JET NEWS - Johnston Community School District

JET NEWS
Johnston Educational Times
Beaver Creek Elementary, Johnston, Iowa
May 2013 Volume 9
The busy month of May is here, and the school year is
winding down. There is a flurry of activity to get
everything done before the close of the school year.
Our staff and students are working to complete their
grade level curriculum by Friday, May 24. There are
several special events and field trips this month. Two
of our traditional year-end events will take place this
month. Field Day is on Friday, May 17. Kindergarten
through second grade students will have their field day
in the morning and third through fifth grade students
will have their field day in the afternoon. The Beaver
Creek BBQ is scheduled for Monday, May 20.
Families are invited to attend the BBQ and look for the
The last day of
school, Friday, May 24, will be a one hour early
dismissal, with a dismissal time of 2:35 pm.
Many great things have taken place during the year,
and everyone should be proud of our school. Our
teachers and staff members go above and beyond to
help all students learn. Our students work hard and
strive to give their personal best every day. Beaver
Creek families support their students, our school and
community. After fourteen years at Beaver Creek, I
am still amazed at the support our school receives from
families.
Planning for the 2013-14 school year is already
occurring. There will be thirty-one homeroom sections
at Beaver Creek next year, which is an increase on one
homeroom. We will have five sections in every grade
level except fourth grade, where we will have six
sections. Stacey Barta will be moving from fifth grade
to fourth grade.
Classroom assignment letters will be mailed to families
in early August. All Johnston elementary schools will
be using the same date to notify families. We wait
until later in the summer so we can have an accurate
enrollment count before releasing the class lists. Due
to the late release date, changes will not be made to
class assignments after they are mailed. The first day
of school for the 2013-14 school year is Thursday,
August 15.
This is the time we share our staffing changes for the
next school year. There are few to announce at this
time. The preschool classroom at Beaver Creek will
be moving to Timber Ridge, as there is space available
inside the school building for this program. Thanks to
Angie Butler and Mary Spaulding for their work at
four year old preschool teachers. Stephanie Lovelace
has been hired as a new special education teacher for
next year. She has been working for us as a long term
substitute teacher most of this year and we are happy
to make her a permanent member of our staff.
Enjoy the month of May and have a great summer.
Encourage your children to read, write and review their
math facts over the summer. Most importantly, take
the opportunity to have fun with your children, and
seize the learning opportunities that come from
vacations and days at home.
See you in August!
Eric Toot, Principal
Iowa Assessments Results 2013

Below you will find a brief summary of our building
Iowa Assessment results, which were taken in
February. Individual student results were shared at
parent teacher conferences in March. This is a test
given to second through fifth grade students every
year, and the results of our third, fourth and fifth
graders are reported to the Iowa Department of
Education. This was the second year of the current
format of the Iowa Assessments, so we are able to do
Below you will find a chart of the percent of student
proficient on the Iowa assessments during the 2011-12
school year compared to the 2012-13 school year and
the resulting increase. Proficient performance is
considered working at grade level or above. Our staff
members are pleased to see the increase in proficiency
rates for students taking the test.
or the Beaver Creek office can answer more specific
questions about our building performance and/or your
Content Area 2011-12 2012-13 % increase
Reading grades 3-5 90.6% 91.6% 1.0%
Math grades 3-5 91.9% 94.9% 3.0%
Science grades 3-5 92.6% 93.6% 1.0%
Wellness Week
May 6 th - May 10 th
Healthy students are ready to learn. Help show your
commitment to good health by participating in
wellness activities this week at school.
Monday: Wear Green and recycle
Tuesday: Wear fitness clothes and tennis shoes. Be
sure and eat a good breakfast.
Wednesday: Wear a hat and bring a water bottle.
Remember to wear sunscreen.
House Call
From Nurses Office
Iowa Statewide Poison Control Center
available 24 hours a day
The Iowa Statewide Poison Control Center, serving all
99 counties in Iowa, managed over 54,000 inbound
calls last year.
The Center is staffed by registered nurses and medical
toxicologists, and provides treatment recommendations
for people who have been exposed to pharmaceuticals,
household products, chemicals, plants, mushrooms,
vaccines, pesticides, heavy metals, snake bites, and
food poisoning. About 90 percent of poison emergency
calls from the public are treated safely and
appropriately at home following the advice of poison
center experts.
1-800-222-1222.
K ids Helping K ids
JDRF awareness week was a huge success. Beaver
Creek raised over $ 5,050.00 to help find a cure for
Juvenile Diabetes. Mr. Toot kept his promise and had
twenty pies thrown in his face during our assembly last
Friday. After the assembly, there was school wide
walk- a- thon. Students enjoyed an apple and water
bottle after the walk. Thank you to all the students
who donated coins for this great cause! Also, thanks to
Charter Bank in Johnston for counting our coins, Iowa
Orchards for donating apples, Hy-Vee and Fareway for
donating water. Thank you, to all the parents who
helped support this cause by donating coins, collecting
coins, placing shoes around the building and helping
with the walk.
Beaver Creek is a special place!
Thursday: Show your support for your favorite sports
team. Go for a walk after school.
Friday: Wear your Beaver Creek Character shirt.
Write down how many fruits and vegetables that you
eat today.

