October 2014
HOME OF THE COUGARS
Colson Elementary School
Colson Communicator
1520 Lakeview Avenue Seffner, Florida 33584
(813) 744-8031—http://colson.mysdhc.org
A Hillsborough County Public School
School Mission Statement
UPCOMING EVENTS
Colson Elementary will develop
A
Community of
High-performing
Individuals
Emphasizing the
The Kiwanis Terrific Kids for the month of September were: Iruoma
Awuzie, Alejandro Cruz, Kenzie Shannon, Avery Berry, Zaya Goncalves,
Brianna George,Alyssa Fong, Ryleigh Perras, Breezy Andrews, Jaquez
Williams, Carlos Perez, Alexsandrea Garwood,Carlos Trochez, Joshua
Blaise, Jeyshka Martinez, Emma Rivera, Nathaniel Mendizabal, Jocelyn
Gordon, Dylan Wilhite, Liam Mullaney, Roselyn Lang, Cole Edson, Talyn
Mesner, Carlos Collins,Rory White, Samantha Iyog, Guadalupe JuarezSoto, Damien Bennett, Katharyn Gregory, Isabella Benchick, Dezmond
Cox, Jocelyn Santibanez, Alex Kistler, Kristopher Ayala, Dylan Peeples,
Tia Benchick, Reese Garcia, Kyle Gregory, Jay Echelbarger, David Parr,
Joshua Holbert. Congratulations to each of these students on their outstanding accomplishments.
Value of
Education
School Vision
Statement
The Colson Learning Community will
ACHIEVE optimum success for everyone.
Principal
Karen Lynch
Assistant Principal
Jack Keller
I want to thank all of our families who came to our Title 1 Meeting and Open House on September 15 th. We appreciate your desire to know about the programs and curriculum in your child’s school. Your involvement is key to your child’s success.
We have two new staff members joining us. We gained a 4th grade unit and Ms. Erskine was hired to teach the new
4th grade class. She is a certified highly qualified teacher who moved here from another state. Also Mr. Roth is joining us as
our 2 day PE teacher. He is an experienced PE teacher and we look forward to working with him this year.
Our first conference evening is Thursday, October 2 nd from 4:00-8:00 P.M. and we hope you will take this opportunity
to meet with your child’s teacher. Teachers have been doing assessments to determine the instructional needs of their students and they are ready to share this information with you.
The expectations for on grade level performance have been raised this year in order to meet the new standards being tested. This may result in students who last year were considered to be on grade level now being marked below grade
level according to the new expectations and standards. The criteria for promotion to the next grade level have also been
raised to meet these expectations. Please make sure you are keeping close communication with your child’s teacher so that
we can all work together to help your child achieve the raised expectations.
The end of the first grading period is on October 17th and report cards will be distributed on November 3 rd. Report
card awards are scheduled for November 4th. We hope you will be able to attend so please see the schedule posted in the
newsletter. Some students may not have earned an award so please check your child’s report card and talk to your child
about their progress and how they can earn an award during the 2 nd grading period.
The first picture day will be on October 7th. Please be looking for the flyer to come home with all the information to
order your pictures.
The PTA fundraiser will be delivered on October 9th. If you had a huge order please be prepared to pick it up that afternoon if it is too much for your child to carry home on the bus. Thank you for your support with our fundraiser as the money
raised will be used to support our educational program.
On Friday, October 24th, please join us for our PTA sponsored Fall Festival from 4:00-7:00 P.M. You can purchase
tickets in advance so please be looking for the flyer to come home. This is a great opportunity to have some fun with the
whole family while supporting our school.
Schedule of Events
Oct 1 Parent University @ Jefferson
High School
Oct 2 Running Club Begins 2:153:30 pm
Oct 2 Conference Night 4-8 pm
Thank you to our wonderful community Business Partners. They include Dunkin Donuts, Pizza Hut, McDonald’s and Abdoney Orthodontics. Thanks to their generous donations, we are able to do special attendance and
positive behavior incentives.
Oct 3 PTA Colson Spirit Day
October 2014
Oct 6 Early Release—1:15
Oct 7 Picture Day
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Oct 9 Fundraiser Delivery
Oct 13 Early Release—1:15
Oct 13 PTA Mtg @ 1:45 p.m.
Oct 15 SAC Mtg @ 3 p.m.
Oct 15 Flu Mist Vaccine Admin.
Oct 17 End of 1st Grading Period
Thu
Fri
Sat
1
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3
4
5
6
7
8
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10
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12
13
14
15
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18
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20
21
22
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31
Oct 20 Non-Student Day
Oct 20-24 National School Bus Safety Week
Oct 22 Gr 5 Field Trip Biz Town
Oct 24 Fall Festival 4-7 p.m.
Oct 27 Early Release—1:15
Oct 27-31 Red Ribbon Week
Oct 27 Wear Red
Oct 28 Terrific Kids 8 a.m.
Check Requirements To Include: HOST/PTA/Field Trips/Cafeteria
Make sure student number is written on the check
Make sure your address is imprinted on the check by the bank
Please sign and date your check All Checks should be made out to:
Colson Elementary School
Report Card Awards Schedule
November 4, 2014
Oct 28 Wear your favorite Hat
Oct 29 Wear Crazy Socks
Oct 30 Wear Sunglasses
Oct 30 I-Moms Breakfast Mtg 7:158 a.m.
Oct 31 Wear Your Favorite Team
Jersey
Nov 2 Daylight Savings –Turn your
clocks back one hour
8:15 - 9:00 3rd Grade
9:00 - 9:45 1st Grade
Nov 3 Report Card Go Home
9:45 - 10:30 4th Grade
Nov 3 Early Release—1:15
10:30—11:15 2nd Grade
Nov 4 Report card Awards
12:00-12:45 5th Grade
12:45—1:30 Kindergarten
Question of the Communicator
STUDENT PROGRESSION
If your child is going to be absent, what is the procedure you need to
PLAN
follow?
