GOODNOE GAZETTE

• Friday, Dec. 20 –Classroom Holiday Parties
• Monday, Dec. 23-Wednesday, Jan. 1 – Winter Break, Schools Closed
• Thursday, Jan. 2 -School resumes
• Wednesday, January 8 – 7:00 PTO Meeting/Library
• Friday, January 10 – 6:00 PTO Bingo
• Tuesday, January 14 – 8:05 Staff Meeting
• Thursday, January 16 – 5:00 1st Grade A-Z Show/Gym
• Friday, January 17 – 9:00 Mikayla’s Voice Art Creation
• Monday, January 20 – Martin Luther King Day, Schools Closed
• Tuesday, January 21 – 9:30 Winter Chorus Concert

• Thursday, January 23 – 5:00 Snow Date, 1st Grade A-Z Show
• Friday, January 24 – 6:00 PTO Bingo
• Tuesday, January 28 – Early Dismissal, PM Kdg. attends
• Wednesday, January 29 – 6:00 Harlem Wizards Game
• Thursday, January 30 – 2:30 Winter Safety Drill

On Thursday, Goodnoe's talented music department celebrated the winter season by holding their annual concert. The Advanced Orchestra, Advanced Band, and Select Chorus all performed to perfection. From start to finish, it was a delightful showcase of talent, with students bringing their best. The performances were lively, full of heart, and impeccably executed, leaving the audience in awe. A BIG shout out to Mrs. Milliken, Mr. Papzian, and Mr. Keller for sharing their expertise with our performers! Bravo to the students, teachers, and everyone involved for creating such a magical daytime and evening performance!

Cold temperatures are back! With the colder temperature, please be sure your child is dressed appropriately for outside weather. Unless the weather is extreme (rain or excessive cold, 22 degrees or below), children will have recess outside.

On Wednesday this week, Detective Dante Montella's presentation on online safety was both informative and engaging for students in grades 4 - 6. Detective Montella, from the Bucks County District Attorney's Office, emphasized the significance of strong passwords, privacy settings, and being cautious when sharing information online. He also encouraged students and parents to maintain open communication about what they are doing online and report any suspicious activity. The session was a valuable reminder of how crucial it is to stay informed and proactive to ensure online safety.

On Tuesday, students who were the luck Rocky Reward Winners had the opportunity to decorate gingerbread houses. It was a sweet reward for these students. We loved seeing the confectionary creativity from the students.

The safety of our students is always the top priority at GES and CRSD. The changes to our dismissal process were made with our students’ safety in mind and after consulting with both the Newtown Township and Borough Police Departments.

As you are aware, our students are dismissed via one of three methods – bus, car rider or walker. The walkers safety was of particular concern since previously, their dismissal necessitated transitioning across the bus lane at the front of the building, while buses were arriving and departing for dismissal. This placed our walkers at great risk.

To address this safety concern starting at the end of the 23-24 school year, we asked our local first responders including the Newtown Township and Borough Police, as well as the fire department, to observe afternoon dismissal. After that observation, it was agreed that the previous dismissal process was unsafe. Based on their agreement, we changed the dismissal process for the walkers to its current location.

This now created an unsafe traffic issue on Andrew Drive and Elm Avenue with vehicles parking to pick up walkers. By picking up students in a car, these vehicles are using the walker dismissal process as car riders and are encouraged to use the car rider line. We also saw students trying to cross Andrew Drive to get to vehicles picking them up in the middle of the street as opposed to using the crosswalk at Andrew Drive and Elm Avenue.

Based on this new traffic safety concern, the Newtown Borough Police Department conducted a traffic study using established national traffic safety standards and decided, for the safety of our students, that "No Stopping, No Standing, No Parking 7am-5pm except Holidays" (with certain distance designations) signs be placed on specific sections of Andrew Drive and Elm Avenue due to the large number of cars that park on the street during arrival and dismissal time. These signs will only be located on the residential side of the street, allowing cars to be on the side of the street where Goodnoe is located, as in the past. (Please see the photo below as reference.)

