Montgomery Elementary News
October 13, 2023
Contact Us
Dr. Amy Debelak, Principal
Ms. Sally Ganz, Asst. Principal
Office 513-686-1730
Absence Line 513-686-1736
Absence Email MTattendance@sycamoreschools.org
School Nurse 513-686-1733
Cafeteria 513-686-1735
Transportation 513-686-1785
FAX 513-792-6131
Website: http://www.sycamoreschools.org/Domain/13
Location: 9609 Montgomery Road, Cincinnati, OH, United States
Facebook: www.facebook.com/montgomeryelementaryofficial/?fref=ts
๐ PRINCIPAL'S CORNER ๐
The students had another wonderful week of learning at Montgomery. Next week is the 3rd Grade English Language Arts AIR Assessment. The building will be quieter than normal to accommodate all childrenโs learning needs. Thank you for your support.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Amy
๐ IMPORTANT DATES ๐
OCTOBER:
*LITERACY NIGHT HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL THE SPRING*
26 - End of 1st Quarter
27 - Records Day *No School*
27 - Skating Party
31 - Fall Parade 2:30-3:30
NOVEMBER:
3 - Family Fun Night
8 - Picture Retakes
9 - Evening Parent/Teacher Conferences
10 - Conferences *No School*
16 - Evening Parent/Teacher Conferences
20-24 - Thanksgiving Break *No School*
๐ MONTGOMERY NEWS ๐
BOOK FAIR SUCCESS
Thank you to the volunteers, adults who came to school to shop with little ones, parents who marked their calendar and prepared their children to shop, and the well behaved Montgomery students. The Literati Book Fair was a big success! All profits come directly back to our media center to purchase library bound books. I intend to use our profits this year to purchase 2023 award books that I will be highlighting in January.
It is so fulfilling to see the excitement of the students during the book fair. This is an opportunity for them to make a choice in their interest and learning.
Thank you again for always supporting our quest to make literacy a focus at Montgomery Elementary.
Sincerely,
Teresa Messer
Media Specialist
CHANGING FAMILIES
Our Changing Families support group, which focuses on students experiencing divorce or separation, will begin on Monday, October 23rd. This group is facilitated by our school counselor Mrs. Block. Please reach out to her via email (below) as soon as possible and ideally by Thursday, October 19th if you would like your student to participate in the Changing Families group. She is also happy to answer any questions about the group as needed.
Thank you!
Samantha Block
VISION AND HEARING SCREENINGS
Vision and hearing screenings at Montgomery Elementary will be on the following dates for the 2023-24 school year.
Kindergarten October 24 and October 26
First grade October 25
Third grade November 2
If your child does not pass the vision and/or hearing screening, a second screening will be conducted by the school nurse. If your child does not pass the second screening, a referral will be mailed to you recommending further evaluation by a vision and/or hearing specialist.
If you have any questions about the school vision and hearing screening program, please call Susan Linton, School Nurse at Montgomery Elementary or email at lintons@sycamoreschools.org.
VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP
Below is a link to sign up if you are interested in helping out with the vision and hearing screenings. Thank you!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0A4FACAE28A7FE3-44417226-volunteers
Susan Linton, MSN, RN
Montgomery Elementary
Nurse Office 513-686-1733
Fax 513-792-6131
ART ROOM VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Hello, awesome aviator families! The art room is in need of volunteers. The volunteers will help prepare supplies, help with the art show, and help with displays. If this is something you are interested in please complete the art room volunteer sign-up form!
Thank you so much!
Mrs. Helton
Mikayla Helton (She/Her)
Art Teacher
Montgomery Elementary School
Mark Your Calendars!!!
Our annual BINGO night is back!
When: Friday, November 3, 2023 Time: 6:30 - 7:30pm (doors open at 6:15pm) Where: Montgomery Elementary Cafeteria Who: All Montgomery Elementary Families Join us for a night of free family fun! Multiple games, prizes, and light snacks. All ages are welcome! This is not a drop off event. All children must be accompanied by a parent/guardian.
Socktober
Itโs October, which means it is Socktober at Montgomery Elementary!
Socktober is a time where students bring in a pair of socks to donate, or money to purchase a pair of socks. Our childrensโ socks will be donated to Operation Give Back. Our adult socks will be donated to The Homeless Veterans Division of the VA.
Kindergarten, First and Second Grades will be donating childrensโ socks. Third and fourth grade will be donating adult socks.
The children can put them in the barrel that will be by the Flying Pig at the bottom of the stairs or give them to their teacher.
This is a great way for the students to learn about community service and the importance of giving to those in need.
Please have all donations in by Thursday, October 26th.
If you have any questions, please email Michelle Barrometti barromettim@sycamoreschools.org or Amy Bass bassa@sycamoreschools.org.
FREE AND REDUCED LUNCH APPLICATION
Please use this link to apply for Free and Reduced Lunch
We want to ensure that your child continues to receive the benefits of the Free & Reduced Meal program in the upcoming school year. State guidelines allow these benefits to extend into the next school year to provide ample time for new applications to be processed. However, there's a critical date approaching: October 8th.
