Miller Elementary Weekly Update

Hello Miller Families!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to each of you! This weekend we enjoyed every weather system possible from warmth and sun, windy and rainy, to cold and snowy! Please make sure you check the weather during this time of year when dressing your child for school and recess. We have a few extra coats to lend out, but your children usually feel most comfortable in their own clothing. We also gave a reminder about checking your child's backpack for extra clothes. Our playground gets very muddy this time of year and our clinic is running low on pants in the event your child slips in the mud and needs to change.

This upcoming week will be a fun week at Miller! All week long, we will be celebrating the love of READING with Right to Read Week. We have Donut Days on Tuesday and Wednesday from 8:15-8:45 AM! We have a special Preschool Music and Literacy Night on Wednesday evening at 6:00 PM in the Miller Gym! Finally, we have filled our PBIS Pom Pom Jar and each class is going to visit "Camp Read A Lot!" I have outlined all the special events so you know what to expect each day! You will also see a link for parent volunteers for our Camp Read A Lot if you are available to help out.

Monday: Wear a Shirt with Letters or Words

Tuesday: Wear a Shirt with Your Child's Favorite Character or Dress Like a Character from a Book

• Donut Days - Preschool, 1/2 Day Kindergarten - Mrs. Buettin and Mrs. Forster

Wednesday: Beach Day - Wear a Beach Hat or Clothes and Bring a Towel to Read Around the Room

• Donut Days - Full Day Kindergarten - Sabulsky, Yonally, Kidwell, Gallucci, Jarworski, Haughey, Smerkar
• Preschool Music and Literacy Night - 6:00-7:00 PM in the Miller Gym

Thursday: Wear a Shirt with an Animal or Animal Print and Bring a Small Stuffed Animal to School

Friday: Wear Aurora Spirit Wear or Green

I can't wait to send out so many pictures in next week's newsletter after our busy week ahead!

Have a great evening!

Maria Goodman

Miller Elementary School - Principal

330-562-6199

Email mgoodman@aurora-schools.org

The Aurora Elementary PTO will be hosting 2 Donut Days on March 19th and 20th for all Miller Elementary children. Please see the schedule listed below for your child's assigned day. We will be sending home more specific communication about this event in the weeks ahead so please be on the lookout. If you have a child in both preschool and kindergarten or in different classes, you may select one of the days to attend or come on each of the scheduled days so your child can be with their classmates.

Tuesday, March 19th: 8:15-8:45

• All preschool classes, AM & PM (Ms. Jaime, Ms. Lauren, Ms. Taylor, and Ms. Amanda)
• 1/2 day Kindergarten, AM & PM (Mrs. Verhotz/Miss Kirby)
• Mrs. Buettin
• Mrs. Forster

Wednesday, March 20th: 8:15-8:45

• Mrs. Sabulsky
• Mrs. Yonally
• Mrs. Kidwell
• Mrs. Gallucci
• Mrs. Jaworski
• Mrs. Haughey
• Mrs. Smerkar

Children will be making a Smore's Trail Mix at Camp Read A Lot on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. You can click on the images to find the food labels. All 3 ingredients DO NOT SAY "made in a factory with tree nuts or peanuts." However, some ingredients contain wheat, soy and dairy. If your child has a specific dietary or allergy concern, we have alternative options. I will be working with Nurse Jackie Pawlowski and the classroom teachers to ensure there is a safe treat for all. We also have chocolate pudding and whip cream options for those who are learning to taste new foods and textures!

Please see this important update to find a gently used book that you would like to donate for our book swap during right to read week. We have also included a flyer about the many ways we will celebrate reading throughout this week! If you have any extra books you would like to donate to our book swap, please send them in with your child on Monday, March 18th. THANKS!

March

• Monday 3/18 - Board of Education Meeting 7:00PM at the Conference Center
• Donut Days March 19th and 20th - See Flyer and Details Above
• Wednesday, March 20th - Preschool Family Literacy Night 6:00-7:00 PM @ Miller - Flyer was sent Home
• Monday, 3/25-Monday, 4/1 - NO SCHOOL (Spring Break)

April

• Tuesday, 4/2 - School Resumes After Spring Break
• Monday 4/8 - Eclipse Day - No School
• Tuesday, 4/9 - Kindergarten Music Concerts - (Schedule is Listed Above)
• Friday, 4/26 - No School

With the warmer temperatures this week, our students enjoyed some messy recess time! Although we make parts of our outdoor play areas off-limits, little children seem to find the mud from time to time.

1: Please make sure your child has a change of clothes in their backpack. This includes extra socks and underwear. They often feel more comfortable in their own clothing.

2: Our clinic is running low on pants. If your family has a pair of girls or boys pants that your child has out grown and you would be willing to donate to our school, we would appreciate any donations. Please send in washed items labeled "Extra Clinic Clothes" and we will put them to good use. Thank you!

Happy March, Miller Families! These past few weeks at school have been filled with classroom guidance lessons focused on personal body safety, diversity, and coping skills. “Miss Becca” from Townhall II delivered an age-appropriate lesson to our Kindergarteners that participated to teach and remind them about safe body choices. You likely saw her letter travel home in your student’s green take home folder to use as a talking point. In addition, during our next classroom guidance lesson, we listened to the read-aloud, The Judgemental Flower by Julia Cook, to focus on celebrating diversity. I absolutely love reading this book with Kindergarten students as they are most certainly always the first to include, help and care for their classmates. It’s a nice reminder this time of year that our differences are what make us special and should be celebrated. Please enjoy this link to K-2 Diversity & Inclusion Literature for Families where you can access books from the library for your students to enjoy! Finally, we are still mastering our coping skills! This week or next, your student will be sharing coping strategies that work best for them. They’ll be bringing home a sheet of coping skills they have selected to try to use when they experience big emotions in hopes they can become a bit smaller. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions or if I can help support your student in any way!

