Pioneer Press
The new school year is off to a great start!
We will publish a monthly newsletter to the Pioneer website. Also, be sure to check the Pioneer website often for announcements and information about upcoming events. You can subscribe to Pioneer’s Google calendar to receive email updates about what’s happening at Pioneer! Here’s how:
- On a desktop computer, navigate to the Pioneer’s homepage
- Scroll down and go to the Calendar page
- On the calendar, click the Share button located in the upper-right corner
- Select “iCal/RSS Feed”
- In the section titled “iCal Feeds,” click the “Copy” button. This will copy the URL of the calendar to your clipboard
- Navigate to your Google Calendar - https://calendar.google.com
- At the bottom left, click the “+” button within the “Other calendars” menu
- Select “From URL”
- Paste the link copied in step 5 into the “URL of calendar” field
- Click “Add calendar”A calendar will appear at the bottom left, within the Other Calendars section
- To change the name of the new calendar, hover over the new calendar and click the “Options for Calendar” button
- Select “Settings”
- Enter the desired name into the “Name” field
- School calendar events will now appear within your Google calendar and can be viewed via an Android or iPhone device
School Hours
Regular school hours are from 8:30 AM - 2:52 PM. Students can begin arriving at school at 8:15 AM to line up by class in the gym. Please do not drop your student off before this time, as there is no supervision available.
Attendance Information
Attendance is crucial for academic success. Here are some attendance tips:
- It is important that your student arrives on time each day. Tardy students miss out on important instructional time.
- If your student is going to be absent, notify the office at (360) 596-6500. You may also email the student’s teacher, but that should be in addition to informing the office. You will receive an automated message from School Messenger if you have not informed the office of an absence by 9:30 AM.
- For absences of 3 days or more, please fill out a Planned Absence Notification form in the Pioneer office.
- Please try to schedule appointments and vacations outside of the school day. If you are picking up your child during the school day, please notify the office ahead of time so we can locate your child and have them ready. A note to the teacher and office is especially helpful. (Notes should not be on sticky notes or tiny scraps of paper, as these are easily lost.) Unless urgent, we ask that parents not check out their students after 2:35 PM.
Volunteering
We appreciate our volunteers! In order to be a volunteer at Pioneer, it is necessary to fill out an online Volunteer Application through the Olympia School District. This form needs to be filled out each school year. Just click on the Volunteer button on the Olympia School District or Pioneer websites to reach the online application. It usually takes a few days for the application to be processed, so it’s great to take care of it early!
Conference Week and Book Fair
Conference week is right around the corner! Conferences will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 22 - Friday, Oct. 25. Students will be dismissed at 11:35 AM. (Please note that Monday, Oct. 21 is a regular school day.) We will be using the online scheduling system again this year. Stay tuned for more information!
Walk N’ Roll
October 9th is National Walk to School Day! Intercity Transit’s Walk N Roll program invites all students and their families to walk or ride bikes to school! Choose from three meeting locations:
- 8:10 A.M at Transformation Life Center (Henderson and McCormick)
- 8:10 A.M. at Good Shepherd Church (Henderson and North)
- 8:05 A.M. at Corner of Carlyon and Moore
Go to one of the meeting locations and walk to school with your friends. We can’t wait to see you there!
2nd Step Program
This year all students K-5 at Pioneer will be learning Social Emotional Skills with the 2nd Step program. This is a teacher taught program that helps students understand the values of respect, responsibility, friendship, empathy, emotional regulation and problem solving. Be on the lookout for possible homework in folders so that you can follow up with your student.
During September students were primarily focused on Respect, listening, following directions and assertiveness. In October students will begin learning about emotions in this curriculum, both how to recognize others’ emotions through body and contextual clues as well as their own emotions . Pioneer’s counselor, Lisa Perry, will also be coming into classrooms to teach a system of emotional recognition called the Zones of Regulation. This places emotions into 4 main color categories:
- Green: Good feelings such as okay, happy, ready to learn, focused
- Blue: Not feeling your best - sick, hungry, sad or bored
- Yellow: Caution feelings such as frustration, anxious, confused, excited or silly
- Red: Blowing our top feelings - angry, aggressive, terrified
Students in grades 2-5 will also learn more about how their brain reacts to the blowing our top feelings. As the year progresses I’ll work on keeping everyone updated about what students are learning about.
If you have questions about the 2nd Step program, please feel free to contact Lisa Perry via email at [email protected].
Calendar of Events
October 4 3rd Grade Field Trip to Pioneer Farm
October 9 Walk N’ Roll
October 11 No School (Inservice Training)
October 17 Passport Check Day
October 19 PTA Fall Carnival (3:30 - 6:00 PM)
October 22-25 Conference Week (11:35 AM Dismissal)
Book Fair (11:30 AM - 4:00 PM)
October 30 1st Grade Field Trip to Pumpkin Patch (10:30 AM - 1:15 PM)
5th Grade Field Trip to Deschutes River Ranch (8:45 AM - 1:00 PM)