News From Fort Zeller Elementary

Hello to our Fort Zeller Families,

It's hard to believe we are already into November! It has been such a wonderful first quarter of school. I would like to say THANK YOU to all of our Fort Zeller families. I appreciate your partnership as we work as a team to create the best learning experience for your students. Your work in providing a caring environment at home that nurtures and respects education provides a solid platform for us to build on. Our work together creates a team of support for your child that allows great learning to happen academically, socially, and emotionally.

November is a perfect time of year to reflect and practice gratitude. Do you have a moment to send a quick thank you note or email to a staff member at Fort Zeller Elementary? A simple note of appreciation can change a staff member's day. Positive connections between home and school foster mutual respect, which in turn creates a stronger learning environment for all. I encourage you to share a quick thank you with someone having a positive impact on your child.

We have many exciting things coming up in the next few months. Keep an eye out for communication about what's happening at Fort Zeller. Please always feel free to contact the school with any questions you may have.

All the Best,

Jodi Houck

1. Trip Forms - If you are planning on going on a trip, please make sure to fill out a trip request form and turn it into the office. Planned trips require the principal's approval in order to be excused. For all other absences, you can complete the excuse on Power School, or turn in an excuse to the office through email (fzattendance@elcosd.org) or paper copy.

2. Power School Forms - We are still looking for a number of families to complete the required forms on Power School. These forms provide us with up-to-date important information. Please see below for more information. If you need help, please make sure to contact our office.

3. Book Fair - Fort Zeller's Book Fair will be held from November 16-21. Our preview day will be on 11/16 and then your child will be able to shop on 11/17. It will be open during parent conferences on 11/20-11/21. Please see below for more information. There is a schedule of when each class will be previewing and buying at the book fair below.

4. PBIS Whole School Reward - This year we are bringing back monthly whole school rewards for all students who have not received an office referral, think sheet, or bus referral for that month. We want to recognize students for doing great things and making good choices each month.

5. Break - We will not have school for students from November 20-27. November 20-21 will be when our parent/teacher conferences will be taking place. This is the time you will be receiving your child's report cards. The rest of that week, along with the following Monday, students and staff will be off school.

6. ELCO's Annual Holiday Program - ELCO's annual holiday program to support our families is back! Please see below for more information.

Nov. 2: (Day 2)

• Picture Retake
• Raider Reader Day

Nov. 3: (Act 80 Day)

• No School for Students

Nov. 6: (Day 3)

• Board Meeting @ 6:00 pm

Nov. 7: (Day 4)

• Election Day

Nov. 8: (Day 1)

• Author Visit - Kathy Miller
• PTO Meeting @ 6:30 pm

Nov. 10: (Day 3)

• Veteran's Day
• Veteran's Day Breakfast - 7:45 - 8:20 am
• Family Groups

Nov. 13: (Day 4)

• Start of Book Fair (11/13-11/21)

Nov. 20-21: (Conferences)

• No School for Students
• Book Fair Open

Nov. 22-27: (Thanksgiving Break)

• No School for Students

Nov. 28: (Day 1)

• Back to School

Nov. 30: (Day 3)

• PBIS Assembly

ELCO's annual holiday program to support our families is back! Families who express the need for support will be provided with gift cards and stuffed stockings for each child rather than individualized gifts. This will allow parents to shop for their children, purchasing the correct colors/sizes of clothing, specific toys desired, etc. They will also receive a gift card for food (as has been done in the past). Individuals, businesses, and families who wish to donate will have the opportunity to do so via a few avenues: donation of a stocking and items to stuff the stockings with, donation of money, donation of gift cards.

Details pertaining to the Holiday Program are available on the ELCO website. Please click on the link below!

Our book fair will take place from Thursday November 16th through Tuesday November 21st in the main lobby next to the office.

