DATES TO REMEMBER

9/28 Fall Holiday/No

School

9/30 Progress Alerts

10/14 PTO Mtg. 6pm Virtual

10/29 End of 9 weeks

10/30 Teacher Planning Day/No School

11/10 Report Cards (online)

11/11 Veterans Day Holiday

No School

11/18 PTO Mtg. 6pm Virtual

11/25-27 Thanksgiving Holiday

No School

Visit us on the web: www.leonschools.net/killearnlakes

Principal’s

Corner

Welcome to the NEW and very different 2020-21

school year! We are extremely excited to see the boys and girls, either on cam-pus or online… it’s been since March! Our first few weeks have been extremely busy. The chil-dren are being introduced to grade level curriculums, they have new class routines, new technolo-gy/online content and making new friends. Currently, our student enrollment is 803 students, with 260 selecting online instruc-tion. Please see topics below: Open House: Thank you for attending our very first VIRTUAL Open House. The information shared is so important to truly understand the “big pic-ture” of your child’s work day. If you were unable to attend, please see your teacher’s website for the presentation then request a virtual meeting, if you have questions. Communication: Please keep a watch for this school E-newsletter, The Leprechaun, the last Friday of every month. This

newsletter is our communicator to YOU, and will include important school news and dates. The school has also purchased daily communicators for ALL grade lev-els (student planners, Nikki fold-ers, etc.). We thank you for tak-ing the time to read these items and keeping communication flow-ing. Contacts: Every teacher has their own webpage (on the school’s website) listing lots of information for fami-lies. If you need to contact your teacher, all email addresses are provided on our school’s website or call the school at 850-921-1265. If you have questions, your homeroom teacher is your first contact. If further assistance is needed, please contact guidance or administration. Note that ad-ministration receives a high vol-ume of emails/phone calls on a daily basis. We may not be able to respond the same day, but our goal is to respond within 24 hours. Remember to READ, READ, READ! Mrs. Brenda Wagner, Principal

The Leprechaun

September 25, 2020, Volume 13, No. 1

A Nationally Recognized School of Excellence

Do you want to know what’s

happening at KLES?

Find us on FACEBOOK

Search for “Principal Wagner” profile or

click on this link: https://

www.facebook.com/people/

Principal-

Wagner/100005521488149

Hello Killearn Lakes families! My name is Bethany Miller and I am your child’s guidance teacher. This is my first year at KLES and I am so happy to be here. My husband Troy, our twin girls and I moved to Tallahassee from the Tampa Bay area in 2018. Before that, my husband and I grew up in MI and moved to Florida in 2008. I’ve worked in education for well over 10 years with experience ranging from Pre-K all the way to higher education. During our first meeting, I told the kids that one of my very favorite parts of my job is getting to know them, hearing their sto-ries and learning and growing together and I real-ly mean that! The kids absolutely make my job what it is! This school year has started out great! During your child’s first class meeting with me we dis-cussed classroom expectations, talked about our “new normal” while at school and took some time to get to know one another. Everyone took turns sharing a favorite food and hands down, the favor-ite among KLES students is pizza! For the remain-der of this month we are discussing empathy. Each month we will learn about a specific charac-ter trait and what that trait means. We will ex-plore everyday scenarios as it pertains to this trait and how they see this concept working into their everyday lives. We’ve already had so much fun with this and I love seeing their “lightbulb mo-ments” during our class conversations. I am so proud of them. They come ready to learn and try their best, which is all I will ever ask for. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me anytime if you feel like your child needs assistance with any-thing! My email is millerb2@leonschools.net. I am always here to help if I can! Mrs. Miller, Guidance Counselor

Media News

Hi! I am Debbie Roddenberry, your

new Media Specialist at Killearn Lakes

Elementary School. I am so excited to

be here. I have really enjoyed working

with all of your children.

In the Media Center, we have been learning how to

check out books and how to use the card catalog in

Destiny. I have been sending home overdue notices

with the Brick and Mortar students, as well as having

homeroom teachers email the Digital Academy stu-

dents. Thank you so much for returning the books! If

you feel as if you have returned the books already,

please email me and I can check on the shelves for

them. Also, if Digital students would like to check out,

you can have them see what they would like on Desti-

ny and I can check it out for them! I will place the

books in the front office and email you when they are

ready. I hope this will give them access to library

books even when they aren’t here.

