Spring Program

What a beautiful program last night! I got chills as the kids sang! What a great night of praise and worship!! The kids did a fantastic job!

We have begun our lessons on Holy Week.  So far it's been a special experience learning and studying the Holy Week stories with your child. The conversations we are having are so meaningful. Ask your son/daughter what they've learned about our stories so far: Jesus Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem,  Jesus Cleansing the Temple, and Jesus' teachings in the Temple. We will learn some deep things together, and I look forward to these teachable moments to share God's awesome gift of love for us, and what it means as we learn how Jesus fulfilled God's plan of salvation! We serve such a loving Savior!  

Homework:

Tuesday, Mar. 17 a new reading slip and math homework page will come home and be due- March 23. 

*Matthew 28 was sent home, please practice this beautiful passage as a family!

*Look for the blue paper in your child's Homework Folder with our sight words! 

Library books due on Wednesday!

Jungle Explorer:

Noelle was our special Jungle Explorer of the Week! Thanks for sharing your poster and pictures with our class. We enjoyed getting to know you and learning that you like reading, playing with dolls,. We love that you want to be strong when you grow up! Your favorite place is your house in Fairbanks, Alaska and your favorite food is tortillas. You are so special to God and to us, Noelle, and we loved getting to know more about you this week!

Rock Your Socks!

March 21 is World Down Syndrome Day. At South Side we would like to use that day to celebrate how God made us with many similarities but also many uniquenesses. As a fun way to show our uniqueness, students are encouraged on Friday March 20 to wear fun socks or mismatched socks. 

Bake Sale

The first graders at South Side are excited to be hosting a Rainforest Bake Sale. The bake sale will start on Monday March 23rd and will run each day of that week during the lunch hour. Each baked good will cost .25. All funds raised will be donated to supporting mission work happening in Brazil. Start saving your quarters now, send them with your child to school starting March 23, and plan to buy some goodies at the first grade rainforest bake sale! Thank you for your support!

Hand2Hand:

For the past several years, South Side has partnered with Hand2Hand to help provide food for children facing hunger in West Michigan. Last year, we collected over 200 food items, and we’re excited to support this effort again!

From Monday, March 9 through Friday, March 20, we will be collecting:

3- and 4- year old preschool and Young 5's: Bags of unpopped microwave popcorn (any variety) with an expiration date of September 2026 or later

Kindergarten, First and Second grade: Individual, single-serve bags of trail mix (any variety) with an expiration date of September 2026 or later

After the collection, our second graders will visit Hand2Hand to learn more about their mission and help pack snack bags for neighbors experiencing food insecurity, using the items we donate along with contributions from other donors. 

SPRING CONFERENCES: 

Conferences will be coming up at the end of March (March 26 & 30 from 4-8pm). 2nd grade takes a different twist on conferences in the Spring--they are actually STUDENT LED. This means that your son/daughter joins us in conversation, and he/she leads the conference. We work hard at creating a portfolio and collecting work samples, and it is an awesome experience for you to see how your child has taken ownership of his/her learning this year. This means that all 2nd grade conferences are in person. As teachers and parents, we are able to encourage and pour into your child, as well as find ways to challenge him/her for the last quarter of 2nd grade. This is a very important time together, and you'll want to save the date. Look for a link to be coming soon for sign ups!

Shoe Box:

Second graders are working on their non fiction writing projects. As a celebration of our writing projects students will build a diorama to showcase the information they wrote in their books. Please send a shoe box to school with your child's name on it ASAP.

Students may bring in some supplies from home for

use in their Diorama. Please don't go buy anything, use what you have at home. We will have some supplies kids can use at school.

Tulip Time
As signs of spring are appearing, we are looking ahead to Tulip Time! First and second grade students will be marching with our school. Students have two options of groups to participate in. Please fill out this survey and let us know which section your child will be participating in. 

Please make sure you fill out one form for each student you have by Monday, March 25th so we can ensure we have the correct props for the parade. If you have any questions, please email Christy. 

March Is Reading Month!

As part of the national celebration of reading month, West Michigan WhiteCaps is providing a free optional Reading Tracker/Ticket Order Form.

1. Students and/or their grown-ups keep track of reading minutes in March. 
2. Those who participate are eligible for 2 free tickets to select WhiteCaps home games.

All information regarding this incentive and how to order free tickets is included on the WhiteCaps 2025 Reading Club Form. These forms will come home Today in your child's Friday Folder.

Reading Rally Week – Our South Side staff is excited to celebrate our growing readers! To recognize March Is Reading Month, we have planned a special week of fun activities (March 30–April 2) to encourage and celebrate reading. Below are the details and ways you can help your child participate in each special day:

Monday, March 30 – Favorite Book Day
Send your child to school with his or her favorite book. The children will create a poster about their favorite book to display around the school.

Tuesday, March 31 – “Pop Open a Good Book” Day
Students will enjoy a popcorn snack while reading with reading buddies.

Wednesday, April 1 – Read-a-T-Shirt Day
Please help your child find a t-shirt with one or more words on it so we can have fun reading each other’s shirts.

Thursday, April 2 – Cozy Reading Day
Students may wear pajamas and bring a blanket and a stuffed animal for a cozy day of reading.

Thank you for encouraging your child to build strong reading habits by reading each night. The time spent practicing now will have lifelong benefits. Thank you for your support! 

Lost and Found

The office is continuing to update our South Side Lost and Found Album as items come into the gray tub in the office. Please check it out to see if any of these items belong to your child. Feel free to email Rachel Steen, to claim your item(s), and we will be sure to get it into your child’s backpack.

IMORTANT DATES:

Mar. 16: No School

Mar. 17: Math and Reading Homework due

Mar. 20: Report Cards Live

Mar. 23-27: 1st grade Bake Sale

Mar. 26 and 30: Spring conferences

Apr. 3-10: Spring Break