Miller Elementary Weekly Update

Hello Miller Families!

We had a week of many "firsts" at Miller Elementary! We held our first Fire Drill to learn the importance of responding to an emergency. We read a class sorry about what to expect in a fire drill along with reminders about what to do! We all safely exited the building to take attendance and heard the alarm once we were outside. You can ask your child if the alarm was loud or soft. This is also a great time to talk about a family emergency plan in the event you need to evacuate your house. Do you have a safe meeting spot just like we do at school? We also practiced bus expectations with our transportation department. These were great reminders about how to safely ride the bus, cross the street and always listen to the bus driver. They will be practicing bus evacuations in a few weeks!

I'm sure you may be experiencing the adjustment to longer school days or having your little one in preschool 4 days a week. Remember that they are adjusting to being away from home all day or half the day as well as learning many new faces and names of classmates and staff members. We still have some tears which can be expected, but we want to assure you that we are here to give that extra hug, sit and comfort your child, or offer a calming toy or activity. As the weeks continue, your child will feel more comfortable with all the new faces at school and continue to build strong relationships that will last throughout their years as a GREENMEN! These relationships will be the foundation of many exciting learning opportunities.

We've had a few families ask about picture day at Miller since the other schools have their picture day very soon! Ours will take place on Monday, September 23rd and more information will be forthcoming!

Kindergarten Only Reminder:

• Friday, August 30th - Kindergarten KRA-R Assessment Days - Kindergarten Students Whose Last Name Begins with A-L Attend School (M-Z Does not attend school this day)
• Monday, September 2nd - NO SCHOOL - LABOR DAY
• Tuesday, September 3rd - Kindergarten KRA-R Assessment Days - Kindergarten Students Whose Last Name Begins with M-Z Attend School (A-L Does not attend school this day)

I hope you have a wonderful long Labor Day Weekend and please look at the KINDERGARTEN staggered assessment days!

Go GREENMEN!

Maria Goodman

Miller Elementary Principal

330-954-2189

Email mgoodman@aurora-schools.org

The Aurora Elementary PTO is a wonderful organization that provides a connection between families and the schools to pull off some amazing events and experiences for our children. This includes helping to organize our classroom parties, fundraising for field trips and supporting the schools with many extra fun events and activities.

One way to get involved and participate in some of these events is by signing up for the PTO! When you use the link below, you will have an option to sign up for class parties, volunteer for school events and become an important link between home and school. Thank you to all our PTO volunteers and the support that you provide to our schools each day!

As students begin their educational journey, there are some state-mandated checkpoints and assessments to ensure that we are monitoring your child's growth and development. To accomplish these activities, it's best if we bring small groups of children to school to work on these various assessments.

All K-5 (NOT PRESCHOOL) students will participate in our Fall Assessment Days on Friday, August 30th or Tuesday, September 3rd.

Friday, August 30th - Kindergarten KRA-R Assessment Days - Kindergarten Students Whose Last Name Begins with A-L Attend School (M-Z Does not attend school this day)

Tuesday, September 3rd - Kindergarten KRA-R Assessment Days - Kindergarten Students Whose Last Name Begins with M-Z Attend School (A-L Does not attend school this day)

In addition to our assessment days, we will be completing many of our kindergarten assessments during our normal school day. These screening assessments are required by the State of Ohio and they provide us with information to better know your child and to kickstart the school year to best meet their needs. We wanted to share what assessments they will be participating in and the expected dates so you know what is happening at school.

The dates listed below show the various windows of time we will be conducting assessments.

AIMS Web Benchmarking - A 2-3 minute kindergarten universal screener to check your child's incoming knowledge of letters, sounds, and phonemic awareness. (August 27th)

Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA-R) - Kindergarten Students (Aug. 30th & Sept. 3rd)

This assessment looks at your child’s readiness for engaging with instruction aligned to the kindergarten standards. These assessments are completed through observation in the classroom and via an interactive assessment on an iPad. Here are the skills that are checked:

• Social Foundations- including social and emotional development
• Mathematics
• Language and Literacy
• Physical Well-being and Motor Development

Speech & Language Screening - Kindergarten Students (Week of September 9th)

Your child will work one-on-one with one of our speech and language pathologists to conduct a speech and language screener.