If you would like to sign-up to help out at the book fair, please use this link.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0449AFAD29A0FC1-45691242-2023#/

Visit our Book Fair homepage to learn more and get started with eWallet and online shopping: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/fortzellerelementaryschool

If you would like to make a donation to help ensure that every child at Fort Zeller is able to get a book from our book fair, please use the web address below to donate to Fort Zeller’s schoolwide eWallet account.

https://shop.scholastic.com/ewallet/fund?lang=en_US&walletId=27da91b9-d911-4e46-8d96-aa9528c10379

Congratulations to our October students of the month and class of the month!

Kindergarten - Adaline B. (Zurick AM) & Alexander S.(Krause PM)

First Grade - Gabriel V.(Hartman), Nora R. (McDonnell) & Caleb H. (Wentzel)

Second Grade - Logan W. (Jackson) & Rayna S. (Frederick)

Class of the Month - Mrs. Withrow's 2nd Grade Class

During the month of September, we were focused on self-control. Throughout the month of November, we are focusing on digital citizenship. Digital Citizenship means doing the right thing with iPads, tablets, computers and phones.

This year, Fort Zeller Elementary and Jackson Elementary are continuing to team up and provide family workshops for next year's incoming kindergarten families. We had our first event on October 25 at Fort Zeller Elementary. It went very well and was enjoyed by the families and future students who attended. We are hoping to have more families join in for our next workshop, which will be held in March at Jackson Elementary. Please help spread the word to any families who have a child who would be entering kindergarten next year. Thank you!

On October 20, our first graders went on their field trip to Corn Cob Acres in Mountville, PA. It was a perfect day to be outside and have fun. They learned about pumpkins, took a hayride, played in some of their attractions and got to bring home their very own pumpkin. They had a wonderful time and did an amazing job.

Some of our second grade students helped Ms. Ober harvest our raised gardens. They dug out potatoes and picked cherry tomatoes from the gardens. They had a ton of fun getting their hands dirty doing great work.

The ELCO Raider Food Pantry is Open!

The ELCO Raider Food Pantry is now open and available for the ELCO families. With the support of our ELCO staff, local businesses and churches, we are able to provide our ELCO families with an additional resource.

If you are in need of immediate assistance or you'd like to donate to the ELCO Raider Pantry, please reach out to Kelly Smith, ELCO Social Worker, at 717-306-3242 or Jenelle Himmelreich, Director of Food and Nutrition, at 717-306-3270 for a confidential appointment to the pantry.

Hello Families! Happy Fall! Here’s a little bit of what we’ve been doing in the counseling department and what’s coming up!

R.E.A.C.H. Lessons

In October, Kindergarten students were introduced to my friends, The Little Spots! The Little Spot series is something I started using with students last year as a tool for feelings identification and they loved it! Kindergarten students will get to know all the spots this year! First grade students reviewed the Little Spots from last year and were detectives, using clues such as facial expressions and body language to figure out each feeling! Second graders focused on our character trait of the month, Self-Control, by making self-control remotes after reading the story Hunter and His Amazing Remote Control.

In November, Kindergarten and 1st graders will be introduced to a Little Peaceful Spot and a Little Calm Spot and we will talk about positive coping skills to help us stay calm when things get tough! Second graders will be talking about what it means to be a good citizen and what might happen if we’re not!

Throughout October all students explored fiction books and the elements of a great story! We all discussed how to choose a just right book and what types of stories we prefer. Second grade began discovering non-fiction through sharing stories and group activities. We will begin creating our own books and videos in the upcoming weeks as we prepare for our school-wide author visit on November 8! We are excited to meet Kathy Miller, the creator of the Chippy Chipmunk books!

All students are singing and dancing in the unit of Rhythm in Music!
Kindergarten is exploring their first two rhythms ta and ti-ti while playing them on instruments.
First Grade is practicing already learned music notation from last year and creating songs on the bells.
Second Grade has started playing the ukulele. They have experimented with both the C and the A minor chords.

