Ithaca South Elementary

First graders are learning about the similarities and differences between parents and offspring, so they collaborated to create parent and offspring models!

The amazing PTO team once again provided North and South School students with a popcorn snack before Spring Break! Our classroom was very excited to see, smell, hear, and taste this delicious treat! Thank You PTO team for your awesome contribution to our community! We ALL HAVE an opportunity to support these PTO activities this April at their fundraiser with the returning carnival! Please share and come support your PTO TEAM on April 21!

A BIG thank you to all of the AMAZING readers who came in this week to share books! Students loved engaging with community members, parents, & more about great books. Our literary champions are: Mr. Dan Carley Mrs. Melissa MacLaren Mrs. Jen Barancik Mrs. Jen Whitford Mr. Ruggie Ramereiz Have a wonderful Spring Break Everyone! See you in Monday, April 3!

South Elementary wishes all families a safe and enjoyable Spring Break! See everyone back on Monday, April 3, 2023!

Hello families! We had so much fun sharing our learning day with our stuffed animals. We left the animals all cozy on a shelf, and I'm a little worried as I look at a few camera images. I don't think they understand our class rules. Hopefully when we arrive tomorrow, the animals have not created havoc in our room! A special thank you to the Barancik Family for supplying extra stuffed animals for those that forgot. We were VERY grateful! Have a great day! Mrs. Simcox

Hello families! We had so much fun sharing our learning day with our stuffed animals. We left the animals all cozy on a shelf, and I'm a little worried as I look at a few camera images. I don't think they understand our class rules. Hopefully when we arrive tomorrow, the animals have not created havoc in our room! A special thank you to the Barancik Family for supplying extra stuffed animals for those that forgot. We were VERY grateful! Have a great day! Mrs. Simcox

Empowering our classroom with the love of reading through sharing laughter and fun with our best buddies in Mrs. Dawe's room.

We did it! South had a goal to read 7,000 books/chapters during the month of March. Reading logs were kept at home and school with each classroom reading at least 100 books. Everyone helped the cause by reading to themselves, to partners, to teachers and with family members. Students at South will celebrate their reading success tomorrow with a special snack, dance party and rainforest video. Way to go South! Don't forget it's pajama day tomorrow too!

These students shared their amazing book projects with our classroom today after presenting them at last night's community engagement Reading Fair!

Wow! These reading fair projects created by our South students and families really show off the wonderful community collaboration that we have here in Ithaca!

Wow! These reading fair projects created by our South students and families really show off the wonderful community collaboration that we have here in Ithaca!

Hello Everyone! This last week of reading month is going to be a BLAST at South School! We continue to have amazing family members come in to share their love of reading with our class. On Friday, Jessie Pemberton shared one of her favorite books: "Tumford's Rude Noises!" Everyone knows I'm a bit "feline" crazy, but this book was hysterical! Thank you so much Mrs. Pemberton for starting our Friday morning with smiles & laughs! Have a great week everyone! Mrs. Simcox 😸

We had a wonderful first day of spring learning about plants. Thank you to Patty Macha for reading, "You Are Like A Seed". She also gave each student a packet of Zinnia seeds, her favorite! The Gratiot County Farm Bureau also sponsored a lesson presented by local FFA members! They read, "How to Grow a Monster" and tought us what plants need to grow. We made bracelets to help us remember! It is wonderful to have members of the community come in to read to us and provide different meaningful learning experiences.

Ithaca Public Schools have added 2 new buses to the transportation fleet. That results in some of the current buses being retired and new bus numbers for some of the routes. If you use the school dismissal system, you may get an email with an updated bus number for your student. The bus routes and drivers have not changed, just new bus numbers for that route. Richard - Old bus number 21 - new bus number 22 Tammy - Old bus number 17 - new bus number 23 Brenda - Old bus number 14 - new bus number 21 Cody - Old bus number 11 - New bus number 17 South Elementary

Dear South Families, March is Reading month continues at South and our students have been outstanding in completing their reading logs! Keep up the great work. 2 of the activities this week are the Reading Fair. Displays can still be brought in Tuesday morning and will be on display Tuesday evening from 6-7 PM. Students can bring in their stuffed animals on Thursday and the animals will get to spend the night at South. Students are invited to wear PJ's on Friday as well.

We had a fantastic time engaging in an opportunity with the Alma College Chemistry Club at their Science Blowout! We created Bio Art after looking at plant cells and sugar under a microscope. We extracted DNA from a strawberry. We saw what liquid nitrogen does to different objects. Watched what happened when fire was brought to balloons filled with different gases. We watch the elephant toothpaste demonstration. We also got to explore medical science by listening to our heart beat, looking at what light does to our pupil, and play the game Operation. We made friendship bracelets and dog toys for environmental science. We also explored physiology with a step and vertical jump contest.

Ms. Clark's class celebrated March Reading Month with engaging literacy activities today! We participated in the vocabulary parade and read in the dark with flashlights!

First graders in Mrs. Schaeding's class used their creativity to paint watercolor pictures of rainforest animals that they have been engaged in learning about.

The South Reading Fair is on Tuesday, March 21st. Student's can bring in their projects and they will be on display from 6-7 PM in the South Hallways. South is "Wild About Reading!"

Good morning! Our leprechaun didn't leave gold, but left something much yummier! Happy St. Patrick's Day! ☘️☘️☘️☘️ Mrs. Simcox