Ready to register for Kindergarten? Info Night March 3

Welcome to Maltby Elementary School...Home of the Mustangs!

Summer 2009

Dear Maltby families,

Thank you for a very successful year at Maltby Elementary School.  Your support at home coupled with instruction here at school helped our children achieve at high levels. We will miss our fifth grade students and their families as they head to middle school and we are looking forward to starting the next school year with our new kindergarten families as well as all returning students on Wednesday, September 9, 2009. 

Mark your calendars now for the Back to School Ice Cream Social.  It will be held on Tuesday, September 8 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. with the first half hour dedicated to introducing your child to his/her new classroom and the second half visiting together as a community and enjoying ice cream.  This is our kick off to the new school year, and a great time to get reacquainted with our Maltby families.  This time complements the back to school BBQ that Hidden River will be hosting, so if you have students on both campuses, your dinner and dessert are taken care of!!

We are still accepting registrations for our full day and half day kindergarten classes.  We currently have room in both and would love to add more students to our full day programs!!  Stop by the district office to fill out paperwork and add your child’s name to our attendance list!!

Families new to the area may register at our district office this summer at 200 E. Fremont Street in downtown Monroe.  District office hours for the summer are from 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.  Our school office re-opens to the public again on August 24, 2009, with hours from 8-11 a.m. and 12-3 p.m. 

News for next year:

• Literacy will continue to be a focus with an emphasis on writing
  We will continue into year two of implementation of the new Reading Street reading, writing and vocabulary system by Scott Foresman/Pearson and staff trainings in focus on reading and writing instruction throughout the year.
• Number Corner will continue a way to develop stronger “Number Sense” in students for greater learning success in math.
• Our technology budget will support adding three new ActivBoards to classrooms, and finish outfitting all classrooms with document cameras and projectors.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful and safe summer.  This is a great time to find family activities to do together and learn something new.  I hope this time is restful and the Maltby staff members look forward to welcoming everyone back for the first day of school on Wednesday, September 9th!

Sonja Hoeft
Principal

Summer Reading … Read All About It!!!

Regardless of other activities, the best predictor of summer loss or gain for students is whether a child reads during the summer. In addition, the best predictor of whether a child reads is whether he or she owns books or uses the local library.  Children need to read outside of school. Research clearly shows that the key to stemming summer reading loss is finding novel ways to get books into the hands of children during the summer break.

Lower-achieving readers are typically asked to read books that are too difficult. Without books that can be read easily with good comprehension, these less-skilled readers will not improve. All of their cognitive energy is devoted to trying to figure out unknown words — which produces word-by-word reading with little understanding of, or engagement with, the books in their hands.

These disjointed reading experiences fail to help children consolidate skills, and perhaps most significant, such experiences make children feel unsuccessful.  Children don't just need books; they need the right books. Providing children with books that fit — books that match their skill levels and their interests — is an important first step in encouraging voluntary reading.

How Parents Help Reading Achievement
Most parents understand that having strong reading skills is critical to their child's future. Many parents try to help their child as much as possible to be a better reader — and well they should. Research studies have shown that the amount of parental involvement in children's reading is the number one predictor of reading achievement worldwide. (Postlethwaite and Ross, 1992)

At home, parents model what good readers do by reading novels, magazines, newspapers, and work-related materials in their leisure time. Parents can provide a literacy-rich environment by placing books throughout the house.  All of these factors can significantly affect the amount of reading a child does on a daily basis.

Neighborhood elementary school attendance areas

Vision

Maltby's caring community prepares children to be thoughtful, knowledgeable, and responsible citizens of a diverse society.