Falcon Friday Focus

Salem’s New Branding. Salem is getting a new look with the renovation starting this summer and we are kicking it off by revealing our new logo:


District Updates

Skyward Contact Information. Earlier this week, we had an incident occur on one of our buses. While we did send an immediate email out to the involved families of students on Bus 8, I should have also sent a phone call blast and text out to those same families as email is not always as accessible at a moment's notice. 

When we send a communication out to families, we are able to see whether the notification was received or if it failed. We made sure all the families connected to Bus 8 were notified via email and based on our records, we can see that they were all successfully delivered. Nevertheless, we want to take this opportunity to make sure the contact information we have for you is accurate in the event we are faced with another emergency. 

 We ask parents to check and edit necessary contact information during our annual registration process. Contact information can also be updated year round using Skyward’s Family Access. Please refer to the following graphics to help verify that the contact information we have listed for your child(ren) is accurate in Skyward’s Family Access.

Check and Edit the My Account Information in Family Access


Check and Edit Fields Located on the Student Info Tab



The above graphics and additional information related to Family Access is located on the Family Access page of our school website.


Save the Date- 8th Grade Promotion Ceremony. We have scheduled our 8th-grade promotion ceremony for Wednesday, May 31st, at 6:00 pm.  Our goal is to have an outside ceremony with six tickets per student.  We will continue to communicate with families as we move forward with planning. Please know we will do whatever we can to create a memorable experience to mark the achievements of our 8th-grade students.

Please don’t hesitate to contact Mr. Sandberg with any questions.


2023-2024 School Calendar.  Please take a moment to look at the school calendar for next year. We have some exciting activities planned for our community!


Repost from earlier communication on Discipline, Shaping Behavior, & Progressive Discipline.

During another one of my Family Stay Interviews, a group asked me to repost the information about the updates to our student handbook that I shared when we updated the Bus Expectations.  It is copied below for your convenience:

Please note, not only have we increased our severity of responses to unexpected behaviors on the buses, we have increased them within the school. A week’s bus suspension would only be the tip of the iceberg as far as school consequences are concerned for illegal/dangerous activity. Because we want to honor the dignity of our families and their students (and because we are abiding by the law), we cannot disclose what consequences we issue to students, so I often hear things like, “The school never did anything,” or “So and so never got into trouble” from students and/or their guardians. I can assure you though that we are issuing consequences. I desire that we will see a positive change on campus and to and from school on the bus over time. 

Please note, change takes time. I am not trying to excuse any future behavior problem on the bus or on our campus, but we are putting systems into place to not only recognize the students who are making positive choices every day, but penalize students who are not making positive choices. 

I firmly believe that the formative years provide us with the greatest opportunity to shape life-long habits, attitudes, and behaviors. I have witnessed amazing success when we are being intentional about our praise of those students who show up every day and do their jobs at school, and when we are swiftly responding to students who are not making expected choices with severe enough consequences that they learn from their choices. 

As you review our Student Handbook, know that I am working on establishing new systems or revamping older systems (like our PBIS programs and dances/celebrations). It will take a little time to see all of these fully implemented with fidelity in every classroom and on every bus. But we have a goal, and more importantly, a plan to make this positive change happen.


Important Dates

Date

Event

Location

March 21st

Personnel Committee Meeting @ 6:00 PM

MS Library

March 21st

Regular Board Meeting @ 7 PM

LGI

March 23rd

Kindergarten Music Concert @ 2:00 PM

South Gym

March 23rd

Citizens’ Advisory Committee Meeting @ 6:00 PM

C201

March 24th

D.A.R.E. Graduation @ 2:00 PM

South Gym

March 27-31st

Spring Break

Salem


Links to Important Items