Miller Elementary Weekly Update

Hello Miller Families!

Happy Sunday! It was a super busy week at Miller Elementary and I still can't believe everything we fit in! From sledding on Monday, a 2-hour delay on Tuesday, Miller Family BINGO Night, special guest readers, a fire drill, the 100th day of school and an assembly for our kindergartners to kick off our Kids Heart Challenge, we found time for A LOT OF FUN this week! You can ask your child what they enjoyed most about our past week!

We are completely humbled by the amazing turnout for our Family BINGO night that we held this past week! We had another large turnout, even using a larger space at Leighton Elementary! We want to thank Randy Monahan of the Streetsboro DQ for donating the tasty Dilly Bars and the staff at Miller who made or donated treats to enjoy during game time. Additionally, thank you to our Aurora Elementary PTO for providing support for our raffle prizes. Our initial fundraising total is over $500 dollars and we still have all the donated coins to add to our grand total. We are very excited to combine this with funds that we raised last year to make the purchase for some adapted equipment for our playground! We are going to start with additional adapted swings, sit and spins, and a merry-go-round bike system. We will work with vendors and our grounds crew to install these new items!

I'm looking forward to another fun week ahead as we enter the month of February!

All the Best!

Maria Goodman

Miller Elementary School - Principal

330-562-6199

Email mgoodman@aurora-schools.org

The playground provides many opportunities for social, emotional, and physical growth of the young child. It can also provide opportunities for sensory integration through swinging, collaborative play, and developing a child's vestibular system (balance, stability and coordination). Playgrounds with swings, spinning equipment, and "risk taking" equipment (balance beams, stairs, & slides) support the opportunities to engage the vestibular system. This also helps to improve fine motor skills, balance, touch, and spatial awareness. Additionally, playing on swings and equipment helps to develop relationships. A shared play experience can improve imagination, communication, and interactions with others. It can provide a positive experience that develops empathy for others. We look forward to using our funds raised at BINGO night for the past few years to add some new equipment to the Miller Playground in the months ahead!

Hello, Heart Heroes! Are you ready?! Kids Heart Challenge is coming to our school soon! We have some exciting things planned this year to get us moving, helping others, and having fun. Get a head start by signing up today and helping your student choose a daily health challenge. Visit the Miller School page at http://www2.heart.org/goto/MillerElementarySchoolAuroraOH or download the Kids Heart Challenge app! We are kicking off the Kids Heart Challenge on MONDAY during PE class!

Miller Elementary is currently accepting names of families interested in having their child be a part of our integrated preschool program for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year as a role model peer. Please use the attached preschool form to be added to our list of interested families. Children must reside in the Aurora City School District, be 3 years old and potty trained by 8/1/24, have clear communication skills, and demonstrate age-expected social and emotional skills to be considered as a peer for our integrated program. If you have any questions, you can email Lauren Barker at lbarker@aurora-schools.org.

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.

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)

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. Saturday, January 27, 2024 - AEPTO's Princess Prom is this Saturday! Thank you to our sponsors and to those who donated amazing items for our raffle. We're looking forward to seeing you there!

3. Save the Date - The AEPTO celebrates Teacher Appreciation Week February 5-9! Your Head Room Parent will be sending out more information soon!

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

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

If you are interested in helping plan the classroom party, please click the link above!

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

6. 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!

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

8. 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

1/27 - AEPTO Princess Prom

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