The Cub
Dutch Fork Elementary School • 7900 Broad River Road • Irmo, SC 29063 • (803) 476-3900 • FAX (803) 476-3920
www.lex5.k12.sc.us/dutchfork.cfm
Aug 26
ƒ Moe’s Spirit Night 5-9 pm
Aug 30-Sept 17
ƒ MAP Testing Grades 1-5
Sept 2
ƒ Fund Raiser Kick-Off
Sept 6
ƒ Labor Day Holiday
Sept 10 & 13
ƒ Lunch for Grandparents
Sept 16
ƒ End of Fundraiser
Sept 21
ƒ PTO Board Mtg. 1:45 pm
Sept 22
ƒ Early Release Day 11:40
am
ƒ Bruster’s Spirit Day 11 am-
10 pm
Welcome New
Faculty and Staff
Lindsey Lyerly – PE
Nohora Porras – Spanish
Gloria Hardie – Teacher
Jody Pittman – Teacher
Terri Miller – Teacher
Michelle Jordan – Speech
Jane Thoennes – Speech
Leah Danford – Psychologist
Pam Bradley – Teacher Assistant
Brenda King – Teacher Asst.
Dawn Moslet – Cafeteria
Reporter
August 26, 2010
Principal’s Post
Dear Parents:
We are off to a fabulous start this school year! We had a very smooth
beginning with 538 students enrolled. Our twenty four year olds will start school next
week. Teachers, staff, administration, children, and parents are all happy and excited
to be back in school! Our goal is to keep that excitement for teaching and learning all
year!
Safety and security are vital in a school setting. Please use our car rider line
to pick up your children and put your number on the mirror. We will call your children
to one of our colored flags. Please remain in that spot until your child gets to you.
Communication between the school and home is essential. We will send a
school newsletter home every other week on Thursdays, update our webpage often,
and post information on the marquee. Please make sure we have current telephone
numbers and e-mail addresses. We will frequently use our automated phone system to
keep you informed of school activities and events.
I am looking forward to having our best school year ever! Dutch Fork Fox
Cubs are leaving “Pawsitive” prints as we learn and grow.
June Lominack
Principal
Etc . . .
¾ MAP Testing (Measure of Academic Progress) will begin Monday, August 30 for
grades 1-5. This is an electronically administered and scored achievement test
designed to measure growth in student learning. It will also provide data
regarding your child’s performance compared to a national sample of students.
¾ Arrival and Dismissal – Car riders are to be dropped off at the back of the school.
Staff members and safety patrols are on duty to assist your child getting out of
the car and to his/her room or designated waiting area. We encourage you to
allow your child to enter on his/her own. Send the message that you have
confidence and trust in your child’s ability to find his/her way. However, if you
need to come into the school with your child, please park at the front and walk in
the office with your child. Students are not allowed to be dropped off in front of
the school at the fire lanes at any time. If you choose to use the church parking
lot next door, you must park and walk over with your child. At dismissal, please
have your assigned car tag number on your mirror. If you do not have a car
number, please send a note to your child’s teacher requesting one. Thank you
for helping make DFES a safe place.

