Birthday+Celebrations+at+LCE

Dear Families,

As a staff we have become increasingly concerned about the amount of sugar consumption that is taking place during the school day that we feel you may not be aware of. Because this was taking place on “our watch” of your children, we felt we needed to address the issue out of our desire to provide the best environment for your children to learn.

As class sizes have gotten larger the number of birthday treats that are sent to school has also increased. In classes of 25-30 students you can calculate the number of times each week doughnuts, cupcakes, ice cream, sugary drinks and cookies are being consumed in our classrooms. We want you, as your child’s parent, to be able to decide the days and amount of sugar that your child consumes. We recognize that this is impossible if on any given day your child comes home and reports that a birthday was celebrated at school with a large treat and juice.

Starting this year we will honor and recognize your child’s birthday in the classroom with activities that are nonfood related. We do not want you to send anything to school. Your child’s teacher will coordinate the birthday activity in a way that recognizes them but still allows your family the option of celebrating at home with the food and parties that you choose.

As we made this decision as a staff we recognized there were other implications that we had not realized may be impacting your family:


 * The increasing number of food allergies and dietary restrictions your child may have
 * The financial situation that your family may be facing
 * The difficulty as working parents of coordinating the delivery of treats
 * The unintended pressure you face of making sure that your child’s treat was as desirable as the treats that the other students have brought to school.

There was one more benefit that we recognized as we made this decision. In a classroom of 27 students over 9 hours of instructional time will be recaptured.

Each grade level will determine a way to honor your child for their birthday. You child’s teacher will be communicating with you how this will look. Below are some things at school that will not change this year:


 * We will still have our classroom holiday celebrations at Halloween and Valentine’s Day. These celebrations will continue to be directed by parents and will include treats that you wish to send to school.
 * We will continue to sell the ice milk bars at lunch recess once a week
 * On hot spring days that reach 83 degrees or above we will treat our students to a free popsicle at last recess
 * Our PTA sponsored activities will sell treats as they determine fit the activity.

As you have heard me say many times before, we care deeply about your child and want their time at Little Cedars Elementary School to be as educationally sound as possible. Each decision we make will always be based on what we believe is in their best educational interest.

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 21px;">Please fell free to contact me if you would like any clarification regarding our decision.

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 21px;">Partnering with your for your child’s success,

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 21px;">Becky Brockman <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 21px;">Principal

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