August/September 2010 Volume 4 Issue 1 K K e e o o n n e e ‟ ‟ u u l l a a E E l l e e m m e e n n t t a a r r y y S S c c h h o o o o l l P P a a r r e e n n t t N N e e w w s s l l e e t t t t e e r r A Message from the Principal: Aloha and welcome to a new school year, 2010-2011! We start off this new school year with a new Vice Principal, Dr. Alexandra Obra. Dr. Obra has experienced working at Mililani „Ike Elementary School and at Waialua Elementary School and therefore, is not a stranger to elementary school operations and curriculum. I am pleased to have her on- board at Keone‟ula Elementary School as we roll out this new school year. Mr. Michael Nakasato, our previous Vice Principal, has moved on to a principalship at Pearl City Highlands Elementary School in the Pearl City Complex. He is doing well in his new role. We also have several other new personnel on our campus. A new Technology Coordinator has joined us, Mr. Richard Sakamoto; Grade 1 teacher Mrs. Nicole Duldulao; and Grade 6 teacher Mr. Michael Lee. We have a new half time custodian, Ms. Harmony Valoroso who has joined our custodial crew. We welcome them all to the Keone'ula Elementary School „ohana! Keone‟ula Elementary School‟s enrollment continues to grow. With new homes being built in the Gentry properties, we will grow even more. At this writing, our enrollment is at 855; our projected enrollment for this school year is 827. We are obviously over our projection. The Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 3 classes have the heaviest enrollment. For this reason, additional classes will be created for these three grade levels.
Aloha and welcome to a new school year, 2010-2011!
We start off this new school year with a new Vice Principal, Dr. Alexandra Obra. Dr. Obra has
experienced working at Mililani „Ike Elementary School and at Waialua Elementary School and
therefore, is not a stranger to elementary school operations and curriculum. I am pleased to have her on-
board at Keone‟ula Elementary School as we roll out this new school year. Mr. Michael Nakasato, our
previous Vice Principal, has moved on to a principalship at Pearl City Highlands Elementary School in
the Pearl City Complex. He is doing well in his new role.
We also have several other new personnel on our campus. A new Technology Coordinator has joined
us, Mr. Richard Sakamoto; Grade 1 teacher Mrs. Nicole Duldulao; and Grade 6 teacher Mr. Michael
Lee. We have a new half time custodian, Ms. Harmony Valoroso who has joined our custodial crew. We
welcome them all to the Keone'ula Elementary School „ohana!
Keone‟ula Elementary School‟s enrollment continues to grow. With new homes being built in the Gentry
properties, we will grow even more. At this writing, our enrollment is at 855; our projected enrollment for
this school year is 827. We are obviously over our projection. The Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 3
classes have the heaviest enrollment. For this reason, additional classes will be created for these three
grade levels.
August /September 2010 Volume 4 Issue 1
Keone‟ula Elementary School•91-970 Kailelea Drive•Ewa Beach, HI•808-689-1380
Visit our School Blog at http://keoneula.blogspot.com/
2
Principal‟s
Message
Cont‟d
Page 2
Artist In
Public Places
Grant
Page 3
Counselors‟
Corner
Page 4
School Supply
Drive, Fall
Fundraiser & VP
Corner
Page 5
VP Corner
Cont‟d
Page 6
Book of the
Month, Campbell
Labels & Box
Tops
Page 7
Appreciation &
Acknowledgements
Page 8
Calendar of
Events
Page 9
The effective start date for these three additional classes is not yet determined. Additional classrooms
need to be created and set-up, assuring that all needed furniture, equipment, supplies and curricula
materials are available for each of these classrooms. Personnel also need to be hired. You will be kept
updated as we are better able to secure the classrooms and the new personnel. Mahalo for your patience
as we go through this process.
Keone‟ula Elementary School continues to work toward Authorization as an International
Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (IB-PYP) school. We also continue to utilize procedures and
practices of the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program. We start our first year of
online testing for the Hawaii State Assessment (HSA) and we celebrate having met Adequate Yearly
Progress (AYP) for the spring 2010 assessment!!
