fixture in the elementary each day.  We are pleased to have him and know that he will make many students happy each day.  He has become quite the celebrity. The Jefferson City News Tribune did an article that is in today's paper on Kramer.  Channel 8 News will have a story on Kramer tonight in their 6pm broadcast.  Here is a picture of Kramer today after a hard day of work!!

It's a Long Week!

We have one more day this week!  There are many tired faces today that are looking for Friday!  The first full week of school is a long week.  Our students and teachers are doing great.  We have had a very smooth transition to the beginning of the school year.  School pictures went well on Tuesday and we are so pleased with the attitudes and behavior of our students.  We have had many school volunteers already!  Thank you to Sara Rhoads, Kara Rackers, Blanche Owens, Mary Kolb, Tina Wineman, Rena Kuster, Kari Sullivan, Christy Casey, Terra Pointer and Ginger Luetkemeyer for coming in to help out!  We appreciate all of our parental support. 

Here is an upcoming calendar of events....
August 31 – Cub Scout informational talk for all boys after morning assembly----short about 10 minutes

September 2 – 2nd & 3rd Grades will go to Author visit at Miller Performing Arts Center at 10am. All county 2nd & 3rd Grade classes in the will be attending.
Voting for county-wide character traits at the Miller Center at 7pm
September 7 – Council for Drug Free Youth will present the “Respect Players” for the 1st & 2nd Graders at 1:45pm in the gym
September 8 - Open Library Night from 6-7pm - every Wednesday
September 9 – Open House 6-6:30pm and Home & School Meeting at 6:30pm
September 13- Fundraiser Kick-off
September 14 – Afterschool Tutoring begins
October 1 – Homecoming
October 28 – 10:45 Safety Kids for K-4 in gym

We are back in business!!!

School is back in full swing and our first day went terrific!  Thank you to all of the parents who had their kids ready to go and ready to learn.  We have such wonderful families at Blair Oaks Elementary.  We have grown since last year.  We currently have 345 students and in May we had 317 students. 

Please contact me if you have any concerns or questions.  We want to have a smooth start to the school year and a great year!

It's Almost that Time Again!

Just a couple more days and school will be in full swing again.  I hope everyone had a fun-filled and enjoyable summer.  It seemed to go by in a blur at my house. 

The elementary school has been gearing up for the new year.  We will be ready to welcome students on Tuesday, August 17th from 4-6pm at our Back to School Night.  Our Home and School hosts this event with free hot dogs and soda for everyone in the cafeteria.  Bring your school supplies to drop off and come meet your new teacher!

We have a couple of new faces in the elementary.  Mrs. Emily Kemper will be teaching first grade.  She will be our fourth--- first grade teacher.  She has taught the last four school years in the Eugene School District and is excited to come to Blair Oaks.  Her daughter, Edie is a third grader and they have lived in our school district for several years.  

Miss Bethann Rustemeyer is our new kindergarten teacher.  She taught last year at Immaculate Conception School in Jefferson City.  Miss Rustemeyer grew up in Osage County but is excited to be a Falcon.  Miss Rustemeyer is taking Mrs. Skinner's place in kindergarten.  Mrs. Skinner will be teaching third grade.  She is taking Mrs. Schroeder's place.  Mrs. Schroeder will be our new special services teacher.  (Hope that made sense to everyone! )

We also will be welcoming our new therapy dog, Kramer.  He will be with Mrs. Cole, our counselor, each day.  Kramer is a black lab and is four years old.  He is excited to meet all of our students. 

Please call or email if you have questions about school.  We are looking forward to seeing everyone!!

School's Out!

Summer school is over!  Let the summer days begin.  We will be back in session on Wednesday, August 18th.  We will have Back to School Night on Tuesday, August 17th from 4-6pm. 

The school supply list is on the elementary website.  We will also have it available at local stores very soon!

One more day!

We did not think we were even going to have summer school in early May this year.  We were able to have it and are now finished with our 17th day!  It has been a great learning opportunity for our students and staff.  We hope we can do it again next year.  Thanks for letting us share the summer with your children!

Only 3 days remaining!!!

