What a great celebration with our Garfield friends and family before heading out to Spring Break! The kids made it a fun-filled environment any college or pro team would envy. Team Bell won the game but Team Garfield won the day!
Consistent attendance is important! Many teachers will say when attendance worsens, misbehaviors will often rise. Learning happens at a rapid rate at Garfield. When school is missed, students who are behind because of attendance will often feel negative feelings such as anxiety and confusion. This can lead a student to act out or try to “escape” the situation by leaving the room. In the paper, “The Effects of Absenteeism on Academic and Social-Emotional Outcomes” published in 2020, authors SantiLucrecia bañez and Cassandra Guarino state “Generally speaking, elementary and middle school are the levels during which extended absence from school has the strongest negative impact on social-emotional development.”
Fantastic job Garfield families! We hit 91% attendance the week of March 18th through March 22, a 3% increase from the week before. Third grade finished at the top with 92%. Way to go third graders! Great recovery Garfield; let’s keep going strong!
Our Garfield students and families are amazing! From March 1 to March 22 there were 204 out of 535 total Garfield students who had perfect attendance. That’s an AMAZING 38% of our students had perfect attendance! Education is so important for our leaders of tomorrow and every minute of it is invaluable. Way to go Garfield families!
Plans are in the works for SFSD students and staff to bring electronic devices home over the weekend in the event that winter weather presents challenges on Monday. Refresh your memory now about the new remote learning plan by using the QR code on the image. We'll keep you posted if there are any schedule changes for Monday.
Ms. Johnson is at Garfield to help students find their passion in learning whether it be math, reading or writing. She also wants her students to know they are loved and believe they can be leaders. That is one of the reasons she is a co-leader for the Leader in Me organization at Garfield.
Once on the basketball court The Enforcer Johnson will make her opponents wish they were anywhere else. Her defensive and rebounding games are a punishment on their own. Ouch!
We are experiencing a downpour of books being read in our “Rain or Shine, Everybody Reads” reading challenge. As of Thursday we totaled 7,550 books read at Garfield and 228,186 in the community! Over 2,000 books were counted in one day. As of Thursday we had 4,450 books left to go (about 8 books per student)...SO CLOSE! Remember, books read at home count too so let’s ramp up this flood and achieve our goal!
Ms. Stensland is a Special Education Teacher at Garfield. She works with students in all grade levels k-5th providing direct instruction to students with a variety of needs. She also develops and follows individualized educational plans.
Ann-Tre Stensland is known on the hard court for cooking up a hot platter of tre’s served with a side of cold defense.
The week of March 25th is going to be huge at Garfield! Our BIG attenDANCE competition will be coming to a close. March 25-28th our Fundraising Committee will be pitting Team Skogstad vs. Team Bell. The kids can vote for their favorite team by dropping coins in the jars found by the entryway. Money raised will be used to bring fun events like the DJ Dance Party and Family Movie Night to Garfield. Then on March 26 there will be a Staff basketball game at 1:40 in the afternoon. Plenty of prizes will be awarded. The more basketball cards students earn the better their chances of winning.
Ms. Cousins has been teaching for 16 years. At Garfield she is currently teaching a K/1 blend. She loves helping build a positive educational foundation for our young learners! Her core belief is all students CAN and WILL learn!
On the hardcourt she is Money! Whether she is taking her jump shot to the bank or tossing dimes to her teammates, Money Cousins is golden.
As a Behavior Facilitator at Garfield, Mr. Kirschman works with students to keep them safe. As part of the BASE (Behavior Academic Social Education) his focus is on students who are having difficulty in the classroom but his work includes helping all students achieve success in all aspects of their school life.
One the hardcourt it is thought he has patterned his game around his namesake, LeBron, the King, James. However King Kirschman, with his 99% shooting accuracy, maintains LeBron James has patterned his game after him. Interesting!
As a Special Education Teacher at Garfield, Mr. Bitterman works with students to help them achieve their best in areas in which they struggle. He also works with families and other adults to develop plans for students' success.
Once he steps on the basketball floor Buckets Bitterman is a microwave because he heats up fast. When you need a basket, Buckets can manufacture one at a moment's notice.
As our Tier II teacher, Ms. Johnson loves to help students grow and succeed not only in school but also in life.
On the hardcourt, she frustrates her opponents with her insane skills. Johnsanity’s nemesis, Ms. Thompson, can only say, “WOW!”
Ms. Holz is a dedicated educator. She has taught kindergarten her entire career. What drives her most is helping students achieve success.
Hookem’ Holz is known for her ferocious drives to the basket. And just when her defenders think they have her stopped she’ll hookem’ with a crossover and drop an open jump shot.
The flu bug hit our Garfield families hard again the week of March 11-15. Overall we dipped to 88%. But we are hoping everyone gets to feeling better and we finish the last couple weeks of the month strong. Fourth grade was our attendance leader at 91%. Way to go fourth grade!
Stacy Deibert, RN BSN is the nurse at Garfield for the past two years. She got her RN from Southeast Tech and her bachelor's degree from SDSU. Her goal is to ensure the health and well-being of all students so they are able to achieve their educational goals.
We recognize you know your kids best and we would never ask you to send your children to school if you feel they are too sick to be here. But, we also recognize sometimes it’s not that simple. Here’s some thoughts to consider when you are deciding when to send a child who’s not feeling 100%.
If they have a fever of over 100.4, keep them home. They should be able to be fever free without Tylenol or Ibuprofen for 24 hours before coming back. If they have COVID, RSV or Influenza the same applies. Fever free for 24 hours. Recently, CDC eliminated the need to be quarantined for a week with COVID.
Vomiting. Maybe goes without saying, but keep them home.
If they have a cold or sore throat, they are ok to be here as long as they are fever free. The same applies with diarrhea; ok if fever free and they are able to adequately clean themselves. However, that situation can be miserable in a school setting so especially with little ones, best to keep them home if they have diarrhea.
They are really tired? In most cases, send them. Often when kids get to school they will get a second wind and be fine, even when really tired as they leave for school. If the second wind doesn’t show up we can accommodate. Some of our classrooms have a spot set aside for kids who can’t stay awake or we have other spots in the building where students can get a few moments of sleep.
It’s a downpour of books! Garfield is making a splash along with the rest of the Sioux Falls School District with this year’s Rain or Shine, Everybody Reads challenge. The challenge runs from March 1 through the 22nd. For every book that is read, we are adding a raindrop to our display. The goal is to have read 12,000 books at Garfield and 300,000 books read community wide. As of Friday March 8th, Garfield has already read 2,434 books and 57,691 have been read in the community. Way to go Garfield students!
We are proud to release the 2023-2024 BIG attenDANCE basketball trading cards. These limited edition, numbered cards will be given to students as rewards for good attendance, outstanding behavior, etc. Then on March 29th during the staff basketball game halftime, we will have a drawing from player names and card numbers. So the more cards students accumulate the better their chances of winning! Keep an eye out… these are going to be SO valuable!
Thank you Sisson Printing for printing the cards!
The first round of the BIG attenDANCE bracket challenge is complete and Grade 3 and Grade 5 moved on. They will now be facing Grade 2 and Grade 4 respectively. If your grade is out of the bracket, do not despair because there will be plenty of other prizes as well including MVC (classroom with the best attendance) and drawings for MVPs (students with perfect attendance for March). Stay tuned!