October Art Recap: in Mrs. Panza’s art classroom, ELCO artists were focused on learning about and creating art! In Kindergarten, artists learned about lines, listened to the story Lines that Wiggle by Candace Whitman,and practiced drawing lines. They used a paint scraper tool to “draw lines into paint” to create their work at teacher time. First grade artists worked with printmaking tools & tempera paints to create a blend of fall foliage after being inspired by the book Fall Leaves Fall by Shari Halpern. We also discussed how to create depth in our abstract fall forest artwork. Second grade artists were challenged to create a unique version of sky color after listening to Peter H. Reynold’s Sky Color. Artists used mark-making, and the watercolor technique of wet-on-wet to create their artwork. The results are stunning!

Information about artwork:

· Many finished artwork pieces stay at school and are on display

· Several practice drawings stay at school for a portion of time so artists can add on to these drawings

· Mrs. Panza is also starting to collect and save artwork for ELCO’s district-wide art show! Also, "Save the Date"…Celebrate the Arts/ELCO Art Show is scheduled for Wednesday May 15, 2024. (more information forthcoming).

Physical Education classes in October were all about teamwork and fun. Students worked together to play games and conquer challenges using the giant parachute. Parachute activities were as active as they were exciting, as students got their hearts pumping and their muscles working!

As we move to the month of November, all classes will begin a manipulatives unit. This unit will challenge students to manipulate objects such as scarves, beanbags, balls and hula hoops. Everyone will become experts at tossing, catching, balancing, sliding and rolling lots of fun objects in a variety of games and activities!

Kindergarten has been working hard on letters, sounds, and their new words. Students are excited to be able to “read” some words in their special books. They are also working on numbers and number writing. Kindergarten students have been using their five senses to become aware of their surroundings and to write about their observations. The students had a wonderful STEM lesson with Mr. Wright on Pumpkin Chucking (Pushes/pulls) and working together to create catapults. They also enjoyed learning about fire safety. We talked about the big word “Respect,” and how we can show respect to all of our friends and the community. We are very good at practicing Self Control, which was the character trait for last month!

October: First graders practiced reading and printing words using short e, and short u word families. We introduced words that have double final consonants, ck endings and blends with r, as well as reviewing all the short vowel sounds. During math time, students used counters to model subtraction stories and practiced printing subtraction number sentences. Science and social studies activities included planting seeds to see the growth process and scholastic news reviews.

The first graders enjoyed participating in the Race for Education and going on their field trip to Corn Cob Acres in Mountville, PA. A special shout out to the Fort Zeller PTO for their support in both of those activities. Students also had the opportunity during Fire Prevention Week to view several safety vehicles, plus had a visit from First Energy, about the First Energy's Pennsylvania Utilities Think! Energy program.

After reading realistic fiction, we looked at the story elements. The second graders have been identifying characters in stories and describing the characters with specific details from the story. For math this month, the students have practiced skip counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s. They also have used arrays with repeated addition, and found even and odd numbers in number patterns. We are now adding two-digit numbers with and without regrouping. In Social studies, we have been talking about rules and laws and how to be a good citizen!

Kindergarten students in Mrs. Stuart's class had a ton of fun making building towers out of wood. The object of the activity was to work together to create the tallest tower possible that could hold a pumpkin. The tallest tower reached 29 inches (great job Levi & Eli). They did an amazing job and LOVED this activity!

On Wednesday, November 8th, Kathy Miller, an awarding winning author and photographer, will be visiting Fort Zeller Elementary School. We are so excited for her visit! Kathy Miller’s, Chippy the Chipmunk series, uses her photographs to tell the adventures of a little chipmunk. One of her goals for presenting to students and for writing children’s books is to “stimulate an interest in the outdoors” and hopefully students will be “inspired to create their own books from what they observe in nature”.

To get our students excited about her visit, she graciously donated her books to our school library. Your child will be hearing one of Kathy Miller’s books in library class. If you are interested in purchasing one of her books, please complete the book order form, which has been sent home. Order forms and money are due Friday, November 3rd. If you misplaced the form and would like another one, please send an email to Mrs. Faust, sfaust@elcosd.org.

1. On Wednesday, November 8, 2023, at 6:30, our PTO will host its next meeting in our library at Fort Zeller. We hope that you will consider joining our meetings and provide your valuable input to support our students and staff at Fort Zeller.

