Vision: To cultivate an empowering, mindful community of learners through motivation and

innovative thinking.

Mission: Providing an engaging environment through the use of digital learning,

investigation, and differentiation to support the needs of our diverse learners so they can

responsibly interact and unlock their academic potential.

Dear Lely Elementary Families & Friends,

What an amazing community we have! The welcome I have received from all of you has

been beyond my expectations! Please come to see me and share any thoughts or concerns

you have. I want to continue to create an environment in our school that promotes a love for

learning and the awareness that we are a family working together for our children. I love my

job as Principal of Lely and I am working each day to make the students feel safe, connected,

and to know that they matter. After listening to you, the staff, and community, we have come

up with a vision and mission at Lely. This is something close to my heart- Creating a mission

and vision for us as a family. The amazing teachers and staff put the children first. We work

as a team to let our children know each day that they matter. All 650 plus students are indi-

viduals to me and I work each day to connect with them as individuals. Please let me know if

I need to give your baby an extra special nudge! I am happy to do that for you! Although we

are only with them from 7:45 to 2:50 I take very seriously that we are the acting "parent" in

their life during that time to protect them and to help them learn. We can't do that without

the support your give each day. Thank you!!!

To honor you I have tried to combine evening activities to once a month. Please join us for

our informational meetings and student showcase nights. They are highlighted in the

student handbook / calendar. I want to see you there and get to know you! Our next big

Showcase is October 27th.

But, even before that, we have RED WALK on October 23rd! Please join us for this event! We

will have community members teaching students about safety and students will work on

service projects during the day. I can't wait to be here at Lely for my 1st Red Walk and this is

the 16th year! What a celebration! The community of Lely is looking forward to spending

the day with the students and so am I!

To celebrate my lovely Lely Families I am organizing a big concert for you to bring the family

and enjoy! Our big cultural event will be January 8th! Save the date! It will be an early evening

so that the children can join. I am working on all the details! I have a special guest coming

all the way from St. Lucia, and our amazing Mr. Gruesel as well as other local musicians,

including some of our own parents will join the party! Get your blankets & chairs ready for a

big family cultural celebration to enjoy!

Thank you for all that you do! I cannot do this without you, my Lely Family!

Ms. Crehan

Principal

Principal News

October 8, 2015 M s . C h r i s t a E . C r e h a n , E d . S . , P r i n c i p a l M r s . M e r e d i t h K i r b y E d . S . , A s s i s t a n t P r i n c i p a l

Lely Elementary School Newsletter

Upcoming Events:

October

10-13- 8:30 am -SAC Meeting /

PTO Planning Mtg

- Media Ctr.

Fall Individual Pictures

10-16 - Grading Period Ends

School Spirit Day

10-19 - No School

Teacher Planning Day

10-20 - No School

Teacher Professional Day

10-23 - RED WALK XVI

School Spirit Day

10-27 - Health Screenings

5:30 pm-Title I Parent

Involvement Workshop:

Topic - Raising Readers

6:00 pm - PTO Mtg. /

3rd Grade Showcase

10-29 - Report Cards

10-30 - Jean/School Spirit Day

Every Student Matters, Every Moment Counts

Assistant Principal News

Welcome Back Lely Families!

We have had a very successful opening of school this year. Our students are energetic and ready to

make great gains. It has been wonderful seeing how much your children have grown and matured over

the summer. We have enjoyed seeing all of you at Curriculum Night, our Annual Title 1 Meeting and PTO

Family Dinner. This marks my fourth year at LES and I am thrilled to be back this year as your assistant

principal.

I would like to take this time to address your child’s attendance. It is critical that children are in school

and on time each and every day to receive the instruction and educational guidance they need to be

successful and achieve at the very highest level. In order for this to occur, students need to be in

school. Please make sure your child is at school on time and ready to learn in their classroom at 8:25

a.m. If your child will be absent, please call the school to report the absence. While all absences,

excused and unexcused are counted, it is important to keep the school informed. Florida Law states

that students who are absent 15 days or more in a 90 day period can be recommended for Truancy

Court. Here is how the process works: when a student has 5 absences, a phone call is made to the

parent or guardian. When a student has 7 absences, a letter is sent to the parent informing them of the

absences and if they continue, it could result in a recommendation to Truancy Court or placement on an

attendance contract. When a student has 10 absences, another letter is sent home stating the same

information as the 7 day letter. A meeting is also scheduled with me and the parent/guardian to discuss

the attendance issue and inform them of the Florida Attendance Statute. This meeting is held to try to

prevent any family from attending Truancy Court and to attempt to ensure the student will be attending

school on a regular basis. Please send your child to school on time, and daily, so they may receive a high

quality education. Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for sending us such amazing students each day!!!

