Miller Elementary Weekly Update

Hello Miller Families!

Twas' the night before preschool or kindergarten and as they prepared, kids were excited and a little bit scared. Parents and guardians might be worried too, but they reassure themselves that growing up is what their little ones have to do. You're sending them off to Miller each day, but don't you worry we will learn, grow and play. Grab your tissues and camera and get ready to go, because our first days of school begin tomorrow!

We can't wait to open our doors and say HELLO to all our new preschool and kindergarten children. Please remember we will be following a staggered start schedule:

• Tuesday, 8/20 - First Day of School for Kindergarten Students Whose Last Name Begins with A-L (M-Z Do not attend school today)
• Tuesday, 8/20 - First Day of School for Assigned Preschool Students (Date Listed in your Placement Email in August)

• Wednesday, 8/21 - First Day of School for Kindergarten Students Whose Last Name Begins with M-Z (A-L Do not attend school today)
  
• Wednesday, 8/21 - First Day of School for Assigned Preschool Students (Date Listed in your Placement Email in August)

• Thursday, 8/22 - ALL KINDERGARTEN and PRESCHOOL Children Attend School
  
• Friday, 8/23 - ALL KINDERGARTEN Children Attend - No Preschool on Fridays

Finally, please be mindful that our busing schedule usually takes a few weeks to get underway. Make sure your kindergarten child is wearing their bus tag and we will greet all children at the doors and walk them to their classrooms. We have provided specific details about our arrival and dismissal process if you are driving your child to school. Please rest assured that we know this can feel like a big day for you and your child. We will wipe away their tears, give that extra hug, help them feel comfortable and most importantly we will reach out to you as necessary. We can't wait for tomorrow morning!

HERE WE GO!

Maria Goodman

Miller Elementary Principal

330-954-2189

Email mgoodman@aurora-schools.org

A hot lunch may be purchased beginning this week daily or your child can pack a lunch. They also have the option to purchase white or chocolate milk instead of packing a drink. Each child has a lunch account and we have provided you with their lunch account information at Open House. You can add money to their account via a credit card following the directions on the sheet, send in cash or you can send in a check made out to the Aurora City Schools. If you send in money, please place it in an envelope or baggie with your child’s name and a note indicating the money is for lunch. We will deduct the cost of lunch or milk each day that your child makes a purchase. Please make sure your child knows if they are buying or packing a lunch each day. We spend time helping them make their selection at the beginning of the year and soon this is an independent task they complete each day! Some of our classes eat lunch at 11:00 and other classes eat lunch at 12:00.

• First Days of School
  

• Tuesday, 8/20 - First Day of School for Kindergarten Students Whose Last Name Begins with A-L (M-Z Do not attend school today)
• Tuesday, 8/20 - First Day of School for Assigned Preschool Students (To be Announced in your Placement Email in August)

• Wednesday, 8/21 - First Day of School for Kindergarten Students Whose Last Name Begins with M-Z (A-L Do not attend school today)
  
• Wednesday, 8/21 - First Day of School for Assigned Preschool Students (To be Announced in your Placement Email in August)

• Thursday, 8/22 - ALL KINDERGARTEN and PRESCHOOL Children Attend School
  
• Friday, 8/23 - ALL KINDERGARTEN Children Attend - No Preschool on Fridays
• Monday, 8/26 - All Preschool and Kindergarten Attend School

Kindergarten Only

• Friday, 8/30 - Getting to Know You Days- KRA-Kindergarten Assessments - Students Whose Last Name Begins with A-L Attend School (M-Z Do not attend school this day)
• Tuesday 9/03 - Getting to Know You Days - KRA-Kindergarten Assessments - Students Whose Last Name Begins with M-Z Attend School (A-L Do not attend school this day)
• Preschool will operate as usual these days with no preschool on Friday and all preschoolers attend on Tuesday 9/3.

