Essex Community School's Home Page

Have a book or magazine title you would like to see purchased for the Media Center? Click HERE to make a suggestion.

Do you know of an outstanding Essex high school graduate? Click HERE to nominate that person to be honored on the Essex high school Wall of Fame.

Click HERE to view the calendar for the 2010-2011 school year

Click HERE for the fall sports picture order form. Due Sept. 3 to Mrs. Peterson.

Tara Maher Memorial Patch

Orders for the Tara Maher Memorial Patch will be taken until Sept. 3. The patches are $5.00. Orders will be taken in the High School office and must be prepaid. Make checks payable to Essex School. For additional information, contact Denny Perry.

Elementary Supplies
Click HERE to view the elementary supply list for the
2010-2011 school year.

Essex Grant Writing team Receives $2000.00 for New Elementary Playground Equipment

The Essex grant writing team of Kimberly Peterson, Kathleen Johnson, and Amy Resh were notified on April 13, that the grant application submitted for $2000.00 was one of 26 Build With Bags grants awarded across Iowa this year to purchase recycled plastic playground equipment.

A total of 71 applications were submitted for consideration of the grant and only 26 chosen. The Build with Bags Grant Program is a cooperative effort led by the Iowa grocery Industry Association to raise awareness and give the public a complete understanding of plastic bag recycling and the use of reusable bags.

Goals of the Build with Bags Program are to:

Reduce Bag Use
Increase Use of Reusable Bags
Increase Plastic Bag Recycling
Fund Purchases of Recycled Plastic Equipment for Parks and Schools

Essex will purchase one Tic-Tac-Toe Panel and two Fossil Bluff Climbers. A component of the grant was that the items must be made of recycled High density Polyethylene (HDPE) plastic, the base material for making plastic shopping bags.

tic tac toe climbing wall

Healthy Kids Act
The number of youth who are overweight in Iowa now appears to outpace national rates, putting our students at an increased risk for chronic diseases. For this reason, Iowa Governor Culver signed the Healthy Kids Act into law on May 13, 2008. In addition to preventing overweight and obesity among children, this act was created to help children develop healthy eating habits, promote active lifestyles, and provide students with a solid foundation for a better future. Effective July 1, 2010, nutritional content standards will apply to all food and beverages sold to students between the first and last bell. In addition, K-5 students must have a minimum of 30 minutes of physical activity everyday, and 6-12 students a minimum of 120 minutes per week. AEAs must have a contract with a licensed dietitian, and beginning with the class of 2012, every student must complete a CPR certification course by the end of grade 12. Some ways you can help your children include eating family meals, involving your children in meal planning, sending healthy foods to school, and being active with them. To help kids make better choices and to determine whether or not a food meets the Healthy Kids Act nutrition standards, visit HERE to try out a Nutrition Calculator provided by the Iowa Department of Education.
For more information about the Healthy Kids Act, click HERE. (Note: Breakfast and Lunch programs will continue to follow USDA guidelines.)

Chat Mobility School Rebate Program
Area schools rely on fund raising to promote special projects, events, & needs. Chat Mobility supports area local schools by giving 2.5% of the monthly access fee to a Chat Mobility customer's school of choice. Every quarter, they tally the totals and write checks to participating schools. In 2008, Chat Mobility donated over $12,000 to local schools! So far this year, Essex Community School has received $463.52. To designate Essex as the school you would like to benefit from your phone plan, please visit chatmobility.com,

Commercial Food Recalls Information
The USDA Food Distribution Division has requested sharing the following information regarding commercial food recalls. The best way for anyone to get email notifications of all food recalls is by signing up for free email updates from www.recalls.gov. This is a one-stop shop for U.S. Government recalls. If you'd like to sign up, follow these simple steps:
1. Log on to www.recalls.gov
2. Click on the Food tab at the top.
3. Click on "Sign Up for Free Recall Updates by E-mail" (in red toward top of page)
4. Enter your email address and check the box titled FoodSafety.gov Recalls and Alerts under the FoodSafety.gov Updates section.

Trash bag Fundraiser
Members of the Essex Playground Committee are selling rolls of trash bags as a fundraiser to help with costs in constructing a new elementary playground. There are three options in trash bags: white 15-gallon bags, yellow 39-gallon bags and blue 55-gallon bags. There are 55 bags in the 15-gallon roll, 25 bags in the 39-gallon roll, and 16 bags in the 55-gallon roll. Cost per roll is $10. To place an order, please contact Amy Resh (aresh@heartland.net) or stop by the school.

Classroom Connections
Several Essex teachers have web pages dedicated to news and resources for their classrooms to help keep students and parents informed. Please explore them at the links provided below.

Mr. McConnaughey - Music Department
Mrs. Peterson - Business Classes
Mrs. Herron - 6th Grade
Mrs. McBride - Title I Reading and Math
Mrs. Gates - Library Twitter Account "EssexCSDLibrary"

Pop Not Allowed
Nutrition requirements prohibit the consumption of pop in Trojan Hall during lunch or breakfast. Therefore please do not send pop in your student's lunches.