February 1st: Spring Book Fair-Student Preview

February 2-8th: Book Fair/Lunch with a Loved One~ Fri-1st Grade, Mon/Kind, Tues/2nd,

Wed/3rd, Thurs/4th & 5th

February 2nd: PTA Wacky/Crazy Hair Day!

February 8th: Book Fair Family Night and Math & Makerspace Night from 5:30– 8:00pm

February 13th: Focus Graduation Ceremony for 4th & 5th Grade

February 13th: SAC Meeting at 5:30pm

February 15th: Progress Reports go home today!

February 19th: NO SCHOOL– President’s Day!

February 27th: Deadline for Music Maestro application and 1st practice

February 5-16: Access 2.0 (WIDA) Assessment

February 12-22: Science Common Assessment

March 6th: FSA Writing for Grades 4 & 5

March 7-12: FSA Writing Makeups

April 9-13: 3rd Grade FSA Reading

February brings us Valentine’s

Day and is a time to reflect on others, so we wanted to share some words of appreciation for

the relationship that our school has with you and our students.

Thank you for Allowing us to work each day with your children!

V- We Value the interest you show in the activities that take place at our school

A- Appreciate the time you have with your children as the time passes quickly

L- Our students are Lucky to have parents who place a priority on education

E- We pledge to provide an Excellent educational experience

N- Of all the Needs your child has, the greatest is you

T- When parents and schools work Together common goals can be achieved

I-You are Invited to come Dividend and visit our school

N- It’s not Necessary for schools and parents to agree on everything- except to

support each other when we don’t

E- When families hold hands they hold Everything in their hands which is important

F- Strong Families make healthy children

O- When parents help children succeed in school they open doors of Opportunity

R- Parents teach children to Respect others by respecting them

P- Please know how much we appreciate your daily support

A-You Already know that parenting is hard work- and that the compensation is over

whelming

R-Undivided attention on a daily basis is the greatest Reward for your child

E-Parents who help children Enjoy childhood foster an adult that can enjoy life

N-Priorities for parents may change- a parent’s job is Never done

T- The Time you spend volunteering in the school, the classroom, school functions

and in the community is a significant contribution to your child and the school

S- Parents will always be the Single most important influence on how successful a

child will be in school and in life

Thank you for being our Valentine and for working with us to help make our Students Shine!

A Note From the Principal...

January 29 – February 2

Our Longwood Lions will take a closer look at bullying

and the strategies they can use to end it. Classes will

sign a Black Out Bullying pledge and Public Service An-

nouncement will be shown on our Closed Circuit TV

News. Students will be encouraged to give a friend a

note of kindness on Wednesday, January 31st.

FRIDAY Feb. 2nd – WEAR BLACK!

Poster and Essay Contest

Due: Friday Feb. 2nd to Ms. Riddle

How to Train Your Cub

Literacy night will be held for Kindergarten and 1st grade

parents on Thursday, February 22nd, from 6-7PM in the art

room. Child care is provided in the media center for any

student who is potty trained. The Topic this month is fluen-

cy and how to assist your student with his/her reading

skills at home.

Look for upcoming Literacy Night information for Kinder-

garten and 1st grade parents for the dates below.

February 22nd

March 29th

April 26th

May 17th

Tier II intervention

Intervention Schedule: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday

additional 30 minutes of reading instruction (and in some

cases math or writing). Students are leveled by specific

needs of each student. This can be done either by grade

levels 'switching classes' for 30 minutes per day, or by

classes 'leveling' students within their classroom. The

primary curriculum used for K-3 students receiving

intervention in reading is PLL: Phonics Lesson Library and

the PSI: Phonics Screener for Intervention. Each student is

working on specific phonics skills. Once all skills are taught

and/or mastered, the student is able to move on to

enrichment activities. Please discuss with your child's K-3

teacher to see how your child is doing in relation to their

specific phonics levels. 4th and 5th grade tier II reading

students work on comprehension and fluency skills. There

are also a few upper grade level advanced phonics and

multi-syllabic word groups. Every group is created with the

needs of each student considered. Groups are 'living'

which means that groups are constantly changing, again

based on specific needs of students.

Tier III intervention

Tier III is an additional intervention, above and beyond tier

II intervention, this is typically 20-30 additional minutes

(during another time during the school day) for tier III

reading and 15 -20 minutes for tier III math. These times

vary depending on student need and intervention

provided.

Students placed into tier III for reading or math (or both)

have been identified as experiencing difficulty (1 or 2

grade levels below current grade level) with reading

(comprehension, vocabulary, writing, phonics, language,

and/or fluency) and/or math (algebra, number and

operations, geometry, fractions, etc…) through the

response to intervention process and multi-tiered system of

supports (MTSS) meetings.

Parents may be invited to attend MTSS meetings and/or

meet with teachers individually to ask about student's MTSS

status.

