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Schools

Fenton's Uthoff Valley Elementary Starts School in Celebration

Uthoff Valley pulls out all the stops for a First Day Celebration for parents and students alike.

For five years, the PTO at have been making sure students—and their parents—feel welcome and ready to learn from very moment they walk in the door. They are the only school in the Rockwood district to host a “First Day Celebration” to make the start of school memorable and fun.

The First Day Celebration is held in addition to a normal open house before the start of school. The event is most popular with parents new to the school or who have children just starting school.

In the morning, staff gathered outside the door to greet students as they got off the bus. Parents who drove their kids to school (or followed the bus in their car) were encouraged to enter their child’s classroom to meet the teacher and take pictures.

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Then parents were invited to a series of informational meetings that covered topics lsuch as volunteering with the PTO or Watch DOGS (a group for dads), getting their kids involved with scouts, or learning about technology in the school. Parents were also invited to a schoolwide assembly to welcome students back to school and introduce new teachers.

Afterward, the PTO hosted a pizza and cookie picnic to give parents a chance to mingle.

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“We have an awesome PTO,” Principal Connie Browning said.

Browning said Uthoff’s First Day Celebration has yet to catch on with other schools in the district because she can’t invite other principals to see the program in action—they are too busy welcoming their own students to school. She did say that she made a presentation about their first day activities at a Missouri Association of Elementary School Principals conference and hopes the program catches on.

PTO Co-President Loralee Mondl estimated that 150 parents attended the celebration.

“It was more than last year,” she said.

Mondl said she was amazed when she saw how many parents turned out for the event.

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