Wow!  We just have 3 days remaining of our fun summer session.  We will have a break in July and August and then return to Blair Oaks Elementary on Wednesday, August 18th. 

I have my fingers crossed that the nice temperatures will remain next week!  The cooler temperatures made us all happier this week. 

I also want to thank all of the A+ Tutors that have helped us during the summer school session.  We were very fortunate to have all of their extra hands to make things go smoothly.  It is also a great way for our little kiddos to have positive interactions with the big kids!  They all step up and are great leaders for our youngsters! 

See you back on Tuesday, July 6th!

Wednesday, June 30

The month has flown by and we only have 4 more days of summer school.  We do not have school on Friday, July 2 and Monday, July 5th.  So our last day of summer school will be on Thursday, June 8th.  The students have been very well behaved and the lower temperatures have been so, so nice.

We have pictures of the Little House on the Prairie class and the students were making log cabins.  The Outdoors classes were painting fish and playing animal card games.

Session Two

We started Session Two today!  The students are all housed in the elementary building this session.  We are out of the middle school so they may continue cleaning.  We have a few less students and things are going smoothly.  We have students going to volleyball camp and swimming lessons this week. 

Here are a few pictures from last session!

Wednesday, June 16

It was a hot day at summer school!  We had many students with headaches after recess times!  We will try to watch the heat with students and take shorter, morning recesses when it is so hot.

Here are some pictures of our students in the Tastes Around the World Class and the the Critters Class. 

Week Two

We are rolling along into week two of summer school.  Things are going very well.  We have had good student attendance and appreciate all of the parents that are calling in each day to let us know if their child is sick or just too busy to come to summer school! 

Please remember to send a note, call or email if your child is going home a different way.  We had a couple of mix ups yesterday on buses.  We always try to send a bus pass with a student that is changing their bus destination.  This helps our drivers and makes the routes go more smoothly. 

Boys basketball camp is at our high school this week.  We are walking students over there for the 1:30 and 3:00pm times.  The 1:30pm campers are able to ride the buses home. 

Please remember not to drop off students before 7:30am.  Supervision begins each day at 7:30am.

Pre-Kindergarten Lunch

We have 77 students in our Pre-Kindergarten classes.  They are adapting so well to school and having a great time each day.  Here are some pictures of this group in the lunchroom.

Blair Oaks Summer School in Full Swing!!

Blair Oaks Elementary is full of smiling faces again.  We have over 450 students attending each day.  The students have been well behaved and polite.  We finished our first week and will be looking forward to seeing students again on Monday! 

NEWS FLASH!!!!

Blair Oaks Summer School is going to happen!


The state legislators did not cut summer school funding for this summer! We are very excited to get to offer this to our parents. We are changing the dates a bit. We would not start until June 8 and end on July 7. (Driver’s Education would go on as scheduled earlier) The first session would be June 8- June 22 and the second session will be June 23-July 7. This is short notice but I feel if we can offer summer school to our students to keep them learning throughout the summer we need to jump at the opportunity!  We hope to have student registration available before the last day of school - Friday, May 21.

Wednesday's Thoughts...

It is official...we will not have summer school this year.  Due to the state budget and changes that have been made regarding the summer school program, the enrichment program that has been done in the past will not be state funded this year.  We regret that we will not be able to provide this program and hope to work on plans in the future years to revive summer school if possible. 

Good news!  We have received  $1,610.05 in Box Top money this year for our school.  This money helps pay for our school bus trips and other student activities.  We are pleased that our Falcon Families work hard to turn in these Box Tops.  Thank you to Amy Robinson and Susan Patterson who work behind the scenes to get the Box Tops organized!

Earlier this week a note about the Summer Reading Program went home with our students.  Our library will be open Tuesday, June 1 and then every Monnday and Tuesday evening through June 22.  We will have activities, book check out or just reading time from 5-7pm each night.  If students come at least once a week to the open library time and complete his or her reading log sheet they will be able to participate in a  fun special activitty when school begins in August.  So come join the fun!  Come to Open Library Night in June!

Jefferson City Family Fun...

I recently was informed of a new blog that has been started by a Blair Oaks Elementary parent, Amy Winder (mom of Kelsey). It is Jefferson City Family Fum and can be found at this address
http://www.jeffcityfamilyfun.com/

She has a great deal of family friendly information! Check it out!