Vision & Hearing Screening - All Kindergarten Students (Month of September & October)

Our school nurse will conduct a vision and hearing screening on all students.

Ohio English Language Proficiency Screener - (Beginning the Week of September 3rd) -

Students whose families speak a 2nd language in the home as reported in Final Forms will take a language proficiency screener. This assessment is given by Mrs. Levey or Mrs. Flannery our English Learner educators.

We will communicate any results that require follow-up or reach out to you if we have any further questions. We are looking forward to getting to know your child a bit more!

A hot lunch may be purchased each day or your child can pack a lunch. They also have the option to purchase white or chocolate milk instead of packing a drink. Each child has a lunch account and we have provided you with their lunch account information at Open House. You can add money to their account via a credit card following the directions on the sheet, send in cash or you can send in a check made out to the Aurora City Schools. If you send in money, please place it in an envelope or baggie with your child’s name and a note indicating the money is for lunch. We will deduct the cost of lunch or milk each day that your child makes a purchase. Please make sure your child knows if they are buying or packing a lunch each day. We spend time helping them make their selection at the beginning of the year and soon this is an independent task they complete each day! Some of our classes eat lunch at 11:00 and other classes eat lunch at 12:00.

Please meet Ms. Stacy Glover who makes sure our little ones have a tasty lunch each day!

August:

• Monday, 8/26 - All Preschool and Kindergarten Attend School

Kindergarten Only

• Friday, 8/30 - Getting to Know You Days- KRA-Kindergarten Assessments - Students Whose Last Name Begins with A-L Attend School (M-Z Do not attend school this day)
• Tuesday 9/03 - Getting to Know You Days - KRA-Kindergarten Assessments - Students Whose Last Name Begins with M-Z Attend School (A-L Do not attend school this day)
• Preschool will operate as usual these days with no preschool on Friday and all preschoolers attend on Tuesday 9/3.

September:

• Monday, 9/02 - NO SCHOOL (Labor Day)
• Monday, 9/23 - Miller School Picture Day - More Information Forthcoming
• Monday, 9/30 - Board of Education Meeting- Conference Center 7:00PM

PBIS Greenmen Poms

Has your child come home talking about earning a fuzzy pom? Did they bring home a reward ticket? We have officially kicked off teaching our learners about school expectations. At Miller, we work to help our children develop skills to be respectful, responsible, and problem-solvers. However, what does that look like and sound like in our school building? Each week we target a skill that supports the development of social and emotional skills that help all children be a member of a safe and fun learning environment. We will teach them a new skill for the next 6 weeks that helps them be safe, happy, and ready to learn.

Our teaching and reinforcing of school expectations and appropriate choices have started off with "I CAN HAVE A SAFE BODY or I AM READY TO LEARN." These two skills can be some of the most important skills we target at Miller. Many children are learning how to use their words to communicate their wants, needs and feelings instead of using physical means of communication. At school, this can look like taking toys from another friend, pushing too hard when playing tag, swinging their backpack which accidentally hits a friend, or invading someone's personal space. When we see children using a safe body or safe hands, they are rewarded with verbal praise, we hand them a Proud Pom and they get to add their Pom Pom to their class bucket!

There are times that young children need more time developing skills to keep a safe body and safe hands. It is important that we use consistent language at school and at home to monitor these behavioral actions. With consistent reminders about the appropriate expectations and time to practice these skills the right way, the more success students will find using their words instead of using unsafe hands. If we reach out to your family about practicing safe hands, please remember we are all working together to help remind your child about ways to communicate and treat others. We will also share all the great choices they continue to make while at school.

Hello Miller! It has been such a treat to welcome your capable, adorable and kind Kindergarten and Preschool students to our wonderful school! I am honored to introduce myself as the school counselor. I am available to support students and families in the areas of social emotional learning, academics and believe it or not- career exploration. Focusing on student strengths and learning about careers that help our community would be an example of how the career standard is covered in Kindergarten.

