Principal’s News – January 2023
The beginning of a new year always brings reflection on how we can do things differently and start fresh. As we reflect on our healthy lifestyle, let’s focus on creating healthy habits instead of goals. Habits are a way for us to create something good for our mental and physical health that will last for a lifetime. Charles Duhigg wrote in The Power of Habit, “Habits are powerful, but delicate. They can emerge outside our consciousness or can be deliberately designed. They often occur without our permission but can be reshaped by fiddling with their parts. They shape our lives far more than we realize-they are so strong, in fact, that they cause our brains to cling to them at the exclusion of all else, including common sense.”
As you create goals for the new year, change them into habits or small acts that you can do daily. For example, when changing how you eat, start by making time for yourself, eat slow, and until you are 80% full. If you want to add more movement or activity in your life, start with the activity you like and do it for 10 minutes a day for a couple of weeks and then add on. Whatever habit you choose to create or change, be specific and make it doable so it becomes strong in your daily life.
The life skill we are focusing on for January is ‘Self-esteem’. Self-esteem is a measure of how we see ourselves. Positive self-esteem means you like and accept yourself most of the time. Having good self-esteem is key to being confident and feeling capable. When we are confident, we believe in ourselves and our ability to overcome challenges. We are comfortable asking for help and standing up for ourselves when we are proud of who we are and what we achieve.
Self-esteem is not fixed; it can be changed. Self-esteem is not something that you ‘get’ once you are perfect. Self-esteem comes from the inside. It can’t be directly taught, but it can be encouraged and fostered.
It is important that we find value in ourselves. Everyone is good at something, but sometimes we spend so much time focusing on all of the things we can’t do that we forget this. We are all meant to be who we are.
Throughout the month, Mrs. Blake will be reading I Like Myself written by Karen Beaumont to the kindergarten, first and second grade classes. Ms. Ashley will be reading Zero written by Kathryn Otoshi to the third, fourth and fifth grade classes.
The month of January we will conduct a standard fire drill. We will monitor the weather and choose a day that support an evacuation.
As a reminder, we use Accuweather to determine Red Flag mornings and inside recess. The SCC is working on a Code of Conduct to confirm the process and requirements. If the Reel Feel is below 22 degrees it will be an inside day. Red Flag mornings begin at 8:40am, 10 minutes before the bell. Students are allowed to enter for breakfast at 8:30am. However, students should not be dropped any earlier than 8:40am.
We continue to have problems with the drop of and pick up procedures. Between 8:30am-9:00am under no circumstance may you use the bus lane to drop off students. We will be setting out cones at the entrance and only move them for our busses and daycare vans. Cars will be directed to use the appropriate drop off lane.
It is illegal to park in a handicap parking spot without an appropriate handicap sign displayed. If you do not have the appropriate sign, please do not park there.
As the new year begins, this is a great time to make sure your emergency contact information is updated. We are finding that many families only have one contact. We highly recommend having 3-4 contacts for each student. If you will log into your Skyward account and verify you have added 3-4 names with phone numbers added for each student.
Reminder: Winter recess is December 19th thru January 2nd. We return to school on January 3, 2023.
January 9 Mondays with Marissa January 11 9am PTA meeting
3:45pm SCC meeting in the library
January 13 &16 No School January 22 Chinese New Year
January 25 5th grade to visit Draper Park Middle School