Summer Information

Big Surf Waterpark is offering their Alpha Program for the 9th year.  This program offers one free ticket to every student from Kindergarten to 5th Grade who receives an "A' or "A" equivalent in any subject on their final report card.  Please check out their website for more information and the available dates...
http://www.bigsurfwaterpark.com/alpha.cfm



Here is information about a summer church camp that a parent recommended.

Sign up now for...


Operation Space Camp and Sports Crusaders 2010

Memorial Baptist Church - 1120 Madison St., Jefferson City

Mon-Fri. August 2-6
9am - 4pm for K-6 (before and after care available)

$30 to participate

Click for more info and to register online!
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dExSYzg5blc5WVU3NEJqcGdmZU5uTHc6MA


St. Stanislaus Elementary is also having a summer program.  We will have flyers with more inforamtion on this program coming home soon! 

Field Day 2010

A big thank you to Sheryl Gillmore and the 40+ parent volunteers that helped with our Field Day on May 7th!  Our students had a wonderful day and were very busy the entire day.  Sheryl had things very well organized and kept the students moving.  We are so fortuate to have so many parents and family members that were able to come in to help.  The weather did not cooperate exactly as the temperature dropped a great deal after lunch but the students were able to enjoy all of the activities. 

Our New School Nurse

We are excited to welcome Nicole Petty!  She is our new school nurse.  Nicole lives in Jefferson City and has two children, Logan and Olivia.  She is glad to be a part of our Falcon Family! 

Tuesday, April 27

We had a great morning today!  The George & Jan Syrigos with Wild Heart Conservation Education Entertainment were here this morning to do an assembly.  Our Home & School sponsored the assembly for our students doing well on MAP Week.  We really enjoyed the assembly.  The students knew many of the songs because they had been singing them in music class with Mrs. Martin.  The Syrigos family also hosts summer camps and more information about this is available on their website
http://www.wildheartmusic.com/

We are getting ready for Field Day!  It is Friday, May 7th and we are looking for volunteers to help.  Please look for a sign-up sheet to be coming home soon.

It's Friday!!

Tonight is the Blair Oaks Elementary Carnival!  A big thanks to Angela Terry, Amy Robinson, and Susan Patterson!  They have been working hard to make this a fun night for everyone!  It is tonight from 5-8pm.

Also tonight.... the "Drive One for your School" event is taking place at Mike Kehoe Ford today from 3:30-6:00 pm and tomorrow from 9:00-3:00.


Ford will donate $20 per test drive to the Blair Oaks Booster Club. Drivers must be at least 18 years of age and have a valid drivers license.

A big thank you to Jamie Micke and Linda Brinkmann for their help with the sno-cones yesterday!  We all enjoyed them!

MAP Testing Week Underway!!

Our students are working extremely hard during testing week! We are very proud of them all!  Tomorrow we will have snocones for all of the students in the afternoon.  If you are available to help out after 1pm tomorrow come on up!  We can use extra hands with the sno-cones! 

The carnival is on Friday night from 5-8pm.  The Home and School Officers  have been working hard on getting it all organized.  We still need more volunteers.  Please let us know if you are able to help!  Please email me -   lwinslow@blairoaks.k12.mo.us  or call  634-2808.  This is going to be a great night for our students! 

The First Graders just left for their fieldtrip today.  They will be riding the train to Sedalia and then taking the bus back to school!  We had many excited students this morning.  The weather is perfect for their trip today. 

The school board did meet last night and no decision was made on summer school.  The board did take action on driver's education and it will be offered this summer at additional cost of offset the state funding that had been previously received.  The enrollment forms for this will be available on Thursday, April 15.

Enjoy the beautiful day!

MAP Testing Coming Up!

It starts on Monday and we will have it wrapped up by Friday.  The students and teachers are ready and I have no doubt they will all put forth their best efforts next week.  Our fourth graders came up with this about what it is to be a Falcon!
Falcons

Are always
Learning
Checking work
On time
Never quitting
Superstar students


Have a great weekend!






This is a great motto for our building! The fourth grade students came up with this.