Our school theme this year is Legends, Myths and Superheroes! We encourage your child to find the

superpower within them to be successful in school. We have a wonderful LES Superhero t-shirt available

for sale in the front office. Students are welcome to wear their shirts on Spirit Fridays! Lely is working to

build our community through a variety of parent and family activities this year, so keep your eyes out for

our monthly events! Welcome back Lely Lions, it is going to be a SUPER year!!

Fondly,

Meredith Kirby, Ed.S.

Assistant Principal, LES

Title One Information

The Parent Involvement Plan and Basic Use of Funds Document are located in the Lely

Elementary School front office.

Our Math Coach and Reading Coach are Title One funded!

After-School Tutoring—All 4th and 5th grade students who receive after school tutoring

in reading and math are Title One funded!

You Too Can Be A Hero!!!

Here we are in another October. Can you believe that this year we will be celebrating our 16th Annual RED WALK? On

October 23rd from 8:30 -2:30 we will be heading out on the Red Pathway in search of our HEROES. Along the way we

will be learning about all the wonderful and heroic things that people in our community do. Also, there will be a number of

opportunities for all of us to give something back. Each of our grade levels will be participating in a Community Outreach

Project sometime during the day. We invite and welcome ALL Parents and Community Friends to join us for the day’s

events. In fact, we strongly encourage each of you to come help us and share with us all day long. RED WALK is the

kickoff event for Red Ribbon Week, which last from October 23rd through the 31st. Look out for some additional Special

Events. Like the THIRD GRADE SHOWCASE on Tuesday, October 27th. Come on and BE A HERO with us as we

celebrate the Positives in Our Lives!!!

BE A HERO! Lely Elementary School Proudly Presents the 16th Annual

RED WALK In Celebration of RED RIBBON WEEK

8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

LIVE THE LEGEND…

BE DRUG-FREE!!!

FRIDAY, OC

TOBER 23

rd

Greetings, Lely Friends and Families!

"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents." This quote by Emilie Buchwald shows the power

parents have. What is important to you will be important to your children. After all, you are your child's

first teacher.

While every subject in school is important, reading is the one that makes all others possible. No matter

which path your child's life takes, reading will be a part of it.

One way you can show your child that reading is important is by setting aside 30 quiet minutes each day

so that reading can take place. Read to and with your child. Everyone one, no matter how old, loves to be

read to.

And the time you and your children invest in reading will pay off. Research has shown that children who

read 20 minutes a day see 1.8 million words a year and score 90% higher than other students! Children

who score in the lowest 10% read less than one minute a day.

I am super-excited and honored to be a part of the Lely family. As the new Reading Coach, I will be work-

ing closely with teachers, supporting them in effectively teaching Florida's rigorous reading and writing

standards to your children.

Your child's destiny is in both your hands and ours. I can tell you first hand, the teachers and staff at Lely

take this responsibility very seriously.

I'm looking forward to a great year. Please feel free to contact me if you should have any questions or sug-

gestions. I can be reached at pellek@collierschools.com.

Karen Pelletier

Reading Coach

Reading Rocks at LES!

Welcome back Lely Lions! I am Mrs. Johnessee, your new math coach! I have been a teacher at Lely for

the last eight years and I am very excited to continue working with our students and teachers in my new

role! My main responsibility as the math coach is to collaborate and assist teachers with planning for and

providing effective mathematics instruction, which is evidence based and differentiated for the diversity of

our learners.

Our math program is interactive and challenging! Every day our students are solving real-world problems,

working cooperatively, and illustrating or representing their thinking in a variety of ways. These strategies

may be different from the way many parents remember learning math. To help with this transition, your

child’s teacher will be sending home a Family Letter at the start of each new unit of study. This letter will

have information about the unit and related activities which can be done at home. By exploring these activi-

ties together, your child will reinforce strategies and math skills which are being learned in class.

