Shenandoah Elementary

“Bobcat Success…Nothing Less”

September 2017

4827 South Conway Road * Orlando, Fl 32812 * 407-858-3180 * FAX 407-858-2208 www.ocps.shenandoah.net

“Orange County Public Schools is an equal opportunity employer.”

Bobcat Brief

Dear Shenandoah Students, Parents, and Community,

On behalf of the staff at Shenandoah Elementary School, I am happy to welcome you to the 2017-18 school year! We are looking forward to a productive partnership with you to ensure our children can achieve their highest potential. We recognize that in order

to be successful in school, our children need support from both the home and school. We know a strong partnership with you will make a great difference in your child’s education. As partners, we share the responsibility for our children’s success and want you

to know that we will do our very best to carry out our responsibilities. We ask that you guide and support your child’s learning by ensuring that he/she:

1) Attends school daily and arrives on time, ready for the day’s learning experience 2) Completes all homework assignments given by teachers

3) Reads daily to develop a love for reading and to improve literacy skills 4) Shares school experiences with you so that you are aware of his/her school life

5) Informs you if he/she needs additional support in any area or subject 6) Knows that you expect him/her to succeed in school and go on to college

As we embark on this journey with a pledge to you, our students and parents, that this will be a year of engaging, meaningful and rigorous work in our classrooms, combined with special events and a plethora of activities to encourage our Bobcats to be in-

volved and stay connected! During the 2017-18 school year, we will continue to build upon and refine our proven foundation of good work, honored traditions, and continued excellence in education. Our OCPS vision remains… “To be the top producer of

successful students in the nation”, and we are proud to say that Shenandoah’s state assessment results showed tremendous increas-es across the grades. These positive results are a result of the hard work and commitment of our teachers, students and parents.

We look forward to another very positive and productive year together! We extend a special, yearlong invitation to our families to join us at school activities and events whenever possible.

Please consider joining our school PTA and / or SAC as our students can greatly benefit from your involvement and contributions to the school’s programs and its operations. We seek volunteers to help us with the following activities: 1) Teacher-led instructional support, usually in the classroom

2) Reading with children who need extra help 3) School-wide events

4) Student recognition events 5) Outreach and recruitment of parent and community volunteers

Our first SAC / PTA meeting will be Thursday, September 7th. SAC will run from 5 to 6 and PTA will run from 6 to 7. Please know that we highly value home/school communication here at Shenandoah. It is vital and plays an integral role in each

student’s success. We encourage you to contact us if/when the need arises, and to stay in the know about your child’s studies, as-signments, assessments, and school activities, as well as other events and happenings.

The wonderful Shenandoah staff and I feel privileged to be a part of this school family. Here’s to an AWESOME new school year as we work together to make our school a great place to work and learn each day!

Sincerely,

Pamela Crabb

Classroom Updates

Kindergarten

This year is off to a great start in Kindergarten! We have been practicing procedures and routines like lin-ing up and participating in centers. We are reviewing letters, sounds, and numbers and beginning to write more. We learned about solar eclipses on Monday by viewing some examples on the computer and then we drew pictures to show what we learned. Parents can help our kindergarten students by letting them use a mouse and computer at home with supervision. Reading to your child is so important and we would love for it to be a daily ritual with your child. We are all looking forward to a fantastic year!

First Grade

First grade is off to a great start! We have been learning routines and procedures like real superhe-roes. We are focusing on listening, following directions the first time, and developing self control. In Reading we are focusing on the story elements, retelling the story, and determining the central mes-sage. We are working on our short vowel and consonant sounds. Our students are required to read for 20 minutes every night to get in the extra practice. Practice makes perfect! In Math, we are learning 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional shapes, partitioning these shapes into halves and quarters. We are enjoying getting to know your little ones. It's going to be a great year, thank you for all of your support!

Second Grade

Our Sensational Second Graders are off to a fantastic start! In Language Arts, we are learning about key ideas and details in literature and informational texts. We will also be focusing on writing a narrative text and an expository text in response to our readings. In the area of Math, we will be focusing on understand-ing place value, place value relationships to the thousands place and adding & subtracting two digit numbers.