The Student Progression
Plan for Hillsborough County
Public Schools has been updated and is now available
online to include acceleration
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
Student Name________________________Teacher_________________
Parent Signature_____________________________________________
Detach and return to school to earn a ticket for being responsible, and you will
also be entered into a drawing for a prize. This will show us that you are reading the Colson Communicator each Month. Happy Reading.
options. We encourage you
to review the Student Progression Plan. Please contact
the Principal with any questions.
_______________
School Advisory
Council News
In October we will recognize RESPECTING OURSELVES as our Character Trait of the
Month and celebrate Red Ribbon Week. The purpose of Red Ribbon Week is for our
students to have the opportunity to visibly commit to a safe, healthy and drug-free lifestyle. The campus will be decorated with posters and red ribbons.
Students will sign a Pledge to be drug-free. Encourage your student to support Red
Ribbon Week by dressing in the daily theme:
Monday
10/27 “Get Ahead, Don’t Do Drugs... Wear Red”- wear red
Tuesday
10/28
Wednesday
10/29 “Sock it to Drugs”- wear crazy or mismatching socks
Thursday
10/30 “Too cool for Drugs”- wear sunglasses
Friday
10/31 “Team up Against Drugs” – wear your favorite team jersey or
Colson Shirt
“Put a cap on drugs” – wear your favorite hat
PE’s for ME!
Mrs. Taylor’s PE classes are finishing up a unit on gymnastics. We are very lucky to have
use of the multipurpose room, which serves as the perfect learning environment. We have spent 3
weeks developing creative movements, balance, flight, traveling skills, rolls and even inverted balances. The children practiced their skills individually, as well as cooperatively in small groups to
build gymnastic sequences. The children have begun to build body and spatial awareness, selfesteem, and confidence in moving.
Thursday, October 2nd will be our first running club session. If your child is a participant
in our fall running club, please remember our training will end between 3:15 and 3:30. Car riders
will be walked out by the front office at that time for pick up.
Please remember that healthy habits start at home. Take time to take care of your body,
and engage in healthy activities as a family. Our children will value fitness and make it part of their
everyday routine if we set a positive example for them. Stay healthy & happy,
Alison Taylor
Come be a part of
Colson's School Advisory
Council and be involved in
your child's education!
Our next School Advisory Council meeting is
October 15, 2014, at
3:00 p.m. Please come
join us! We hope to see
you there!
David Westendorf
813-744-8031
ATTENDANCE
Children must attend school regularly and be on time in order to be
successful! Should you have any
questions about attendance,
please contact Colson's School
Social Worker, Dr. Cindy
Sampson, serving Colson on
Thursdays and Fridays but you
can leave a message for her at
744-8031, at any time. Attendance
Tip: Set a regular bedtime for
children; making sure that they get
between 8-10 hours of sleep per
night.
PHONE SYSTEM
REMINDER
When you call the school’s phone
number
744-8031,
you will reach an automated system. The choices are as
follows;
Press 1
absence.
to report
WARNING
Please be advised that our
school zone is being observed by the Sherriff’s Department and the tickets
are very expensive!
your child’s
Press 2 to reach the Administrative Office.
Press
fice.
3
to reach the Guidance Of-
Press 4 for special announcements and upcoming events.
TRANSPORTATION CHANGES:
Current Address & Phone
Numbers
Any transportation changes, must be made
in writing. Please make sure the letter you
write states the date, student’s name and
teacher, how they usually go home, and how
they will be going home that day, and
please make sure to leave a phone number
we can reach you at. Thank you for your
cooperation.
Please remember to keep your address
and phone number information updated for your child. Many times we need
to reach you to schedule conferences,
report good information or inform you
that your child is ill. Having accurate
information allows us to communicate
with you immediately in the event that
any emergency arises. Please call the
office at 744-8031 ext. 0 to report any
changes or stop in to update your
emergency card.
All Students riding in cars are to be
dropped off and picked up in the back
drive only. Please display your child’s
name in the car window. The front driveway is for buses and daycare only.
Mark your Calendars for
the early-release days:
Every Monday @ 1:15 p.m.
Please make sure you are arriving before
2:30 to pick up your child in the afternoon
car line. We are running out of cars by
2:30 and still have lots of students left
each day. Our staff needs this planning
time to accomplish all the great things we
do for our students so please help us out
by being on time.
We are committed to helping
parents who might have afterschool child care challenges as a
result of the early-release dates.
We have an on site after school
day care program, HOST, and
they can be reached at 7448031 ext 251 for information on
enrolling your child.
REQUIREMENTS FOR
REPORTING STUDENT
ATTENDANCE & ABSENCES
When a student is absent for any
reason, the parent or guardian
must call the school on or before
the day of absence. To be excused for a pre-planned absence
for a personal reason that is acceptable to the principal, the principal must be informed three days
prior to the absence. The phone
number for Colson attendance is
744-8031, ext. 1. If the staff has
any question about the person
leaving the message, someone
will call to verify the message.
PARENTS OF CAR RIDERS:
Reminder
Earliest Drop Off Time is 7:30
a.m.
County School Board
Carol W. Kurdell, Chair
Susan L. Valdes, Vice Chair
Doretha W. Edgecomb
April Griffin
Candy Olson
Cindy Stuart
Stacy R. White, Pharm.D.
Superintendent of Schools
MaryEllen Elia
Pick Up Times is 2:15—2:30 p.m.
If you need to sign your child out
early you must do so by 1:30 p.m.
www.sdhc.k12.fl.us