I am looking forward to a great year and if parents need any information or assistance with helping their

child be successful in math, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

Sincerely,

Sara Johnessee

239-377-3985

mailto:pellek@collierschools.com

Hi Lely Families!

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you back to an exciting new school year here at Lely Elementary! I am happy to serve as your Intervention Support Specialist. In this role, I will be your contact for Individual Education Plans (IEP’S), Section 504 Accommodation Plans, Gifted Education Plans, and Multi-tiered Intervention Plans. I would also like to take this opportunity to extend an invitation to attend our CCPS Exceptional Student Education (ESE) Advisory: Sharing the Commitment Meetings. Sharing the Commitment is a collaborative advisory committee to the Exceptional Student Education (ESE) division of Collier Country Public Schools. The mission of the Advisory is to work for understating of, respect for, and support of all children with disabilities within the community. What: Sharing the Commitment Meetings Where: Martin Luther King Jr. CCPS Administrative Building 5775 Osceola Trail When: November 17, 2015 Room 4-167 January 19, 2016 Room 4-167 March 22, 2016 Room 1-103 May 17, 2016 Room 5-182 For more information or questions, please feel free to contact me at 239-377-7511 or at laurij2@collierschools.com. Sincerely, Mrs. Judy Lauriault Intervention Support Specialist

mailto:laurij2@collierschools.com

Physical Education

Physical Education is off to a good start. We just finished playing Scooter Basketball. Now we are playing

Kickball. Grades Kindergarten and First are learning how to run the bases. Grades Two thru Five are

currently learning the rules to Kickball and will soon be playing Kickball games. After Kickball students

will play one of their favorite games call Catch the Power Neutron. This game requires a lot of team work

and strategy. It also involves a lot of running. In grades Kindergarten and First student will be playing Flag

Tag. Students will learn how to wear flags and then will play various games using the flags. After Catch the

Power Neutron and Flag Tag students in all grades will be playing soccer.

Technology

We are very excited this year that Lely Elementary will become a Common Sense Digital Certified School

which is dedicated to teaching digital literacy and citizenship to all our students using Common Sense Edu-

cation materials. We are hoping to get all our parents involved with this goal. In the coming months you will

hear your children talk about the Common Sense Education’s award-winning suite of engaging videos, fun

games, and collaborative classroom activities that address key issues facing kids in today’s digital world.

They also will be working toward this certification by completing activities in this Digital Passport website

that helps them have hands on learning experiences on being safe on the internet.

The students from K-5th grades will take part in this exciting adventure. To learn more about

Common Sense Media go to https://www.commonsensemedia.org/ . This site contains information about the

best internet, apps, movies and websites for kids along with suggestions on how you as parents can get in-

volved.

Live the Legend! Be Drug – Free! Come Join Our

Third Graders

On Tuesday, October 27th

As They Go

ALL IN for a Heroes Tribute

At LES!!! Student Performers Report to the Music Room at 5:30 p.m.

Dress in RED Attire

Come Walk With Us On October

23rd

From 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

For Our Sixteenth Annual

RED WALK

This Year’s Theme:

BE A HERO!!!

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/

So happy to be here to begin the 2015-2016 school year with your children.

As we welcome back our students this month, we have some wonderful new titles

and authors to share for both check out and read aloud.

All 1st through 5th classrooms have begun the Reading Counts Program! Our

1st Reading Counts Celebration is scheduled in October for all of our students

who reach their grade level reading goals. This year’s celebration will be the

Photo Booth of Fun!

We have a full schedule with all K – 5 classes visiting our media center each

week.

Please feel free to contact me with any good books, questions or ideas you might

have. Remember, we are always happy to have volunteers here in our media cen-

ter or throughout our Lely campus.

