Hi Yealey Families!

We have had an awesome week here at Yealey.  I've seen 4th graders exploring the concept of energy.  There have been experiments happening in the hallway and then students excitedly telling me what they've learned about on their way to the buses!  I've also had the privilege of working with some students on early math concepts.  Seeing them grapple with the problems and then to see that light-bulb go on has been the highlight of my week!

This week the K-Prep scores were released and made public from last year's state testing.  The state has implemented a new system for analyzing our data this year.  This means that the scores we received do not directly correlate to scores we've received in the past.  But, we have been able to get some good feedback from these scores.  This year there are three categories that schools can be titled: CSI, TSI, and Other.  Basically, CSI and TSI schools received scores that show a certain area or areas that should be focused on.  "Other" schools received scores that show there is no certain area that the state is requiring a focus area for.  The "Other" schools can look at their data and decide what they think they should continue to work on.  So, basically, our goal was to be categorized as "Other" because that means we met the cut scores required by the state.  And, Yealey did meet those scores!  We are categorized as an "Other" school.  I know this sounds a little crazy but I think you should be proud of your students and their hard work for making us an "Other" school.  Of course, we are analyzing the scores, looking for our weakest areas, and making a plan for those.  We will always continue to grow and strive to get better for your kids!

I hope you have a great weekend!  Fall is in the air - enjoy it!

Mrs. Turner
Principal

Hi Yealey Families,
I hope you've had a good week at home. It has been so nice to see so many important women here this week enjoying breakfast with our students. We had 547 total people between the two mornings. With only about 550 students enrolled here, that is a really great turnout. Thank you for taking time out of your day to make the morning a little extra special! I'm sure the men are anxious for their turn. We will see you next Wednesday and Thursday morning. We also tried something a little different to help with our parking at the event. Anyone who was willing to drive their SUV or truck into the playground, we can park you there and open up about 15 more spots in the lot. Our teachers park at Lincoln Woods and are shuttled over to school. So, we are definitely trying all the creative ways we can to get us all here!

Thank you also to everyone who donated canned goods. I do not have total yet but I really appreciate your support of Go Pantry. Go Pantry works with our FRC to help many of our families.

If you scroll to the bottom of the blog, you will see a calendar of events. We will work to keep it updated each week. There was one date that was a typo in our agenda book that I just caught this week. In November, we are off the 6th not the 9th. We are off on Tuesday for election day since most of the schools serve as polling places. We are NOT off on Friday of that week. I'm sorry if this has caused any confusion.
I hope you enjoy the weekend and the first official day of Fall. I'm still hopeful that we hold on to summer weather for a little longer but that's a battle I lose every year.

See you next week!

Mrs. Turner
Principal

Hi Yealey Families -

I hope you've had an awesome week at home like we have here!  This week we held our first Bobcat Huddle.  We are going to gather the whole school together once a month to celebrate our 7 Habits and highlight some student leaders, we will say the pledge all together as a school, and we will just have a general celebration of being a Yealey Bobcat with our roll call.  This will be a quick 10 minute assembly that occurs from 8:40 - 8:50.  Our first one was a great success and the students really loved it!  I am excited to see this assembly grow and become a truly student led event!  Here is a link to a video to view the fun we had this week,  https://youtu.be/Sb9JmOEOfB4

A big thank you to St. E Hospital who donated backpacks and supplies for each classroom to have a stocked emergency backpack.   These backpacks came packed with band aids, gauze, wrap, tape, etc.  This was a very generous and much appreciated effort started by our custodian, Jim Boh's wife, Trish.  It's awesome the things that can happen when the Yealey Family works together!

Also, Delta Airlines donated blankets and Abiding Faith Lutheran Church donated band aids and alcohol wipes.  We so appreciate these community partnerships!

THANK YOU to all of these organizations!

Be sure to follow us on social media to see lots of pictures of all the learning that goes on here each day. The buttons on the side will take you directly to the pages.  I love checking in each night. Because no matter how hard I try, I can't be everywhere at once and there are so many great things going on here each day!

Have a great weekend with family and friends!

Mrs. Turner
Principal

Hi Yealey Families,

It's been a jam packed short week!  I wanted to share something new we are trying. We have started a new lunch schedule that we are very excited about.  It is based on research which looked at the benefits of having recess prior to lunch.  We started with just 4th and 5th grade at this point so that we can work out the logistics and get solid procedures in place before introducing it to the younger students.  Our goal is to get this down to the younger students by the end of the year.  Here are some of the highlights of having recess prior to students having lunch.  If you'd like more information please visit https://www.peacefulplaygrounds.com/download/lunch/benefits-recess-before-lunch-facts.pdf 

When recess is before lunch, research shows that students:

• waste less food (as much as from 27% to 40%)
• consume more calcium and protein as much as 35% 
• have decreased number of nurse visits for headaches and stomachaches after recess 
• are calmer and ready to get to work immediately instead of needing cool down time 
• have an increase in classroom time on task 
• have decreased discipline referrals 
• need less supervision in cafeteria 
• have fewer accidents during lunch break 
• litter less on school ground and inside the school

I will keep you updated on our progress with this schedule.  This does not take the place of the students' regular recess.  Students will just get some additional physical activity time!  We are hopeful that this is a win-win solution that will have a positive impact on many different things!

I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend!  We will be headed to Morehead for a college visit - just part of the senior year fun!

See you next week!

Mrs. Turner

Principal