Miller Elementary Weekly Update

Hello Miller Families,

I hope this weekly message finds your family healthy and gearing up for our upcoming week ahead! Thanksgiving is a bit later this year so we have another fun full week before Thanksgiving break on Wednesday, November 27th. This is a friendly reminder that we require a planned absence form to be on file should your child be absent from school due to a vacation or family event. You can find this form further down in our newsletter.

We have kicked off the giving season with our annual Giving Tree Project! We sent home an important letter to see if your family would like to participate in the season of giving. If your child sends back a permission slip to participate, they will select a gift tag from our Giving Tree this upcoming Wednesday, November 20th to donate hats, gloves, games or gift cards to the Center of Hope in Portage County. All donations can be sent back to school any time before Friday, December 6th. Thank you for your generosity during this holiday season!

We have been working hard to fill our school wide PBIS Pom Pom Jar by demonstrating ways that we are respectful, responsible and problem solvers! We filled it up last week and now it's time to celebrate as a school! We will be hosting "Friendsgiving Stuffed Animal Day" this upcoming Thursday, November 21st. Your child may bring a stuffy to school that can fit in their back pack (nothing too large, please). We will have a fun filled day with our "stuffy friends", enjoy our optional Thanksgiving Meal in the cafeteria and host a special day with our stuffy friends! We can't wait to host our first ever "Stuffy Friendsgiving!"

This newsletter will serve families through our upcoming Thanksgiving Break which begins on, Wednesday, November 27th through Sunday, December 1st. We hope your family has a restful break and you get to enjoy some yummy food with family or friends! I am very thankful to be with all our Miller children, staff, families, and caregivers each and every day!

Happy Fall and Happy Thanksgiving!

Go GREENMEN!

Maria Goodman

Miller Elementary Principal

330-954-2189

Email mgoodman@aurora-schools.org

We have recently discovered our QR code for our transportation link is NOT WORKING. We are working to fix this as quickly as possible. Our Transportation/Attendance Google Form IS WORKING so you can continue to use the link and button below. We just wanted to inform families that if you are using the QR code, we are working to fix it at this time. Thank you!

It's that time of year where we begin to have students who meet the benchmarks set forth in HB 410 for absences. Please be aware that if your child meets one of those, a letter must be sent from the school alerting you. Please also be reminded that it doesn't matter whether the absences are excused or unexcused. We have to track the hours missed regardless and communicate to you when benchmarks have been met.

This is also the time of year that planned absences often get scheduled. We have attached our planned absence form and policy. Please make sure you read through this important message and understand that planned absences and absences due to illness all count for missed hours. If you have any further questions, please let me know!

School pictures have arrived and all picture packages have been passed out to anyone that placed an order. Our picture retake day will be on Monday, November 18. This will be an opportunity for first time pictures as well as any retakes. If your child is taking photos for the first time, please use the link below to order a picture package. If you wish to exchange your Child's portraits from the original Picture Day for their Retake Day portrait. Please return the entire package (including the portraits) with your child on Retake Day. Any unreturned portraits or incomplete packages will not be processed. You must call Customer Service for additional support. The class composite will be sent home once Ripcho has all retakes wrapped up and every child can be included.

NOVEMBER

• Week of November 11th through December 6th - Holiday Giving Tree Begins (More Information Forthcoming)
• Wednesday, 11/27 - Sunday, 12/01 - NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving Break

DECEMBER

• Wednesday, 12/4 - Friday, 12/6 - The Holiday Shop (More Information Forthcoming)
• Tuesday, 12/12 - The Giving Tree Initiative Ends All Donations Turned In
• Thursday, 12/19 - Winter Celebrations for Preschool
• Friday, 12/20 - Winter Celebrations for Kindergarten
• Monday, 12/23 - Monday, 1/03/25 - Winter Break

Can you believe the temperatures are getting cooler and snowflakes will be coming soon! Many families begin to have questions about our outdoor recess policy when it gets cold and the snow starts to fly. Our full-day students will continue to go outside if the feels like temperature is between 15 and 20 degrees or higher. We watch the weather closely as it is important for our children to get outside, run around, and enjoy some fresh air. The playground is a great place to practice social skills such as turn taking, problem solving as well as how to communicate with their friends. Plus, when the snow comes, it provides some fun experiences to build snowmen or use our sleds down our playground hills!

