DARDENNE ELEMENTARY

Welcome to our Web Page. Please click on any of the categories in our Directory for additional information. Please check with us periodically as more information becomes available in each category. Every effort is made to provide accurate information. Questions and/or comments may be directed to Mrs. Hutcheson's office, who will then forward them to the appropriate personnel.

DIRECTORY
From the Principal's Desk	P.T.C.
Media Center	Calendar of Events
Kindergarten Curriculum	First Grade Curriculum
Second Grade Curriculum	Third Grade Curriculum
Fourth Grade Curriculum	Fifth Grade Curriculum
School Report Card	Monthly Newsletter
K5 Disciplinary Guidelines

Thank you for visiting Dardenne Elementary School's web page. I am pleased you have chosen to learn more about Dardenne Elementary, Home of the Knights. The faculty and staff at Dardenne continue to be dedicated educators who continually strive to meet the needs of every student by providing the best education possible in a safe and nurturing environment. If you would like to contact me personally, please call the school office at (636)978-4001.
Dardenne Elementary is truly a community of learners, where:
· we work together to make decisions based on what is best for our students;
· we have high expectations for everyone; and
· we all strive to create a safe and nurturing environment where students can learn and grow.
Our students have the opportunity to participate in a wide range of extracurricular activities; Dardenne Choir, Earth Club, Art Club, Computer Club, Scrap Book Club, SHARE Club, Drama Club, Spanish Club, Math Club, Wee Deliver, Student Council and Newspaper Club, to name just a few! Our parents also have the opportunity to participate by volunteering for our PTC. You can learn more about our Parent Teacher Council by visiting their link on this site. Adults over 50 are encouraged to volunteer to help tutor through the OASIS program.
The 2006-07 school year brought much recognition to Dardenne Elementary. Our fifth grade eMINTS teacher completed her required two years of professional development. Now we have three fully functioning eMINTS classrooms which are helping our students learn through the inquiry approach. We are very excited about the inquiry based instruction in our third, fourth and fifth grade classrooms! You will be hearing much more about our eMINTS program throughout the course of this school year. In addition to the eMINTS competitive grant, we are also proud to announce that the Missouri Department of Conservation awarded our school a grant to continue development of our Outdoor Classroom project. We are very proud of the way that our Outdoor Classroom has flourished over the past five years with help and support from the Missouri Conservation Commission, and our many business partners including Cuvier River Electric Co-op, Wal-Mart and Boeing. These organizations continue to support excellence in education by showing so much confidence in the programs at Dardenne Elementary.
Students also made us proud during the 2006-07 school year. Our Healthy Kids Club along with their faculty sponsors, the counselor, school nurse and the principal participated in the annual St. Charles County Community College Fun Run and won a traveling trophy for participation. This trophy is awarded to the school that has the most student participation in the Fun Run each year. We will be trying hard to win the trophy again in 2008!
Our students are dedicated to helping others in our community by completing many service projects each year. Our SHARE Club not only assisted the O’Fallon Stream Team this year but also provided support for the St. Charles County Humane Society and participated in Pennies for Pasta. The Student Council and the SHARE Club teamed up to ring the bell for the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle at Christmas. Our students are also achieving great things academically and in the area of fine arts. Not only did we achieve adequate yearly progress based on our standardized test scores, we also had several winners in the Picture the Music Competition again this past school year.
I look forward to working with each of you and consider it a privilege to be the Principal at Dardenne Elementary where students continue to grow and learn intellectually, socially and emotionally and where the faculty and staff are dedicated to teaching every child every day.
Sincerely,
Jill Hutcheson, Ed.S.
Principal

President – MaryJo Long
Vice Pres. – Holly Lane
Secretary – Amy Austin
Treasurer - Ede Emerick
Box Tops Coordinator – Kelly Drew

I hope you will join the PTC and assist with the many student-centered activities that they plan and coordinate. Membership is $5.00 per family. Our PTC is very active and supportive of classroom and school activities. During the 2007-08 school year, the organization added to the school’s technology by purchasing two interactive SMARTboards and projectors. The PTC also provided quarterly incentives for homework completion and sponsors our Scholastic Book Fair. This year the PTC will be brining two special assemblies to the students.