In Science, we will be studying properties of matter and changes in matter. In Social Studies, we will be learning about citizenship, rules and how we can make a positive difference. At home, you can support your

child’s education by ensuring that you review and sign the planner daily, homework is complete and sight words have been practiced. We are looking forward to seeing you all at Open House and are looking forward

to a sensational year with our second grade bobcats!

Third Grade

This month, third grade will begin reading informational text in order to determine the main idea and key details in a text. For math, we will begin learning multiplication facts from 0-10 and the various strategies used to solve a multiplication equation or word problem. For Science, we will be discussing the scientific

method and science tools. We will also be learning about civics and government.

Fourth Grade

Fourth grade had an amazing first week! We dove right to writing with the All About Me essay and focused

on learning the format of an essay. We ended the week with a hands on STEM challenge called "Can you save Fred?". This activity focused on teamwork and problem solving.

Fifth Grade

Our fifth grade students are off to a great start this year. We are focusing on learning multiplication and division of whole numbers, the scientific process, planning for a written response, and identifying the theme in literature. Please remember to check Progress Book for an update of your child’s academic

achievement. Students should MEMORIZE multiplication facts 0-12’s. Fifth graders are selling socks this year and all proceeds will go towards end of the year fifth grade events. If you haven’t bought your socks,

order them now!

Students In The

Spotlight

August’s Bobcat of the Month for Positive Attitude

Maibeth Quintana Montalvo Romy Verdugo

Brett Hiatt Xavier Garrastazu

Angela Pabon Alex Rivera Julissa Scott Allie Arroyo

Kevin Martinez Madeline King Dylan Guerrero

Bella Mejia Pellie Grunden Ella Solomon Kamila Millan

Aubrey Maroon Nahya Kimenez-Colon

Peyton Muchard Cheyenne Jones Isaiah Snowden Grace Hayman Hope Quiterio

Brandon Clayton Jaylen Nelson

Eliana Frismond Eva Harrison

Scarlett Williams Juliana Raper Natalia Mejia Jack Hedrick Sunny Wallin

Juliet Woodhall Mason Batista Eliana Lopez

Anderson Martin Nicole Dang

The School Board of Orange County, Florida, does not discriminate in admission or access to, or treatment or

employment in its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, marital status,

disability or any other reason prohibited by law. The Equal Employment Opportunity Supervisor responsible for

compliance is Carianne Reggio; the Section 504 Supervisor responsible for compliance is Harriet Brown, Esq.; and the

Title IX Supervisor responsible for compliance is Kevin Demer. Each may be contacted at the Educational Leadership

Center, 445 W. Amelia Street, Orlando, Florida 32801 (407.317.3200).

Dear Families, My name is Mari Callaway and I am very excited to introduce myself as the new assistant principal of Shenandoah Elementary. As an educator of fourteen years, a mother of two elementary-age children, and a Conway resident, I look forward to working with your children and ensuring they are provided with a safe, nurturing, and supportive environment so they may be successful and receive the best educational expe-rience. I am honored to be a part of the Bobcat family! I have had the privilege of meeting some of the amazing students, parents and staff and I believe our school has some of the best teachers in the district. With your involvement, I am confident we can continue the great successes at Shenandoah Elementary. It is going to be a great year!

ESE Team

We are so fortunate to have a full-team ready to teach and support all our students in the exceptional education classrooms. Our ESE team includes: Mrs. Holman (gifted ser-vices), Mrs. Delbrey and Mrs. Roberts (VE services), Mrs. Madison (Speech/Language ser-vices), Mrs. Loomis, Mrs. Torres, Mrs. Debbie, Mrs. Yasmin, and Ms. C (Pre-K ASD clas-ses), *Mrs. Dusing, *Mrs. Woods, and Mrs. Portillo (K-1st grade self-contained classroom), *Ms. Samman, and Ms. Renee (1st-3rd grade self-contained classroom), *Ms. Farr, Ms. Car-mella, and Ms. Dangerfield (3rd-5th grade self-contained classroom), *Mrs. McGrady (support with small groups in our self-contained classroom), *Mrs. Dannemiller and *Mrs. Doolittle (assisting students in our general education classrooms), and Mr. Arms and Mrs. Mistry (behavior support). *-new to the ESE team

CAFETERIA NEWS

Please come in and have lunch with your child!!