Wednesday, April 7

This four day week has me confused.  I seemed to think it was Tuesday all day!  Maybe by Friday I will be straightened out.

Please send in all Spring picture orders tomorrow.  The Wagner Photo rep is coming to pick them up.  We had many students order.  If you missed this deadline, you may still order online.  We have so many cute kids!  I loved looking at the pictures.

Welcome McKenzie Houser!  She is a new kindergarten students in Mrs. Skinner's class.  She previously attended school in Eugene, MO.

We still need parents volunteers for the school carnival on Friday, April 16th.  Please send in your form is you are able to help out!   It is going to be a fun night!

Welcome back!

We had a great day back after our four day weekend!  The students were ready to be back and all teachers were here and ready to go. 

Today is our last day of tutoring for this school year. 

Spring picture money is due tomorrow!  Orders will still be taken online after this date.

Today we had the University of Missouri Extension Food Power Exhibit in our gym for all of our students.  The high school TREND students (under the guidance of Julie Lueckenhoff - high school health teacher) helped run the exhibit by coordinating each of the stations.  We had a great day with this and recieved compliments from the presentors about how well behaved our students were during the program.

We have changed the date of Talent Show to Tuesday, May 18th at 6:30pm.  Hope this does not inconvenience anyone!

Last Day of March!!

March is going to blow on out today!  It is a beautiful windy day today.  I believe everything should be drying out soon with this wind.

We should be sending a newsletter home today or tomorrow with the students.  Please look for this in backpacks!  The newsletters are also posted on the school website if you ever need to refer back to one.

NO SCHOOL on Friday, April 2 and Monday, April 5th.  When we return on Tuesday, April 6 the Food Power Exhibit sponsored by the University of Missouri Extension Service will be in our gym.  All of our students will get to learn more about nutrition and healthy living.  The high school TREND group and their sponsor, Julie Lueckenhoff, will be providing the volunteer support for the exhibit.  This is a great opportunity for our students. 

Wednesday, March 24

Notes will be going home tomorrow with all students that won a trip to the Cardinal's game because of the fall fundraiser sales.  The game is April 29th and parents or family members can buy tickets for $10. 

The Spring Talent Show is Monday, May 10th at 6:30pm.  Look for a note going home soon about auditioning for the Talent Show.  This is always a neat event each year.  Please put this date on your calendar!

We have not made any decisions regarding summer school. We do want to continue the successful program that we had have in the past but due to state budget cuts we may not be able to offer this program.  The Missouri State Education Budget has not been finalized so we have not made any official decisions in regard to our program.  We will let parents know as soon as any decisions are made!

Chicks are hatching all over the elementary!  The students have enjoyed this program sponsored by the University Extension office. 

Today the Community Health Center presented a Dental Program for our first grade classrooms.  The teachers and students were all very complimentary about this free program. 

Blair Oaks Elementary raised over $2,000 for the Jump Rope-a-Thon for the American Heart Association.  Thank you, Coach Albers for sponsoring this event.

Congratulations to Mrs. Carey Drehle, Blair Oaks Middle School fifth grade teacher, she was chosen as a finalist for the KPLA Golden Apple Award. 

Mrs. Twehus had foot surgery last Friday.  She has been recovering at home and we hope to welcome her back on Friday.   Her class has been doing well under the guidance of Mrs. Sandy Ward.  We are lucky to have such great substitute teachers at Blair Oaks Elementary.  We have missed you, Mrs. Twehus!

Spring is here!!

The weather is much better today than it was Saturday or even yesterday!  Hopefully this means that Spring is here!  It was tough coming today when we think about that it could have been Spring Break.  We have school again tomorrow as well!  Our next scheduled day off is April 2 and April 5th.

Spring pictures went home with all students today.  We did have one or two students absent that day and we do not do make-up pictures for Spring pictures.  Sorry about this if your child was gone.  The information sent home has how to order the pictures.   You may send your orders to school or order on-line.  The pictures that I saw looked great!

