Arkansas Arts Academy Elementary
Families,
Last week was very busy! We had fun with fall parties, rise and shine, field trips and a lot of learning. Our mornings will be brighter this week as we adjust to daylight savings time ending on Sunday. Thank you for choosing Arkansas Arts Academy! We are glad you're here.
Rachel Carethers, Principal
The book fair is in the AAA Elementary Library this week. A flyer came home in last Tuesday's folder.
Each class will be shopping during their regular class time. Parents can shop online or add money to their child's ewallet here: https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/arkansasartsacademy
Last week we had 4 days where we had over 100 students late for school at the elementary alone. This is over 18% of our student population. Tardies disrupt the beginning of the school day for all students and their teachers.
According to researcher Michael Gottfried, "First, students with greater tardiness perform worse on both standardized reading and math tests. Second, holding constant an individual's own record of tardiness, students whose classmates are tardy more frequently also have lower test scores." That means being tardy negatively affects the student who is late and also their classmates.
It is very important for children to develop positive lifelong habits of arriving on time. The practice of arriving to school, work or other appointments on time is a life skill. As parents and adults in the workforce, we know the importance of punctuality. Help us build these habits in our students together.
Gottfried, M. A. (2013, November 30). The achievement effects of tardy classmates: Evidence in urban elementary schools. School Effectiveness and School Improvement. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1026967
Are these some reasons why your child does not get to school on time?
Your child won’t go to bed at night or get out of bed in the morning.
Your child can’t find their clothes, books, homework, or backpack.
School lunches are not ready.
Your child is slow to eat breakfast.
Your child is watching TV late at night or when they should be getting ready for school.
Your child is upset and not letting go of you.
If so, here are some suggestions based on setting regular routines:
Have a set time to go to bed.
Have a set time to be out of bed.
Have clothes and backpack ready the night before.
Make lunches the night before
Have a set time for starting and ending breakfast.
Turn the TV on during set times and only if appropriate.
Give your child lots of positive encouragement.
On arrival encourage your find their friends when they get inside and leave quickly.
Gratitude is our November Word of the Month. Here is a link to an article, 11 Simple Gratitude Activities for Kids As They Learn to Express True Appreciation. It contains books and activities that will help children have a better understanding of what gratitude means and how to practice it. Practicing daily gratitude is commonly noted as one of the best coping tools in helping with overall mental health and wellbeing.
11 simple gratitude activities for kids as they learn to express true appreciation - Care.com Resources
AAA Elementary will have a food drive for the Samaritan Community Center in Rogers November 13-17. Please see the flyer below for items needed.
There will be two classroom prizes for the most donations, one for K-3 and one for 4-6.
The Samaritan Center is one of AAA's community partners and their website lists many resources, such as food pantries, dental and medical assistance, housing support, legal services, and mental health and crisis services in both Benton and Washington counties.
Please visit their website at samcc.org to see all the work this agency is doing for the NWA community.
See the links below to learn how to further support our young artists at AAA.