We are so excited to have our stage set up this year with tables for

you to enjoy a lunch date with your child! Also, you can eat

outside and enjoy our beautiful Florida weather!

PBS: Positive Behavior Support

To help promote positive and good behavior this school year, we are so excited to implement “Warm Fuzzies”! When students or classes are noticed making good choices, they earn a Warm Fuzzy for their class jar. Some examples of good choices include: walking in the hallway, helping others, cleaning up at lunch, sitting quietly in the hallways before school, and participating during specials! At the end of each month, the class with the most Warm Fuzzies gets a surprise!!!

What do school counselors do? Promoting positive attitudes, choices and behavior.

Assisting students in learning how school performance relates to future opportunities

for college and career.

Working collaboratively with students, parents and teachers to identify and remove

barriers to learning.

Helping students recognize and make the most of their abilities.

Counseling with students in groups and individually.

Providing support for personal issues and crisis.

Orienting new students.

Support families by offering resources for social/emotional issues and resources for personal needs.

Who is your school Counselor? Kristen Hughes 407-858-3180 ext. 3902225 Kristen.spensieri-hughes@ocps.net

Physical Education

Welcome back Shenandoah Bobcat’s! We are so excited to be outside with you all this year, as your P.E. instructors. We have so many exciting games planned for all of you to

do. Please remember to wear your tennis shoes, and comfortable/breathable clothes on the days that you have P.E. Also, eat a healthy breakfast and remember to bring your water bottle, so that you can stay hydrated. Let’s get ready to have a fabulous year. Mrs. E, Mrs. GG and Mr. K

Welcome Back Shenandoah Bobcat Artists!!

We are off to a creative year in ART! Third, Fourth and Fifth Grade Students are creating a monochromatic self-portrait. Kindergarten, First and Second grade students created a self- portrait using primary colors. The main hallway will be decorated with our display of these incredible designs for Open House!! I suggest that students wear older clothes on Art Day! We are busy constructing some very messy pro-jects. If you are able to donate any of the following items you can send them in at your convenience: baby wipes, color fine tip sharpies, expo markers, playdoh, and child size Fiskar scissors. Thank you for your support! Mrs. Hoover

Music at Shenandoah Elementary Welcome to music at Shenandoah! Students in grades Kindergar-

ten through Fifth grade will have music once a week. What will your child do in music class? Each grade has their own set of national and state standards for music, which in-cludes learning about different musical styles, how music relates to different cultures, how music is used in our own culture, reading and writing music notation, singing, play-ing instruments, moving, creating, collaborating, learning about different composers and a bit of music history, and much, much more!

Testing News from the CRT

The school year is off with a bang and we are quickly in the midst of "Beginning of the Year" diagnostic testing. Below is a brief overview of several assessments that will take place over the next few weeks.

Kindergarten students will take the computerized FLorida Kindergarten Readiness Screener [FLKRS] in September. This is a tool used by the state of Florida to assess how

well the Pre-K programs are preparing our students, as well as, providing data for our kindergarten teachers to meet the needs of our young learners.

i-Ready Reading and Math Diagnostic: All students will take the computerized assess-ments to diagnose individual student needs and personalize a learning pathway so that all

students make academic gains.

Please contact your child's teacher or me if you have any questions or concerns regarding these assessments.

Michele Corum CRT/Testing Coordinator

CONGRATULATIONS!

Ms. Longacre Teacher of the Year

Mrs. Perez-Perez

Support Person of the Year

PTA and SAC Meeting Dates

First Thursday of the month in the

Media Center SAC 5:00PM PTA 6:00PM

September 7th

October 5th November 2nd December 7th January 4th February 1st March 1st April 5th May 3rd

Don't forget to buy your Shenandoah Bobcat socks to help support 5th grade. Two styles to choose from crew (in stock) and knee highs (due early September) sizes are limited at this point.

