Yealey Families,

I hope you've had a great week.  We have been very busy here. I have had the privilege of seeing students persevere and solve problems.  I love hearing them explain their thinking and work together!

We have NO SCHOOL on Monday for Labor Day.  Don't forget that Tuesday will be our first day of the week and that will be Active Bobcats day.  If your child is in Active Bobcats please be sure to pick them up at 4:45.

There is an important notice for Kindergarten parents from our nurses office on the Nurse/Clinic page.

Also, please see our PTA page for a link to a new program they would like to start.  They would like to get a list of parents together who would be willing to be our Yealey Ambassadors.  As an ambassador, you would just be available to new families who might have questions about being new to Yealey or the Florence area.  All you would need to do would be provide your preferred contact information to the PTA and if a new family comes in we will give them your info.  Then if they need something, they will reach out to you.  If you're interested, please click this link
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfWPyoEKLpUJeGwb6MO62izkn1MzSetsA5HqPBiLxEit_KnYw/viewform .  Thank you in advance!

I hope everyone enjoys the nice, long weekend.  I will be at 3 football games in less that 24 hours, so good times ahead for me!

Mrs. Turner
principal

Hi Yealey Families,

I hope everyone has had a great week!  It's been a great full week back to school.  We started our Reading and Math STAR testing this week.  We should finish up everyone next week.  This test gives us a beginning of the year benchmark for reading and math.  We use these scores to look at what the students remember from last year and where we need to go for this year.  We will take the test again to see how much we've grown and continue to let it help guide us.

I have really enjoyed the time I've spent in the classrooms this week.  I've been super impressed with the first graders increasing their reading stamina and reviewing the foundational reading skills. Our  kids definitely came back ready to learn!

As a reminder, please follow the parent pick up procedures that are listed on the back of your car tag and outlined in the agenda.  If you want to pick your child up after normal dismissal, then you will need to get in the car rider line or walk to school.  If you walk to school, just wait outside the gym doors and your child will be dismissed to you there. If you drive through the line, just wait in your car and we will bring your child to you.  We have tried to get our normal dismissal procedures in place this week - which means buses and cars roll out of the lot at 3:45.  But, we have had a lot of issues getting parent pick up students to the gym.  If you're picking your child up, please be sure you've called by 3:00 pm or sent a note in with your child.  We try to double check everyone before we let buses go, but if we don't know you're planning on being in line to pick up, we don't know to double check that your child is in the gym.

Also, please have patience with our buses.  We have two new drivers starting Monday so there could be delays as they learn their routes.  Hopefully once they start and get in the swing of things, we will have minimal issues.  Thank you!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  Friday night football starts tonight - so basically I'll blink and it'll be Christmas!

Mrs. Turner
principal

Welcome Back Yealey Families,

We are back and excited to begin the 2019 - 2020 school year.  It was so nice to see all the smiling faces coming in the building Wednesday morning.  Our Chief Academic Office for the district, Jim Detwiler, was here as students arrived at school and he commented to me on how impressed he was with the students - everyone was so happy to be back.  And I know I was just as happy to see them!

As always, I was so proud to see how kind and excited the kids have been to their new classmates.  One student made all her new girl classmates friendship bracelets and had them ready by the first day of school.  Another student greeted me in the car drop off with stickers that he brought to give to a friend so that he could make his friend feel special.  These acts of kindness along with so many other things they do each day are why Yealey is the best place to be!

Even with one day this week without phones and internet, we hit the ground running.  Students have already started learning engagement strategies, setting up their Leadership Notebooks, and getting to know one another.  We've even had geometry and number talks started in 1st grade!

As we begin year 3 of implementing The Leader in Me program, be on the watch for some fun and new ways we hope to help bring the 7 habits home to you.  I think you will really enjoy some of the things we have planned.  All the students are focused on reviewing these habits now as all classes are teaching the first 8 days for their grade level.  Be sure to ask your child about the habits!

Please remember to be patient with transportation at this point. Our goal is to send buses off the lot by 3:45 but because of traffic and other issues at the middle/high schools, our buses have been late getting here.  So, please just give us a little extra time to get them home. We will be in a routine soon and everything will be running smoothly - especially once all the construction projects are complete, lol 😄.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  Get out and enjoy the sunshine!

Mrs. Turner
principal