Baxter Bugle News from the Principal’s Office

December 4, 2018

Happy Holidays: A message from the Principal Dear Families,

Here we are again with December in full swing and all of the excitement that the holiday season brings. It’s a wonderful time of year to get together with family and friends to celebrate whatever beliefs and traditions we hold near and dear to our hearts. I hope all of you have an excellent holiday season filled with rest, relaxation, and wonderful moments for next year’s memories. The New Year is a great time to make some resolutions and develop a plan to achieve these new chal-lenges. Take time to ask your children how they feel they could improve in specific areas at home and in school. Please remember that students should continue to read, write, and practice math facts over the vacation. The interest you show in your children and their schoolwork will demonstrate to them the importance that you place on education. It is hard to believe that we are already one third of the way through this school year. We look forward to continuing to provide an educational experience that is rewarding, challenging and fun for our students. I wish you Peace, Joy, Hope and Happiness during this holiday and throughout the new year. Thank you for your continued support and the opportunity to work with you and your children. I am always and forever grateful to serve as principal at Baxter Elementary School.

Dr. Tammy Stellmach

Student of the Trimester

Congratulations to the following students for being selected for the Student of the Trimester award for trimester one. Staff can select only one student per each trimester so this award is truly an honor to receive. Our school wide theme for trimester one was Unity, so students who work hard to cooperate, be kind, and include others were considered for this award. In addition, our three “Rs” Respect, Responsibility and Relationship building were qualities considered for this award, along with academic improvement or achievement, citizenship in the classroom, and integrity.

Kindergarten: Zachary Drees, Reed VanWyngeeren, Arianna McDonald, Kaylin Vesely, Ireland Heap

First: Lauren Bendson, Oliver Novitzki, Claire Cosert, Sophia Charron, Logan Steele, Romel Schuety, Jakob Bird

Second: Tenley Andrew, Parker Ellis, Hope Doty, Payton Smith

Third: Cora Starns, Aydan Dobis, Cole Hames, Mason Juaire, Annabelle Larson, Henry Collins, Harper Hahn

Fourth: Gavin Andersen, Olivia Tanner, Camryn Anderson, Molly Flaten, Alanah Swenson, Claire Nybeck, Margeaux Czech, Emma Walkowiak, Colter Forland, Devon Catlin Baxter K-4 Report cards

The first trimester report cards will be sent home on Thursday, December 6th. Please sign and return after you have had an opportunity to review the report card with your child. Baxter Student Council Activities

Helping Our Community - Student Council members are collecting non perishable food items for the Salvation Army community Food Shelf. We are collecting all types of non perishable items. Please send in your donations by Friday, December 7th. Thank you! Student Council members, family members and Baxter Staff volunteered for the Salvation Army helping Red Kettle donations by ringing the bell for four 1-hour shifts. We raised over $250.

School Christmas Program

The Second Grade classes will present “Share Bears” on Thursday, December 6 at 6:00 p.m. Bailey is a very generous bear who gives honey to all the bears before they hibernate for the winter. An unex-pected guest arrives and Bailey gives away his last pot of honey and his bed. When the bears hurry to help Bailey, he is reluctant. The bears finally convince him to allow them to be generous too! After all, they had learned it from him. And so, the bears became known all over the mountain as....The Share Bears. The rest of the student body will see the performance on Thursday, Dec 6 at 1:30

Program and Event Parking

We ask all our parents and other visitors to use designated parking spots when attending our programs. Guests should park in the North parking lot near the Baxter park.

Brainerd High School Orchestra

The Brainerd High School Orchestra, under the direction of Spencer Frie, will be per-forming at Baxter School on Thursday, Dec. 20 at 8:50 a.m. Members of the orchestra will play holiday favorites and discuss their instruments and sounds made from each, making this an interesting and enjoyable opportunity for all Pre-K—4th grade students.

Holiday Fridays

Students and staff are encouraged to wear a holiday hat, sweatshirt, T-shirt, socks, necklace, etc. that shows some holiday spirit. We will do this every Friday in the month of December. Join the fun!

Lost & found

We have a huge problem with lost and found items. The pile of items continues to grow. Please discuss the importance of keeping track of personal items with your child. Please la-bel sweatshirts and all winter gear with first and last name. Please stop by and check the lost and found bins when you are in the building. Third and Fourth grade students can leave items on their hooks and shelves during the week but are expected to take all items home on Fridays.

Lunch Visitors

Families are ALWAYS welcome to join their student in the cafeteria for lunch. Lunchroom space is lim-ited so plan on sitting close to your child and the other students if you choose to eat lunch with them. When utilizing our picnic tables to have lunch with your student, please remind your child that students eating at the picnic tables must follow the same rules they have in the cafeteria, and should clean the picnic table off when they are done eating. Smile Safe Kids Program Identification cards will be provided to students who had their school picture taken in October as part of the Smile Safe Kids Program, offered by Lifetouch and designed to help you keep your child safer and respond quickly if he or she is missing. Here’s how the Lifetouch Smile Safe Kids program helps: 1) They provide you with two safety ID cards featuring your child’s portrait and other essential infor-mation. 2) With your permission, if your child is missing, their 24/7 Rapid Response System can provide law en-forcement with your child’s recent Lifetouch portrait to assist in search efforts. All this is provided free of charge by Lifetouch in partnership with your Baxter School and the Nation-al Center for Missing & Exploited Children and is administered with stringent safeguards to protect your family’s privacy. Sick or Absent Students

Along with the colder weather comes the cold and flu season. If your child is going to be absent from school (for any reason!!), please remember to call the teacher or the of-fice. If you are leaving a message on the voice mail system, we need your child’s first and last name, their teacher’s name, and the reason for the absence. Personal Belongings

We’d like to remind our students that they should not be bringing personal items such as toys, electron-ics, etc. to school unless it is for a classroom project. Toys are not allowed on the playground (the ex-ceptions are footballs, basketballs & soccer balls). Thank you!!

