The Leighton News

Dear Leighton Families,

It is so hard to believe we are already into September and will soon be enjoying the beauty of leaves changing colors, cool breezes, and amazing sunsets that light up the evening sky. I hope each of you can take some time to enjoy the beauty of the season with family and friends whether that is a walk or just sitting outside and enjoying nature.

We are in the process of completing our benchmarking assessments for Fall called Aimsweb and our staff is working diligently to continually refine our instructional practices to meet the ever-changing needs of each of our students. Our students are off to an amazing start this year as it has been amazing to see each of them pick up where we left off last year being engaged in situations that support critical thinking, innovation, and collaboration in each of their classrooms. It is very easy to see our strategic vision goals embedded into daily instruction as our classroom environments exemplify that learning is social and our teachers are focused on helping students embrace the process vs. the product through our reading, writing, and mathematical frameworks. All these skills are expedient for students to be "future-ready."

Mr. Morris and I are excited to kick off Principal Pals in a few weeks where we visit each classroom and share a story with our learners. We love the Q and A with students about what it is like to be a Principal and what our days look like. Our favorite part, of course, is enjoying popsicles at lunch with our students. Thank you to our PTO moms who help us with this process each year.

We also had our first fire drill this past week as well as our Grade 3 bus safety drills. Students did a great job with these safety drills and following all safety protocols.

Don't forget that Picture Day is coming up on Tuesday, September 10th. A separate email was shared with families in regards to ordering pictures and information about this day. Please contact Mrs. Schoenman, Building Secretary, with any questions.

We ended a busy week with some amazing PBIS "kickoff" assemblies for our Fourth and Fifth Graders, which followed Third Grade's kickoff last week. At the assemblies we celebrated students being back to school and their efforts in demonstrating being respectful, responsible, and problem solvers by following our building wide expectations. Our Pom Pom system is a big hit, and we love to watch the building Pom Pom pail fill up to earn a building wide reward! Check out some pictures from our PBIS Kick Off Assemblies below as well checking out our "Spotlight on PBIS."

Thank you for an amazing first few weeks of school! It has been such a smooth start and so wonderful to welcome our learners back! As always, please don't hesitate to reach out to us with any questions, concerns, or feedback! We value your continued partnership and support!

Enjoy the long weekend!

Kind Regards,

Michelle Nizen, Building Principal

Jeff Morris, Assistant Principal

A Note from the Counseling Department.......

Hello Leighton! Part of our role as school counselors consists of connecting families with varying resources. You will note a link to a list of Community Resources should you wish to explore resources for your child outside of the school setting. During the school year, Leighton offers a variety of opportunities to assist families with financial needs through partnering with our PTO. By reaching out to me via completing this form, phone, email or in-person, we can assist your student with funds for upcoming Book Fairs or the Holiday Shop, holiday gifts, Thanksgiving “baskets,” winter clothing, including jackets, pants and boots; purchase of the class T-shirt, purchase of a yearbook, school supplies and any other need brought to our attention. Please do not hesitate to contact us with the slightest concern. Feel free to simply let us know what you need, and we’ll connect with you to ensure this need is fulfilled!

https://sites.google.com/aurora-schools.org/leightonschoolcounselor/home?authuser=1

Ms. Tami Mazzella (Ms. Laney Mitch, substitute)

(330) 562-2209, option 3

tmazzella@aurora-schools.org

Mrs. Lindsey Ambrosia

(330) 562-6199, ext. 5414

lambrosia@aurora-schools.org

Thank you to everyone who has completed their final forms for this school year. As a reminder, there was an additional form added to final forms entitled Student and Family Handbook which will require all parents to sign in order for Final Forms to be completed for the school year. This form will show red until a review of the handbook and a signature is provided. Thank you so much for taking the time to go back, review, and sign this document. We are seeing a larger number than usual of incomplete Final Forms due and this additional check will help to ensure everyone is set for the school year. Once again, even if you have completed final forms, you will have to go back in and sign off on this additional form to complete the process. Thank you so much for your attention to this matter and double checking to ensure your Final Forms process is complete to ensure you are receiving all the important information for this school year.

We are so excited to start a new tradition of holding a Pancake Breakfast for our Leighton Families to kick off the start of the school year and our foster of theme for the '24-'25 school year of "Building Community". There is no cost associated with the breakfast instead donations will be accepted and go towards our outdoor learning spaces: Leighton outdoor garden, trail, and the revitilization of the old ampithethre. Please RSVP on the link provided by October 12th if you are interested. You must RSVP to attend so that our committee has an accurate count of attendees. Please note the staggered times by last names. We hope to see you there:)

Spanish Club Coming Soon!

