Principal's Message 5/15/23
Greetings Stough Families,
Happy Mother’s Day! We are sending love to all of the mothers in our community today: Moms, Stepmoms, New Moms, Chosen Moms, GrandMoms, Adoptive Moms, Pet Moms, Single Moms, those longing to be Moms, those missing their Moms, Grieving Moms, and Great GrandMoms. We see you! We love you! We are grateful for you!
Updates for the week of May 15-19, 2023.
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This week is a 5 day week. We look forward to seeing your children every day this week!
Shout Outs:
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Last week we celebrated National School Nurse Day on Monday, May 8th. Nurse Kimberly Baley, we appreciate all you do for our school community! We are a healthier community because of you! Thank you!
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Thank you to our Kindergarten team and those on our staff who supported our kindergarten orientation last week. We had a full house! It was a wonderful evening and we look forward to welcoming our new stallions in August.
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Thank you to Brett Reif, Mathew Hooker and the entire special education team for an amazing Special Olympics Event day. The children had so much fun, and I believe the parents did too. For everyone who supported this day… Thank you!
Art and Music Night
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This Wednesday, May 17th Stough Elementary School will be hosting our Art and Music Night. You should have received information in your child’s Friday Folder. We look forward to seeing all of you here!
Celebration Ceremony for 5th grade students
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This year our celebration ceremony for 5th grade students will take place on Friday, June 9th from 11:30am-12:30pm.
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Due to limited space, each 5th grade student will be given two tickets for guests to attend the ceremony. For safety reasons, all visitors must enter through the front doors. Tickets will be collected at the door.
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Pictures with parents can be taken outside on the front lawn from 12:30-1:00 pm.
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Our PTA will be hosting lunch and an outdoor celebration for 5th grade students only. Parents are welcome to sign up to volunteer to help with this celebration, but only volunteers will be permitted to stay on campus after the ceremony.
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Sign up to volunteer here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090545AFAF238-stough
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Volunteer Sign up:
Wake county has modified our process to allow volunteers to sign up from any location, instead of being required to sign up at a school or WCPSS facility. Volunteers may access the signup link via the Community/Volunteer tab or https://www.wcpss.net/domain/42.
End of year Celebrations
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Thank you to all who provided feedback! I now see that I need to clarify some things around my expectations for end of year celebrations.
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The purpose of an end-of-year classroom celebration is for the teacher and the students to close out the year in a positive and meaningful way. With all due respect, this is not a celebration for parents/families. Please do not plan to spend time in your child’s classroom on this day unless your teacher reaches out to you for help/assistance. There will be plenty of opportunities to volunteer in the future… you will have the opportunity to be back in the building.
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Please recognize that our teachers are still teaching and many are preparing for end of grade assessments. They may not be in a place to talk about classroom celebrations just yet. Please honor their space.
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All classroom celebrations will take place on the last day of school (Friday June 9th). We continue teaching/learning up to the very last day of school, so we will not be celebrating closure until the very last day.
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All celebrations must be inclusive of every child in the classroom.
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Celebrations may not include “graduation” activities. We are going to honor the significance of graduation by saving celebrations for high school.
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Stough Elementary has planned a variety of fun activities for students including classroom celebrations, Super Kids Day, Art and Music Night, and our 5th grade Celebration ceremony. No other celebrations should be planned without permission from school administration. Thank you!
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Handicap Parking:
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Please note that handicap parking is ONLY for vehicles that have handicap indication (license plate or window tag). In the past few weeks, our families in need of these spaces have not had access due to unauthorized parking. Please honor the space. This is just one way we demonstrate care for ALL members of our community.
Positivity Project: May 15-19: Other People Matter Mindset (Review).
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For the remainder of the school year, we will be reviewing the character traits we have learned this year.
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To practice and encourage these character traits with your child, please visit the Positivity Project’s P2 for Families (password: P2) where together you will watch a video, read a quote and talk about the answers to three questions.
Notes from our PTA: Update May 15, 2023
Char Grill Fundraiser May 16
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Char Grill is hosting a Stough PTA fundraiser on May 16. Hope to see you there!
PTA General Meeting- May 31
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Mark your calendar for the final PTA meeting of the school year! This virtual meeting will take place on May 31 starting at 7:00 and will include elections for the 2023-2024 board members.
Zoom Meeting ID: 825 3138 9955
Passcode: 469367
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Proposed Candidates:
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President- Jenny Watson
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Vice President- Catherine Lee
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Treasurer- Elizabeth Moy
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Secretary- Katie Ethridge
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Volunteers Needed for 5th grade Celebration- June 9
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PTA is hosting an end of year celebration on the afternoon of June 9 for our 5th grade students. To make this event a success, we need your help! Use the link to sign up to volunteer your time or send in a food item for lunch. Families will receive more information about June 9 events closer to that date.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090545AFAF238-stough
Important Dates:
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Wednesday, May 17- Art and Music Night
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Thursday, May 18- Art and Music Night (Rain Date)
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Monday, May 29- Holiday- No school for students or staff
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Wednesday, May 31- PTA Meeting
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Wednesday, June 7- Super Kids Day
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Friday, June 9- Last day of school for students
Keep in mind Testing Dates :
End Of Grade test dates have been set:
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This is the time of year when families like to begin to schedule their spring summer vacations. Here are the dates for our Spring standardized test for our 3rd through 5th grade students. Please help us by making sure your child is at school on the days we will administer EOGs.
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May 26 5th Grade Science
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May 31 Reading (3rd-5th)
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June 1 Math (3rd-5th)
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June 2 Make ups
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June 5 Make ups
Reminders:
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Stay home when sick, not feeling well or exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19
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Students and staff should stay home if they are sick, not feeling well, or exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 and should consider getting tested for COVID-19. Review when to return to school or work after an illness.
Weekly Reminder:
Stock the Lounge
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Let’s welcome the Stough staff back with plenty of snacks and drinks to start the new year! If you purchase from the staff lounge registry, your items are shipped straight to school. If you’d prefer to drop off items at the main office, please use this sign-up genius.
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Thank you for your generous support! Amazon Wedding Registry
Have a great week!
Mrs. Jodi Lay
Principal, Stough Magnet Elementary School