There are home accessible online programs which are used at our school: Achieve 3000 and IXL-Math.
You will find your children bringing “green” homework assignments at different times of the week.
A program which is also used in school and is NOT home accessible is BrainPOP. The teachers use
BrainPOP to introduce a new lesson, to illustrate complex subject matter, review test items and in other
ways which will assist students to better understand classroom assignments. The lessons on this program
are aligned to our Hawaii Content and Performance Standards.
We are starting off the school year with a bang! Thank you ahead in advance for your support of our
school‟s continuous efforts at setting high standards for our teachers and students. We make these
efforts because we know our students CAN learn and CAN be successful at school. We look forward
to a great school year!
August /September 2010 Volume 4 Issue 1
Keone‟ula Elementary School•91-970 Kailelea Drive•Ewa Beach, HI•808-689-1380
Visit our School Blog at http://keoneula.blogspot.com/
3
Artist in Public Places Grant
Keone‟ula Elementary was one of approximately 12 public schools that were able to apply for the
Artist in Public Places Grant during the 2008-2009 SY. We were granted one of several
awards. During the 2009-2010 SY, professional artists were interviewed and Karen Lucas was
selected. The project included working with students‟, teachers and parents. The mosaic on the
flag pole wall is a product of student work; Teachers also created a fabulous mosaic of a tiger
which is about 10‟X10‟. The mosaic wall is only “half” of the whole project. Karen continues to
work on a larger-than-life sculpture of a kupuna. This sculpture will be situated in the grassy circle
fronting the mosaic wall, so the whole project will be seen first thing in the morning and the last thing
when people leave the campus. The project is slated for completion by May 2011, since students
who worked on the mosaic are 6th graders who will be graduating this year. A celebration will be
held at that time.
August /September 2010 Volume 4 Issue 1
Keone‟ula Elementary School•91-970 Kailelea Drive•Ewa Beach, HI•808-689-1380
Visit our School Blog at http://keoneula.blogspot.com/
4
Attendance Attendance is a critical factor in academic success. Research shows that students who attend school on a regular basis perform better in school. Being late for school hurts a child’s learning, too. A student who is 10 minutes late everyday will miss 30 hours of instruction during the year. Please remember that school starts at 7:45 a.m. every morning. If your child will be absent, please remember to give the school a call at 689-1380. Also, students who are absent 3 or more consecutive days are required to bring in a doctor’s note. Family vacations and/or trips are considered unexcused absences. If you are planning on going on a trip, please contact the principal or vice-principal immediately.
Positive Behavior Support Program Keone-Cash is back! Your child may come home one day and exclaim, “I got caught being good!!!” or “I got Keone-Cash today!!!” All adults at school can award students for displaying positive behaviors with Keone-Cash. Keone-Cash can be redeemed during recess for various school supplies and other items. Also, at Awards Assemblies, all redeemed Keone-Cash are used as raffle tickets for even larger prizes. It really does pay to be good at Keoneula Elementary! The reasoning behind our Keone-Cash is our Positive Behavior Support Program (PBS). Keoneula Elementary School’s Positive Behavior Support Program was established last year to help students develop and maintain proactive and positive behaviors. The goal of the PBS program is for students to demonstrate the following expectations: being respectful, being responsible, and being safe. Eventually, we want our students to show integrity at all times.
Counselor’s Assignments:
Mr. Aaron Chung – PreK, K (E105-E108),
2, 4, & 6
Ms. Heather Iguchi – PreK, K (E109-110)
August /September 2010 Volume 4 Issue 1
Keone‟ula Elementary School•91-970 Kailelea Drive•Ewa Beach, HI•808-689-1380
Visit our School Blog at http://keoneula.blogspot.com/
5
Welcome back to a brand new school year! My name is Alexandra Obra and I would like to take
this time to introduce myself. I am the new vice principal at Keone‟ula Elementary School. I am
very excited to be here at Keone‟ula! Previously, I worked at Waialua Elementary School and
Mililani „Ike Elementary School. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my family and
friends. I also enjoy running and hope to complete my first marathon in December!
