The 2024-25 school year at Ellicottville Elementary School is well underway! It has been great to see the smiles on the faces of our students, staff, and families as we return to start another exciting year of learning and growing. With the new school year, comes many new changes. We are thrilled to welcome new staff members, including a new school nurse, new assistant principal (PK-12), new speech therapist, new STEM teacher & class, new science & math interventionist and a new pre-k family support specialist. Along with new staff members, we welcome several new students to our 'ECS Family'. This year we welcome the partnership with the Healthy Kids After School Childcare Program, which is off to a great start. As a reminder, this is fully operated by The Healthy Kids Program and housed at the school. We are excited to see this new resource benefit the families within our community. If you are interested in learning more about how to enroll your child in the program, please access the link at the bottom of the newsletter. Please read on to learn more about our exciting new school year.

All students at ECS Elementary will be bringing home some guidelines for our upcoming Halloween Festivities and ECS traditions. I would like to take a moment to share some of these important guidelines and reminders.

• Our annual Halloween Parade through the village of Ellicottville will take place on 10/31/24 at 1pm. Parents, families, caregivers and community members are invited to attend. If you will be attending this exciting event for your child, please note that we ask you to meet us in the village, not at the school.
• All costumes will be changed into at school, after instruction and lunch are complete. Please ensure all costumes can be changed into as "independently" as possible and are "bathroom friendly."
• Please leave any accessories or props at home (weapons, canes, wings, large extensions to a costume). These issues can easily pose safety concerns, become lost or broken throughout the busy afternoon.
• If you plan to excuse your child from school following the parade, we would ask you enter the early dismissal in Pick Up Patrol and meet the students back at school for the transition. We expect that all students ride to and from school on the bus with their class for safety and accountability reasons.
• All treats sent in for classroom parties should be peanut free. We will be reminding our participating village partners of the same request. All treats will be sent home for inspection and not consumed in school, as an added safety measure.

Our local heroes gathered on campus to support the education of our students during Fire Prevention Week (October 6th-12th), this October 10th. Our students were able to spend time learning from our fireman, EMS and other volunteers. They also toured the trucks, equipment and were able to learn the importance about talking with their family about a fire safety plan and escape plan at home. Thank you, again for all that made this day possible and continue to keep our community safe! We are grateful for the time and energy you spend volunteering in our communities daily.

We appreciate the continued support and empathy as our elementary implements a new peanut free cafeteria and classrooms. It has been heartwarming to see our youngest learners grow empathy for one another as they ask questions and learn about why it is important to take care of others within our community. Thank you for having conversations with your children and embracing such a drastic shift in our day to day practices.

As a reminder, we have implemented the new practice to avoid a potentially life-threatening situation from occurring. Some of the practices we have implemented to ensure we keep our students safe, include:

1. Increased student hand-washing upon arrival and before and after meal times.
2. Elimination of classroom projects or treats involving peanut butter, peanut shells or items that were made in a facility with the production of either. We kindly ask that you do not send your child to school with either.
3. Our cafeteria has replaced peanut butter, with Sun Butter, a peanut free alternative peanut butter, made from sunflower seeds. Students are still able to pack lunch, but again we ask that you do not send your child to school with peanut butter products in their lunch. Almond butter, sun butter, cashew butter and Nutella are allowed.

• Please continue to have conversations about the importance of taking care of others within our community; this is a great opportunity to teach empathy.
• Pay close attention to treat choices as we approach Halloween and our holiday traditions. We will follow this policy at all school festivities and holiday parties, including the halloween parade.
• We are all learning and adjusting to this new expectation. As students 'forget,' and pack a peanut butter sandwich or snack, they have been great citizens and let their teacher or staff member know of the situation. Students are advised to keep their food in their bag, unopened, and always offered alternative choices through our free school lunch program.

Each student's family received an important mailing from the district recently. We are seeking your assistance with completing the Free and Reduced Lunch Form for each family in the district. Although our district is continuing to receive free lunches this school year, we must continue to collect data that will support the need for this resource, as well as others our district may qualify for. Please reach out to Vicky Williams, School Cafeteria Manager, at 716 699 2316 x1403, if you should have further questions.