Attendance Line Number - 490-3062

February 4, 2005

Shepardson's Home Page: http://schoolweb.psdschools.org/she/

In this issue...

(Table of Contents)   (Top) COMMENTS FROM MARGIE BUCHER

"OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself
any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go."

When Dr. Seuss wrote this favorite book, who knows how it would have read if he had been writing about the Internet. The Internet for all of us is like entering the warehouse of the world. We are the guys who decide where we'll go, and this includes the children of Shepardson.

Poudre School District has taken specific actions to close some doors in this huge warehouse by adding filters. The most recent revision is curtailing the appearance of the thumbnail pictures when searching for an image using Google. But nothing is foolproof, and so the disclaimer (see below) that has been added to the home page of the Internet Search accessed from the district web site is a caution to parents to be interested and involved in the places your children are going on the Internet. Are they chatting? With whom? Are they giving personal information such as name, address, phone number, and other information that could be easily traced? To whom? All of us have stories we've heard with tragic endings of situations that began innocently enough via the Internet. Let's not let any of those stories begin and end with Shepardson kids.

DISCLAIMER: The sites listed below are not necessarily endorsed by Poudre School District for use with all students. Poudre School District accepts no responsibility for content presented on external internet servers, and makes no such claims.

Recommended Filtered Search Engines

• Ask Jeeves for Kids
• KidsClick!
• Yahooligans!      Search Poudre School District
• AOL@School      Search PSD
• CyberSleuth-Kids.com

Unfiltered Search Engines

• Alta Vista
• Ask Jeeves
• Google
• Yahoo!

Image Search Tools

• Pic Search
• Pics4Learning
• National Gallery of Art
• Art Images
• Search PSD

-	Mary Kay Sommers
	email: msommers@psd.k12.co.us

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CALENDAR

February 04, 2005

FEBRUARY 2005			FEBRUARY 2005
7-11	Mon - Fri	School Counselors Week	17	Thu	SIT 4:00-6:00
14	Mon	Valentine parties 2:00	21	Mon	PRESIDENTS DAY NO SCHOOL
Feb 14 - Apr 11	Mon - Mon	Enrichment	MARCH 2005
14-23	Mon-Wed	CSAP Reading for Grade 3	1	Tue	4th Grade Music Program 6:00 pm
16	Wed	District Spelling Bee

(Table of Contents)   (Top) THUMBNAIL IMAGE SEARCHES ON THE INTERNET

Today's students, sometimes referred to as the Millennial generation, or the Millennials, are technology savvy. A recently released study by the U.S. Department of Education found that 90% of the children between the ages of 5 and 17 use computers, and 94% of teens use the Internet for school-related research. Knowing the power this tool has as a resource for student learning, Poudre School District has been proactive in providing access to quality online learning tools through our district web pages. As parents, you may wrestle with allowing your children to use this tool and still provide a relatively safe environment for learning.

Recently we chose to disable the function that allows students to search for digital images using the thumbnail searches because we could not filter inappropriate content. We supplemented the Google, Yahoo, and other commercial search sites' image searches with some that provide filtered thumbnails. A student can now access image searches by going to the district web page (www.psdschools.org), selecting Learning Tools -> Internet Search Tools. At home, parents can set "Strict Filters" under the Google Image searching to prevent most of the offensive thumbnails. Unfortunately, this can be changed easily so we could not rely on this option in the school setting, and parents should not depend on the filter at home.

If you are looking for sites that are safer for your child, we suggest that you use our filtered search tools that are also available on the PSD web page. If you want to be more certain that information your student is accessing is reliable, we suggest our purchased databases. These can be accessed from school or home by going to Learning Tools -> Library Search and selecting Online Database. No password is needed at school. At home the log on and password are generally "poudre." If you cannot access these from home, ask your school media specialist for the passwords. Other libraries can also be accessed from our Library web page. Fort Collins Public Library has many databases available for use from home. And, if after searching through all of these online resources, your child would like to have some personal help, they can "talk" with a librarian by going to www.askcolorado.org (or selecting this from our library web page under other libraries). When they type in a question or a request, a librarian will respond. Homework help is available between 3:00 p.m. and 10:00 pm.

These resources all attempt to provide a safe Internet environment for children. Of course, the most important element in providing safe searching for your child is to be aware of what they are doing on the Internet and to work with them as they explore this uncharted digital world.

For more information, please contact your school's media specialist or Judy MacDonald, PSD's director of Media, Instructional Technology, and Staff Development at 490-3630 or at judym@psdschools.org.

(Table of Contents)   (Top) PLACEMENT FOR NEXT YEAR

Our goal is to create the best heterogeneous classrooms that match students' needs and strengths with those of the teachers whenever needed. We invite parental input throughout the year so your child's needs and your expectations are clearly known by the classroom teacher prior to the placement process. We know that the best learning and teaching environment occurs when teachers and parents are working together and parents are supportive of the instructional design and of the teacher.

If you feel your child's teacher is not aware of your concerns, then you may choose to complete a Placement Information Form for Student Placement to ensure that we understand the needs of your children from your perspective. Please contact the office for this form. We do not accept specific requests for teachers but will address the needs of your child. These forms are due in the office no later than April 29th .

