Miller Elementary Weekly Update

Hello Miller Families!

Happy February! We will be kicking off the month with some special weeks ahead to celebrate our amazing staff and children. On Monday, our PTO is sponsoring our Teacher & Staff Appreciation week! Nationally, this special week is recognized in May, but we all know how busy that time of year can be. February is a great month to spread some kindness and cheer. Please see the reminder below outlining a few special days ahead.

After we wrap up Staff Appreciation Week, we will roll into Random Acts of Kindness Week! We will have some easy spirit days to help spread some kindness all week long. This will also be the week that we will celebrate Valentine's Day with our classmates. Many classroom teachers have sent out or will be sending out specific directions for this fun filled day! Please remember that we are an allergy aware school. It is best if Valentines are non-edible and safe for all.

Finally, all the children at Miller Elementary are working on making Valentine's to give to our Senior Friends at the Avenue of Aurora. Our preschoolers are making place mats for the residents to enjoy on Valentine's Day and our kindergartners will be working on a sweet treat butterfly craft and heart shaped window catcher. These items will be dropped off so each resident can have a special Valentine's Day! Just before winter break, the residents at the Avenue made our children a holiday gift bag with play-dough, a play-mat and a pair of gloves. We are looking forward to giving back and continuing this special partnership!

Here's to a great week ahead!

Maria Goodman

Miller Elementary School - Principal

330-562-6199

Email mgoodman@aurora-schools.org

We are halfway through our Kids Heart Challenge program and have raised over $6,000! If you haven’t had a chance to take one of our heart challenges yet, don’t worry! There is still time. Our Miller School link is: http://www2.heart.org/goto/MillerElementarySchoolAuroraOH

Our Kids Heart Challenge event ends on Friday, February 9th. Please have all donations in that day!

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch with Mrs. Barnes at sslackford@aurora-schools.org. Thank you so much for all your support for this amazing organization.

January

• Monday, 1/29 - Kids Heart Challenge Begins

February

• Wednesday 2/14 - Valentines Day Celebrations
• Thursday, 2/15 - End of the Second Trimester
• Friday, 2/16 - NO SCHOOL - Staff In-service Day
• Monday, 2/19 - NO SCHOOL - Presidents' Day
• Friday, 2/23 - Second Trimester Reports Will be Accessible (More Information to Come)

Kindergarten Registration for the 2024-2025 school year will begin in February! Please help spread the word to your neighbors and friends and we are super excited to start this process with our current eligible preschoolers. We will be holding our Kick Off to Kindergarten parent-only meeting on Tuesday, February 20, 2024, at 6:30 PM at the Aurora High School Auditorium located at 109 W. Pioneer Trail.

Residents of the Aurora City School District who have a child turning 5 by September 30th, 2024 are invited to attend our Kick Off to Kindergarten meeting to pick up registration materials and learn all about kindergarten! We will be holding our registration days on March 6th and 7th. You will select a registration time slot using the links shared at the parent meeting. All presentations and registration information will be shared on our district website after February 20th if you cannot attend this parent meeting. Please don't hesitate to call Miller Elementary School with specific questions at 330-562-6199.

Happy New Year Miller Families! This has been a great week of visiting classrooms and seeing your students’ smiling faces. During classroom guidance, we practiced mindful breathing and learned about the ZONES of Regulation. The ZONES of Regulation helps categorize feelings. As a Kindergarten student, your child can identify how they feel and practice selecting a coping skill or strategy if they choose to feel differently. In class, we learn that all feelings are okay! We will continue working on identifying feelings, learning new coping skills and discussing what “triggers,” or events, may cause us to feel a certain way. Please enjoy these read-alouds from The ZONES Book Nook to help your child practice identifying feelings.

Separately, another resource that has been helpful is On Our Sleeves. This site is a simple way to gather community resources, contacts, talking points and activities to benefit your family’s well-being and mental health. I found the How-To articles super helpful because as a counselor and a parent, I know how I want my students and children to think of themselves, but am often refining the process in which I use to correct their thinking in a more positive way. I hope you find this resource helpful!

