It's hard to believe we have been in school for two months already, but we have! October is coming to an end and we are approaching the holiday season. Hoping everyone is able to enjoy Halloween, if celebrated. We have a few days off in November, so make sure you check the important dates below.
October was a busy month full of fun fall activities! We had many field trips to Stoke Farms, which the students enjoyed. We had a visit from the Finger Lakes Opera, who performed the children's opera Pinocchio for us. We also welcomed local authors here for the Rochester Children's Book Festival. We also had a visit from Chanel 8 News meteorologist Liam Healey, who was very interested in learning more about our beekeepers here at School 46. If you missed it, here is the link to the Chanel 8 News story. On Halloween, we had three special guest readers in the building: Chief Morien, Vice President Lebron, and Dr. Peluso! They all took turns being celebrity readers, sharing Halloween books with our kindergarteners. What a fun way to celebrate the spooky holiday! We are so happy that they were able to take time out of their busy schedules and participate.
Covid Updates
Our numbers of positive cases has stayed relatively low compared to the county. That said, Covid is still very much with us. I just got a booster, myself, just to be protected in the event I am exposed. As always, we are following the same guidelines with regard to time out for a positive case. If a child tests positive, they must isolate for five days, and then may return (fever free without the aid of medication) masked for the next five days. A letter and a test kit will go home with all students in the room, and parents will also receive a robocall regarding the positive case. We cannot share any identifying information other than the fact that there was a positive case in the room. Also, you should be aware that we have been seeing non-Covid upper respiratory viruses around school too, as well as the flu. If your child appears sick, it is probably best to keep the child home and monitor their symptoms, just in case.
Emergency Information
At the start of the school year, you should have received a paper asking you to update your personal contact information, as well as add anyone who has permission to pick up your child in the event that you cannot get here. If any of your information has changed, it is important that we are notified. In the event of an emergency, we have to know how to reach you. Especially in the event that a child is seriously injured, we will need correct information. Please make sure we have the correct contact information on file in the main office. You can either email us as 46info@rcsdk12.org, or call (585) 288-8008.
After School Clubs
I am so excited to share that we will be able to host after school clubs again this year. We are almost ready to send out the link for the students to sign up. Lego Club is already up and running, but soon we will be offering beekeeping, speech & debate, chess, coding, sports & nutrition, and Spanish club. Clubs will be held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 3:30-5:00. This year, we will have one bus available for students who do not have transportation! When you sign up, please indicate if your child needs transportation. We can only transport 40 students, so it will be first come/first served.
S.O.A.R. Awards (Strength, Optimism, Acceptance, Resilience)
Last month, we were focused on observing the characteristic of strength in our students. In our first Parliament Meeting, we met as a whole school to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, meet the safety patrol, review the September book of the month, and discuss the quality of strength. We emphasized that strength can be physical, of course, but we can also demonstrate strength in other ways too. For instance, we can be mentally strong when solving a challenging problem in math, or by making a good choice when others around us are not. We can demonstrate emotional strength by being kind to a friend who we don't always get along with, or standing up for what is right when others may not. During the month of October, students were identified as showing strength. At our next assembly, we will be honoring those students and moving on to focus on being optimistic. Feel free to discuss these traits with your children at home too!
As always, thank you so much for your continued partnership. Thank you for sharing your precious children with us. It is our goal to provide an educational space that we can all be proud of, and I hope you feel like we have accomplished that. I am really looking forward to the rest of the school year!
