The Capitol School

Dear Parents,
I am so sorry to report that one of our Preschoolers who attends only in the afternoons
has been diagnosed with Meningitis. The child is already in the hospital and tests are being
conducted to see if it is viral or bacteria. Here are questions from the CDC website:

Q: What is meningitis?
A: Meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. People sometimes
refer to it as spinal meningitis. Meningitis is usually caused by a viral or bacterial infection. Knowing
whether meningitis is caused by a virus or bacterium is important because the severity of illness and the
treatment differ depending on the cause. Viral meningitis is generally less severe and clears up without
specific treatment. Hib vaccine is now given to all children as part of their routine immunizations. This
vaccine has reduced the number of cases of Hib infection and the number of related meningitis cases.

Q: What are the signs and symptoms of meningitis?
A: High fever, headache, and stiff neck are common symptoms of meningitis in anyone over the age of 2 years. These
symptoms can develop over several hours, or they may take 1 to 2 days. Symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, discomfort
looking into bright lights, confusion, and sleepiness.
Viral Meningitis Questions

Q: What is viral meningitis?
A: Meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes ("meninges") that cover the brain and spinal cord. Viral infections
are the most common cause of meningitis; bacterial infections are the second most common cause.

Q: What are the signs and symptoms of viral meningitis?
A: Symptoms can appear quickly or they can also take several days to appear, usually after a cold or
runny nose, diarrhea, vomiting, or other signs of infection show up. Symptoms nay include: fever,
irritability, poor-eating, hard to awaken.
Bacterial Meningitis Questions

Q: How is bacterial meningitis diagnosed?
A: Early diagnosis and treatment are very important. If symptoms occur, the patient should see a doctor
immediately. The diagnosis is usually made by growing bacteria from a sample of spinal fluid. The spinal
fluid is obtained by performing a spinal tap. Identification of the type of bacteria responsible is important
for selection of correct antibiotics.

Q: Is bacterial meningitis contagious?
A: Yes, some forms of bacterial meningitis are contagious. The bacteria can mainly be spread from person
to person through the exchange of respiratory and throat secretions. This can occur through coughing,
kissing, and sneezing. Fortunately, none of the bacteria that cause meningitis are as contagious as things
like the common cold or the flu. Also, the bacteria are not spread by casual contact or by simply breathing
the air where a person with meningitis has been.

MORE INFORMATION WILL BE SHARED AS SOON AS WE HAVE THE TEST RESULTS!

Barbara Roundtree

The Capitol School will reopen for students on Monday, May 2, 2011.
The school will be open from 7:30-5:30.

Each student will need to bring lunch, snacks, and drinks such as water. Catered/Ordered lunches will not be available.

Please call anyone you can to give them this news. Many people do not have internet services at this time. The school does not have internet. Dr. Rountree does not have internet. Phone service is sporadic. I am trying to send this out to as many as I can. If you see a parent missing from the recipients list, please forward it to him or her.

The Upper and Collegiate students will volunteer with Dr. Rodgers at the Religious Services site or another site. Dress accordingly. Capitol School t-shirts would help others identify our students as they are working.

No student will be penalized in anyway if he or she cannot get to school. We would like to help our families return to some type of normalcy in their lives and provide child care for our families who need it. We are so thankful that the families we have heard from are alive.  Many have lost their homes or have severe damage. If you need help, please let us know. Many in our Capitol School family are ready to help. We just need to know what to do.

Three Elementary Schools were destroyed. We are taking donations to The Capitol School Foundation. These are tax deductible. We will use this money to help the public school teachers replace their teaching supplies that were destroyed. We will collect toiletries and small toys Monday to take to the children in the shelters.

The preschool children sang in four different languages and toured over 20 country tables. They were able to hear, see, and speak different languages with native speakers. Children were also allowed to taste native dishes and enjoyed playing with toys and trying on clothes from many different cultures. The experience deepened their awareness and appreiciation for our global community.

Reading Instruction

Each child enters our cluster with different learning styles and needs.  We have an individualized reading conference with each child every day.  We sit down with that child and assess his or her needs.  Some children will need beginning reading instruction.  Others will be advanced.  Each child will read books on his or her own personal level.

Readers use basically three skills to decode words:

Knowledge of high frequency words

Phonics

Contextual clues

Dr. Edward Fry has identified the words that are used the most often in English.  The ten most used words such as: the, of, to, in, is are in almost every sentence,  The first 25 most used words comprise one-third of all material.  The first 100 most used words comprise about 50% and the first 300 comprise about 65% of all reading material.  Therefore, you need to instantly recognize these words “by sight” and they are often called “sight words.”  If you can read the first 300, you can read 65% of everything.  Combine this with use of phonics and contextual clues and you are reading.

Think about what you do if you ever come across an unfamiliar word when reading.  You might think, “Does it look like a word I know?”  You might also sound it out.  You most likely check to see if your guess makes any sense within the context of what you are reading.  We use all these tools combined to read.

Spring Break is March 15-19, 2010.

We, at The Capitol School, hope you all have a safe, happy, and restful Spring Break holiday!

See you on the 22nd.