Give Your Child a Boost!

I believe that student safety is my most important job at Sioux Trail.  Here is a message from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety about keeping student safe outside of school - in the car.

Many parents may not be aware that a vehicle is the most dangerous place for your child to be. In fact, traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for Minnesota children.
That’s why it is critical children use booster seats, which are required by law.
Boosters are for children starting around age 4. Under Minnesota law, children must not ride in just a seat belt until they are age 8 or 4 feet 9 inches tall — whichever comes first. It is recommended to keep a child in a booster based on their height, rather than their age.
Boosters are seat lifts that raise a child up so a seat belt fits properly. A sign a belt does not fit properly is if it rubs against a child’s neck, or if the child tucks the belt behind their back — this is unsafe and illegal.

Coke Rewards

Sioux Trail Elementary School recently received a new video camera and we have all of you to thank!  The camera is a 4GB Flip video camera with a built in USB connector.  The camera was donated to Sioux Trail through the Coke Rewards program.  Thanks to everyone who is collecting Coke Rewards points and supporting Sioux Trail with them.The new Sioux Trail camera will be accessible to all staff and I hope to see some creative uses very soon.  I put the new Sioux Trail camera to work and recorded a quick video thank you for you!  Thank you Sioux Trail families!

New Pencils

Our new pencils arrived on Monday and I have been working hard to give some of them away.  Thanks to Evan in first grade for reminding me about the pencils and for his reminder he received a set of pencils for his entire class.

A pencil with a slogan on it isn't a big deal, by itself but I believe it is a part of making school a positive place and reminding our students about how great they are. From a tax payer perspective I'm always looking for inexpensive ways to deliver these messages so that we keep Sioux Trail a positive place, but don't empty your wallet in the process.  If you have creative ideas to spread the word about Sioux Trail or remind our students about their high level of greatness please pass them along to me.  Thank you and remember Sioux Trail Panthers Rock!

Can you believe we're getting ready for Kindergarten?

Families are out looking for the right Kindergarten classroom right now!  That may not be a surprise to those of you who have a Kindergarten student at Sioux Trail, but I'm talking about families enrolling their students for the 2011-12 school year!

We have our Sioux Trail Kindergarten Registration night on February 1, but as you all know the doors are always open.  Last week I did a tour for two neighborhood families who want to explore all of their options including William Byrne Elementary and there is another tour scheduled for Monday morning.  I think Sioux Trail is a terrific place where our staff do great work with students, I love telling our stories and sharing this wonderful facility.

Kindergarten has a wide variety of meanings and I think the meaning depends on who you are.  One of things I know about Kindergarten is that it is our single largest enrollment of students.  For a relatively small school like Sioux Trail this enrollment of new students is essential to maintaining our school.  What used to be a fairly routine activity has become more challenging as the number of options for schools grow.  I believe we're doing our very best using the resources we have access to and working within the parameters set by the district and when given the chance I want to share our work with families.

If you are a Sioux Trail family with great stories about "the Trail" please pass those on to other families, if you have "not so good" stories please pass those along to me so that I can address those issues.