Open House Spaghetti Dinner

Join us for our annual spaghetti dinner on Thursday, September 14th at 5:00. $6.00 per ticket or included with your PTA Club mem-bership.

Spirit Nights

Mike’s Italian Ice—First Friday of each month starting September 1st

CiCi’s Pizza Night—September 26th

Above: Kayana Adlam, a 7th grader from Conway middle school and a former Shenandoah Elementary School student, gave her award winning speech from when she attended Shenandoah Elementary at the board meeting Tuesday night for her oration win at the county and state level. She will go on to nationals.

Dismissal with Inclement Weather/The “30-30” Rule In cases of threatening weather, the district maintains close contact with the National Weather Ser-vice, the Orange County Office of Emergency Management and local law enforcement officials to help make decisions about dismissal of students or school closings. Officials want to make the safest possible arrangements for students and may delay the dismissal of students during exceptionally haz-ardous weather conditions, such as lightning. The district’s Weather Delayed Dismissal procedures require that the nationally recognized “30-30 Rule” be enacted by schools if thunder is heard within 30 seconds of lightning strike.

Students will not be dismissed until 30 minutes has passed from the last sound of thunder.

Car riders, walkers, and bike riders will be held in the building until the “30-30 rule” is over.

However, parents and guardians will be allowed to sign their child out during these situations by signing for full responsibility for their child’s safety during the severe weather situation.

Open House September 15th

5:30 Spaghetti Dinner Starts 6:00 – 6:30 First session

6:30 – 7:00 Second session 7:00 – 7:30 Book Fair

Print and cut out this box! Mrs. Crabb said you can turn this in for

a prize!

Arrival Procedures 2017-2018 No students are allowed on campus prior to 8:15 a.m. unless you are paying for our Extended Day services. Student supervision begins at 8:15 am daily. Extended day services begin at 7:00 a.m. Patrols should arrive through the Hoffner Avenue entrance/kindergarten hallway at 8:15 a.m. Bobcat Broadcasters will not be permitted into the newsroom/media prior to 8:40. Broadcasters will enter the building through the Hoffner Avenue entrance/kindergarten hallway. If they arrive prior to 8:40, they will report to their grade level holding area. Car traffic: Between 8:00 a.m. - 8:45 a.m., access to the front of the school will be restricted to Busses, day care vans, and special needs passes. Other car traffic MUST use the Hoffner entrance Car loop. The gate at Hoffner is locked at 8:45 a.m. Walker Drop off: Walkers may enter the front entrance starting at 8:15 a.m. or if they are coming from the neighborhoods in the back of the school, they may enter the building through the kindergarten hallway. Car Rider Drop Off: All K-5 car riders should be dropped off and picked up using the entrance off of Hoffner Avenue. Morning supervision for students will be provided starting at 8:15 am. After 8:45, students are tardy. The Hoffner gate will be locked and students must be escorted to the front office for a tardy slip. Extended Day Drop off: Students enrolled in the morning Extended Day program may be dropped off be-tween 7:00 am -8:15 am at the side extended day entrance. Cars that arrive to the school after 8:15 will need to enter through the Hoffner gate. Arrival Holding Areas: All students will arrive and wait indoors with supervision from 8:15 a.m. until they enter the classroom at 8:45 a.m. Supervision and indoor access is not provided prior to 8:15am unless enrolled in the Extended Day program. Students should have a book with them at all times to read while they are wait-ing indoors.

Photo Diagram of Arrival and Dismissal Traffic Patterns:

Exit for Day Care Vans, Busses, and Special Passes

Straight drive through only Entrance for: Daycare Vans (am only)/ OCPS Bus, Special Passes