We are getting ready for MAP Week.  We will have a MAP Spirit Week prior to MAP Week.  We will allow the kids to dress up each day.  Here is our schedule....(Remember we do not have school on Monday)
Tuesday - “Get a Good Night’s Sleep” –

wear your pajamas
Wednesday - “You CAN Stay Cool on Test Days” – bring in a can of food to donate to the Samaritan Center AND wear blue and/or white to school
Thursday - “Score Your Best on the Test”–
wear your favorite sports team shirt
Friday - “Show Your MAP Spirit”–
wear your Falcon Spirit gear

MAP testing will be Monday, April 12-Thursdaay, April 15th.  We will have our school carnival on Friday, March 16th.

Spring break...on the way!!

It was nice to return to school yesterday from the Elementary Principal Conference at Tan-Tar-A.  I had a great time seeing my other principal friends and also gained great knowledge about new ideas to try at our school.  This is always a good time for me to reflect on all of the wonderful parents, staff, and students that we have at Blair Oaks Elementary!  I missed being away but also loved returning "home" to see my Blair Oaks family!

If you read the Jefferson City News Tribune you probably have read about all of the Cole County School uniting to be Character Plus Schools.  We are very excited about this at Blair Oaks Elementary.  Last Wednesday - Beth Isenberg, Aimee Schmidt, parent - Theresa Villmer and myself attend the Character Plus meeting with teams from all of the other county public schools and Helias. We found that we were on track for Character Plus.   There will be a community meeting in September to pick our Character trait words for next year.  All interested parents and community members will be invited to attend to take part.  Look for more information on this program to be coming home soon.

Remember we do have school on Monday, March 22 and Tuesday, March 23.  We have Parent Teacher Conferences on Thursday, March 18th from 1-6pm . This is a drop in time (unless the teacher has previously scheduled a conference with you) for parents and students to stop by and have a "student-led" conference.  We will also have library baskets for sale.  They are some great baskets so please stop by and support our library!  Our one day of Spring Break is Friday, March 19th!  So enjoy!

March 9 - Update

We now have a link to the blog on the elementary website!  Hopefully this will make it easier to check in to what is going on at Blair Oaks Elementary!

We had the KOMU Channel 8 News in the building today.  They were talking with Dr. Jones and myself about summer school and the dilemma we are in currently in the funding.  They also spoke to Mrs. Downing and filmed some of the kindergarten lunch period.  The reporter said the show should air at 5,6 and 10pm tonight!  Check us out!

Blair Oaks Elementary, along with the other schools in our district and the county, has become a Character Plus School.  We have been doing many activities with Character Education in our building for the last several years and this will unify all of the county schools.  We are excited about the intiative and look forward to involving more people in with our Character words.  Tomorrow Beth Isenberg - first grade teacher, Aimee Schmidt - third grade teacher, Rachel Cole - school counselor, Theresa Villmer  - Blair Oaks Elementary parent  and myself will be attending the Character Plus training.  Look forward to hearing more about Character Plus in the future and ways that you may be involved!

Monday, March 8

This is the last week of third quarter!  The year is wrapping up.  Summer is ahead and many of us count on Summer School each summer for our June option for our children.  Currently Blair Oaks Summer School is in limbo as the Missouri State Legislature has made summer school one of the optional cuts from the school budget process.  The final budget is not settled until May 7th but we are hoping that a decision in this regard will happen before this time.  As a school district we want to have summer school but count on this funding from the State to make it a feasible endeavor.  So currently the Blair Oaks School District is in limbo waiting for the State to decide the fate.  We will let parents know of any decision made as soon as we are aware. 

Welcome back Brianna Hibbs!  She is a new student in Mrs. Callahan's third grade class.  She is a familiar face to many as she has been at Blair Oaks Elementary in the past. 

Upcoming dates....
Wednesday - Blair Oaks Varsity Boys Basketball team will be playing in Sectional play in Mexico, MO at 7:45pm vs. Schuyler County - come cheer on the Falcons!
Thursday - DanceCenter is having a dance assembly for all students K-4 at 10:30am.
Friday - Hat Day with money going to the American Cancer Society

Welcome New Kindergarteners!

We are welcoming all of the 2010-2011 Kindergarteners to Blair Oaks Elementary on Thursday and Friday.  We will be having Kindergarten screening.  This is an exciting time for the students, parents, teachers and school staff.  We are all looking forward to meeting the new bright-eyed falcons!