Open to 5th Grade Students

Wednesdays after School 3:35-4:15pm

Students may choose 1 of the sessions offered throughout the year

Limited to 25 students per session through a lottery sign up system.

More information is forthcoming!

We have been off to a great start with teaching, learning, and reinforcing, our 3 pillars of being respectful, responsible, and problem solvers. Our 3 pillars make up the heart of our Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports framework in our K-5 Elementary Buildings. Each week teachers have taught and reinforced these 3 pillars and what each of them looks like and sounds like in all areas of the school. This will be followed by teaching and reinforcing our 11 "focus skills" which support students in making good behavior choices and positively reinforces those choices so we continue to support and promote the prosocial behaviors we want to see!

Students have been excited about our "Pom pom" system representing our 3 pillars (green poms=respectful; white= responsible; and black= problem solving) and earning poms for demonstrating these pillars in any area of the school. Each pom earned is used to fill up their classroom pom pom jars. When these jars are filled, student bring their classroom jars to the office and empty them into the Building Wide Pom Pom Pail!!

We are so excited to find out what our building wide reward will be as we are half way to filling up our building wide Pom Pom Pail.

Don't be surprised if you child comes home excited about earning the "golden fork" as a class during lunch and recess. Classes are always working to earn "positive compliments" during lunch and recess. Every two weeks, classes who earn the most "positive compliments" earn the right to display the " golden fork" outside their classroom door for all to see and enjoy popsicles at lunch or an extra recess with Mrs. Nizen and Mr. Morris.

Pom Pom Shout Out occur every morning over announcements where we acknowledge students who have earned a special shout out for outstanding efforts in demonstrating our 3 pillars in their academic or behavioral pursuits. Students will recieve a pom pom shout out reward and pick out of our PBIS store!

Leighton Pride is Building Wide!

We are looking for a few more volunteers to support in the Media Center from 1-3pm each day . If you are interested, and have a day that you might be available to help, please reach out to Jennifer Kinkoph, Media Specialist, at jkinkoph@aurora-schools.org

Sign up now for the Aurora Elementary PTO. The deadline to sign up for a Homeroom parent is September 10th, Halloween Party sign up & Book Fair volunteer sign up will begin at the end of the month.

Welcome back to the 2024-2025 school year, it was exciting to welcome students back into the building this past week. Below you will find information and links regarding our lunch program:

Pricing Information:

• Paid Lunch: $3.40

• Milk $.50

• Ice Cream $1.00

• Free & Reduced: Both are no charge (Please complete the free and reduced form online located in the Aurora City Schools website ).

Payment Information:

Payments can be made thru My Payments Plus. Parents can either send their child in with money to pay for lunches (exact amount, or more that can be applied to their account) or they can go to the Aurora Schools Website and go to Lunch Accounts under the quick links tabs to get to the MY Payments Plus section and add money to their kids account that way. It is preferable to pay online in advance but students may also bring in money during lunch.

• https://www.mypaymentsplus.com/welcome

• https://www.aurora-schools.org/

Please be sure to keep tabs on your child’s lunch account balance to avoid going into a negative balance. We will always ensure all students have lunch, but it is appreciated by our lunch staff if a positive balance can be maintained.

The August Menu is linked for your convenience below. This menu is also located on the school website as well.

If you have any questions please reach out to:

• Krista Guerini, Director of Food and Nutrition, at kguerini@aurora-schools.org

• Sal Arquilla, Director of Facilities, Maintenance and Operations at sarquilla@aurora-schools.org

We are no longer mailing out transportation information. You can go to: https://versatransweb04.tylertech.com/Aurora/elinkrp/Login.aspx (cut & paste into your browser or use the button link below.)

The login information is as follows:

User name = jane.smith (That is the student's first name period last name with no spaces) Password = students date of birth 01012021 with no characters or spaces between mmdayyear

Once you are in, go to "Work with students" and then "View my students"; you should see all your students to choose from. Routes do change from time to time when new students are added so please check back over the next week to ensure your pick-up and drop-off times.

All students are assigned a bus route using their home address. If your child will be using an alternative stop such as a daycare or caregiver, please make sure you submit an alternative bus stop form as soon as possible.