Guidance News
Spring has sprung and summer break is just around the
corner. Just as we encourage parents to continue
(through summer programs, book clubs, math clubs,
to continue
social/personal development during the summer
months.
guidance education throughout the summer:
* Schedule (or have your child schedule) occasional
play dates throughout the summer months. While
involve face-to-face social interaction (playing video
games or on the computer, watching TV or movies,
etc.). The more kids practice using appropriate social
skills (such as sharing, taking turns, and
communicating effectively with others) the easier it
will be for them to make and keep friends.
* Perform service projects as a family, such as visiting
a nursing home, volunteering at a homeless shelter, or
way to teach kids about citizenship is by letting them
feel for themselves how rewarding it is to help others.
*Plant something together. Share the work with your
child regarding the care of the plant/tree/flowers. This
is a great way for kids to visualize how responsibility
pays off, and it helps kids understand that cooperation
and care for other living things makes the world a nicer
place in which to live.
*Come up with a summer safety plan. During the
summer months, many kids will spend more time alone
at home than during the school year. While being
home alone can be exciting for a school-aged person, it
can also cause feelings of anxiety. Putting together a
plan will help your child, and you, feel less anxious.
Talk to your children about what to do if certain
situations arise (such as a medical emergency,
strangers, fire, or severe weather). Have a list of
emergency numbers and your safety plan hung in plain
view so your kids have easy access to it.
*Help your child make a scrapbook or journal of the
creativity, as well as allow kids to look back and
remember their summer and the events that took place.
There are a number of other meaningful and
educational activities to do with your kids over the
summer, many of which cost little to nothing and
require minimal planning.
Have a great summer! Ms. Barta-Smith and Mrs.
Johnson
Beaver C reek - Field Day
F riday, May 17, 2013
Field day is an all school event, which will give us an
opportunity to celebrate our abilities and to test our
physical skills. Please have students wear "play"
clothes this day so they are comfortable and can
participate in running and movement activities and
bring a labeled water bottle. We will need many
parents to volunteer to run stations and assist in the
events. On May 17, AM volunteers will meet in the
gym at 8:50; PM volunteers will meet in the gym at
12:35.
Time Schedule for Field Day
9:15 11:15 AM Activities All Kindergarten, 1 st
and 2 nd grade students
***School hot lunch will be a cold sack lunch***
1:00 3:00 PM Activities All 3 rd , 4 th , and 5 th
grade students
3:00 3:15 All School celebration on black top area
grades K-5 th Ice Cream treats
Drake Relays
This year Christina Abdallah, Chloe Fehn, David
Huante and Cooper Peddicord earned the honor of
representing Beaver Creek Elementary at the Drake
Relays. Hannah Blackford and Colby Brincks were
alternates for the event. These students competed in
the shuttle relay April 26th on the Drake football field
against area elementary schools. Great job and go
DRAGONS!

