February 4, 2022   *   Edition 12

Dear PTE Families,

I can’t believe it’s already February, and we are more than halfway through this school year!  Our students celebrated their 100th day of school which is always a fun day in elementary school.  Now we are home for some winter fun.  I hope your students were able to manage their E-Learning lessons at home, and they didn’t cause too much stress on the family unit.  I know it can be hard to juggle work and E-Learning at times.  Hopefully, the students were able to play outside, help you shovel, and enjoy some hot chocolate on their days off too!  We love all of the winter fun at the Piper house! 

Hopefully your child will have some time to work on their valentines this weekend.  Our parties will be on February 11th in the afternoon.  Just a reminder that no candy or food should be brought in with the cards.  

Kindergarten registration is in full swing for the 2022-2023 school year.  If you know of any neighbors who have young ones who will be starting at Prairie Trace next year, please encourage them to start the registration process now.  We would love to have students registered by the first of March. We will then hold Kindergarten screenings in May.  We are excited to meet our future Hawks and get them prepared for the transition to elementary school! 

Our NWEA assessments are now completed, and you will receive information from the district how to access those scores.  Please keep in mind that you are able to schedule a parent teacher conference whenever you feel it is necessary.  If you have any questions regarding this information, don't hesitate to reach out to your child’s teacher for clarification about growth and progress.  

Spring is a busy time for Indiana assessments as well.  Our third grade students will take the IREAD 3 assessment the week of March 7th.  The ILEARN assessment for students in grades three through five will be from April 18th through May 13th.  Students will be assessed in the following areas:

• Third grade:  Reading, Writing, Math

• Fourth grade:  Reading, Writing, Math, Science 

• Fifth grade:  Reading, Writing, Math, Social Studies 

Just a reminder to please call in your students to the attendance line (317.571.7929) if they are going to be out of school for illness or any other reasons.  This call needs to be made daily, even if your child is out consecutive days.  Our nurses and front office staff spend a lot of time each morning trying to get a hold of parents searching for the whereabouts of children who have not been called in.  I know mornings are busy, but you can call and leave a message as soon as you know that your child will not be in school.  It is best if these calls are made prior to 7:35am as that is when our students arrive in classrooms.  If you email the teacher to alert them of an absence, please include Sally Purvis (spurvis@ccs.k12.in.us ) on the email as well.  Thanks in advance for assisting us with this in the mornings.  

I hope you had an amazing week!  

Mrs. Piper