At Superior Elementary School Parents join pupils for Family Fun night

On Tuesday, Nov, 16, many preschool through 5th grade students and their families participated in the Superior Elementary Family Fun night from 6 to 7 p.m., at the school. This school year families are invited to participate in family-centered activities with their child's classroom teacher each quarter.

In August parents and students attended the Back-to-School Open House. This quarter the Family Fun Night centered on literacy and social-emotional skills. Heather Blackstone, Title I teacher, spoke with parents about Title I services. Jodi Fierstein, principal, shared with parents some of the things they are doing at Superior Elementary to support students' social-emotional development.  One example she shared is each classroom begins their day with a Classroom Circle.  This is a restorative practice that helps the classroom build a sense of community, trust, and understanding of each other. It is used daily as a preventative measure where students and their teacher often answer a question of the day, read a social story, or preview the day's events. It can also serve as a safe opportunity for discussing problems or challenging situations that have arised in the classroom. 

Parents then joined their children in their classrooms for a Family Fun Night Circle where students (and parents) shared their favorite book from home. Julia Cook, an award-winning author from Nebraska was scheduled to participate in the evening's events but she was unable to attend.  Two of her books, however, were read by the classroom teachers.

 "The Worst Day of My Life Ever" is a story about listening and following directions. The second book, "Will You Be the I in Kind?" is a newly-released book about showing kindness to others and reinforces the elementary building's theme for the year, "Bee Kind."  Each classroom received a copy of this book to reread throughout the year. The students and their parents finished the evening with an "I in Kind" picture that will be hung in the hallways.