Hello Stallion Families,

What a wonderful week it has been at Patch Elementary! While short, this week was extra special as our Universal Pre-K students joined the Stallion family for their very first week of school. The rest of our students, who have been in session since August are already in full swing and it’s been exciting to see learning and routines taking shape across every grade level.

Here’s a glimpse of some of what our Stallions were up to this week:

• UPK: Our youngest Stallions had an amazing start! They explored fruits and veggies, bugs, sharing, and—most importantly—made lots of new friends. To a T, every child was excited and couldn’t wait to come back for more learning.
• Kindergarten: Kinder friends dove into the world of trees. They spent time outside, created paper-mâché trees, built puzzles, and even started a STEM project to design model trees. They also worked on recognizing capital and lowercase letters and writing their names.
• 1st Grade: Students in first grade investigated plants, learning how wheat and alfalfa sprouts grow and what ingredients are needed to help them thrive.
• 2nd Grade: The focus in second grade was math. Students strengthened their understanding of place value through word problems, manipulatives, and collaborative math games.
• 3rd Grade: Writing took center stage as third graders tapped into their creativity with fiction writing—taking inspiration from stories and using frames to craft their own tales. In social studies, they explored communities and the roles people play within them.
• 4th Grade: Science was all about animals this week. Students researched skunks and then wrote constructed responses based on their findings.
• 5th Grade: Hands-on learning was the highlight in fifth grade, where students studied food webs and food chains through activities that got them moving and collaborating around the neighborhood.

Looking Ahead

• Open House: Please join us Wednesday from 4:30–6:00 p.m. We’ll begin in the MPR before heading to classrooms. In addition to meeting your child’s teachers, families will be able to connect with several garrison organizations sharing information about opportunities for students.
• Picture Day: School photos are right around the corner—September 16–18. Individual and class pictures will be taken during the school day. Our amazing PTA is coordinating the effort to make it a smooth experience for everyone.

Lastly, while the schedule looks a little different this year thanks to the incorporation of daily science classes, please know that our teachers continue to build in movement and brain breaks throughout the day. While these may not always be explicitly noted on the schedule, they are intentionally placed to support student learning. Every Stallion also enjoys daily unstructured recess and PE at least once a week.

At Patch Elementary, we use a responsive instructional cycle — monitoring and adjusting — to ensure every child receives a well-rounded academic experience. As always, thank you for your continued feedback and support as we work together toward our shared goals.

Here’s to another great week ahead and we look forward to seeing you all during open house — go Stallions!

In service,
Dr. Quinland and Mr. Pieper