Dear Leighton Families,

It is so hard to believe that we have arrived at the end of another wonderful school year. It has been an absolute honor and pleasure to watch each of your children soar with their strengths, overcome obstacles, make new friends, and reach their goals. I could not be more proud of our students, staff, and educational community for all the support, patience, and partnership over the course of this year. We have worked very hard to ensure our learners are equipped with a strong, academic rigor coupled with a strong social/emotional learning platform so as to "nurture the roots" of our learners. We have truly embraced our 6 competencies and a whole child approach to teaching and learning so as to be future ready.

I wanted to take a minute to share some exciting news for next school year. Leighton Elementary will not only be welcoming a New Assistant Principal, Mr. Morris, but will also be welcoming a Third Grade Intervention Specialist as we celebrate Mrs. Stephens move to Craddock to support our younger learners. We will be sure to share our new staff in the Fall upon the interview process being completed. We will also be welcoming back Ms. Most who will be joining our 5th Grade staff. At the end of this wonderful school year we also celebrated the retirements of Mrs. Bruder, 4th Grade Math Teacher, and Mrs. Radkte, 3rd Grade Math Teacher. Mrs. Bruder and Mrs. Radkte will both be missed as we wish them well on their retirements.

Please be sure to check out all the fun end of the year memories and pictures below. This will be the last Leighton Newsletter until late July/early August where communications will be forthcoming including Fall placements, important dates, and beginning of the year information. Please note that we will NOT be mailing home placements for the upcoming school year. Instead, we will be sharing this and all information digitally.

Lastly, besides celebrating all the amazing and fun events that come with the end of the school year, we also celebrated the completion of the adaptive playground! We were very excited to learn of the completion of this project before the end of the school year and even got the opportunity to "unofficially" open the adaptive playground for our students before summer break. It was amazing to see the joy, happiness, and inclusivity. It truly warmed our hearts. Thank you once again to our entire educational community for helping to make this dream a reality through all of the donations, support, and kindness! Specials thanks to Alisa Deininger whose hardwork and relentless efforts helped us achieve our goals as well as countless others. Enjoy the pictures below. An official ribbon cutting will commence in the Fall. We are looking forward to the joy it will bring over the summer.

I would like to wish each of our families a very safe, healthy, restful, and happy summer break. Enjoy this time with friends and family!

Kind Regards,

Mrs. Michelle Nizen, Building Principal

Mr. Benjamin Lehman, Assistant Principal

Thank you to Valerie from We Love Yard Cards who donated our "Happy Summer" signage again for the last day of school. https://weloveyardcards.com/. Thank you for making our last day of school a little more special.

Thank you to all of the PTO members and volunteers who helped to make this school year so memorable and helped make all end-of-the-year events possible. We couldn't have done it without our amazing PTO. Thank you for all your hard work, flexibility, patience, and care for our students! The gratitude and appreciation we have in our hearts for this outstanding group of parents are immeasurable. We are already looking forward to next school year!

The end of the school year is filled with many celebrations! While we are celebrating Mr. Lehman's next adventures in education, we are also celebrating the addition of Mr. Jeff Morris as the New Assistant Principal to Leighton Elementary for the '24-'25 school year. Mr. Morris is currently the Assistant Principal at East Woods Elementary in Hudson where he leads and serves students and staff in grades 3-5. Mr. Morris has 12 years of experience in this role supporting students and staff and is invested in building relationships, supporting building and district initiatives, and helping to foster forward momentum. He has an accomplished track record and a philosophy that directly aligns to our strategic vision, building goals, and frameworks. I am looking forward to welcoming Jeff to Leighton Elementary as our new Assistant Principal. He is equally overjoyed and can't wait to get started. As part of his transition plan, he will be visiting Leighton Elementary to meet the staff and students one morning in May.

As this school year draws to a close, please be reminded to visit the Leighton School Counselor Google site over the summer. We have a myriad of topics and information available for your viewing pleasure over the summer months! As always, THANK YOU for your continued support!

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

Tami S. Mazzella

School Counselor

tmazzella@aurora-schools.org

330-562-2209 Option 3

Lindsey Ambrosia

School Counselor

lambrosia@aurora-schools.org

Miller Elementary School/ Leighton Elementary School

330.562.6199, ext. 5414.

Dear Leighton Elementary School & Families,

We wanted to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude for our school and community support at this year's Leighton Lemonade stand. Your dedication and enthusiasm truly made a difference.

Your efforts not only contributed to the success of the stand but also helped us raise $1,230 for Buddy Benches on our new inclusive playground AND $950 to ALSF for research to help find a cure for childhood cancer. Our original goal was to raise $400 for Buddy Benches and $400 for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. We more than tripled our Buddy Bench goal, and we more than doubled our ALSF goal. It's wonderful to see how your initiative and kindness can impact our community.

Thank you 5th grade parents, teachers, and students for your generosity, time, and commitment. Your willingness to pitch in and help out embodies the spirit of goodwill, and it's truly inspiring.

Please know that your contributions are deeply appreciated, and they will have a lasting, positive effect. We are sincerely grateful for everything you've done.

With Warmest Regards,

The Leighton Leaders

August

mnizen@aurora-schools.org

Mr. Ben Lehman - Assistant Principal

blehman@aurora-schools.org

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