Entrance for Day Care Vans and OCPS Bus only

Dismissal Procedures 2017-2018 Afternoon Procedures for Dismissal: Between 2:40 p.m. – 3:15 p.m., access to the front of the school will be restricted to buses, day care vans,

and special needs passes. Other car traffic MUST use the Hoffner car loop. Please see the map and photographs above demonstrating the traffic patterns for arrival and dismissal. Arrival & dismissal – Car passes: For the safety of the children, ALL adults picking up and/or dropping off students will be required to have a school car pass. Two car passes will be given out for each family during “Meet Your Teacher”. Car passes may also be obtained at the front office during the school year. If additional passes are needed, please see the front office. All cars without a car pass stating the name(s) of the child(ren) being picked up will be di-rected to go to the front office to sign the student(s) out with a photo ID. If you plan on carpooling, please ensure that each family has listed the name(s) of any child(ren) that will be picked up on their car pass and that you have completed the required paperwork naming those adults as approved for signing out your child(ren) on the beginning of the year paperwork. Change in dismissal: Any changes in dismissal patterns should be sent to school as a written note/letter. Students will be dismissed according to their regular dismissal method unless a letter is received stating a change. When sending the letter, please note the dates/duration of the change in dismissal. Early pick up: For the safety of our students, students will not be signed out between 2:45 to 3:00 (1:45-2:00 on Wednesdays).

Sunshine State Books 2017-2018 Grades 3-5

Allie, First at Last by Angela Cervantes

Born into a family of over-achievers, fifth-grader Allie Velasco has never finished first in anything, and lately things have been going badly: her science project is ruined by a well-meaning student, her for- mer best friend is hanging out with anoth-

er girl--but now she is determined to win the Trailblazer con- test with a photographic presentation about her great grand-father, the first Congressional Medal of Honor winner from their town.

Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon

When Molly shows up on Castle Hangnail’s doorstep to fill the vacancy for a wicked witch, the castle’s min- ions are under-

standably dubious. After all, she is twelve years old, barely five feet tall, and quite polite. But the castle desperately needs a master or else the Board of Magic will decommission it, leaving all the min- ions without the home they love. So when

Molly assures them she is quite wicked indeed (So wicked! RE- ALLY wicked!) and begins completing the tasks required by the Board of Magic for approval, everyone feels hopeful. Unfortunately, it turns out that Molly has quite a few secrets,

including the biggest one of all: that she isn’t who she says she is.

A Dragon’s Guide to the Care and Feeding of Humans by Laurence Yep and Joanna Ryder

Feisty dragon Miss Drake's new pet human, precocious ten-year-old Winnie, not only thinks Miss Drake is her pet, she acci-

dentally brings to life her "sketchlings" of mysterious and fantastic creatures hidden in San Francisco, causing mayhem among its residents.

Framed! by James Ponti

Florian has just moved to Washington, D.C. He’s learning his way around using TOAST, which stands for the Theory of All Small Things, a technique he invented to solve life’s little mysteries. But when he teaches it to his new friend, Margaret,

they uncover a mystery that isn’t little. Not little at all, but part of a much bigger picture!

The Hero Two Doors Down by Sharon Robinson

Eight year-old Stephen Satlow lives in Brooklyn, NY and loves the Brooklyn Dodgers. Stephen can’t believe his luck

when his favorite baseball player Jackie Robinson moves in to his neighbor- hood. Written by Jackie Robinson’s

daughter, this fictionalized story based on a true story tells a tale of an unlikely friendship between a boy and his

hero.

Maxi’s Secrets: Or What You Can Learn From A Dog by Lynn Plourde

Timminy knows that moving to a new town just in time to start middle school when you are perfect bully bait is less than ideal. But he gets a great consolation prize in Maxi--a gentle giant of a dog who the family quickly discovers is deaf. Timminy

is determined to do all he can to help Maxi--after all, his parents didn't return him because he was a runt. But when the going gets rough for Timminy, who spends a little too much time getting shoved into lockers at school, Maxi ends up being

the one to help him--along with their neighbor, Abby, who doesn't let her blindness define her and bristles at Timminy's

"poor-me" attitude. It turns out there's more to everyone than what's on the surface, whether it comes to Abby, Maxi, or

even Timminy himself.