The 24-25 school year will be my twentieth year in education. I have spent the previous years working as a classroom teacher, middle school counselor, and an elementary school counselor. Helping students is what I love to do! When I am not at school, you can usually find me at a sporting event for one of my three children: Dominic (13), Daniel (11) and Elle (11). We live right around the corner in Hudson with my husband, Brian and goldendoodle, Lila.

I encourage and welcome open-communication. During the school day, I provide individual counseling, small group counseling and classroom guidance lessons. Classroom guidance topics will be shared as they are introduced in this newsletter. Should your child be recommended for a small group or individual counseling, I would notify you in order to obtain your consent. Initially, I will ensure that all students continue to transition from summer break to their school day with ease.

This school year, I will be at Miller three days each week. Those days will typically be Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. When I am not at Miller, I’ll be very close at Leighton Elementary working with the third, fourth and fifth graders.

Next week will be a longer one for your child, so I thought it would be beneficial to share Tips for Back to School Anxiety from Akron Children’s Hospital and a resource to help with arrival Separation Anxiety.pdf should your child experience any uncertainty when getting on the bus or out of the car. While I know it’s useful, my hope is that you can simply file this resource and not have to utilize it!

Please don’t hesitate to contact me at any time. I look forward to an excellent school year!

My name is Len Spacek. This school year, I will be supporting students in grades K-5 from a mental health perspective. I will be working with students that are dealing with anxiety, depression, self-regulation, and other aspects of their mental well-being. This may be in an individual setting, a small group setting, or educating classes about tools that can help with emotional wellness.

I have been a teacher and a coach in the Aurora City Schools for twenty-eight years. My first 20 years were spent in the classroom as a language arts teacher at Harmon Middle School. Over the past eight years, along with teaching PE at Leighton Elementary school, I have earned my school counseling license and my license as an LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor). Also, during the past eight years, I have done counseling at Spire Institute in Geneva, Grand River Academy in Ashtabula, and Ubuntu Wellness in Chagrin Falls.

I am looking forward to supporting students in grades K-5 and helping them to become the very best version of themselves.

We have a school nurse, Jackie Pawlowski, on staff during school hours. She is here each day to assist students at a time of need or illness. Here are some important reminders to ensure the safety of our school community each day:

• Please make sure your Final Forms medical information is up to date. We will closely read the health sections to address any medical concerns. If your child requires medication (over the counter or prescription) during the school day, we must have a signed medication form on file. You can find this attached below.
• It is important to check your child each day for symptoms of illness as you know them best. If they become I'll during the day, or are injured, we will reach out to you and let you know if their symptoms are worsening. We call home for injuries, fevers, and continued sickness. We do not call home for every trip to the nurse for a band-aid, ice pack or upset tummy. We certainly will call if symptoms worsen. We sometimes use our School Nurse Cell Phone
  
• Students sent home with a fever, may not return to school until they are fever free without medication for at least 24 hours. This means if your child was sent home on Tuesday at 12:00 p.m. with a fever, he/she may not return to school until 24 hours later. If your child does return the next day, our school will be calling for you to come pick him/her up. Please help to support our efforts in this area.
  
• We are required to report to families if there is a confirmed communicable disease in your child's class. This could include strep, pink eye, COVID, hand-foot and mouth or other illnesses.

Finally, please make sure your child has extra clothes in his/her backpack. Accidents and spills happen all the time and it's safe to always have their own clothes in their book bag instead of wearing our spare clothes.

In all our Elementary Buildings, we utilize a Google Form to report attendance, late arrival, early dismissal, and change of transportation such as switching from a bus rider to office pick-up!

To report an absence or change, 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. Toler.

Also, if your child is absent, instead of calling us, you can also use this code to report the absence and the reason for the absence. We are working really hard to reduce the amount of phone calls, emails, or notes that we receive. We ask that you reserve those modes of communication for emergencies only. Thank you in advance for your help and let us know if you have any questions at all!

Miller Elementary Principal

Erin Toler : etoler@aurora-schools.org

Miller Elementary Secretary

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