Super Parents!

Dear Ellis Families:

We were so excited to see how many of you were able to attend our Parent Teacher evening and get information on what is happening in the classroom and how you can help your child. You are so important to the educational process so I wanted to give you some more information on your impact on learning and some resources that might help encourage academic growth. I found the article below to be very helpful and hope that you do as well.

Educational research has shown time and time again that parent involvement has a direct correlation to academic success.  It is also a key element in helping children improve skills and encourages learning. Involvement includes providing a routine at home, structuring out of school activities, modeling hard work, providing realistic expectations, and encouraging academic progress both inside and outside of school.  There are many online resources that can assist parents to help their children to be successful both academically and in personal growth in all areas of life.

US Department of Education:  Helping Your Child Series

The U.S. Department of Education provides an online series called Helping Your Child.  The links and information provided on this website include booklets about how to help children at various stages with the different academic subject areas.  The tips and information on this page provide a great basis and foundation for parents in helping their children to learn at home.  It includes what to expect that their children will learn in school and how they can help them to grow at home.

For example, the science section explains that science is not just memorizing facts and that it actual includes a lot about exploration including experimentation and hypothesis.   They also provide ideas of how you can incorporate science at home that include specific directions and materials for parents to follow.  This booklet also encourages parents to get involved at the school and in helping the teacher with science related activities for the students.

My Job Chart

My Job Chart is a free online resource where kids can track their activities to earn rewards.  This is a great system for younger children to learn about routines at home and building structure at home.  The chart helps to hold children accountable for responsibilities at home and makes them more independent as they grow older.  The chart can be used to document chores like cleaning their bedroom, doing the dishes, or taking out the trash.  It can also be used to gauge time spent on video games, watching TV or spent on activities like soccer practice or guitar lessons.

Within the program, parents add the desired activities and then apply points to earn rewards.  The points are documented online.  Rewards can range from an at-home family game night to earning a trip to the movies.  Parents can be creative and develop the rewards based upon interests of the child and family.  They do not need to involve money and sometimes children perceive the best reward to be time with the parent.   When the child completes the activity, they earn points.  Each time the child completes the activity they earn a virtual sticker.  When the child reaches the desired goal number, the reward is earned. 

Doing Math with Your Child

One of the most feared academic activities for parents is helping their children with at home with math.  However, there are many online resources that can help to ease this fear.  Math.com provides an entire section of their website devoted to helping parents to help their children with math at home.  It provides home activities for math, resources, along with how to communicate with your child’s math teacher.  Another great resource is YouTube.  You can watch videos provided by eHow and Expert Village to learn how to complete the various problems that your child may be working on in class.  The videos are great for families to watch together to learn together.  Then you can assist your child without any fear.  Plus, keep in mind we all make mistakes sometimes!

Being an active participant in your child’s learning will help them to be successful in school and in life. It is one of the most important aspects of being a responsible parent. The Internet is a wealth of material to assist in helping them to grow.

Article By Laura Ketcham

Fall Notes

Dear Ellis Families:

It has been a great start to the year and families are helping us to achieve that wonderful start. Making sure that students are to school and on time is important to the learning process. The Fifth grade will again be challenged by Phil Meador Courtesy Ford, Lincoln to have perfect attendance. Those who achieve that goal will receive a mountain bike and a helmet. There are many of the fifth graders working hard for a bike!

We are focusing on reading and language as we start the year, and we have been able to have some helpful assemblies including one conducted by Tyler Whitesides, the author of the book Janitors. He did a wonderful job of encouraging the students to read and write. We have another assembly by The Standards, an award winning Idaho vocal group which addresses social issues for students. The new KISS link on the District website is helping kindergarten parents to support student learning on their alternate days.

Students have been setting goals and concentrating on a focused academic year. We have analyzed data and know the level of our students and what resources we can use to maximize learning. Please be sure to stay in touch with your child’s teacher if you have any concerns and the office will help assist you or direct your questions to the appropriate individuals.

As I sit here, I am looking forward to the school carnival. Our PTA has worked hard to provide an activity that will allow parents, students and the community to interact in an evening of fun! I know I am going to enjoy it! Hope to see you there!