• Monday, 9/02 - NO SCHOOL (Labor Day)
• Monday, 9/23 - Miller School Picture Day - More Information Forthcoming

At Miller Elementary, all car riders must park their car and walk their child to our main doors or the preschool entrance. We are aware that our parking is very limited and our number one priority is safety in the parking lot. Please drive carefully and look for little ones. Our handicap parking is reserved for families with the appropriate signs and license plates.

It is important that you adhere to the arrival and dismissal windows of time so that the parking lot is less crowded.

Preschool Arrival and Dismissal Times:

AM Preschool Arrival 8:40-8:50 & AM Preschool Dismissal 11:30 (Arrival Preschool Door 3)

PM Preschool Arrival 12:45-12:50 & PM Preschool Dismissal 3:20-3:25 (Front Doors/Steps)

Kindergarten Arrival and Dismissal Times

Full Day Kindergarten: Arrival 8:55-9:05 and Dismissal 3:25-3:35 (Front Doors/Steps)

AM 1/2 Day Kindergarten: Arrival 8:55-9:05 & Dismissal 11:40-11:45 (Front Doors/Steps)

Our buses typically arrive between 8:50-9:05 in the AM and they pick up Miller children between 3:35-3:45.

Please try to stick to these windows of time in order to smoothly get all children in and out of our building with adult support.

Our transportation department has been busy preparing for the 24-25 school year. Bus routes can be checked using the link below. We STRONGLY encourage families to download the Bus Stop App so you can track your child's bus in real time to be aware of updates and delays. This app also sends important bus updates. Please remember these routes are subject to change and should be checked closer to the start of the school year. You will need to log into E-Link Versatrans using the link/button below and follow the log-in procedures to access your child's busing information. https://versatransweb04.tylertech.com/Aurora/elinkrp/Login.aspx

If this is the first time using E-Link, use the following login information.

User name = jane.smith (That is the students name, jane.smith with no spaces. Password = students date of birth 01012018)

Once you are in, go to “Work with students” then “View my students” We also now have GPS on the school buses. You can see when the bus is to arrive at your home.

We also have a Bus Stop App where you can track and monitor your child's bus and receive important updates. If you download “versatrans my stop” from the app store and sign in using the same information as above.

If you know your child will not be riding the bus no matter what grade, please email the transportation department and let us know so that we can have more accurate routes. Any student being transported to any location other than their home address will need to fill out the "Alternate bus stop form". This form is located on the ACSD website under the Transportation Department Site and is linked below. We ask that the changes made will be a regular schedule. We cannot do requests such as every other week.

All requests or changes to busing can be sent to: transportationinfo@aurora-schools.org

Transportation Information: https://www.aurora-schools.org/administration/transportationoperations

Finally, Miller Elementary uses a Google Form for attendance and pick-up/drop-off notifications. This is for notification purposes if you will be picking your child up instead of sending them on the bus and does not allow us to make changes to bus stops and locations. All Busing changes must go through transportation. More information about our attendance and notification will be shared in August!

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:

• You can turn in your child's health forms at Meet & Greet or as soon as you have them returned from your child's health care provider. This includes the preschool medical forms and the kindergarten health forms.
• 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, 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 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, 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!

The Aurora City Schools use Final Forms to complete necessary back-to-school paperwork and to send out important communication! Final Forms saves data from year-to-year so that you will never need to enter the same information twice. If at any time a phone number, email address, or contact information changes, we will get a notification that a change has been made so please make updates whenever necessary. Also, if you see a field in red, you will need to make necessary updates in the system.

We have many families who have accessed Final Forms and have completed the necessary paperwork. This is one thing you can do now before the hustle and bustle of the beginning of the year! If you are having difficulty with Final Forms, we will be reaching out to families in August when we return to the office.

One way you can become involved with our schools is to join our Aurora Elementary PTO. This wonderful organization supports our schools to provide rich and meaningful activities and events. You will be receiving more information from our PTO as the school year begins, but you can start by viewing their website.

When you sign up as a member, it will ask for your child's homeroom teacher. Please remember this information won't be ready and heading your way until August 5th! Thank you!

Maria Goodman : mgoodman@aurora-schools.org

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