Bully Prevention Information

On November 1st, Sibley will host members of Albert Lea's HS English/Speech Dept for a series of skits to help students understand the topic of bullying and the role we each have in minimizing it, and subsequently its affects on us.  These skits, are specifically designed for students in grades 2-5, and we are excited to have some of our high school students see this as a need and be willing to present them to us. 

Opening Skit-“A Bunch of Clowns” by Sandra Asher: Focus: This skit focuses on the unclear line of clowning around and cruelty. It talks about the three different groups involved in bullying: the bully, the bullied and the bystander.

Second Skit- “ Bystander Blues” by Trish Lindberg: Focus: This skit focuses mainly on the role of a bystander and how if they would have stood up and helped it would have made the all the difference.

Last Skit- “Flash Mob” by Elizabeth Wong: Focus: If a school decides to stand up to bullying, then the whole atmosphere changes and the bullied people are supported.

Each skit is about ten minutes long and there are three skits total. The actual performance will be about 30 minutes long.  These skits come from a script call The Bully Plays and are a compilation of various playwrights.

Upcoming Important dates . . .

Dear Sibley Families, 

As we close out October and look forward to November, I thought I'd make you aware of the following dates:
October 31--will be our fall costume parties for grades K-3.
November 1-some high school students will be presenting an anti-bullying skit to students in grades 3-5.   
November 2--No school for students
November 7--Critters and Company - An Anti-Bullying/anti violence presentation using animals to help us in understanding the message, "Sorry is good, change is better." Read here for more information.
November 8--Picture Re-take day
November 8--District Title 1 Math night at Brookside school from 530pm-630pmNovember 13th from 9-11am - players from the Austin Bruins hockey team will be here to read to students in grades 3-5 and discuss how important an active and healthy lifestyle is for them.
November 16th SHARE (PTO) Bingo Night at Sibley.  Stay tuned for more information.

As always, more information will be provided home as these dates approach, but I know how nice it is to look forward.  Thanks for your support! Go Tigers!

Would your child like to learn another Language?

The Albert Lea School District has recently been provided with an exciting new opportunity for our students.   The Mango Language course is an on-line language program which delivers a wide variety of language learning capabilities.  It is available in Spanish, French, German, Mandarin, and English as a Second Language, to name a few, and is easily accessed and completed at your own pace.  The Mango Languages program has been made available to our district for one year as part of a contribution from the Qualified Zone Academy Bond program.  If you have questions about this opportunity, please contact the office.

Kindergarten Night and "Data" Notebooks?

On Thursday, October 25^th Kindergarten parents were invited to their child’s classroom to explore the kindergarteners’ data notebooks. Data notebooks are a tool for students to track their progress toward the kindergarten goals. Parents were able to see the growth the kindergartners have made so far in letter recognition, letter sound recognition, writing letters, recognizing numbers, counting, sequencing numbers, and writing numbers. Parents were also shown and given many resources to support their child’s learning at home. They left with games and ideas to help their child be successful in school. The kindergartners were also very excited to show off their work including their writing, poetry folders, and calendar folders, as well as their favorite things around the classroom. The parent night was a great success during which students were able to show great pride in their achievements and parents were able to make connections with other parents and the teachers.

Update on After School Activities!

We are excited to announce new programs at Sibley After School Academy.  The goal of the after school program is to provide additional academic support, enrichment opportunities and positive social interactions with their peers.  At this time, they are as follows:

Sibley Support Club - 4th & 5th Grade | Monday-Thursday 3:00pm-4:30pm
Fun With Words Club (Scrabble) - 4th & 5th Grade | Tuesdays 3:00pm-4:30pm
Crafting Skills Club - 4th & 5th Grade | Every Tuesday 11/27-12/11 from 3:00pm-4:30pm
Sibley Spanish Club - Kindergarten-3rd | Thursdays 3:00pm-4:30pm
Sibley Spanish Club - 4th & 5th | Monday & Wednesday 3:00pm-4:30pm
Sibley Chess Club - 4th & 5th Grade | Thursday 3:05pm-4:30pm

There are no club meetings the day before a holiday.  If you have specific questions or interest in these activities, your contact is Suhai Boyer, our after school coordinator.  Her number at school is 379-5118.

Thank You Sibley Families - Goal met!

Last Friday, Sibley Elementary School's PTO sponsored its first annual walk-a-thon fundraiser.  Because of your support, Sibley was successful in having a fundraiser that people could get excited about.  Two years ago, Sibley parents decided that they wanted to embark on another way to raise funds for the school and promote healthy choices among their children at the same time.  The result was Stroll-For-A-Goal.  Sibley students gained pledges and in turn walked approximately 3 miles as a class.  Making the event a part of the school day ensured that everyone in attendance could participate and it provided students the chance to "be healthy" in the process.  For those that raised 50.00 dollars as an individual goal, their names were submitted for an opportunity to dunk me in tank.  I lost track of how many times I went under.  Again, thank you to all the students, parents, grandparents, and community members who helped in this event.  Thank you HyVee and Kwik Trip for donating water and bananas to have "on course."  Thank you to all the volunteers that were positioned along the walk route and for the multitude of parents that came to be part of the day with their children and walk too.  It really was a lot of fun and all for a great cause.  You can read the Tribune's article about the day at the following link. 

4th Grade to The Rendezvous

On Oct. 4^th, fourth grade students from Sibley Elementary School participated in Education Day at the Big Island Rendezvous.  The field trip was a part of the ongoing arts integration program that is part of a grant awarded to Sibley Elementary School from the Perpich Center for Arts Education, located in St Paul.  Sibley school received a three year grant from the Perpich Center to help implement the arts into the classroom.  This is the first of many arts integration  activities that will be implemented during the school year. 

Representative Rich Murray also visited the students at lunchtime and discussed with students how the Perpich Center for the Arts helps students in Minnesota.   He also talked about his job as a representative.

    

Family Movie Night

S.H.A.R.E. (Sibley PTO) will be hosting Family Movie Night this Friday, October 12th for all Sibley families.  Come enjoy a free movie and popcorn from 6pm-8pm.  We hope to see yout there!!!

Bully Prevention = Responsive Classroom

As a principal and parent, I am often asked about the topic of bullying and what we do to about it.  In our district's elementary schools, we have invested a lot of time and resources in a program called, Responsive Classroom.  In fact, just this last August, 30 district teachers had a week long training in the philosphy and implementation of Responsive Classroom.  The Responsive Classroom approach is a widely used, research-backed approach to elementary education that increases academic achievement, decreases problem behaviors, and improves social skills.  When a teacher and classrom are able to do these things, acadmics are also impacted, leading to quality instruction and achievement.  One of the most important things for us to be successful in any enviornment is to feel safe.  When that occurs, it is one less variable that can impact learning and Responsive Classrooms do this.  If you want to know more, the following videos give a great overview and examples of what we value in teaching students in this approach.  If we teach what it means to be a community and family, students are much less likely to hurt or be intentional in their wanting to hurt or harm someone that is a member of their family.