A New and Exciting Year

Welcome to a new school year! 

We have been getting ready and can’t wait to see you and the students after what we hope was a fun and relaxing summer for all of you. We are very excited about the results of our academic testing last year. Our students consistently scored in the top three or four schools in reading and math on the ISAT with a score of 96.4% proficient in reading and 94.6% proficient in math. We were proficient in all grade levels on the IRI with some of our grades scoring first, second or third in the district. Yet we are not satisfied! We will be working to increase academic achievement for all students this coming year and look forward to working with you to do this. This also requires students to be actively engaged. They will be setting their own goals as usual and living up to the school mission: “I am responsible and always learning.”

There will be many resources which will help us realize gains this year. At the Kindergarten level, it is hard to maintain a consistent momentum when students are in every other day. Therefore an online resource KISS (Kindergarten Instructional Support System) has been developed with activities that will promote learning on the days when students are not in school which Kindergarten parents will explore during parent orientation. Additional systems that promote learning are in place in all regular classrooms. You may have seen the interactive whiteboards which allow us to provide more visual and auditory learning opportunities and we have been able to acquire them for all regular classrooms through grants and Title I funding. We also have sound systems which provide another means of engaging students in all classrooms. Technology will help us this year as we work to provide parents and students with resources and work to personalize and individualize learning to meet the needs of all students.

I know that all students will be looking forward to the Carnival being held in September- our PTA has spent hours making sure it will be a fun and exciting event. Look for the packet coming home the first week of school for dates and times. Another important date will be back to school night on September 7^th. During this time you will find out about classroom curriculum and expectations for the year. We look forward to seeing everyone there and to your involvement in school this year. We know how important parents are and love to have you in the classroom. There are a wide variety of opportunities to support your child and the school. To find out more about this, talk to your child’s teacher and the PTA.

Thank you for your strong support for Ellis!

Dr. Betsy Goeltz

“We are responsible and always learning.”

Summer Fun

Summer is just around the corner. I think we will hop directly from winter to summer at this point. Despite the weather, the students are ready for their break and they have earned it. The IRI and ISAT scores reveal that students are above state and district averages. Students in grades K-3 all met and exceeded the State benchmark for reading on the IRI. In grades 3-5 students achieved a score of 97% proficient in reading, 95.4% proficient in math and 89.2% proficient in language. The staff, students and parents had to all work hard to achieve this accomplishment!

We hope that reading will not stop over the summer! We all know that summer reading is good for kids. Without it, experts say, reading skills can decrease. Here are some suggestions to make summer reading fun:
• Read about your vacation destination before you go.
• Read about something you want to do together (hiking, planting a garden, working on motorcycles).
• Turn off the TV and substitute one half hour of reading or a visit to the library.
• Save your pennies (everyone empties change into a jar). When you save enough, stop by a local bookstore for a treat.
• Read a book about local history and go to a museum.
• Read a book that’s now a movie, and then take them to see the movie!
• Host a potluck mid-summer party at your house or a local park. Pull out a book or two to read in the shade after dinner, or tell stories around the campfire.
• Use reading as a way to reconnect with your kids. Talking about a story is still one of the best ways to open doors that might be closed when schedules are hectic.

We hope you all have a wonderful summer and keep posted to Infinite Campus as next year draws near as we will be posting updates regarding the upcoming year.

I would like to thank all of the parents and staff who help to make Ellis a wonderful school and I look forward to seeing many of you next year!

An Ellis Spring

The wonderful weather is creeping back and today we took advantage of it as the fourth and fifth grades went to the local park to plant a tree with Mayor England. Students have also given time to pick up trash around the school to make sure we have an inviting school. They are also showing their concern for the environment as the Student Council has spearheaded an effort which recycles materials. Look for our green containers in the halls.


We had our kindergarten registration and we are close to full so if you are aware of any children who will be coming to kindergarten next fall, please ask them to come in and register.

We have had an exciting month with visits from the Rodeo Queens, Franklin Middle School Choir and we had an incredible group of 5th graders graduating from DARE thanks to the Chubbuck Police Department for supporting this program. Our parent open house was terrific! We want to thank all of you who attended. We hope it was very informative for all of you and we encourage you to let us know if you have suggestions to improve the event for another year.

