Please help us by encouraging

reading every chance you have

at home. Research shows that

students who have not learned

to read proficiently by the end

of 4th grade are 4 times more

likely to drop out of school. We

cannot allow that to happen to

our kids.

On behalf of our staff at Knox

Elementary, have a wonderful

holiday season. We are excited

to see your children when we

return in 2016.

Go Warriors!

Mr. Fowler

I am beyond excited for Decem-

ber to finally get here. The holi-

days are always such a fun time

at school. The cold weather has

arrived, the snow is starting to

fall, and student excitement is at

an all-time high as they anxious-

ly await the holidays.

As we close out 2015, it is only

natural to look back on the year and reflect on our successes. At

Knox, we have implemented

Everyday Math across all grade-

levels. We have seen a decrease

in the number and frequency of

discipline referrals as well as

tardiness to school. We have

added two self-contained special

education classes to offer in-

struction that better meets the

needs of our students. We have

recognized 55 students of the

week and hundreds of students

with our positive behavior

“Warrior Ticket” drawings.

Planning for 2016 has been on-

going since our year began. One

major announcement I am

thrilled to make is the addition

of “Erik’s Room” at Knox. We

have received a $10,000 grant

from the Erik Harris foundation

to equip a sensory room for all

of our early learners. Sensory

rooms are designed to provide

therapeutic activities for chil-

dren with sensory processing

disorders. Our Erik’s room team visited sensory rooms

across the county to plan and

implement a successful room at

Knox. Once construction is

complete, I will be sharing pho-

tos and Erik’s story with all of

you.

Another major push at Knox is

our literacy awareness cam-

paign. As state and national

standards continue to increase

for our children, it is now more

important than ever to really

foster a love of reading. Reading

encompasses everything we do

and if students do not have a

solid foundation in the early

years, they can struggle

throughout their entire life.

Message from the Principal

Bantam Cheerleaders Place 3rd at Competition

On November 8th, the Bantam

Cheer Squad competed at the

NBC Cheerleading Competi-

tion. After an intense morning

of cheering at Minerva High

School, our girls placed 3rd.

This was the first competition

for our girls and we are ex-

tremely proud of them. Keep up

the great work, girls!

KNOX

ELEMENTARY

SCHOOL

December, 2015 Volume 1, Issue 5

Upcoming Events:

12/2-4: Secret Santa Sales

12/3-4: Grade 3 AIR Testing

12/3-4: Hot Pots at School

12/3: Winter Family Night

12/8: Winter Concert

12/9: PTO Meeting

12/11: Interim Reports

12/11: Ele Night at BB Game

12/17: Candlelight Lunch

12/22: Moods of Christmas

12/22: Holiday Parties

12/23-1/1: Winter Break

Knox News

2015 Squad: Kylie Grind-

ley, Makenna Woost, Ma-

kayla Mayle, Jayna Connor,

Noelle Shutler, Abbey

Hurford, Sophie Stryffeler,

Camdyn Schatz, Abigail

Benner, Carley Riesen, Lily

Cutlip, Miley Guy, Eva

Carter, Audra Bandy

THANK YOU!

Thanks to our very gener-

ous school community, we

are able to provide food to

29 families (120 individuals)

this Thanksgiving. A total of

73 kids will receive gifts

during Christmas thanks to

your donations as well.

Mrs. Sponseller’s class won

the food drive with a total

of 713 cans collected.

THANKS AGAIN!

Winter Family Night

Follow us on

Twitter:

@KXWarriorNation

Page 2 Knox News

Knox in the News for Veteran’s Day

Congratulations to Mrs. Brand for an exceptional Veteran’s Day program. A packed gym awaited our 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders

as they filed in to three stages. The tribute to our nation’s veterans began at 2:15pm and ended with the playing of each branch

of military’s song to recognize those in attendance. The Review was there to capture the day’s events. Here is a glimpse of the

article.

Our PTO is gearing

up for this year’s

Secret Santa Work-

shop. Students will

have the opportunity

to make purchases

starting Wednesday,

December 2nd. Gift

wrapping will be avail-

able

Thanksgiving Feast was a Delicious Hit How many are at your table for Thanksgiving this year? 10?

15? Imagine feeding over 350 hungry kids! That’s the number

of students who gobbled up our Thanksgiving feast this year.

And what a feast it was! Turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes,

stuffing, green beans and pumpkin pie were on the menu. A

big THANK YOU to our amazing cooks for preparing the

meal and an equally big THANK YOU to our volunteers who

decorated the cafeteria and served our students and staff.

Secret Santa Sales

Mark your calendar for

this year’s Winter Family

Night on Thursday, De-

cember 3rd. Games,

refreshments, and Hot

Pots Pottery will be at

Knox to help kick-off the

holiday season. The fun

begins at 6:30pm. See

you there!

Students dressed

as Pilgrims and

Native Americans

for our Thanksgiv-

ing Feast. Here are

our five “best

dressed” finalists. Mrs. Bush and Mrs. McInturff

(affectionately called McInturkey by her

students) got in on the Thanksgiving fun!

Knox Students of the Week for November

Grandparent’s Day A Huge Success

Page 3 Volume 1, Issue 5

November 6th: Austin Hawk (K), Kylah Stryffeler (1),

Wyatt Blevins (2), Niccy Falstad (3), Cam’Ryn Croston (4)

November 13th: Millie Dickens (K), Hailey Brooks (1),

Caleb Woolf (2), Wyatt Blake (3), Sativa Oblisk (4)

November 20th: Jake Blinn (K), Nicole Deckerd (1),

Kortlynn Smith (2), Rylynn Pinter (3), Joseph Mohn (4)

Thank you to all

of our Grandpar-

ents who came to

support our kids

on Tuesday, No-

vember 10th.