I look forward to meeting all the students and their families. Each month
I hope to share and update you with important school information. Please
be sure to stop by our school blog for up-to-date information.
School Supply Drive
Although the school year has started, there are
many students who were not able to purchase
all of their much needed supplies. It doesn’t
take much to make a big difference in the lives
of these children. Here is a list of some of the
most needed supplies: binders, erasers, folders,
rulers, pencil boxes, markers, scissors, colored
pencils, and protractors. You can also donate
$5.00 for the purchase of a student planner.
Donations will be accepted from now until
September 10th
. Donations can be dropped off
at the office. If you are able to, please donate
school supplies to help students kick off the
school year. Thank you!
Fall Fundraiser
Our Fall Fundraiser runs from August
16th-September 7th. We are selling
Cinnamon Bread, Portuguese Sausage,
and Banana Mac Nut Loaf Cake. Tickets
are $6.00 each. Fundraiser pick up will
be on Saturday, September 25th from 9
a.m.-1 p.m. in the cafeteria.
There are prizes for top-selling student
and top selling classrooms. The student
who sells the most tickets will win their
choice of a Wii, Xbox or $200.
Students will also get one entry in the
raffle drawing for every 10 tickets sold!
The winner of the raffle will also get
their choice of a Wii, Xbox or $200.
The two classes in grades K-2 and
grades 3-6 who sell the most tickets will
receive a pizza party. Please return all unsold tickets.
Proceeds from this fundraiser will go towards school field trips, student
activities and professional development.
If you need more tickets, please ask your child's teacher.
August /September 2010 Volume 4 Issue 1
Keone‟ula Elementary School•91-970 Kailelea Drive•Ewa Beach, HI•808-689-1380
Visit our School Blog at http://keoneula.blogspot.com/
Chapter 19 During the month of August, I will be going into the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade classes to review Chapter 19 with the students. Please review Chapter 19 with your child.
New School Logo
We are now the Keone’ula Cubs! You
may have noticed students sporting
their new t-shirts. Students may still wear
their school t-shirt with the pencil logo.
Entering the Buildings
We are asking parents not to
enter the buildings at the end of
the day. Please wait until the bell
rings to enter the building. This
provides students time to
maximize their learning.
School Blog We are in the process of developing a new school website. In the transition period, please check out our school blog for up-to-date information. You can reach our school blog at http://keoneula.blogspot.com/
Drop Off & Pick Up We are asking for your assistance with drop off and pick up procedures. The right hand lane is for drop offs. Students need to exit the car on the right side. The middle lane and far left lane is for passing. As you come into the parking lot please make sure you move all the way down and pay attention to the JPOs and staff directing traffic. We greatly appreciate your assistance in this matter.
Visitors All visitors should report to the front office to sign in.
August /September 2010 Volume 4 Issue 1
Keone‟ula Elementary School•91-970 Kailelea Drive•Ewa Beach, HI•808-689-1380
Visit our School Blog at http://keoneula.blogspot.com/
Box Tops for Education Here’s another opportunity to help us earn money for the school. Simply clip the Box Top logo stamp from quality products from brand families like these: General Mills Cereals and Fruit Flavored Snacks, Ziploc, Juicy Juice, Old El Paso, Huggies, Kleenex, Hefty, Pillsbury and Betty Crocker. For more information visit http://www.boxtops4education.com. A collection bin is available in the front office.
Campbell‘s Labels for Education Help us earn money for the school. We are still collecting Campbell labels. Visit Campbell’s website at www.labelsforeducation.com for a list of products that qualify for the program. Students should submit labels to the front office.
Book of the Month Each month we will be featuring the Principal’s Book of the Month. Empty Pot is the August Book of the Month. In Empty Pot, Ping, the main character is a Chinese Boy with an “emerald” thumb; he can make anything grow “as if by magic.” The emperor is looking for a successor for his throne. See what he does to find his successor. How is INTEGRITY reflected in Ping’s attitude? Students in Grade 3 will be participating in the Book of the Month.