Where Did February GO???

Spring is drawing closer each day!  I can't believe March is over.  Hopefully with Spring the coughs, colds and sickness will leave Blair Oaks Elementary.  We had a higher than normal number of students absent today with illness.  I think it is catching up with us all.  Many runny noses and coughs are evident as you walk into the classrooms. 

Many parents are wondering when the QSP Fundraiser Cardinal trip will be.  We will be attending the April 29th game.  I believe it is a noon gametime vs. the Atlanta Braves.  We will have more information going home soon with the winning students.  Parents are able to purchase tickets for the game as well. 

Remember, we have an early release day on Wednesday!!

What a great day!

We had Kindergarten Round-Up tonight and that is one of the best days of the year for me!  I love to see all of the new students so excited about school and being at Blair Oaks Elementary.  It was extra special this year for my family, because my middle child, Blaine, will be starting in August.  She was so thrilled with it all.  Before the night started she was very apprehensive and by the time we arrived home she was ready to start school!  We had 61 students sign up tonight.  Looks like the Class of 2023 is going to be terrific!

Great Turnout at MAP NIght

We had our annual Third Grade MAP Night for parents and students.  We had a great turnout.  This is a great way for parents and the students to learn what MAP week is about and how to prepare for MAP testing.  We started this night many years ago and have felt it has been an integral part of our success in MAP testing.  Thank you to all of the parents that were able to attend and to the Third Grade teachers for hosting the event.

Tomorrow is our QSP Reading Program magazine packet turn-in.  All students bringing back a completed packet will receive a WebKinz animal. 

The weather has been forecasted to be extremely cold tomorrow. Please encourage your child to wear a warm coat!  We have had Spring Fever striking for many of the students!  They are not remembering to bring their coats!

We will have a special guest at our morning assembly on Thursday.  Lindsey Dial, Blair Oaks High School senior and Cole County Heart Star, will be sharing her story with our students.  Our Hat Money for February is going to the American Heart Association and Lindsey will share with our students what this organization has done for and her own "heart story". 

Will it be a long week?

Hopefully we will have five full days of school this week!  We have not been able to do that for quite awhile. 

Spring pictures went very well today.  They took three poses of all students.  I heard they were some really cute kids in the library today!   We will have a proof to send home with all of the students of the pictures in a couple of weeks.  Parents will be able to order online or to send orders to school.  Thank you to Rena Kuster, Diana Hock and Sara Rhoads for helping make this run smoothly.  We needed their help!

We had some guests today and on Friday from Central Bank in the building,  working with the 2nd graders on Economics.  Ginger Kolb, a Blair Oaks Elementary parent, and my brother, Mark Baker, were two of the presenters.  Central Bank has many banking and economic lessons that they make available to schools.  We are glad they came to share their knowledge with us!

Remember to send in Family Reading Packets on Wednesday! 

If you know of any students going to kindergarten next year please let them know about Kindergarten Round-Up on Thursday night at 6:30pm.  We want to welcome all incoming kindergarteners and their parents to learn about the new year!

My first blog post!!!

Welcome Blair Oaks Elementary Falcon Followers!  This is my first attempt at a blog and I hope that it is a wealth of information for our Blair Oaks families.  My next step will be to publicize this blog!  I hope to keep it up-to-date and make it a worthwhile publication for our Falcon Families! 

This week at Blair Oaks Elementary -
Monday - Spring Pictures
Tuesday - Third Grade MAP Information Night at 6pm
Wednesday - Family Reading Program Packet needs to be returned - prize pick-up
Thursday - Kindergarten Round-up at 6:30pm
Friday - Hat Day with proceeds going to the American Heart Association
Saturday - Middle School Drama Club Dinner Theater

Wednesday, March 3- Early Release Day at 1pm

We are currently participating in the QSP Family Reading Program.  This has students return a packet with addresses and/or magazine sales.  We have been participating in this program for several years and the money we receive is to pay for our Accelerated Reader Program.  We are pleased with the response in this program in past years.  All students returning a completed packet this year will receive a WebKinz plush toy!