We also now have GPS on all of the school buses. You can see when the bus is to arrive at your home. Download the app "versatrans my stop" from the app store and sign in the same as above. If you have any questions or concerns with transportation, please email us at transportationinfo@aurora-schools.org and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Note, we are never sure how many students will be riding the buses. Once schools open we will make necessary adjustments for buses that may be full.

Thank you and have a safe school year, Transportation Department

Please be sure to utilize our new attendance and transportation form found below as we are moving away from handwritten notes and morning attendance calls in our K-5 buildings. This form is a way of communicating if your student will be absent or a late arrival, if there is a change in transportation, or if they will be picked up for an early dismissal.

*Note: Any permanent changes to bus transportation will require an "Alternate Bus Stop" form be filled out and sent to the transportation department. You can find a link to the form on the Transportation Website, or you can pick one up in the Leighton School Office.

Thank you!

As a reminder, you can find our arrival and dismissal procedures here.

Car rider lines reminders:

Morning Arrival - Car riders will start being unloaded at 8:50 am and then will be able to enter the building at 8:55 am through the 3rd Grade Wing Doors (Door 2) Our goal is to make sure all students are in the building by 9:05 am.

PM Dismissal - Dismissal procedures will be the same as last year by having students line up in alphabetical lines. A staff member will be calling last names for students to line the loading lanes to get into their cars when they pull up.

1. Please remind your child to load cars quickly to keep the line moving

2. Pull all the way up to the top of the pick-up lane to the sign for loading cars. We have found this allows us to load the maximum number of cars possible.

3. Please be sure to have your orange car tag in the rearview window so staff can visibly see it when calling students' last names by Monday, Aug 21st.

** Please see the traffic flow pattern included below for drop off in the mornings and afternoons.

Thank you for your patience as we have worked very hard to ensure a safe, smooth, and rapid arrival and dismissal process. We appreciate your support with these few reminders.

September

2 NO SCHOOL ~ Labor Day

3 Autumn Assessment Day for Students with Last Name M-Z (A-L Stay Home)

4 PTO Kickoff Meeting at the Aurora Inn (6:00 PM)

10 School Picture Day

October

11 NO SCHOOL ~ NEOEA Day

14 NO SCHOOL ~ Teacher Professional DayOV1725656

18 End of 1st Grading Period

21-25 PTO Book Fair

24 LES Band Concert at High School (7:00 PM)

25 Report Cards Distributed

31 Fall Festival

Please be sure to update your Final Forms information for this school year to ensure you can receive the newsletters each week. If you need any help with updating your Final Forms please contact lschoenman@aurora-schools.org

Please use the following link: https://aurora-oh.finalforms.com

Three ways to pay your student's school fees:

1. Send in with your student a check made out to Aurora City Schools.

2. Call the Board of Education office to make a credit card payment between the hours of 7:00 AM and 3:00 PM at 330-954-2228.

3. Go to the Aurora City Schools website and go to the Parent Page and click on Fee Payments On-Line.

Please remember that when you take your child out of school for a doctor or dentist appointment, the State of Ohio requires that a doctor's note be brought back to the school for attendance purposes. You can give the note to the secretaries in the main office. If you have any questions please contact the secretaries in the Leighton office at 330 562-2209.

• Please monitor your child for illness symptoms. If your child has a temperature greater than 100 F they must stay home until they are fever free for 24 hrs without medication. For coughing, congestion and sore throat that are disruptive or not well contained, it is preferred they stay home until symptoms are decreased or your child has been evaluated by your physician. These guidelines apply to Covid-19 illness as well. Testing and mask wearing are no longer required, but are encouraged.

• Students sent home from school with a fever also 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 nurse will be calling for you to come to pick him/her up. Thank you for your support and efforts in this area.

• Please consider sending in a spare change of clothes for your student to keep in their locker in the event of spills, toileting accidents or muddy clothes.

• Please contact our school nurse, Mrs. Tanski at 330 954-2285 or atanski@aurora-schools.org with any questions related to illness or the clinic.

**** If your child will be absent for an extended period, please reach out to your child's teacher and they will get school work ready for your student for the period of the absence. You may pick up the work outside the main office on a table that will be labeled with your student's name.

Mrs. Michelle Nizen - Principal

mnizen@aurora-schools.org

Mr. Jeff Morris - Assistant Principal

jamorris@aurora-schools.org

Mrs. Lyn Schoenman-Secretary

Email: lschoenman@aurora-schools.org
Website: aurora-schools.org
Location: 121 Aurora Hudson Road, Aurora, OH, USA
Phone: (330)562-2209
Twitter: @michelle_nizen