If your child qualified for the Free & Reduced Meal program in the last school year and you haven't submitted a new application for the 23-24 school year by October 8th, they will revert to a full pay status. Any charges incurred between October 11th and the time you complete a new application will be the responsibility of the parent or guardian.
To avoid any unexpected charges and ensure your child continues to receive these essential benefits, please submit your application as soon as possible.
โ๏ธ PTO NEWS โ๏ธ
Hello Montgomery Families,
I want to thank all of you, along with our students, teachers and staff for our amazing Mighty Aviator Dash! Thanks to your generous donations we raised just over $40,000!!!! This money will allow the PTO to continue offering wonderful programs and activities throughout the year including Theater Program, Cultural Heritage Night, Skating Parties, Classroom Parties, our all new Glow Party coming soon and much more! Of course no fundraiser is possible without coordination and planning (and a LOT of it!) so we all need to give a big THANK YOU to our PTO Co-Vice Presidents of Ways & Means, Mrs. Kristy Felss and Mrs. Alison Poto. These ladies put on the entire Mighty Aviator Dash including tracking the incentives our students win and making sure our teachers have everything they need to make the whole fundraiser a success. We thank you from the bottom of our Aviator Hearts!!
Also, Directory Spot access for PTO members will be available soon!! If you have not yet joined the PTO and would like to do so please visit our membership page at https://www.sycamoreschools.org/Page/2685.
As a reminder, the Sycamore Schools PTO Presidents Council is hosting a forum for the candidates for the Sycamore Board of Education. There are 5 candidates and there are 2 available seats. Questions, for the candidates, must be submitted prior to the forum.
The link, to the Google Form to submit questions, is below:
https://forms.gle/PwLt4MvgvkbvFUKs5
The link to watch the forum, via Zoom, can be found here:
https://goav.es/BOECandidateForum2024
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
We still need volunteers for a few positions and as always, to help make our events a success. If you are interested or need more information please contact me at mtpto@sycamoreschools.org. Positions that we'd like to fill as soon as possible include:
HASSLE FREE GIVING CHAIR โ Organizes hassle-free opportunities such as restaurant nights, Pipkins receipt turn-ins and Kroger Rewards.
WALKING PROGRAM COORDINATOR - Creates Sign Up Genius and coordinates prizes for students that participate in the recess walking program
MEDIA CENTER VOLUNTEERS - Help check in books and reshelve during the school day. Sign up here https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4CA9A729AAFD0-45009106-novdec#/
UPCOMING EVENTS
There are lots of fun things coming up. Please be sure to mark your calendars!!
CANDIDATE FORUM โ The Candidate Forum will take place on October 19 at 7:00pm. Please see above for more details!
SKATING PARTY โ Our first skating party will be on October 27 at Castle Skateland, mark your calendars!
FALL PARADE โ Come see our students strut their stuff in their trick-or-treat costumesโฆand our teachers usually have some epic themed costumes as well! More details will be coming via email, but this event will take place on the afternoon of Halloween, October 31.
PTO MEETING - Our next general meeting will be on Thursday, November 9 @ 6:00pm. District Superintendent, Mr. Chad Lewis will be there to answer any questions you may have!! There will be pizza and childcare provided for those who need it. We will also be discussing our updated Bylaws, which will be posted online soon.
All information is also available on the PTO website and via our facebook page. If you have any questions, you're always welcome to send an email to me - MTPTO@sycamoreschools.org
Best,
Amanda Middleton
Montgomery PTO President
โ๏ธ DISTRICT NEWS โ๏ธ
CANVAS LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
During the 2023-2024 school year, Sycamore Schools is transitioning to Canvas as our Learning Management System (LMS) district-wide. Teachers are transitioning to Canvas to varying degrees as they familiarize themselves with the platform and its features. As with any new system, there may be a learning curve as educators explore Canvas's different tools and functionalities. We are committed to supporting our teachers throughout this process, and we have organized comprehensive training sessions to help them make the most of this powerful educational tool.
Canvas allows educators to create, facilitate, and present learning through a digital platform. Students can access course instructional materials through Canvas, participate in discussions, and receive teacher feedback. Canvas also provides parent access.
Grading in 2023-2024:
Parent Portal will continue to be the location for graded assignments that result in cumulative, quarter, semester, and yearly grades.
By Default, the Canvas gradebook will not show course averages. Course average grades will be reflected in Parent Portal.
For more information about Canvas, including a training site for families on how to use Canvas, please visit the Sycamore Community School Districtโs website at sycamoreschools.org/canvas.
Event and Activity Flyers Now Listed on Website
After receiving feedback from families, all district-approved flyers will now be listed on Sycamore Schools' website instead of in our weekly newsletters. This will help condense our newsletters to important school information. If you are still interested in viewing community flyers about events and activities for students, please click here: https://www.sycamoreschools.org/domain/944