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Principal's Message 2/12/24

Good Evening, Stallion Families!

There’s nothing quite as sweet as Valentine’s Day in elementary school!  We are excited to be talking about the character trait of love during our P2 time this week, and will be looking for opportunities to show our love and appreciation to our friends and family.  Happy Valentine’s Day!

And speaking of love and appreciation… I want to recognize our PTA board member representing our Mandarin Immersion program, Ms. Gevetta Lawrence.  Gevetta, it was because of your strong leadership and hard work that our PTA volunteers and our Stough Elementary School Theme Team were able to plan and deliver a Chinese New Year celebration that was enjoyed by all who attended.  Thank you for your investment in our school community, we are grateful for you! 

 

Upcoming Events

  • February 12-16, 2024- National Love the Bus Week (Bus Driver Appreciation)

  • February 19, 2024- President’s Day Holiday- No School for Students or Staff

  • February 20, 2024- Teacher Workday- No School for Students

  • February 20, 2024- Stough Spirit Day at Big Air

 

Shout outs!

  • A big thank you to all of our Stough ES staff who stayed late on Thursday to support our Chinese New Year celebration.  I know this is time away from your own families.  You are seen!  You are appreciated!  You are loved!

  • This week we are celebrating “Love the Bus Week”.  If you follow news media at all, you know that transportation is a huge challenge not only in WCPSS, but across the nation.  We are so fortunate at Stough Elementary to have drivers who work hard to ensure safe travel for our students.  All of our routes are covered every day, and our buses/vans at Stough have an “on time” rate that far surpasses other schools in Wake County.  PLEASE- take this opportunity to love on your bus/van driver!  They love cards, gift cards, sweet treats, every little thing that shows appreciation… They are grateful for all of it!  Stough Elementary School loves our bus/van drivers!

 

The Positivity Project: February 12-16: Love

The Positive Project publishes a Family Newsletter each week.  Please use this link to learn more about this week’s character trait, and find some talking points to use with your family.  Love- Family Newsletter




BIMAS 2- Behavior Intervention Monitoring Assessment System (Spring Assessment)

  • Letters about the BIMAS screener were sent home with students in Friday Folders on February 9, 2024.  Please check your child’s folder for this form and the opt-out form.  If you choose to “opt out” of this assessment, you must return the form before Friday, February 23, 2024.  Please contact Maggie Mariella, AP  (MMariella@wcpss.net) or Sarah Hamel, school psychologist  (SHamel@wcpss.net) with questions.

Single Subject Acceleration

  • Single Subject Acceleration (SSA) provides students an opportunity to show mastery of content in select elementary or middle school courses. Students who prove mastery on the SSA Assessments do not have to take the course and may move on to the next level.  

  • The Test Request window for Single Subject Acceleration (SSA) at Stough Elementary School and WCPSS will be open from April 1-12, 2024.  No requests for testing will be honored prior to April 1, 2024.  The process for requests will be shared via the Principal’s message in March.

  • Parents may request testing for their child to skip a grade level of content English Language Arts or Math (not both- this is a single subject acceleration). 

  • The testing window for SSA Assessments is April 22, 2024 -May 6, 2024.  

  • For more information- please plan to attend our parent meeting at Stough Elementary on Thursday, March 6, 2024.  We will offer two sessions, one at 6:30pm and one at 7:30pm.

  • If you have questions or would like more information, please contact Dr. Cecconi-Roberts at lcecconi-roberts@wcpss.net 

 

KidzArt

  • KidzArt drawing classes Session 3 begins on Feb 6 (Tuesday). Every week is a new project and returning students are welcome! Classes meet on Tuesdays at 4-5 pm in the Art Room for K-5th grades students. Your child will bring home a finished artwork that he/she will be proud of each week! For more info contact Chen the owner at cjiang@kidzart.com. To register please visit www.northraleigh.kidzart.com.

 

Substitute Teachers

  • Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!  I am excited and grateful!  A good number of you have reached out to me to gather information about becoming a substitute teacher.  Remember, we can use you for any amount of time… as little or as much as you have to give.  To make this process easier, these are the steps to follow.

    • The Wake County Public School System has a process.  You can find it here.  https://www.wcpss.net/subs

    • Once WCPSS has cleared you to sub, and you have gone through orientation, please reach out to our lead secretary, Ann Coventry (acoventry@wcpss.net).  She will help you get set up in the system to accept sub jobs here at Stough.

 

Stough Magnet Elementary PTA

  • Chinese New Year Celebration - THANK YOU!

    • Thank you to everyone who volunteered and donated snacks and water for our Chinese New Year event.  You helped to make the night a great success!

  • PTA General Membership Meeting: Tuesday, March 12 @ 7:30 pm via Zoom

  • National School Counselor Week Feb. 5-9

    • On Friday we treated Ms. Morlock (K-2) and Ms. Sears (3-5) with a few of their favorite goodies as a token of appreciation on behalf of all of our families.  We are grateful for the important work they do to support our students and our school!

  • National Bus Driver Appreciation Week: Feb. 12-16

    • PTA will be at the bus loop during arrival hours on Monday, Feb. 12 to deliver breakfast biscuits to our transportation team. Not only do they get our children to and from school safely each day but they are also the first and last faces our children see in the school day. Our amazing drivers work hard and enjoy what they do! Consider sending your student to school with a card, a note or a simple reminder to say "Thank You!" to their driver. HERE are a few cards or notes if you'd like to use them. 

  • Stough Spirit Day 2 Big Air: Tuesday, Feb. 20

    • Stop by Big Air between 10a - 8pm on Tuesday, Feb. 20 for some fun energy burning while schools are closed.  

  • Yearbooks: 

    • You can now order your Stough yearbook! You can use the order form here, the paper copy sent home with students or go to www.ybpay.com and use the yearbook ID code 14638124.  The deadline to place your order is Friday, April 5. 

  • PTA Communications

    • We have a busy and fun semester planned and with many opportunities for you to get involved from home or at school. Are you getting our newsletters? PTA members are automatically subscribed. Not a member but want to receive our communications? Subscribe HERE! 

    • Looking for one place you can scroll through anytime to see what's going on now and what's coming up? Check out the "Events & Updates" tab at stoughpta.com 

    • As always, we will continue to include important dates in Principal Lay's Weekly Email. 

 

Have a wonderful week!

Mrs. Jodi Lay 

Principal, Stough Magnet Elementary School