Frequently asked questions…

How do I find out what "Tier" my child has been assigned

under MTSS?

The BEST way to find out is to ask your child's teacher.

How will I be notified if my child is placed in Tier II or Tier

III?

It is required that you are formally notified with a face-to-

face meeting (or a phone conference) that your child

has been moved to Tier II or Tier III. You can also request a

conference at any time to discuss tiered status.

How do I know if my child has been discussed during an

MTSS meeting?

Nearly all children are discussed monthly with the MTSS

team. Chances are, even if briefly (for an advanced

student), your child has been discussed.

READING COUNTS All KG and 1st Grade students will be

voting on the Sunshine State JR Books

in April.

Every student who reads 3 Sunshine

State books and passes the RC tests

will be able to vote in April!

Every 2nd Grade student who reads 5

Sunshine State books and passes the

RC tests will be invited to the Sunshine

State party in May!

Every 3rd - 5th Grade student who reads 8 Sunshine State

books and passes the RC tests will be invited to the Sun-

s h i n e S t a t e p a r t y i n M a y !

**May 11th is the last day to take RC tests.

JANUARY MINI PAW LUNCH WINNERS We are proud of the hard work our students put into

school each day. Teachers and staff can reward our posi-

tive Lions by completing a “Mini Paw award” at any time.

Students then turn in their award for a drawing that we do

once a month. A student is selected from each grade to

have lunch with the administration. Congrats to our recent

winners:

K– James Healey

1– Marcus Ferreira

2– Anabelle Omanwa

3– Abigail Hillman-Huet

4– Andrew Monterroso

5– Jon “Jack” Feller

BLACK HISTORY MONTH We will be celebrating Black History Month in Febru-

ary. Teachers will be designing lessons that evaluate the

contributions of various African Americans in history. In art,

5th grade students will be collaborating on a mural

of Thurgood Marshall, Ruby Bridges, George Washington

Carver, Jackie Robinson, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther

King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Barrack Obama. This mural will be

displayed in the media center and each historical fig-

ure will be discussed throughout the month on the school

news. Books will also be on display in the media cen-

ter honoring Black History Month.

FAMILY FUN BOOK FAIR, MATH &

MAKERSPACENIGHT Please join us on February 8th from 5:30-8:00pm for Family

Fun at the Book Fair and Math & Makerspace Night. Math-

nasium will be here setting up 10 stations, each with differ-

ent games and materials.in the Café. The Media Center

will also be set up for you to shop our Spring Book Fair and

food trucks will be here! Be sure to come for all of the fun!

CHORUS NEWS Music Maestros will resume rehearsals on February

27. Information for new and returning students in

grades 3, 4 & 5 will be given out sometime around mid-

February.

ROBOTICS CLUB The Longwood Lion robotics team spent three months

every Monday and Wednesday morning building and

programming their robot. The fifth grade students had

to work together and communicate to each other how

they wanted their robot to work. The culminating

event took place on Saturday, January 20th at Milwee

Middle School's Spartan Challenge. The students re-

ceived accolades regarding how well they presented

themselves as a rookie team. The coordinators were

impressed with their enthusiasm and willingness to take

chances.

In the upcoming weeks a group of fourth grade stu-

dents will take on the challenge of this years mis-

sions. We are building our robotics program one brick

at a time.

CROSS COUNTRY Our Running Lions have been running hard every Tues-

day and Thursday morning before school starts since

November! Each practice we have over 100 runners

learning how to pace themselves, build endurance, be

mentally strong, and be a good teammate. Our Lions

will have competed in 4 different races this season and

we are so proud of how far they've come! We will have

our last practice on Tues. Jan. 30th and our end-of-the-

season party on Thurs. Feb. 1st at 7:30. This will wrap up

our amazing fist Longwood Running Lions season and

we look forward to seeing everyone again next year!

Lions In Our Neighborhood Mrs. Uliano and Mr. Wrathall are so excited to be start-

ing the LION Club (Lions In Our Neighborhood)!! The

kids have a few exciting ideas that will be worked on in

the coming months. We are beginning our school wide

recycling initiative by passing out recycling bins to

each classroom and making posters to promote our

recycling mission. We will be selling flowers for Valen-

tine's Day to raise money for our outdoor after

school Book Depository. We will also be giving out

some special treats to our local crossing guards who

help keep us safe each day on the way to school!

STUDENT COUNCIL The student body has elected our first official Student

Council for Longwood Elementary. Congratulations

students!

President: Mikala Thomas

Vice President: Lisa Mayerson

Treasurer: Aramis Rodriguez

Secretary: Alexa Colon

Longwood Business Partners

As we enter a new year at Longwood Elementary, we would like to take time to thank our wonderful Partners in Excellence. If you get a chance to visit and support our Busi-

ness Partners, it would be greatly appreciated!