Music News
Upcoming Concert Information:
K indergarten
May 2 nd , 2013
From Here to There
6:15 Mrs. Hyde, Mrs. Harmeyer, and Mrs.
7:15 Ms. Lassen and Mrs. Seybert
Students should wear dress attire. (No jeans, t-shirts or
tattered clothing, please.) Students should arrive in
their classroom 15 minutes prior to their concert time.
Song of the Month:
April:
May: (Peace Friend, Until I Meet
Again)
Mrs. Cindy Rash -- 2 nd - (Meyer, Swaim, South) 3 rd ,
4 th , & 5 th Grades
crash@johnston.k12.ia.us
Please Join Us for the Beaver C reek
End of Year Cook-Out
Monday, May 20
Lunch and recess times are the following:
Recess
Lunch
Second Grade 10:40-11:00 11:05-11:25
Third Grade 11:05-11:25 11:30-11:50
First Grade 11:30-11:50 11:55-12:15
Kindergarten 11:55-12:15 12:20-12:40
Fourth Grade 12:20-12:40 12:4 5-1:05
Fifth Grade 12:45-1:05 1:10-1:30
Menu:
Hamburger on a Bun or Hot Dog on a Bun
Pasta Salad
Baby Carrots
Munchies Snack Mix Dessert Fresh Fruit
Milk
Cost: Adult $3.20 Child: $2.30
Mrs. Kelli Stoa -- Kindergarten, 1 st & 2 nd Grade
(Rosene & Kohlhaas)
kelli.stoa@johnston.k12.ia.us
Special Olympics
Special Olympics 2013 Summer Games. The following
students will compete for gold medals on Friday, May
24. Zach Bishop, fourth grade; Cale Charlet, fourth
grade; and Chloe Uitenbroek, fourth grade will run the
50-meter-dash. Tony Pigman, third grade, will
compete in the tennis ball throw. The competitors
qualified for the Summer Games by finishing first
place in their heat at the Special Olympics qualifying
event on April 9. The 2013 Summer Games will be
held in Ames at the Iowa State University campus. If
you would like to attend and cheer on our Beaver
Creek athletes, please contact Stephanie Lovelace at
Stephanie.lovelace@johnston.k12.ia.us for more
information and an event schedule.
Non-discrimination Statement
It is the policy of the Johnston Community School
District not to illegally discriminate on the basis of
race, color, national origin, gender, disability, religion,
creed, age (for employment), marital status (for
programs), sexual orientation, gender identity and
socioeconomic status (for programs) in its educational
programs and its employment practices.
There is a grievance procedure for processing
complaints of discrimination. If you have questions or
a grievance related to this policy please contact the
Executive Director of Human Resources, 5608 Merle
Hay Road, Johnston, Iowa 50131, (515) 278-0470,
tom.mitchell@johnston.k12.ia.us.

On Monday, April 15 th and Tuesday, April 16 th , all Beaver Creek preschool thru 5 th grade students had the
fact-filled alphabet books, math books and his Who Would Win series. He has written over 80 books.
Students learned about
stories of living in near the ocean in Massachusetts.
A special thank you to the Beaver Creek PTO, the Johnston School Foundation, and Ramada Tropics Resort for
funding and supporting this wonderful experience for our students.
Jerry Pallotta shares some fun stories about writing and researching his book,
The Skull Alphabet Book.
.
1 st graders loved learning about ocean
life from author Jerry Pallotta.

Parents: The Bond Election is June 25, 2013
June!
After listening to voter feedback following the September election, the district lowered the cost of the bond
referendum by $10 million; down from $51 million to $41 million. We also listened to what you had to say
about the design of the proposed new high school. The building is now a two-story structure with less open
space and more square footage in classrooms. Finally, the district is committed to providing parents and all
district newsletter in late March and two large postcards about different bond-related projects. You can also find
a wealth of information, including videos, printable materials, FAQs, and tax information on the bond website:
www.johnston.k12.ia.us/Bond2013.
Please mark your calendars now and plan to vote in this important district election on June 25, 2013. Two
elementaries, JMS, and JHS are facing overcrowding issues that cannot be fixed with building additions. The
projects proposed in the bond referendum represent permanent solutions to our crowded buildings.
We encourage you to attend a public information meeting on the bond. The next meeting will be on Monday,
April 29 at the Meredith Drive Reformed Church (5128 Meredith Drive, Des Moines) at 6:30 p.m. Other
meetings will be on May 15 at Johnston Middle School at 6:30 p.m.; May 30 at the Johnston Public Library at 6
p.m.; and June 11 at Summit Middle School at 6 p.m.
You can also contact the district office at 278-0470 with questions. Thank you and we look forward to your
participation in the June 25 bond referendum election.

Beaver Creek Activity Calendar
May 2013
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
4/28 4/29 4/30 1 2 3 4
5 th Gr. Band
Concert 6:30
Kindergarten
Music Concerts:
6:15 Harmeyer,
Hyde &
McDonald
7:15 Lassen &
Seybert
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
2 nd Gr. Blank Park
Zoo
1 st Gr. Balance &
Motion
Board Mtg. 7 pm
@ ARC
4 th Gr .Exercise
Your Character
Kindergarten
Picket Fence
Creamery
4 th Gr. Wax
Museum
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
PTO Volunteer
Workshop 2 pm
4 th Gr. Capitol &
Hall of Pride
PTO Mtg. 7pm @
LMC
5 th Gr. Class
Celebration
Think Pink!
Field Day
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Board Mtg. 7 pm
@ ARC
Last Day of
School
2:35 Dismissal
School BBQ
5 th Gr. Spelling
Bee
3r Gr. Jester
Park
26 27 28 29 30 31
Memorial Day
August Dates to Remember:
*8/14 Meet the Teacher 2:30
*8/15 First Day of School
*8/27 Meet the Teacher Grades K,2,4
*8/29 Meet the Teacher Grades 1,3.5