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Did you know we have a REMIND account for families of the Bears and Snakes?

REMIND is a free communication platform that allows me to communicate with all families by text. I can send out short alerts to a large group of people at once, while maintaining the privacy of those recipients. The service offers a way for a large group of users, (like parents if Bears and Snakes,) to create conversations via instant messaging, without having to share personal contact information.

For our purposes, this app is best-suited for communication that is of an urgent nature. Case in point: it came in handy on Wednesday night, when the second round of winter storms was imminent, and the field trip plans were called into question.

Our fifth grade team received official word from admin fairly late in the evening, so I used REMIND to relay the message that indeed, we would be moving ahead as scheduled. Should we ever find ourselves in the midst of an emergency during school hours, this tool would be the easiest way for me to communicate to parents.

I hope you will consider joining us on REMIND, if for no other reason than to be plugged into an emergency line. You can use the featured link to check out REMIND for yourself. Use the following link to join our class. Thank you! https://www.remind.com/join/bearsnake

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Communication for the classroom, home, and everywhere in between. Remind is a communication platform that helps schools and districts reach and engage with their communities-and build the relationships that lead to better learning.

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Please join us for the very last last V-Day celebration our students will ever have, element-style anyway! When: Friday, February 14, 10:45am- 11:45am.

Amber Guymon and Tasha Anderson have generously put this event together for both the Snake and Bear classes. The students will kick off with a small service project, writing Valentine's Day cards to a retired marine, Major a Bill White. To learn more, click the following link:

https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2020/01/15/valentines-wanted-104-year-old-iwo-jima-marine-veteran-wants-one-thing-this-valentines-day/

These ladies have put together a google spreadsheet with donation requests for this event. Please check it out and sign up for any item you may be willing to donate to the cause. They are also looking to recruit a handful of volunteers to help manage the party in the day of the event. View the sign up by clicking the following link, or simply contact Tasha or Amber directly.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1V9FWMJnmpM9Cn1dCU570HXsh2GQOMQG4wy4hkF7ee2M/edit?usp=drivesdk

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With special guest reader, Ms. Shelby Dieters.

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Have You Signed Up for your SEP Appointment?

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Have You Signed Up for your SEP Appointment?

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The second round of SEPs is upon us, we will be conducting conferences Monday-Friday of next week and slots are filling up fast. The schedule is as follows:
Monday-Wednesday: Meetings will be held in Ms. Benson's class. Please wait in Ms. Yin's room if you arrive here early, simply knock on the door when it's your designated appointment time.

Thursday-Friday: meetings will be held in the 6th grade pod, a small room with a huge glass window, located on the second floor of the main building.

Students are not required to attend, but if they do attend, please be sure to bring along a book or something to keep your student occupied during your appointment.

Please find the SEP SignUp attached and be sure to select your preferred appointment before the slots are all filled up. Thank you!

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JA BizTown, @The Gateway in Salt Lake City

This field trip would not have been possible if it were not for our incredible parent volunteers, the majority of which came from our snake and bear classes.

This was not your average field trip, but rather required a substantial amount of effort on the part of the volunteers, all of whom were required to travel up to The Gateway an hour earlier to undergo training on Thursday, and as you may recall, the commute was that much more challenging due to the winter storm at that time.

Your dedication and sacrifice did not go unnoticed, and because of you, this event will be remembered fondly, for years to come.

Thank you parents, for helping to make academic dreams a reality for these kiddos!

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I am beyond grateful to those of you that have donated the requested supplies to our classroom over the last couple of weeks. I have to admit, in the past I have never included supply requests with my parent communication, but at the suggestion of several colleagues, I decided to give it a try. I have surprised and humbled by the outpouring of support, particularly to the Bina and Harding families, for your overwhelming generosity. Thank you.

If you would like to contribute to our classroom this week, please be sure to check out the donation request list assembled by Amber Guymon and Tasha Anderson, for the purpose of celebrating Valentine's Day this coming Friday.

Again, thank you for all that you do!

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If you haven't had a chance to do so, please be sure to send in your signed permission slip, granting your child access to their new student email account.

If for whatever reason you have decided to opt out of these email accounts, please send me an email with a quick note to inform me of said decision to opt out.

I appreciate your time and attention to this matter. Should you require an additional permission slip, please let me know so I can send additional hard copy  home with your student ASAP.

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Because last week was crammed with special events, this week will be focused mostly on wrapping up any loose ends. We will be finishing up Chapter 8 in math, and continuing our study of water via Week 2 of Unit 5 in ELA. (See last week's email.)

This week is the Scholastic Book Fair, hosted in Ms. Kinder's classroom Monday-Friday.

Your student will return home this afternoon with a flier detailing an exciting new e-wallet program Scholastic has created, with the purpose of eliminating the need for kids to bring cash to school.

Parents pay into the program and students can spend from the pre-allocated amount until it is gone. Any remaining funds roll over to the next book fair.

CALENDAR REMINDERS
All Day Book Fair
Mon Feb 10, 2020 - Fri Feb 14, 2020

All Day SEPs (Parent/Teacher Conferences)
Mon Feb 10, 2020 - Fri Feb 14, 2020

Valentine's Day Party
Friday, February 14th, 2020, 10:45am-11:45am

Early Release Days
Don't forget! - Students will be released early at 12:15 pm on both Thursday 2/13 and Friday 2/14 (due to SEPS) Please be punctual picking up your students as teachers also have early out days (once students are gone) after staying late at work Monday-Wednesday. We would love for school employees to be able to leave early once all students have been collected so that we can all start our President's Day weekend. Thank you!

RA Spelling Bee Reminder
Thursday, February 20th, 6:30 pm
Come and cheer on your fellow classmates in the 2020 School Spelling Bee! All students who attend will receive a wristband that is good for FREE DRESS on Friday February 21st. The event will take place in the school gym.

Next Fifth Grade Field Trip
The final field trip of the year is scheduled for March 10th, 2020. We will be visiting the Utah State Capitol during legislative sessions. Please see Ms. Yin's weekly email for more information and to sign the permission slip.

OTHER IMPORTANT DATES IN FEBRUARY

2/3-14 ELL Testing (English Language Learners)

2/17 President's Day (No school)

2/19 RA Board Meeting 7 pm

2/25 SWIG Spirit Day