We recommend a warm coat, hats, gloves, snow pants, and boots (when necessary). We work with all children to help them learn how to dress themselves independently and in the correct order. (Snow pants, boots, jacket zipped, hat, and gloves are last). Please make sure all your child's items are labeled with their name. It is important that you check their book bag for an extra set of clothes and socks that match the new season. Children would rather wear their change of clothes if an accident occurs. Please have your child practice putting on their snow gear at home too!

Hello Miller! I hope this portion of the newsletter finds you in a warm and cozy spot enjoying what Fall has to offer. During these past few weeks, Kindergarten students have been learning about jobs, careers and occupations. We have focused on three specific community helpers as a start: police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians. All Kindergarteners know that no one would expect them to select a career now, but it is fun to learn about careers and think about skills they love to do or do well. In addition to these new terms, we have been practicing using many different coping skills and fidgets: stress balls, water timers, expandable balls, pop-its, pop tubes, stretches, yoga poses, and many more! Maybe your child has mentioned their favorite and started to think about a calm box or calm space at home they can use when feeling overwhelmed, upset, nervous or mad. Moving forward, we’ll begin to practice identifying feelings and connect coping skills we can use when we experience “big feelings.” As a fun challenge, as your child if they can name who is in the picture below and what job they do to help our community! (Answer: Officer Tritto and his police dog, Queso help keep us safe when we are at school.)

Mrs. Lindsey Ambrosia

(330) 562-6199, ext. 5414

lambrosia@aurora-schools.org

We have a school nurse, Jackie Pawlowski, on staff during school hours. She is here each day to assist students at a time of need or illness. Here are some important reminders to ensure the safety of our school community each day:

• Please make sure your Final Forms medical information is up to date. We will closely read the health sections to address any medical concerns. If your child requires medication (over the counter or prescription) during the school day, we must have a signed medication form on file. You can find this attached below.
• It is important to check your child each day for symptoms of illness as you know them best. If they become I'll during the day, or are injured, we will reach out to you and let you know if their symptoms are worsening. We call home for injuries, fevers, and continued sickness. We do not call home for every trip to the nurse for a band-aid, ice pack or upset tummy. We certainly will call if symptoms worsen. We sometimes use our School Nurse Cell Phone
  
• Students sent home with a fever, vomiting or diarrhea may not return to school until they are free of these symptoms or 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 24 hours later. If your child does return the next day, our school will be calling for you to come pick him/her up. Please help to support our efforts in this area.
  
• We are required to report to families if there is a confirmed communicable disease in your child's class. This could include strep, pink eye, COVID, RSV, hand-foot and mouth or other illnesses.

Finally, please make sure your child has extra clothes in his/her backpack. Accidents and spills happen all the time and it's safe to always have their own clothes in their book bag instead of wearing our spare clothes.

In all our Elementary Buildings, we utilize a Google Form to report attendance, late arrival, early dismissal, and change of transportation such as switching from a bus rider to office pick-up!

To report an absence or change, 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. Toler.

Also, if your child is absent, instead of calling us, you can also use this code to report the absence and the reason for the absence. We are working really hard to reduce the amount of phone calls, emails, or notes that we receive. We ask that you reserve those modes of communication for emergencies only. Thank you in advance for your help and let us know if you have any questions at all!

Hello Miller Families,

My name is Tasha Romo. I will be the Miller VP for AEPTO this year. I have a student in Miller and a student at Craddock. I am looking forward to sharing and growing with all of our wonderful families! We have a lot of fun activities and volunteer opportunities throughout the year. Please reach out with any questions.

Millervp@auroraelementarypto.org

Miller Book Fair sign ups will be going out on Friday, October 11th.

Fall Festival Sign-Ups have gone live.

https://www.runpto.com/u/auroraepto/

Miller Elementary Principal

Erin Toler : etoler@aurora-schools.org

Miller Elementary Secretary

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