Volume 3
January
Principal’s Page
Happy January! I hope everyone enjoyed their break and is feeling refreshed in 2016!
There are many exciting additions in the works here at Stephen Knolls- such as plans for upgrades to the Senior Kitchen as well as an outdoor learning environment, and a new, updated
phone system. One of the main things I’d like to focus on is to make sure we all keep the lines
of communication open, and continue to work towards cultural proficiency. I also want to be
sure we are all taking advantage of the amazing technology our students have been given and
invite all families to visit SK and celebrate our students’ success.
Upcoming Events
-No school on Monday, January 18th for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
-PSA meeting on Wednesday, January 20th 5:30-7pm.
Stephen Knolls Times
S T E P H E N
K N O L L S
S C H O O L
-Please Join us for the winter celebration February 4th.
Stay Warm!
Kim Redgrave, Coordinator
SKS CLASSROOM SUCCESS
STORIES
Regina Robinson’s Class-D11
A BIG congratulations goes out to our
fourth grader, Hasnat Debencho, for
working hard on building up strength
in her legs each day while standing in
her Easy Stander since the beginning
of the school year. She was able to
increase her standing time from 30
Jan Schilling's Class B -8
The PEP students are having a terrific time with one of our favorite Big
Day for PreK topics: Awesome Animals! Our theme books include Biggest, Strongest, Fastest, by Steve
Jenkins, Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! by Bob
Barner, and We’re Going on a LION
Hunt!, by David Axtell. We are using
our Promethean flipcharts to match
minutes to 2 hours by December. People have commented on
her happy smile and her singing
during instruction and while completing educational tasks around
the building. She was also able
to carry this skill over to walking
in a gait trainer with our Physical
Therapist, Ms. Asha Damdar, and
people commented again on how
calmly and quietly she was able to walk
down the hallways around the
school. Cheers for Hasnat!
Samantha Deason’s Class C-3
The class of C3 would like to share how
one of our Kindergarteners, Isabel is
now eating with a spoon! When she first
came to school, she would only eat out
of a bottle. She is even doing this at
home and her siblings are so proud of
her!, siblings are so proud of her!
animals live, and what they eat.
It is so much fun to imitate how
animals move! Making animal
art is great.
picked up on this and is now describing a variety of features about
different animals with just the
prompt “tell me more about the
__________ (name of an animal).”
Two other students have begun
describing also receptively using
pictures to assist them. We are so
proud of the new vocabulary they
have learned.
Heather Davin’s Class B -2
The PEP INC group has been
talking about characteristics of
animals and the word describe.
One of the students has really
Cathy Kleiler’s Class D-10
We’ve shared many successes in our room this past month! Some of our
favorites to highlight are: 1. Nane Elias is showing good muscle tone by
holding her head up more in paying attention while in her stander and/or
rifton. 2. Jason Martinez is showing good attention skills by carrying out
two step directions by picking up objects and putting them into a container.
3. Emely Castro-Barrientos is showing endurance by wearing her arm
splints now during school hours to stretch her fingers. 4. Paul Valazquez is
showing good visual skills by looking at both of his choices before making
his choice of answer. 5. Chloe Miller is showing finger isolation by using
her index finger to turn on and off the bathroom light. 6. Gael Galetovic is
showing strength by opening the front door for his teacher and then himself.
Volume 3
Cultural Proficiency
Stephen Knolls Times
S T E P H E N
K N O L L S
S C H O O L
January
Many students and staff members celebrated a variety of holidays in the month
of December and winter break. Many
students and staff celebrated Hanukkah,
a Jewish holiday that last 8 nights. Many
students made latkes with their class.
Other families celebrated Christmas and
decorated trees and made cookies for
Santa. Another winter celebration is
Kwanzaa, which is a week long event
held in the US celebrating the African
culture. January 1st marked the beginning of the New Year and many people
celebrated with hats, noise makers and
music. No matter what you celebrated
over winter break, what we have in common is love and friendship!
Writing in The Washington Post in 1983, Coretta
Scott King provided a vision of how the holiday honoring her husband should be observed: "The holiday
must be substantive as well as symbolic. It must be
more than a day of celebration . . . Let this holiday
be a day of reflection, a day of teaching nonviolent
philosophy and strategy, a day of getting involved in
nonviolent action for social and economic progress."
Here at Stephen Knolls we will emphasize Dr. King's
message of nonviolence in all aspects of school,
family and community life..
DATES TO REMEMBER
January 13th: PSA Meeting 5:30pm
January 18th: No School/ MLK Holiday
January 20th: PSA Meeting 5:30pm –7:00pm
January 22nd: 1st Semester and 2nd Marking
Period End
January 25th: No School for Students
January 26th: 3rd Marking Period Begins
January 27th: PEP’s Culminating Activity Day
February 4th: Family Fun Movie Night 5:30pm –
7:30 pm
SCHOOL DELAYS AND CLOSINGS
Stay informed by receiving text messages,
e-mails, or phone calls when Montgomery
County Public Schools call for a 2 hour
delay or are closing schools.
Sign up for the alert here:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/em
ergency/alertmcps.aspx