My email address is roddenberryd@leonschools.net.

Thank you again for all of your help. We will do our

best to serve you and get through this interesting year!

Ms. Debbie Roddenberry, Media Specialist

Morning and Afternoon Safety Procedures on

Campus

· In the mornings, all front gates will be closed except

for two entrance gates located next to the front of-

fice. KLES Staff will be stationed at these areas

beginning at 7:45am (when supervision be-

gins). The gate in the rear of the school for car

drop-off will also open at 7:45am (when supervi-

sion begins) to allow for normal drop off. All stu-

dents and adults entering the campus will have

their temperatures checked.

· In the afternoon, parents parking and picking up chil-

dren will be at the bike racks located outside of the

perimeter fence. All gates will be closed after the

students exit for dismissal.

· All classroom doors will be locked at all times.

The Leprechaun Page 2

The Counselor’s Corner

The Leprechaun Page 3

Important Traffic Information

KLES and our SRD would like to remind parents to

exhibit safe driving practices on and off campus. Our

goal is to ensure every student arrives and departs

our campus in a non-hazardous way.

Parents- please refrain from parking along Deerlake

Road, sidewalk or not. This is causing children to have

to walk in the street. Also, remember to be conscious

of our School Zone speed limits. (20 MPH). Please

think of your own children as you drive through these

areas, we do not want to see anyone get hurt while

crossing the roads. Due to recent change in laws, it is

now illegal to use a cellular device while operating a

motor vehicle.

Florida Statute in regards to parking alongside the

roadway:

“Florida Statute 316.1945 Stopping, standing, or

parking prohibited in specified places.

(1) Except when necessary to avoid conflict with oth-

er traffic, or in compliance with law or the directions

of a police officer or official traffic control device, no

person shall:

(a) Stop, stand, or park a vehicle:

1. On the roadway side of any vehicle stopped or

parked at the edge or curb of a street.

2. On a sidewalk.

3. Within an intersection.

4. On a crosswalk.

5. Between a safety zone and the adjacent curb or

within 30 feet of points on the curb immediately op-

posite the ends of a safety zone……

3) A law enforcement officer who discovers a vehicle

parked in violation of this section or a municipal or

county ordinance may:

(a) Issue a ticket form as may be used by a political

subdivision or municipality to the driver; or

(b) If the vehicle is unattended, attach such ticket to

the vehicle in a conspicuous place, except that the

uniform traffic citation prepared by the department

pursuant to s. 316.650 may not be issued by being

attached to an unattended vehicle.”

Marvelous Musical Moments I am so excited to welcome back

all of our brick and mortar stu-

dents! It has been a really long time since the

middle of March! I can’t see their smiling fac-

es (because of all of the colorful masks), but

students seem to be as happy to be back as the

teachers. Please remember that singing and

unison speaking project a tremendous amount

of germs, so masks are mandatory in music.

We want to keep everyone safe and healthy!

All of our DA students are missed. You will

notice that only art and PE appear on Canvas.

Every few weeks, I will post enrichment activ-

ities on my website that mirror what is occur-

ring in the music classroom.

The following rotation is occurring in special

area classes:

6 day rotation in kindergarten

8 day rotation in 4th grade

7 day rotation in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th.

Mrs. Vicki Rhodes, Music Teacher

Reminder

When in the car drop off in the morning

please have your children ready to get

out of the car with their

mask on. Thank you!

Page 4 The Leprechaun

KLES Mission Statement

Killearn Lakes Elementary School

provides students with an optimal

learning environment to create and

develop lifelong learners.

UPDATES Welcome back to another exciting school year!

Kindergarten and First Grade students will

spend the first nine-weeks drawing with simple

shapes like artist Paul Klee which will culmi-

nate with a self-portrait. Second and Third

grade students just learned about the seven el-

ements of art. We will segue into a project

where we draw a free standing cityscape next.

Fourth and Fifth grade students will spend the

year learning about art history chronologically.

First up is Cave Art followed by Ancient Greece.

I have been updating the Art Dept. blog from

my teacher page with the assignments. Feel

free to email me any questions and concerns

at pennw@leonschools.net.