Be well,

Miffy Ruggiero Media Specialist

239-377-7561

ruggiema@collierschools.com

www.collierschools.com/les

Welcome Back!

mailto:ruggiema@collierschools.comhttp://www.collierschools.com/les

Healthy Students Make Better Learners Clinic News

The emergency cards helps us know important information about your child and how to reach you in the event

your child is sick/ill/injured. Florida law mandates children be vaccinated for school entry. Children in need of vaccinations for school can

go to their healthcare provider or the Florida Department of Health – Collier County. The health department offers free vaccinations to the youth of Collier County every Monday-Friday 8am-3pm on a walk in basis. You can call them at (239)252-8535 or go to their website @ www.collierhealthdept.org for more information. Please be advised that the immunization clinic closes at 12 noon on the last working day of each month.

If your child is required to take prescription medication at school, a signed medication authorization by the parent and doctor must be completed before medication can be given. This is a CCPS policy and state law to protect your child. This form can be picked in the school clinic.

Medication at school must be in its original container. Prescriptions must have the student’s name and correct dosage printed on the pharmacy label/medication bottle. Over the counter medication must come in its origi-nal unopened container. This includes cough drops or throat lozenges. Only the parent/guardian may bring medication to school. Do NOT send with your child.

Should your child be ill/injured and required to miss PE class, the following policy applies: If a student is to miss 1-3 days of PE, then a parent note is required. If the child needs to miss PE for any more than 3 days, then a physician’s note will be required.

The use of crutches, wheelchair or other assistive devices at school requires a doctor’s note and must be pro-vided by the parent/guardian.

Health Tips 1) Make a new friend! The beginning of school is a great chance for you to make a new friend. Say hello to those you know but also to those you don’t. Take the first step and you’ll be glad you did & so will your new friend! 2) Get some sleep! Make sure you’re getting enough sleep. Sleep is important for your body to heal, so get rest to repair itself. Lack of sleep can lead to problems. 3) Believe it or not flu season is upon us. The CDC recommends an annual flu shot. Remember good hand washing is the best prevention. More information to come! Thank You, Nurse Jennifer

BE A HERO!!!

Lely Elementary School presents the 16th Annual RED WALK

in celebration of Red Ribbon Week

SPECIAL DAYS FOR RED RIBBON WEEK

OCT 26-30, 2015

MONDAY –

“Team Up Against Drugs” Day

(Wear Sports Team Jerseys)

TUESDAY-

“Drugs are Hairy- Scary” Day

(Crazy Hair)

WEDNESDAY-

“Sock It To Drugs” Day

(Wear Crazy / Mixed Socks)

THURSDAY-

“Put a Cap on Drugs” Day

(Wear Caps and Hats)

FRIDAY-

“Show Your Spirit, Don’t Do Drugs” Day

(Wear Blue and Yellow)

(With Jeans or Uniform Shorts)

RED WALK 2015

Lely Elementary PTO News October 2015

Lely’s Annual

Fall Fundraiser Update!!

Thanks to all of our WONDERFUL Lely families

That participated in this year’s fundraiser!

We met our goal of $25,000!!

We are excited to bring the Miami Xtreme Team to Lely on Tuesday October 13th!!

Congratulations to our top 3 Sellers!! 1st Place – Christopher Epperson

2nd Place – Taylin Davidson 3rd Place – Alexich Connor

2014-2015 Board Members Vicki Howard – President

OPEN – Vice President Cathi Popoli – Treasurer

Tia Denis – Secretary OPEN – Volunteer Coordinator

Committee Members OPEN - Fundraising OPEN - Lely Lion Pride Tia Denis - Membership OPEN - Special Events Lily Savage - Staff Appreciation

Please come to our next PTO Meeting if you are

interested in filling any of our open positions!!

Fundraiser Distribution

Fundraiser Items will be delivered to

Lely on Wednesday, October 21st.

If your child sold more than 2 tubs of

cookie dough or has a large order,

please make arrangements to pick your

child up from school on this day. These

items can be very heavy.

ALL items will be sent home with the

students on Wednesday unless other

arrangements have been made

Have a few extra hours to help??

We would appreciate any time you can give to assist in

distributing items to the classrooms.

A Look Ahead: 10/13– Picture Day

Miami Xtreme Show SAC & PTO MTG

10/19 & 10/20 – No School 10/21- Fundraiser Distribution 10/23 – REDWALK 10/27 - 3rd Grade Showcase 10/29 – Report Cards

Friday Spirit

T’shirts and Bows can be purchased

daily in the front office!!