We want to thank you for supporting the popcorn fundraiser. I know how good the popcorn is and your support will help us to provide an art program for the students next year. During difficult financial times it is terrific to be able to support the arts and integrate them into our curriculum and you are helping to make this possible.

It is hard to believe, but we are near the end of the year. Please make sure to review the calendar which you can access through Infinite Campus or it is posted to the website. There are so many events you will want to keep it close by. We will also keep you posted on the end of the year testing results as we finish up. Preliminary results are very good. I can tell how hard the students, staff and parents have been working to produce the fantastic results it appears we will have. Stay tuned!!

Spring is Coming!

This is an exciting time of the year! So many things are happening and we want to make sure you keep updated so be sure to visit the calendar on the website. We also try to keep you updated through Infinite Campus so make sure you log in and check the newly posted events. One item you may have heard about is the recognition that Mr. Mercia’s fifth grade class received. They were honored as the State’s Most Valuable Class for their outstanding efforts during the Apangea Math Challenge competition. The competition pitted Indiana students against Idaho students to see which state could complete the most math problems using the Apangea’s differentiated online math program. The class demonstrated a true commitment to academic excellence by logging onto computers well past school hours and on weekends. For their efforts they will be awarded with a trophy, t-shirts, certificates, plus lunch served by Superintendent Luna! Look for the class video on the website.


Dr. Seuss made a visit to our school on March 2nd and we enjoyed guest readers from the community who shared books with our students. We are truly a community of readers and hope that these efforts will continue during the summer. It is hard to believe that we are in the last third of the school year. Testing will start soon which provides us with the opportunity to gage growth that occurred during the year. Please watch for notices letting you know when the testing will take place as we want the students to truly demonstrate what they can do. A good night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast help students to show us what they really know. I am confident that students have learned a lot this year!

Have a wonderful Spring Break (March 21-25).

Frosty Days

Our weather has certainly impacted the school recently and from the forecast, may alter our schedule in the future. One of the best means of telling if we have a late start, or if school is canceled, is to go to Infinite Campus. As soon as we know, we post the information to the site. This may be before you would hear it on the news, and will help you plan your day. The site is also very valuable for keeping you informed about student grades, upcoming events, student attendance and food service information. If you need to know how to log on, please call our office and we will assist you.
We have certainly had many activities which help to break up the winter. We recently held AR celebrations. Our students certainly are strong readers. The fourth and fifth grade forged out into the cold weather as they went skiing and snow shoeing despite our first cancellations due to snow. Our teachers have been busy this year as well as they have delved into training to improve students’ writing skills. I hope you are noticing the fruits of these efforts!

As we move into February, we will have our Valentine’s Day parties of course, but this day will be full as it is also 100’s Day. Ask your children about the many activities they will do around the number 100.

Stay warm and curl up with a good book!

Happy New Year!

It is wonderful to be back after a restful time with family and friends. The students are already working hard and reaching toward their goals. It was wonderful to see all of you at the Christmas Performances which put a smile on everyone’s face. I do know the students look for their family members and are thrilled to see you.

I hope the first thing you noticed was the new digital message board. We want to thank you again for your help in raising some of the needed funding through our math-a-thon. We are looking forward to posting messages to remind you of upcoming events. Another means of keeping you up to date is our student information system, Infinite Campus. We post school messages on the site and encourage you to use it stay current with student events, and school happenings as well as student grades, attendance and meal related information. We are hoping to have at least 75% of our families on Infinite Campus by the end of the year since even more information will be distributed through this resource in the future. At this time, 57% of the families are actively involved and the families are saying it is very useful. If you do not have your access information, please give the office a call and we will be glad to help you.

We do have several upcoming events of which you should be aware. The Idaho Reading Indicator (IRI) will be administered to students in grades K-3 later in January. This allows us to gauge student progress and adjust instruction to meet the needs of all children. There will be no school on January 17 (Martin Luther King Day) and on January 14th when we have a professional development day during which teachers will receive training.

Have a wonderful year and stay warm!