How does this placement process work? Classroom teachers will meet with the counselor in May to create the most balanced and workable groups, ones in which we believe that each child will be successful. Since we also know that the dynamics of a group can impact instruction, we spend many hours until we are very comfortable. It is time consuming and is in no way a random process. We appreciate your input, patience and understanding. We want to ensure that both students and teachers will be highly successful next year.

Our goal is to have class lists and supply lists sent home with each child on the last day of school.

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SUPER ART! Superintendent Nancy Wright inspired the concept of SuperArt!, an annual program where student artwork is collected and permanently displayed throughout the district for staff and community to enjoy for many years to come. Kira Gregory, 2nd grade, will have her watercolor painting permanently displayed at the Johannsen Support Services Center. The first annual Superintendent's Art Reception and the launch of SuperArt! was held February 3, at JSSC. Congratulations Kira!

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Counselor Rea Kreider is helping students role play during a classroom lesson. THANK YOU, REA KREIDER! This next week we celebrate National School Counseling Week! The Shepardson staff would like to formally share our appreciation for our counselor, Rea Kreider! His dedication to the children we serve, to the staff who serves the children, and to the parents who want the best for their children is unmatched. He takes this position seriously while working sensitively with the varied needs and issues children are facing. Rea seeks outside resources to assist families and to ensure that children will grow socially and emotionally to reach their potential as adults. We feel so fortunate to have such a highly qualified, highly talented and highly committed educator, counselor and friend at Shepardson!

(Table of Contents)   (Top) PTO CORNER

The next PTO meeting will be held Tuesday, March 1, 2005 7:00 p.m. (committee work) 7:15 p.m. (Board Meeting) in the Shepardson Library NEW FACES AND INPUT ARE WELCOME SO PLEASE JOIN US AND LEARN ABOUT WHAT GOES ON AT SHEPARDSON! Thank you for remembering Shepardson! With all of the need within our local and global communities, Shepardson PTO THANKS YOU for remembering the funding needs at our school. Because of your donations, this year we are able to help fund many important programs for our children, such as: AR Reading, Enrichment, Literacy, ECO Week, Assemblies, Student Scholarships, Teacher Training, Paraprofessional salaries, etc. We hope to continue supporting these programs with your help and a successful REACH Week. Again, we thank you! PTO Nominations Committee has formed and will have a slate of nominees to vote on at the next board meeting. Thanks to Jennifer Kelly, Chuck Hubbeling, and Tia Oblender for participating on this committee. We continue to accept nominations for any of the following positions: PTO Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Member at Large An excellent way to explore the opportunities available through PTO is to come to the meeting or contact, Jennifer Burkhart at 225-1873, or Burkys@aol.com. Hewlett Packard Suspends Matching Donations for schools... HP has suspended it's donation matching program to schools... while it focuses it's matching program to Tsunami relief donations. Look here in the PTO Corner for information as to when matching programs for schools resumes. Thank you Target and Albertsons Reminder... Remember you can use your Target and Albertsons' cards to support our school at no cost to you! Through the community support programs each has set up, Shepardson will receive monetary support based on the amount of purchases made by Shepardson supporters. If you have a Target Guest or credit card, or an Albertsons Preferred Savings card, make sure to list Shepardson as the school you'd like to recieve benefits from these programs. It's a great way to raise money for our school because it doesn't cost anything to participate. Thanks! For more information, please contact, Jennifer Burkhart at burkys@aol.com or 225-1873

(Table of Contents)   (Top) STUDENT COUNCIL NEWS

By Monica Franco, Student Council Secretary

Thanks to all for another fantastic school function. The MLK assembly was yet another success. We truly appreciate all of the parents who joined us to celebrate this special day. Hopefully, we will remember to live his dream on a daily basis and not just on his memorial.

Because so many people made an effort to donate money to help aid the survivors of the Tsunami disaster, we know his dream is being kept alive at Shepardson! I am proud to say that our community has collected $1047.72 to help others. The Bohemian Foundation will also match our donation. I'm impressed!

And the weeks' clean sweep award goes to....Mrs. Wyman's fifth grade class. Congrats! This award is given to the class that has the cleanest room. The award is given every other Friday and consists of a traveling trophy and a popcorn party. I wonder who will be next. Don't just walk by that scrap on the floor, slam dunk it into the nearest wastebasket and score some points for your classroom for the next clean sweep award.

Enough on the past, let's move on to the future. The next school spirit day will be Patriotic day. Show your spirit and wear red, white and blue on Friday, February 18th.

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EMPTY BOWLS AUCTION WOW! AWESOME! FANTASTIC! Thank You students, parents, friends and staff of Shepardson Elementary for a successful Empty Bowls auction!! Five hundred thirty four bowls were made and sold, resulting in $1511.85 raised for the Food Distribution Center. For every $1 the food bank receives from Shepardson Elementary, they can distribute $10.20 worth of food. So far, our event will provide $15,110 worth of groceries to feed the hungry in Larimer County. Thank You, Mrs. Pibal

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