Here are a few

photos from the

day.

Guest Readers at Knox

On Friday, November 20th, we had our first Guest Read-

ers Day at Knox. Reading is so important to successfully

navigating school and we hope to instill the love or reading

in every child that

walks through our

doors. Never stop

reading to your

children! Spend 20

minutes at the end

of each day reading

a book or two.

Reading aloud can

have profound

implications for

your kids and who

doesn’t like a good

story?

Thank you to our guest readers: Mr. Phillips,

WB Superintendent; Mrs. Egli, WB Dir of

Student Services; Mr. Kitzmiller, WBMS

Principal; Mrs. Hartzell, Knox Township

Fiscal Officer, Mr. Baker, Homeworth FD;

Mrs. Sabatine, Knox Secretary, and Deputies

Coleman and Boyd, Columbiana County

Sherriff’s Department.

Knox Elementary School

2900 Knox School Road

Alliance, Ohio 44601

Phone: 330-938-1122

www.westbranch.k12.oh.us

3rd Grade Reading Guarantee and Testing Ohio’s Third Grade Reading Guarantee is a program to identify students from Kindergarten through

grade 3 that are behind in reading. Schools provide help and support to make sure students are on track

for reading success by the end of third grade. At West Branch, all K-3 students are given the STAR As-

sessment, This assessment gauges each students’ individual reading levels compared with typical peers

across the nation. If a student is “off-track,” a Reading Improvement and Monitoring Plan (RIMP) is written

with strategies to help that student succeed.

Ohio administers a 3rd Grade Reading test to see how well students are responding to those reading

interventions. This test is given twice a year. The first test will be given over two days on December 3rd and 4th. The second administration will occur in April. Ohio law requires each student to be reading at a

3rd grade level by the end of their third grade year. Students cannot be promoted unless there is evidence

of this reading level. Please remind your child how important these tests are and that they need to take

them seriously. These tests provide our school with valuable information to help prepare individual needs

and provide targeted intervention.

KNOX ELEMENTARY

SCHOOL

Christmas Program

Effort Today Rewards Tomorrow November/December Grandparent’s Day; Veteran’s

Day; Thanksgiving Feast; Secret

Santa; Hot Pots Family Night;

Candle Light Lunch; Classroom

Holiday Parties

January/February

Donuts with Dads;

Valentine’s Day Parties

March/April Discount Card Sales; Texas

Roadhouse Roll Sale; Muffins

with Moms; Spring Parties; Tye

Dye Shirts (K-2); Stay After (K-

2)

May/June Teacher Appreciation Week;

Tye Dye Shirts (3-4); Field

Trips; Carnival

Students in grades 2, 3, and 4 are working

hard preparing for their Winter Concert.

Sounds of the season will be presented live

on the West Branch High School stage on

Tuesday, December 8th at 6:30pm. Please

join us for a night of musical entertainment!

Arrival/Pick-Up

Student safety is our number one priority.

Please be patient when you are dropping off

or picking-up a student at school. Ohio State

Law requires 20 MPH speed limits in school

zones. Please be very mindful in the parking

lot of buses, cars, and children. Thank you!

Inclement Weather/School Closure

Information There are times during the year when the weather can create unsafe conditions for transporting students to and from school. With the possibility of inclement weather, we

have established the following guidelines:

DELAY-a two hour delay may be announced when antici-pated improvement in visibility, other weather conditions or improved road conditions permit safe travel within a

brief period time. With a two hour delay, buses will pick up two hours later than usual; no breakfast will be served

and dismissal will be at the regular time.

CANCELLATION-When conditions are unfavorable to travel and there is no immediate relief in conditions ex-

pected, we will cancel school for the entire day.

EARLY DISMISSAL-If unfavorable conditions develop throughout the school day, we may find it necessary to dismiss early. A One Call will be made immediately to

announce all early dismissals.

Notification: One Call System, www.westbranch.k12.oh.us, News WKBN, WFMJ, WYTV, Radio 92FM, 1310AM, 600

AM, 105.1FM, 1480AM, 94.1FM

WET/SOILED CLOTHING

Winter’s unpredictable weather

often leaves our kids with wet

clothing during recess. It is always

a good idea to send a change of

clothing in for your child to keep

in their cubby even if they haven’t

had an “accident” in a few years.

Spills in the cafeteria, paint in art,

or mud on the playground are

sometimes unavoidable so please

send in a change of clothes.

HARASSMENT/BULLYING/

INTIMIDATION

“Harassment, Intimidation, or Bullying” means any intentional written, verbal, or physical act that a stu-dent or group of students exhibited toward another

particular student more than once and the behavior both: (a) causes mental or physical harm to the other student; and (b) is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive that it creates an intimidating, threatening,

or abusive educational environment for the other

student.

All incidents of bullying, as defined above, shall be reported to the building principal. A written incident

report concerning the events will be filled out and

returned to the principal.

Board of Education policy 5517.01 outlines this pro-cedure in detail. Incident forms are available in the

main office.

Harassment, bullying, and intimidation should not be confused with peer conflict. There are times that peer conflict arise and student counseling may be

needed. Please see the principal or counselor with

questions.