PTO NEWS Scholastic Book Fair

Tricia Wikoff & Tara McAllister, Coordinators of the Scholastic Book Fair, reported terrific sales! Thanks to the many volunteers who offered valuable time and energy to run the book fair in the library the week of Nov. 5-8, to all customers for their ample purchases, and especially to Tricia & Tara for coordinating this wonderful opportunity for Baxter School! This year the profits from the Book Fair were sufficient to put $100 worth of new books into all 21 classrooms!

Club’s Choice Fundraiser

A HUGE thanks goes out to students and their families who participated in this year’s fundraising events. Our building had over $12,500 in profit to fund Baxter P.T.O. projects. Thanks goes out to Ashley Pietig, Jeanne King and Katie Haakonson who coordinated this fundraiser, and to all the won-derful volunteers who helped with the fundraiser kick-off, distribution of materials, collection of orders, totaling of sales, and food pick-up. Profits earned from the fundraiser will be used for field trips, special PTO nights, building technology and other student focused projects. Top selling class-rooms will receive a pizza party! Author Visit

Erin Twamley is an educator and author currently living in Germany. She is a former Baxter Bucca-neer and BHS graduate. She is dedicated to engaging the next generation of learners in protecting and creating a sustainable planet through hands-on STEAM learning. She is an author of numerous publications on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM). This includes two books for kids (Amazon #1 Hot New Release books), Climate Change: Discover How it Impacts Spaceship Earth and Renewable Energy: Discover the Fuel of the Future. She has a new book com-ing out in January with an emphasis of girls working in STEAM. We are lucky to have her visit December 18 and 19. This is ANOTHER opportunity provided by THE Baxter Elementary PTO.

Important PTO Dates:

Dec. 12, PTO Meeting at 11:30 in the Office Conference Room

Jan. 9, PTO Meeting at 11:30 in the Office Conference Room

ANOTHER WAY TO EARN MONEY FOR OUR SCHOOL! WE COLLECT BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION “LABELS” AND UPC’S FROM “LOAVES 4 LEARN-ING”. SAVE THESE ITEMS AND SEND IN TO SCHOOL. THE MONEY RAISED FROM THESE SUPPORTS A LARGE VARIETY OF STUDENT ACTIVITIES!

Christmas Break

Elementary school will not be in session Saturday, December 22nd through Tuesday, January 1st. School will resume for all students and staff on Wednesday, January 2, 2019.

Winter Dress for Recess

Noon recess is a time for all students to go outside and enjoy friends and rigorous play before con-tinuing their afternoon studies. Baxter Staff requires students to have appropriate dress for out-door play. Students go outside during their 25 minute recess, unless temperatures fall to 0 degrees

(or 10 degrees below wind chill.) In the event a child is recovering from an illness, parents are asked to pro-vide a doctor’s note stating their child stay in at recess. To stay safe and warm, we ask that you help ensure your child is properly dressed for the cold weather. Students should have a warm jacket to wear outside. Mittens or gloves and a hat are highly encouraged; however, if students don’t wear them, hands may need to stay in pockets and hoods will need to be up. In addition, boots and snow pants are recommended. If students do not wear boots when we have snow cover of more than 1 inch (approximately), they will then need to stay on the sidewalk/tar area during recess time where snow has been cleared. Drop Off/Pickup Procedures

As we move into the heart of winter, we will have days when the weather is too cold to let students wait out-side for their pickup (when the temperature is below zero and/or the wind chill is –10 or colder). On those days, students will wait in the first grade wing of the school. Parents may drive up and wait for their child to walk out or they may park and walk to the first grade doors for pickup. REMINDER: When dropping off stu-dents in the morning, if you are leaving your vehicle to walk your student inside you must park your vehicle in a parking spot. PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE YOUR PARKED VEHICLE IN THE DROP OFF LANE!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

IMPORTANT DATES!

December 6—2nd grade program—6:00 p.m. December 12—PTO MEETING, 11:30 am

December 18 & 19—Author Visit: Erin Twamley December 22-January 1—NO SCHOOL—CHRISTMAS/NEW YEAR’S HOLIDAY

January 9—PTO MEETING, 11:30 am January 11—MN School Sealant Program

January 21—NO SCHOOL, MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY February 8—GLOW RUN

February 13—PTO MEETING, 11:30 am March 1—End of Trimester 2

March 1—STUDENT OF THE TRIMESTER AWARDS March 11-15—NO SCHOOL, SPRING BREAK

April 19—NO SCHOOL, Good Friday April 26—Volunteer Breakfast, 7:30-8:15 am

Inclement Weather

With inclement weather upon us, a reminder goes out to parents of the media outlets used by Superin-tendent Larson to cancel or postpone school. Weather related announcements will be broadcast over the following stations and continue periodically: WJJY, (106.7 FM); KVBR, (1340 AM); 3Wi, (1270 AM); KCCO-TV, (Channel 7/12); & KSAX TV; KLIZ, (1380 AM/107.5 FM); WZFJ, (104.3 FM); KFGI (Froggy 103.5 FM); KTIG, (102.7); Charter Communications Channel 8 or 15

You may also get information on weather related closings at the School District website: www.isd181.org or via the Skylert messaging system.