Chouteau Elementary School

Julie Cash is the Chouteau Elementary and ECC librarian. This what she had to say about working here.  I love how much the teachers at our school care about students. I also love the life lessons (daily habits) that are weaved into the culture of the school... Such as respect, manners, integrity, and self improvement. My favorite part of my day is when I feel like I've made a difference in the life of a child. It could be something big or something little. I love getting to know them and taking the time to genuinely show interest in them.  And then when a student comes to me to share their success. For example, when they get to move to a higher reading level in class and they want to tell me because they know I'll be excited for them. It warms my heart to be important enough to them that they want to tell me about it. My biggest goal this year is to support the reading goals of the school while remaining student focused and building relationships with my students.  I want to create a library experience that will promote life long learning and a love of reading for our students. I try my best to take advantage of teachable moments. The lesson that I've planned for the day isn't the only thing I teach that day. Often if you listen and communicate with students, you'll be presented with teachable moments where you teach exactly what that one student needed on the spot. Rather than give them the answer to a question, such as how to find a particular book, it's a great opportunity to review basic skills such as library organization, genre, etc. I love watching as the lights come on.

❤️ February 14th ❤️ We are looking forward to celebrating Valentine’s Day tomorrow. Please remember no balloons or glass are allowed on the bus. Please plan accordingly if you are planning on sending gifts to students. Students will receive their deliveries at the end of the day.

2023 Chouteau Elementary School Teacher of the Year is 2nd Grade Teacher Candace Means! Ms. Means was chosen by her peers for this title. We are so thankful for her hard work and contribution to our students and their learning. Congratulations! This is what Ms. Means had to say about working here at Chouteau Elementary School. My favorite part of working at Chouteau Elementary School is getting the opportunity to teach and work with amazing students and staff. When I moved here from California three years ago, I immediately noticed how polite the students at Chouteau elementary are. They are respectful to staff and to each other. Our students are very hard working and want to reach their personal goals as well as school wide goals. The staff here at CES are truly like family. They care about each other and put their everything into teaching and caring for our students. My favorite part of the day is Daily 5. During this time students are able to gain independence when choosing to work on various daily five learning activities. They can enjoy the learning process through engaging tasks on their chrome books or by reading to themselves or a partner. I enjoy being able to work with students in small groups to help them improve their reading and comprehension skills. The number one goal I have for myself this school year is to implement strategies from the Science of Reading training to further assist my students with their reading skills. Unlocking the ability to read and comprehend can be different for every student. I hope to use the strategies I'm learning to help my students improve their reading skills. I believe making connections with my students is one of the things I do best. We are humans and must be able to treat each other with respect and kindness. In the classroom, we celebrate each other's successes. Students encourage each other to do their best. Our classroom routines and expectations help build a healthy classroom community. Opportunities are given for students to talk and get to know each other. My students are really good at using their manners and helping each other in the classroom. This helps to create a safe and happy learning atmosphere. I am truly grateful to be teaching in the community of Chouteau. I look forward to many more years here. Thank you for welcoming me and my family with open arms. Go Wildcats!

Help us show support and appreciation to our SRO Officer Hershberger. We truly love and appreciate the safety and security he brings to our school. Chouteau PTO is accepting gift cards and/or monetary donations to create a gift basket. Donations can be dropped off at any school office or use the PayPal link below. Please submit your donations by Friday, February 10. No donation is to small. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=T6PAR6ZNATND4 Join us in wearing BLUE on Wednesday, Feb. 15!

National School Counseling Week Feb. 6-10, 2023 Kathy McCollough is the Chouteau Elementary, Mazie, and ECC School Counselor and the Gifted & Talented Director. She does so many things around school to keep our student's needs taken care of. She coordinates counseling sessions with outside agencies, runs child studies, coordinates the Angel tree, Sertoma Shoe drive, Thanksgiving baskets, and guidance classes, among many other things. She meets one on one with students, helps with student clubs, she co-leads our student-led leadership assembly team, organizes our student-led announcements, participates in a Professional Learning Community and is on the Lighthouse team and Action Team. She is always calling parents and working with teachers to make sure we all have what we need to be successful. Thank you, Mrs. McCollough, for your hard work here at Chouteau- Mazie Public Schools.