Lindsey Ambrosia

Miller School Counselor

330-562-6199, ext. 5414

This is a reminder that we are using our Miller Attendance and Parent Pick-up Form as an easy communication tool to report your child will be absent or you need to pick them up from school early. You still need to use the Alternative Bus Stop Form linked in this newsletter if you need your child's bus to change. You do not need to report if they will not be riding the bus in the morning due to an absence or illness on this form.

If you want to change your child from a bus rider to a parent pick-up, 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. Wolf.

If you need an alternative bus stop or a change in busing, we also have attached the transportation forms to change your child's busing information. These forms need to be completed and sent to our transportation department at transportationinfo@aurora-schools.org

As a reminder, you can send in cash or check made out to the Aurora City Schools and we will add any amount to your child's lunch account. Please send in money in a clearly labeled envelope so we know to add this amount to your child's account!

We wanted to be sure to let our families know that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has changed the guidelines for dealing with COVID-19. In short, they have dropped the five-day isolation period and requirement to stay at home followed by another five days of masking. Instead, they are encouraging everyone to stay home when they are sick until their symptoms are improving and they are fever-free for 24 hours.

This change aligns to our expectations for keeping your child at home when they are ill until symptoms are improving and they are fever-free without fever-reducing medication for 24 hours. Going forward, we still need parents to call their children off of school if their child is going to be absent from school and to let us know if the child has COVID-19. We will continue to follow our policy of notifying parents in PreK-5 classrooms if a communicable disease such as COVID, pink eye, strep throat, etc. is present in their child’s classroom. The difference will be that a young person will not be required to stay home/isolate for five days if they do have COVID-19 and will not be required to mask upon their return for five days.

Thank you for your cooperation over the last four years to help us to provide a safe learning environment for all. We will continue to keep the lines of communication open with families if health concerns arise, but with these new guidelines from the CDC we will modify our approach concerning COVID-19. If you would like more information on this change please click on the links below.

About Preventing Spread of Respiratory Virus (CDC website)

https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/prevention/precautions-when-sick.html

CDC Drops 5 Day COVID-19 Restrictions (NPR Article)

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/03/01/1235340502/covid-cdc-isolation-5-days-masks-ventilation-hand-washing

Hello Miller Families!

Below are your AEPTO updates.

1. Wednesday, April 3rd - Our next AEPTO meeting is at 6:30pm at the Aurora Conference Center (C&I Building, 119 W Pioneer Trail). We hope to see you there!

Thank you to everyone who attended our March meeting and thank you to Schell Bell Boutique for hosting us!

2. February 27th - March 12th - Spring Flower Fundraiser - The flower sale has started! Visit fundraiseIT:Online Shopping to create your child's unique shopping link to share with friends and family! Use "Aurora" for the group name. Flower pick up will be Saturday, May 4th. Times are TBD.

3. March 7th-10th Schell Bell Give Back Community Event! Visit Schell Bell Boutique anytime from March 7th-10th, mention AEPTO at checkout, and Schell Bell will donate 20% to AEPTO!

Hours:

Thursday 3/7 11:00am-5:00pm

Friday 3/8 11:00am-5:00pm

Saturday 3/9 11:00am-5:00pm

Sunday 3/10 12:00pm-4:00pm

4. March 19th & 20th - Miller's Donut Days!

In order to attend the event, you must RSVP using the link below. More event details are included on the RSVP form.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1MbEBUH1qI7USxm4Sjrbq4Gz1YCGzVNRPwYxs1Whw9Fk/edit

We also need volunteers to help set up, serve, and clean up each day. To volunteer, sign up using the link below.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0B45A5A929AAFA7-48135875-donut#/

Thank you to our chais, Jennifer Busch and Tara Motheral, for planning this amazing event!!

5. Wednesday, March 27th 2:30pm-4:30pm - The AEPTO is excited to announce our next family event at Akron Children's Museum! Please see the flyer below for event details. Tickets are on sale now through Schoolze or our website at https://auroraelementarypto.org/fundraisers. All proceeds raised at this event will go directly to Miller Elementary. All of our elementary school families are invited!

6. April 25th - AEPTO's Mother Son Event at Fun 'n' Stuff from 5:00pm-8:00pm! More information is coming soon.

7. Interested in joining the AEPTO Board? My position, Vice President of Miller, will be open starting next year! Please reach out to me for more information. I'm happy to meet with you to review the position and go over all the details. Deadline to express interest is March 22, 2024.

Important Upcoming Dates

3/7-3/10 - Schell Bell Give Back

3/11 - Donut Days RSVP due

3/12 - Spring flower sale ends

3/19 - Miller Donut Days

3/20 - Miller Donut Days

3/27 - AEPTO Akron Children's Museum Event

If you have any questions, please let me know!

Jen

auroraptomesvp@gmail.com

mgoodman@aurora-schools.org

Principal

Vicki Wolf

vwolf@aurora-schools.org

Secretary

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