Mrs. Lindsey Ambrosia

School Counselor

lambrosia@aurora-schools.org

330.562.6199, ext. 5414

This is a reminder that we are using our Miller Attendance and Parent Pick-up Form as an easy communication tool to report your child will be absent or you need to pick them up from school early. You still need to use the Alternative Bus Stop Form linked in this newsletter if you need your child's bus to change. You do not need to report if they will not be riding the bus in the morning due to an absence or illness on this form.

If you want to change your child from a bus rider to a parent pick-up, please scan the QR code below or click the button to fill out our Google form. This can be done from any device and your reply will be sent immediately to our secretary, Mrs. Wolf.

If you need an alternative bus stop or a change in busing, we also have attached the transportation forms to change your child's busing information. These forms need to be completed and sent to our transportation department at transportationinfo@aurora-schools.org

As a reminder, you can send in cash or check made out to the Aurora City Schools and we will add any amount to your child's lunch account. Please send in money in a clearly labeled envelope so we know to add this amount to your child's account!

As you are aware, the current cold, flu, COVID, and RSV season has already hit Northeast Ohio and specifically our building. We continue to stress the importance of good hygiene, hand-washing, and proper sneeze/cough etiquette. Our youngest children are still developing skills to properly cover their cough and how to use tissues. We want to stress the importance of letting your child rest and recuperate when they are ill or showing symptoms.

• Check your child each day for illness symptoms. If they begin to feel ill during the day, please know our school nurse, Jackie Pawlowski, will assess your child and make contact with a family member when necessary.
• Students sent home with a fever, may not return to school until they are fever free without medication for at least 24 hours. This means if your child was sent home on Tuesday at 12:00 p.m. with a fever, he/she may not return to school until Thursday. If your child does return the next day, our school will be calling for you to come and pick him/her up. Please help to support our efforts in this area. This also is the protocol if your child is vomiting or has diarrhea. They need to be free of symptoms for 24 hours to return to school.
• We will send a Final Forms notification if there is a communicable disease reported in your child's classroom. This can help you monitor your own child and make informed decisions about symptoms.
• Please make sure your Final Forms medical information is up to date. We will closely read the health section to address any medical concerns.

Hello Miller Families!

Below are your AEPTO updates.

1. Our next AEPTO meeting is Wednesday, February 7 at 6:30pm in the Aurora Conference Center (119 W Pioneer Trail).

2. Princess Prom was a huge success! Thank you to our Committee, who went above and beyond, to make the event truly spectacular! Thank you to our parent volunteers who helped set up and clean up. Thank you to the NHS students who volunteered in so many ways - from setting up, checking in, dressing up, face painting, and cleaning up. We could not have done it without you all of your help. Thank you!

3. Teacher Appreciation Week starts next week! February 5th-9th. You should have received a schedule and more information from your Head Room Parent already. We're looking forward to celebrating all the amazing teachers at Miller next week!

4. Wednesday, February 14: Valentine's Day Classroom Parties - Volunteer Sign Up at:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0E49AEA829A0FB6-47133246-miller#/

All volunteers must sign up using the link above.

5. Mishan Salon - Give Back Event!

Mishan Salon is giving back 20% on all gift card sales from February 1st-14th if you mention Aurora Elementary PTO. Visit them Tuesday-Friday 9:00am-5:00pm and Saturday 8:00am-1:00pm (1025 N Aurora Rd.)

6. Spring Flower Fundraiser - The Fortmeyer & Sons spring flower fundraiser kicks off February 27th and will close March 12th. Flyers will come home soon.

7. Save the Date - AEPTO's Mother Son Event at Fun 'n' Stuff on April 25h from 5:00pm-8:00pm! More information is coming soon!

8. Box Tops! Another easy way to help out our schools. Just download the app and then scan your receipts to earn box tops.

9. Interested in joining the AEPTO Board? My position, Vice President of Miller, will be open for next school year. If you are interested in this position, please let me know!

Important Upcoming Dates

2/5-2/9 - Teacher Appreciation Week

2/7 - AEPTO Meeting 6:30pm

2/14 - Valentine's Day Classroom Parties

If you have any questions, please let me know!

Jen

auroraptomesvp@gmail.com

mgoodman@aurora-schools.org

Principal

Vicki Wolf

vwolf@aurora-schools.org

Secretary

Email: mgoodman@aurora-schools.org
Website: aurora-schools.org
Location: 646 S Chillicothe Rd, Aurora, OH 44202, USA
Phone: 330-562-6199