In addition, we are aware that there will be events that make it difficult for parents to find parking on the school campus. As such, we will work with local officials to try and determine the best way to address our parking challenges on days where large school events are scheduled.

Our goal is always to ensure the safety of our students with an efficient dismissal process. Thank you for your support and cooperation in implementing these procedures.

The clothing, water bottles, and miscellaneous items are already starting to stack up in our lost and found here at Goodnoe! But to help you find the lost items, we will be placing our racks of left items in the lobby during parent/teacher conferences next week. Please take some time to look through the items on the racks to see if anything belongs to your family members. We would also like to note that any items not claimed will be donated at the holiday break in December.

Winter break is a great time to spend cold nights together snuggling up with a good book. Also, in reading to your children you are modeling what good reading looks like and sounds like. Even more importantly, having this joyful time together will create memories connected to reading that will last a lifetime.

Students in grades 4th through 6th will be roller skating in Physical Education class from Tuesday, December 10th through Tuesday, January 21st. Skatetime provides all of the equipment required to participate including quad roller skates, helmets, knee pads and wrist guards. Students may bring in their own helmets if they want, they are not permitted to bring in their own skates. Disposable shower caps will be provided for students using Skatetime's helmets and all equipment will be sanitized between classes and at the end of each day. Please reach out to your student's PE teacher if you have any questions.

Thank you to Art Goes to School for leading our 1st through 3rd graders through discussion about animal-themed paintings! AGTS is looking for volunteers interested in bringing an appreciation for the arts to local communities. See the flyer below for more information about getting involved.

During the first marking period, Goodnoe Elementary had 19 students earn the title of Grand Champion playing First in Math. These students have earned a minimum of 10,000 stickers. Congratulations to Pietro M., Julia M., Siddhant K., Tsun H. L., Madison H., Harrison I., Jackson P., Shane M., Adhruth A., Jace D., Akil P., Michael S., Albert Z., Dominik M., Landon K., Seojun L., Michael R., Petro O. and Sullivan H.

Mrs. Pearce's second-grade class just clinched the number one spot in the school! In second place is Mrs. Belsak's class, in third place is Mrs. Lowe's class, in fourth place is Mrs. Mazzolla's class, and in fifth place is Mr. Marcus's class. Two of our Goodnoe teams are ranked in the top-10 in the school district. Mrs. Pearce's class is #4 and Mrs. Belsak's class is #6.

Goodnoe Elementary School is ranked in the top-10 in the state of Pennsylvania!!! The students have been working towards this for weeks and have finally achieved it. Wonderful effort!

Some families have shared that they are not able to open some links included in the newsletter. Please try clicking on the "Goodnoe Gazette" at the very top of the newsletter where the date is listed. This should allow you to open all links within the newsletter.

Attached is the form to be completed for Family Educational Trips. Handwritten letters are accepted, however this form is preferred. Please be sure to submit the form/letter at least ten (10) days prior to your trip, for approval. Please contact Sue Bogucki, attendance clerk, at sbogucki@crsd.org if you have questions regarding this process.

Family Educational Trip Form - CLICK HERE

To help families with their planning for the school year, the list of early dismissal days is provided below. On these days, students will be dismissed at 12:15 pm. Lunches will not be served so please pack a snack.

• Tuesday, January 28th (KPM attends)
• Friday, March 7th (KAM attends)
• Friday, June 17th (projected last day of school)

Updating Demographic Information:

At the start of every school year, the Council Rock School District requires parents/guardians to verify their demographic information through the Home Access Center (HAC).

It is important to know that District/School Notifications, Emergency Contacts, Medication Authorization information, etc. are directly dependent upon your completion of this process.

To update your student’s demographic form:

LINK TO HAC - CLICK HERE TO GO TO CRSD HAC

• Login to HAC.
• Click on “Update Registration”
• Click on “NEW” in the middle of the screen to open the Demographic Update Form 2024

HAC Support:

If you encounter any issues while trying to log into HAC, please click this LINK to contact HA support.