Night of the Living Worms by Dave Coverly What's a bird to do when his sibling is a big-time celebrity? It's a question Speed Bump has to deal with every single morning, because his

brother happens to be the one and only Early Bird. Unfortunately, Speed Bump is a sleepy little bird with a big head and tiny wings who's wor-

ried he'll never live up to his brother. But he has a great buddy, the ever-hungry Slingshot, who knows how to lift his spirits. Together, they

end up on an ad- venture deep in the nighttime forest, where they're forced to confront something more terrifying―and slimi- er―than

Pugs of the Frozen North by Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre The ship “Lucky Star” becomes trapped in the frozen ocean on the first day of True Winter. Ordered to save the cargo consisting of sixty-

six pug dogs, Shen and the pugs travel over the frozen environment on their own. He meets Sika, who tells him of the magical “once-in-a-

lifetime” winter and of a race to the North Pole where the Snowfather lives. Snowfather will grant a wish to the winner, and Sika would like

to win in order to wish. Shen volunteers himself and the (66) pug dogs so Sika may enter the race and possibly win the race.

Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan Two fifth grade boys discover friendship can come in unexpected ways. Ravi, an excellent student, moves from India to New Jersey, only to

find out that his skills aren’t viewed in the same light at his new school, Al- bert Einstein Elementary School. Joe has always lived in

New Jersey, and attended that same school. However, due to his Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) and how he handles situations, he

doesn’t feel very good about school. Through several events, the boys find out that life isn’t always as it first appears.

Teddy Mars: Almost a World Record Breaker by Molly Burnham Teddy Mars wants to stand out... in a house full of siblings. With the help of his best friends, Lonnie and Viva, Teddy attempts building the

biggest snow mound, stuffing the most grapes in his mouth, and lifting a chair with his teeth. He'll try anything, even if it means sleeping in

a tent and cleaning up pigeon poop for the Grumpy Pigeon Man. Too bad his little brother, The Destructor, always gets in the way of Ted-

dy's record-breaking plans! His determination will have readers laughing out loud and try- ing to break records of their own! The Vanishing Coin by Kate Egan with Mike Lane Fourth-grader Mike Weiss can’t get the hang of math, forgets his homework, and has trouble sitting still in school. And as if getting sent to

the principal’s office the first week of school wasn’t bad enough, classmate Jackson (“Mike’s enemy since birth”) won’t lay off him, and he’s

spending his after-school hours with Nora, the gifted new girl next door. One afternoon with Nora, Mike discovers the town magic shop, The

White Rab- bit, and something that he might actually be good at. The confidence boost helps Mike work harder in school

A Whole New Ballgame by Phil Bildner

Rip and Red are best friends whose fifth-grade year is nothing like what they expected. They have a crazy new tattooed teacher named Mr.

Acevedo, who doesn't believe in tests or homework. They also find them- selves with a new basketball coach: Mr. Acevedo! Easy-going Rip is

knocked completely out of his comfort zone. And for Red, who really needs things to be exactly a certain way, the changes are even more of a

struggle. But together these two make a great duo who know how to help each other—and find ways to make a difference—in the classroom

and on the court.

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild is- land. With no idea as to how she ar-

rived there or her purpose, she only knows she has to survive. She realized that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings

and learn from the island’s unwel- coming animals inhabitants. As Roz slowly befriends the animals and begins to feel at home, the robot’s

mysterious past comes back to haunt her. Willy Maykit in Space by Greg Trine

Earth-dwelling fourth-grader Willy Maykit couldn’t be more excited about his school field trip to Planet Ed. Willy’s class will blast off for the

afternoon, learn about outer space, and be home in time for dinner. But when he wanders off on his own, Willy ends up being left behind on Ed!

Can Willy, along with his classmate Cindy and an alien boy named Norp, outsmart the big hungry monsters on Ed until someone rescues them?

With a little help from an android who likes knock-knock jokes and a seagull with terrific aim, they just might!

My Brother is a Superhero by David Solomons

Eleven-year-old Luke is a huge comic-book fan, so when an ill-timed bathroom break results in his 14- year-old brother, Zack,

receiving superpowers from a visiting alien, Luke is really upset. But Zack-whose brand of nerdiness only extends to math, not

comics-needs help navigating his new identity as Star Guy. When Luke's classmate Lara decides to unmask Star Guy, Luke tries