Early
Birds
Please do not drop your children off
before 7:15 a.m. There is no one
to supervise children prior to this
time. Bus students are admitted at
7:10. Thank you for helping us
keep your children safe!
Early Dismissal Procedures
The end of the school day
is very busy with students and
teachers moving through the
hallways, classes wrapping up
instruction and teachers giving last
minute announcements in
preparation for dismissal. Parents
wishing to sign students out for
early dismissal need to do so by
2:00. Parents requesting early
dismissal after this time will be
asked to wait until the regular
dismissal time of 2:40. Please keep
in mind that early dismissals cause
students to miss important
instructional time. After a child has
been dismissed early ten (10)
days, additional days must be
approved by the principal.
Mark your calendars!
PreK Boys start school
on Wednesday, Sept. 1
& We accept cash and checks only. Please make sure you update your child(ren’s)
PreK Girls start school
on Thursday, Sept. 2
All PreK
students
will attend
on Sept. 3
¾ Change of transportation – Children must have a written note stating a change of
transportation. If a change occurs after the child has arrived at school, please call
the office before 2:00. Please don’t send an email message to the teacher about
changes of transportation. They often don’t get to check their email before
dismissal time. On the rare occasion that you must sign your child out early,
please do so before 2:00. We will be unable to dismiss after this time.
¾ Food Service – We have an excellent cafeteria staff who prepares delicious meals.
We encourage your child to eat breakfast and lunch with us. You are invited to
have breakfast or lunch with your child at any time.
¾ Conferences – If you need to speak with your child’s teacher, please schedule a
conference. Teachers come to work early to prepare for your child’s day. Please
honor this time for them and your child and schedule a conference during their
planning time or after school.
¾ Breakfast – If your child eats breakfast at school, he/she must be at school by 7:30
a.m. in order to be in class on time. Our cafeteria will close at 7:35 a.m.
¾ Classes Begin – Class starts at 7:45 each morning. The tardy bell rings at 7:50.
Won’t you please make sure your child is at school on time each day? Children get
off to a much better start when they are not rushed. Thank you!
¾ Forms – All beginning of school forms should have been turned in by now. We
need from you the following: Media consent form, emergency release form/student
information/safety net form, health card, attendance form, yellow form in the back
of the handbook, and an internet form. Your child’s teacher may have some other
forms as well.
Cafeteria Comments
Welcome back students and parents! I hope everyone had a wonderful, fun-filled
summer. Here are a few reminders about the cafeteria. Breakfast is served from 7:15-
7:45 every morning. In order for the students to have enough time to get through our
lengthy line and eat we ask that you have your child(ren) to
school by 7:30 a.m. If your child(ren) will be purchasing extra
milk or juice, we ask that you send 50¢ for these items. Extra
items cannot be deducted from lunch accounts. As always, we
encourage parents to have lunch with their children. This year
we will no longer have our wonderful salad bar. Due to new
state and federal regulations, any leftover self-serve items may
not be used the next day of service. This being said, all items
left at the end of the day from the salad bar would need to be
discarded causing a huge waste of food and especially money. An adult lunch can still
be purchased for $3.25. Please note that your lunch cannot be deducted from your
child’s account. Our system is designed to charge only one meal per day per student
so please bring the appropriate funds with you. We do not have a debit card machine.
allergy information with the school nurse and his/her teacher. If there are food
allergies, please send a note to the cafeteria so we may update our file also. We thank
everyone for their participation in our food service program and hope everyone has a
very enjoyable and productive year.
Denise Ackerman
Cafeteria Manager
We need your help
Please save your
newspapers and bring them
in to our school. A box is
located between the mini
theater and Mrs. Beckman’s
office. We are going to use
old newspaper in our Secret
Garden. We will put the
newspaper
s down and
cover them
with mulch
to cut
down on weeds! We thank
you in advance for helping
us with this project!
Counselor’s Corner
Hello!! My name is Sara Beckman, and I am honored to be the school counselor
for the students at Dutch Fork Elementary. I look forward to helping your child grow
and learn! Here at DFES, I teach classroom guidance lessons to all students on a
monthly basis. Topics presented include academic skills, responsibility, peer pressure
and refusal skills, dealing with teasing, career exploration, conflict resolution, self-
control, respect and tolerance of others, cooperation, decision-making, friendship
skills, and more. Another aspect of my job as school counselor includes providing
individual or small group counseling to support students with concerns such as self-
esteem, school success, grief and loss, coping with feelings, family changes, and
friendship skills.
I am also responsible for some of the special programs at our school including
Terrific Kids, Red Ribbon Week, and our adult mentor program. As
the school test coordinator, I organize the Cognitive Abilities Test
in November and the state PASS testing program in March and May.
All other testing inquiries should be directed to the front office, so
that you may be put in touch with the right person to meet your
needs.
Please call the guidance office at 476-3912 if you have
concerns you would like to share about your student. I have a wide
variety of parenting resources available and will be happy to assist
you in any way possible!!
Looking forward to a great year!
Sara Beckman
School Counselor