Until Next Time,

Mr. Penn, Art Teacher

Special Thanks . . . Many, many thanks to Deer Lake United Methodist Church for providing breakfast for the faculty & staff the first week of school. Along with their generous donation of pa-per goods and cleaning supplies. Also, thank you to Canopy Roads Baptist Church for providing a wonderful Chick-Fil-A lunch the first week of school to the faculty & staff. And finally, to Bradfordville First Baptist Church for their generous donation of clean-ing supplies and paper goods! ALL was greatly appreciated! THANK YOU!!

Physical Education News

Hello from the Physical Education

Department and welcome back to

school! Mrs. Hickman and Ms. Den-

nis are excited to welcome a new PE

teacher to our team this year. Ms. Courtney Davis has

been a great addition to our program. Please welcome

her as you see her around school. We also want to

thank all of our parents for their support with our stu-

dent’s shoe selection for Physical Education days.

Most of our students had on appropriate shoes and

clothes for being outside on our fields!

Our plan is to finish the month of September with our

Bicycle, Pedestrian, and Bus Safety unit. Third

through fifth grade students that have bike helmets

will need to get them out, make sure they fit and have

their names in them, in order to be ready to ride. We

will also have helmets and surgical caps for students

to use during PE as needed. Students in K-2 will be

learning how to be safe pedestrians and bus riders. We

would love your help practicing looking left, right and

left again at home. Please continue to have your child

wear appropriate clothes and athletic shoes on PE

days. Contact us with any questions that you might

have.

We appreciate you!

The Physical Education

Crew

LCS “No person shall on the basis of sex (including transgender, gender nonconforming and gender identity), marital status, sexual orientation, race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, age, color, preg-nancy, disability, military status or genetic infor-mation be denied employment, receipt of services, access to or participation in school activities or programs if qualified to receive such services, or otherwise be discriminated against or placed in a hostile environment in any educational program or activity including those receiving federal financial assistance, except as provided by law.” No person shall deny equal access or a fair opportunity to meet to, or discriminate against, any group official-ly affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America, or any other youth group listed in Title 36 of the United States Code as a patriotic society.

MY CHILD NEEDS HELP IN SCHOOL. I WONDER IF MY CHILD HAS A DISABILTIY?

Sometimes teachers or parents believe that getting a label through a special education evaluation is the only way to help a child, when, in fact, finding out what instruction works best for your child is the key to helping him or her have a successful school experi-ence. Schools have a responsibility to provide effective instruction and behavioral support to all students. When a student needs more help, a team of professionals use a problem-solving process to find ways to improve learning. The team may include teachers, ad-ministrators, and other types of specialists who may be able to help find solutions. Par-ents are also part of the problem-solving team and are encouraged to work with the school to help find solutions. During the problem-solving process, assessments are used to help the team find out what works best. The most important goal of any type of assessment is to help the school know how to better help your child. If a team loses sight of that goal and begins to focus on how to "get a label," then decisions are made based on the assumption that a special education label alone will show what type of help your child needs. If this assumption is made, then the team loses focus on achieving the shared goal: finding out what instruction your child responds positively to and then taking re-sponsibility for providing that level of in-struction for as long as your child needs it. This approach to helping students is usually referred to as response to instruction/intervention or RtI/MTSS.

WHAT IS RtI?

Response to Instruction/Interventions re-fers to a way to help all children be suc-cessful in school. Measuring how your child responds to instruction and inter-ventions is a part of the problem-solving process schools use to improve instruc-tion and interventions for all students. A child will benefit from the school's RtI sys-tem, whether or not he/she is evaluated or found eligible for special education ser-vices. What can I expect with RtI? You will be informed and involved in

planning and providing interventions for your child.

You will see levels of support

(academic and behavioral) that in-crease or decrease in intensity depend-ing on your child's needs.

You will receive frequent progress

monitoring data about how your child responds to the intervention provided.

You will be involved in a team that us-

es information gathered from your child's response to instruction and in-tervention to make important decisions regarding your child's educational needs.

Should you have further questions about the process please contact: Ms. Jan Mejia, Referral Coordinator, at 921-1265 mejiaj@leonschools.net