James Tyson is the Chouteau Elementary Special Education Teacher. He meets weekly with all grade level teams to collaborate on the upcoming weeks learning targets. He also goes over data with the teams to determine the next steps for each of his students. This is what Mr. Tyson had to say about working at Chouteau Elementary School.  My favorite part of working at Chouteau Elementary is working with students in the resource lab and interacting with other students.  I also like working with other teachers and support personnel in finding ideas and ways to reach and teach students to be successful. The morning sessions are my favorite part of the day. The reason why is this is the onset stage for learning. This includes the interaction with students and setting the atmosphere for students to engage in learning.  My  #1 goal for this school year is to be an effective teacher, motivator, and role model for students. I do my best work in my classroom as I observe , listen, and then speak in guiding students to learn how to solve different issues they face  both academically or behaviorally.  I really enjoy the atmosphere and teamwork at Chouteau Elementary School.

Congratulations to all the Spelling Bee contestants! The following students placed as the TOP 4 Spelling Bee WINNERS. 1st Place- Jeff Xiong 2nd Place- Rylan Morrison 3rd Place- Jesse Frazier 4th Place - Aaron Miller The Top 2 winners will compete at the Eastern Oklahoma State Spelling Bee on Friday, April 21st at the Muskogee Civic Center. The 3rd and 4th place winners will be alternates in the case the top two are not able to make it. We are so proud of our winners and will be cheering you on to take home this final metal.

Savannah Yoder is a 4th grade teacher at Chouteau Elementary School. Here are a few things she had to say about working here. My favorite part of working at Chouteau Elementary is that everyone shares the same vision and is dedicated to the mission of helping our students grow and learn. WIN time is a great example of the whole school coming together with a common goal of our students mastering essential standards and executing that in the most beneficial ways. We work well as a team and openly share ideas that will better our students learning. My favorite part of the day is during Daily 5. The students gain independence with reading and have some control in their learning with the choices that they are given. It gives the teacher the opportunity to work alongside students as they develop a love for reading. It is a good balance between structure and independence for students. My #1 goal for this year is for 100% of my class to master 50% of our essential standards. This goal is a great building block for future years and will benefit student growth. I believe that I build a strong classroom community. I want my students to have a place to come where they love to learn and feel accepted. My class does a great job of cheering each other on and celebrating each other's successes.

Saturday, February 11th 8:00-2:00 at MidAmerica Industrial Park Expo. The school will win a gift card if they bring the most adults to the blood drive. You can schedule an appointment at obi.org if you are interested in participating.

Chouteau-Mazie Schools will not be in session Friday, February 3rd due to road conditions. We still have several bus routes that are not safely drivable by a bus. We will return to school Monday February 6th at our regular time. FYI- The missed snow days were built into the calendar and will not have to be made up. Thank you.

Chouteau-Mazie Schools will not be in session Thursday, February 2nd due to road conditions. We plan on being back in school Friday on a regular schedule road conditions permitting. Thank you.

Chouteau-Mazie Schools will not be in session Wednesday February 1st. We will continue to monitor to make decisions about the Thursday. Thank you and stay safe.

Chouteau-Mazie Schools will not be in session Tuesday, January 31st. We will continue to monitor Wednesday. Be safe!

Due to deteriorating road conditions tonight Chouteau-Mazie Schools will not be in session Monday, January 29th. We will continue to monitor throughout the day tomorrow to make decisions about the rest of the week. Thank you and stay safe.

We celebrated " Baby Yoder Day" with CES with a party and an announcement in our Friday Leadership Assembly. We are excited for Mrs. Yoder and her husband as they welcome their little girl into the world this February. ❤️

Cheer Camp was a success and here are the results! Great work Chouteau Wildcats.

Chouteau Elementary Spelling Bee will be Feb. 7th at 8:30 in the multipurpose gym. The list attached are the 2 finalists from each class that will be competing to advance to the 2023 Eastern OK State Spelling Bee. Join us to cheer on all the spellers.

Look what Mrs. Graham received today! All A plus. This child's handwriting is just beautiful. Nice work to both you and the student.

2nd graders continued celebration of the 100th day of school.