During the past few weeks, your child’s class has been reviewing the SW-PBIS (School Wide- Positive Behavior Interventions & Support) school expectations. The lessons included a class discussion, modeling and practicing of respectful, responsible, and safe behaviors in the locations listed on the school-wide matrix. Your child’s class also learned about the voice levels that are expected for the different locations. Earlier this week your child brought home a paper copy of the matrix and voice level chart. Please take some time to review the papers with your child. The copies are for you to keep and refer to at home. There is a half sheet of paper for you and your child to sign and return to your child's homeroom teacher. Thank you for your support!

When escorting students to and from school, please do not bring pets on school grounds or into the school building. Many of our children are afraid of animals or have pet allergies; therefore, the presence of animals in school or on school grounds is prohibited. Some classes at Goodnoe Elementary School do participate in the Nor’Wester Reading Dogs program, so on occasion you may see dogs visiting. These dogs are specially trained and licensed to work in the schools with students. No other animals are permitted on school property during school hours. Please refer to our board policy for more information on animals in school policy 105.3 https://go.boarddocs.com/pa/coun/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=AQ5KYB538D2B

In order to determine eligibility for free or reduced-price meals for the 2024-25 school year, an application must be completed every school year. Even if you were found eligible last school year, a new application must be filed with your family’s current information.

To apply for free or reduced-price lunch:

• Visit COMPASS Homepage - COMPASS Homepage to apply online. (website offers language options other than English.)
• Click on this link to download a paper copy of the 2024-25 Free and Reduced Lunch Application
• Pick up a paper copy of the application at Chancellor Center or at any school office.

If not applying online via COMPASS, please email your completed application to kmoody@crsd.org or mail to Council Rock School District, Attn: Free and Reduced Lunch Program/Karen Moody, 30 N. Chancellor St., Newtown, PA 18940.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

• To learn about affordable internet access from Comcast, click here.
• To download a flyer about Comcast's affordable internet access
• K-8 - What Makes A Healthy Meal Flyer
• Highschool - What Makes A Healthy Meal

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR THE SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM:

Aramark/ Student Lunch Accounts

Amy Sura

215-944-2797

Amy.sura@crsd.org

My Payments Plus Parent Helpline

1-877-237-0946

Free and Reduced Lunch Program

Karen Moody

215-944-1068

kmoody@crsd.org

Please take a moment to review this school year's attendance letter from the District that outlines information regarding Council Rock's policies on student absences. You can find the letter at the link below:

Attendance Policy

Bring your own Hot Cocoa for a fun night of caroling through the Boro!! Meet in front of the Chancellor Center at 6pm. Songbooks will be provided.

Feeling overwhelmed or stressed this holiday season? Add some positivity to your day with the You've Got a Friend in Pennsylvania Pep Talk Phone Line!

Call 717-772-4737 and experience the cheer that Pennsylvania students have to share!

Tickets are going LIVE to the community next week! Tickets are flying!!

❄️ Last chance to get your jerseys before the holidays! ❄️

Order by 12/15 to pick up at Goodnoe 12/19 3:00-6:00!

Give your kids the ultimate game experience with our Wiz Kids Jersey Promotion! Here’s what they’ll enjoy:
🌟 Pre-Game Warm-Up: Watch your Wiz Kids take the court to practice alongside Harlem Wizards players!
🌟 Personalized Introduction: A special shout-out from the Wizards' MC, introducing your kiddo to the crowd!
🌟 Group Photo: Capture an unforgettable keepsake with a team group photo!
Order your jersey online in advance to save, and be sure your child is all set for this unforgettable experience. Plus, every jersey purchase benefits Goodnoe!
🚨 Pre-Game Purchase Special 🚨 Get your advanced ticket prices now!
Don’t miss this slam-dunk opportunity for your kids to join in on the Wizards/Goodnoe game-day action! 🏀
#WizKids #HarlemWizards #JerseyPromotion #GameDayExperience #BasketballFun

Principal

Email: bfox@crsd.org

Phone: (215) 944-2107
Location: 298 Frost Lane, Newtown, PA, USA