Moe’s Spirit Night
Thursday, August 26
5:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Eat at Moe’s and mention Dutch
Fork Elementary and Moe’s will
donate 15%
of their
proceeds to
our school!
What a deal?!
Bruster’s Night
Early Release Day – September 22
11:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Buy ice cream from
Bruster’s and DFES will
get 20% of the
proceeds!
Don’t forget to mention
Dutch Fork when you go!
Would you like to become a mentor for a student at
Dutch Fork Elementary?
The most valuable gift you can give a student is your time!!
District Five is looking for adults who are willing to volunteer their time
to visit with one of our DFES students once a week. You may spend your time eating
lunch with the student, discussing fun, friends and school, sharing a skill you have, or
helping complete some class work. Children need positive role models: a resource, a
confidante, and a friend – someone to help them make good choices and think about
consequences before they occur.
We have a Fox Cub who could benefit from a caring relationship with YOU!!
If you are interested in becoming a mentor, please contact:
School Counselor
Sara Beckman (476-3912) or
District Mentoring Coordinator
Michele Major (331-1276) for more information.
 Grandparents Day at
Dutch Fork Elementary
Grandparents Day is Sunday,
September 12. Grandparents are
invited to have lunch with their
grandchild(ren) on Friday,
September 10 or
Monday,
September 13.
The cost is $3.25
per lunch.
years past this
has been a tremendous success and
the children love showing off their
school to grandparents. Please let
your child’s teacher know if
grandparents will be attending and
on which day
so that the
cafeteria has an
idea of how
many to plan
for. Don’t send
money. Payment will be received
on the day of the lunch.
Monthly
Character
Education
Words
September – Responsibility
October – Courage
November – Citizenship
December – Compassion
(Kindness & Caring)
January – Initiative
February – Respect
March – Honesty
April – Patience
May – Perseverance
Recognizing Terrific Students at Dutch Fork
One of our goals at DFES is to recognize students for their positive growth and
outstanding abilities. Students in grades 3 through 5 are recognized each nine weeks
at our Honors and Awards Assembly. They may be noted for honor roll, Bringing Up
Grades, or as Students of Distinction. Students in grades Pre-K though 2 will be
recognized as Terrific Kids. Each homeroom teacher in the primary grades will name 1
or 2 students per month as their Terrific Kid representatives. Those students will
receive Terrific Kids certificates, pencils, stickers, and magnets. In addition, they will be
treated to an ice cream party with the principal, and have their names printed in the Cub
Reporter. Students will be chosen based on our monthly Character Education themes.
Please encourage your child to practice good character every day!
In
Media Center Happenings
We are so happy to see everyone back at school! If you participated in a summer
reading program, please hang on to your forms. We will be having a summer reading
celebration in a few weeks. Our book fair is coming up in November, we will send out
more details soon. Next week all students will be coming into the library for orientation
as well as to check out books. Please help your child keep his/her library books safe
and happy by doing the following:
• Do not read near water.
• Do not read outside.
• Do not read while eating.
• Remember to put the book(s) in a safe place (usually their book bag) when
not reading.
• Do read to and with your student as often as possible.
I can guarantee you that your child will not
remember the TV programs you watched
together, but they will remember the books
that you read together.
We have more than one copy of some books
and would be happy to check 2 copies out to
parents so that you can read it together.
Diane Geddings, Library Media Specialist
Nurse’s Notes
Anytime your child might need to take medication here at school you will need
to bring the medication in the original container and fill out a permission slip. Children
may NOT transport medication to school or home from school. An adult must bring or
pick up all medications. We cannot give any medication at school without a permission
slip. A handwritten note from the parent cannot be accepted. The permission slip must
be signed. If the medication is a prescription
medication you must have the doctor’s signature on
the form before you bring the medication to school.
This is a district policy. Permission slips can be found
on our school web site or you can obtain one from the
health room. Please feel free to call the health room if
you have any questions (476-3906).
 If your child was sent home from the health room during the school day with a
fever the child has to be fever free for 24 hours before returning to school. Your child
must be fever free without the use of any fever reducing medications such as children’s
Advil or Tylenol. If your child wakes up in the morning and has a fever,
please do not send him/her to school. If the child has had any vomiting
P.A.W.S. or diarrhea within the last 12 hours the child should also remain at
Leave a home. Please remember that these are times when a student should
remain at home for his/her own welfare and for the protection of others.
PAWSitive Print Linda Miller, RN
School Nurse

Perform your Habla Espanol?

best.
It is an honor to have the opportunity to teach at such a wonderful school. We
are excited to be here this year, and we look forward to teaching your child.
During each week, we will teach your child for one 50-minute class (two 25-
Act responsibly. minute classes for kindergarten). Elementary Spanish vocabulary is usually taught
through games, songs, physical activity, and other
interactive activities. It is our goal for the students to
Work and play learn Spanish while also having a very enjoyable
experience. In addition to vocabulary, the students will be
safely. exposed to the cultures of Spanish-speaking countries.
We will stress the importance of cultural awareness and
cultural acceptance.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding
Show Respect Spanish class, please feel free to contact us.
Senor Gordon Farley & Senora Nohora Porras

School Tools
Remember! School Tools will open on Tuesday, August 31, 2010. The store will be open
every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 7:15 – 7:45. School Tools sells
pencils, erasers, colored pencils, rulers, protractors, and more.
Just like last year, School Tools will be conducted in Spanish. The children
MAP Testing begins working in the store, as well as the children shopping, will be speaking Spanish. Señor
Farley will be present to help any student who needs help with the language.
Monday, August 30 for Kindergarteners, first graders, and second graders will be permitted to speak English,
grades 1-5. Make sure as they are not prepared to speak in Spanish for entire conversations.
your child is present and When learning Spanish in school, students don’t have many authentic opportunities to
use what they have learned. By speaking Spanish at School Tools, the students will be
on time! able to apply what they have learned in the classroom and use Spanish in a real-life
situation by shopping and interacting with other students. I hope that this will be an
You can access a copy of exciting and beneficial experience.
The Cub Reporter on our
school website under the
About Our School tab.