Tutoring
Volunteers are always welcome to assist with tutoring. Teachers frequently utilize parents and grandparents to assist with individual and small group reinforcement and special projects. If you would like to volunteer to be a tutor, contact the school office. This year Dardenne Elementary will again be participating in the OASIS Tutoring Program. Older adults will be volunteering their time to help improve reading skills. We’d like to thank the OASIS Volunteers who helped make our students even better readers during the 2006-07 school year. Mrs. Charla Jones coordinates the district’s OASIS program and our building coordinator is Mrs. Amy Haberkorn. If you would like to volunteer for this program, please call our school office. Training will be provided to our volunteers. Individual classroom teachers also need tutoring assistance as well as help with other classroom activities.

Assist with Special Events
The Dardenne PTC sponsors a number of special events. We count on our parents to help with preparation and supervision for these activities. Some of the activities are listed below:
· New Student Welcome
· Fine Arts Fair
· Holiday Parties
· Chaperones for Field Trips
· PTC Family Nights
· Family Health and Safety Fun Fair

Fund Raising
The PTC sponsors fundraisers each year and the proceeds stay right here to help make Dardenne an even better place for children. During the 2002-2003 school year, the PTC purchased a new phase of playground equipment and placed an IBM PC and color printer in our First through Fifth grade classrooms. During the 03-04 school year, our PTC provided our school with wireless networking capability, provided computers and printers to our two Kindergarten classrooms and helped furnish books for the Reading Is Fundamental program. Parent volunteers help with fund raising campaigns by counting money, making phone calls, and assisting with paper work. The PTC used proceeds to purchase SMARTboards and projectors during the 2006-07 school year. Dardenne PTC also supplies incentives for our students throughout the year by providing trophies, medals and plaques, in addition to playground equipment, computer software and other materials. During the 2006-07 school year, the PTC sponsored a Family Movie Night, a Secret Santa Shop as well as a Trivia Night. We also tried out Chris Cakes the pancake man at our Secret Santa Shop. There promises to be a repeat performance in 2007!

There is always something happening at Dardenne! Come Join Us!

Physical Education Classes

Our physical education teachers are Mr. Michael Regina and Mr. Matt Sissom. The physical education program is focused on the development and maintenance of optimal health through fitness. Part of their program includes a brief introduction to playground equipment, rules and safety procedures. This has become an important element of our “Trouble-Free Playground” Program that was implemented three years ago. The P.E. curriculum promotes a balance of leisure sports and skill development with an emphasis on creating a life-long interest in health and physical fitness.
Units of Emphasis
Health
Skills Development
Physical Fitness
Team Sports
Social Skills
Perceptual Motor Development

Annual Jump Rope for Heart

Students participate in a jump-a-thon to raise money for the American Heart Association every other year. Students gain the benefits of jump roping, in addition to learning the significance of contributing to the American Heart Association. This year's event is scheduled for Mid-February 2008.

Each year our students (Grades 2-5) participate in the Fort Zumwalt Physical Fitness Test. Students are recognized for their excellence in this area at the Awards Day in the spring of each year and fourth and fifth graders are presented with Presidential Fitness Awards based on their achievement.
Another component of overall physical fitness has been the walking program that Mr. Regina has helped to develop. Students have been able to record the number of laps they are walking either inside or outside around our track. Recognition has been given to students as they walk miles and miles for health throughout the school year. A map outside the nurse’s office helps students connect the distance they are walking with the mileage to specific destinations. Jennifer Schroeder received the Healthy Kid Award by walking the most number of miles during the 2005-06 school year.

Debbie Sellmeyer
Librarian

Nancy Olson
Library Clerk

Our goal is to teach children the enjoyment of reading and the skills necessary to use the Media Center. We accomplish this by having all classes, grades K-5, come to the library for 25 minutes each week. During their library visit students are encouraged to choose books of interest and are taught appropriate library skills. For younger readers we provide the fun of reading by sharing stories with them.

Whenever the library is available any grade level is able to schedule additional library time. This is often used for research, presentations, and guest speakers. There are electronic resources that classes can use, such as CD encyclopedias and the Internet.

Dardenne is especially proud of its Dardenne Park, located in one corner of the library. It is comprised of a floor to ceiling tree and two park benches. The students are given the chance to sit under the tree and read when they finish checking out their books.

The Scholastic Book Fair is held in our library each year as part of Celebrate the Arts and Reading Week. The PTC will be sponsoring the Book Fair again in 2007-08 but there will be a special Library-sponsored Book Fair in November.

We are also very excited to be participating in a school wide Reading Initiative “Ropin’ a Good Book”. This program will be encouraging all students to develop a love of reading. Last year we read over 20,000 books in our incentive program.