2. Volunteering: If you have an interest in being a volunteer in your child's classroom or in our school, please use this link, https://www.elcosd.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=918, to complete the necessary paperwork on clearances. Don't hesitate to call our office at (610) 589-2575 if you need additional assistance.

🗓️November PTO Meeting - Wednesday, November 8 @ 630PM

🍔 Sunday, November 12 🍔 - Join the PTO at the Union House in Richland for Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner. A portion of the day’s food sales will be donated to the PTO!

📚Book Fair 📚

November 16 - Student Preview Day

November 17 - Student Purchase Day

November 20/21 - Open for families @ Conferences

Please sign-up to volunteer at this event!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0449AFAD29A0FC1-45691242-2023#/

🥗 Teacher Conference Meal 🍲 Soup, Salad & Dessert 🍰 November 20

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050A4AADAF22A7FA7-45379813-conference#/

🗓️ December PTO Meeting - Wednesday, December 6 @ 630PM

🎁 Gingerbread Shop 🎁

December 14 & 15

On Friday, October 6, Fort Zeller students and staff participated in our Race for Education event organized by our amazing PTO. Everyone had fun racing around the track and then cooling off with water and apple slices while listening to a story being read by the Richland librarians. It was the perfect day. The event raised over $10,000 to help our PTO fund all the wonderful programs and field trips for our students. Thank you to everyone who donated and came out to support and cheer on our students!

Mrs. Zurick's class had a BLAST with their ice cream treat and glow party that they won for being the top fundraising class for our Race for Education event. Thank you to everyone for donating and making the event so successful and fun!

Thank you to the Newmanstown Fire Company for coming to Fort Zeller and teaching our students about fire safety. The morning started with a whole school assembly where the firemen explained what to do if anyone is ever faced with a fire and also they showed the students a firemen's protective gear. Then each classroom went out to the fire trucks throughout the day to learn about them and take a truck tour.

ELCO School District is growing our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram channels. Click on the icons and follow along!

Facebook - @ELCOSD

Twitter - @elcosd

Instagram - @elcosd

Why:

1. Celebrate our students.

2. Keep parents, students, alumni, and the community in the loop of what is happening in our district.

3. Promote the great things happening such as athletics, activities, and other events.

4. Build an ongoing conversation about the positive impact our district is making in the lives of our students!

What do I need to do?

• If you are on these social media channels – follow us!

• Help promote these accounts to your family and friends.

• If you aren’t on these platforms – that’s OK. The district will continue to provide communication through traditional channels.

The school dentist is scheduled to visit the school November 10th. If you chose to have your child seen by the school dentist, please look for an upcoming reminder to come home with your child. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions you might have.

Another friendly reminder to please update your child’s Power School Parent Portal page. There are some important forms to be filled out yearly regarding your child’s medical information.

· Yearly Health Profile

· Annual Over the Counter Medication permission form

These forms will help me treat your child properly when they enter my office as well as keep me informed of their overall health status. Your cooperation is appreciated.

Have a safe and healthy month!

Miss Norissa Bergman, LPN

November

2 - Evelyn Arndt

3 - Alexander Strasz

7 - Greyson Auker & Kale Llitera

12 - Ja'cory Brandon

15 - Cael Ziegler

16 - Tristan Cornett & Myla Saul

18 - Milo Ebling

19 - Reid Thomas

21 - Richard Moyer

23 - Emmett Fullerton & William Huttsell

26 - Cooper Martin & Jonah Yeakley Gladden

27 - Leeland Bucher, Makenna Weiler & Flynn Moyer

28 - Ainsley Ernfield & Elijah Mejias

29 - Anna Renyard

30 - Harriet Miller

Fort Zeller Elementary School

243 North Sheridan Road

Richland, PA 17087

Phone: (610) 589-2575

Fax: 610-589-5815

Twitter: @ElcoFort

Email: jhouck@elcosd.org
Website: https://www.elcosd.org/Domain/211
Location: 243 North Sheridan Road Richland, PA 17087
Phone: (610) 589-2575
Twitter: @ElcoFort