Mill Road News

Brian Boyd, Principal

February was another amazing month at Mill Road Elementary School. Thank you for your continued support and active engagement with your child's education. Students enjoyed learning through science, technology and engineering activities, we celebrated our 100th day and had a fantastic time at our PTA Family Fun Night!

As we near the start of spring, many exciting activities and events are happening at Mill Road Elementary School. Please read through the school newsletter for calendar updates and information.

This month in grades 3-5 we will be starting our annual "March Multiplication Madness." Mrs. Dunn leads the charge as we encourage students to practice their math facts and chart their progress over three weeks. Special awards are given to classes that have the highest percentage and most growth over these next few weeks. Practice those multiplication facts!

Looking ahead, state testing begins next month. Students in grades 3,4 and 5 will take the NYS ELA Assessment on April 10th and 11th. Please have students to school on time these days and avoid scheduling doctor and dentist appointments, if possible.

Here's to a wonderful spring!

Spring picture day is Friday, March 15th!

Calling all incoming kindergarteners!

If your child is turning 5 on or before December 1, 2024, they are eligible to enroll in kindergarten! Eligible students must show proof of their birthdate and must reside within the Red Hook School District. If you meet these requirements, please call JoAnn Johnson at (845)758-2241 ext 45010 to schedule a registration appointment. Registration will take place 3/19-3/21.

The Mill Road Pre-kindergarten online application opens on March 1. The link can be found on the district website, www.redhookcentralschools.org. Once on the website, go to Mill Road Primary and then click on information. There you will find a list of FAQs and a direct link to the application form.

We seem to have found ourselves in a bit of a sticky situation, one that has required us to tap into our already sapped reserves and boil it all down to a sweet resolution. Of course I am talking about maple syrup season! At the time of writing this we have already collected 167 gallons of sap and made over 2 gallons of sweet, robust syrup!

By some strange confluence of events this year and last we found ourselves with sap that had around 3% sugar! More sugar means less boiling, which is certainly a relief when it takes about 4 hours to turn 5 gallons of sap into just 16 ounces of syrup!

Our mild winter allowed us to tap much earlier than usual on February 2nd, but also nipped us in the bud at the end. Warm days and nights meant bacteria growing in our sap, and since we just can't boil fast enough that signaled the end of our season. Good news for the trees that can now start healing from the holes we drilled!

We have already produced double the amount of syrup from last year so we have decided to hold a fundraiser where community members can support the Garden Program by buying our Mill Road Maple Syrup. More details to come, but for now our students can enjoy that very same syrup on some pancakes in class!

Best,

Doug Keto

Garden Educator

Mill Road School

dketo@rhcsd.org

Thank you to all of our volunteers, families, community businesses, teachers, staff members and custodians for making Family Fun Night a terrific success! Our next PTA meeting is Tuesday, March 12 at 7pm in the PK-2 cafeteria. We will be reviewing plans for the remainder of the year and discussing fundraising plans for the 2024-25 school year. We hope to see you there! Don't forget, Gertrude Hawk fundraiser pickup will be scheduled on an evening during the week of March 18th. Stay tuned for further details.

• 3/1 - Pre-K online application opens
• 3/4 - 3-5 BLT Meeting
• 3/5 - PK-2 BLT Meeting
• 3/6 - BOE Community Conversations 6:00 at LAMS
• 3/8 - Superintendent Conference Day - no school for students
• 3/12 - 3rd grade Field Trip ND Symphony Orchestra 9:30-12:30
• 3/12 - PTA Meeting 7:00
• 3/15 - Spring Picture Day
• 3/19 - 3/21 - Kindergarten Registration
• 3/20 - BOE Meeting 7:00
• 3/22 - 3-5 Report Cards Issued
• 3/25 - 4/1 - Spring Break - school reopens 4/2

- Our LOST & FOUND is still filled with sweatshirts, jackets, sweaters and more. Please have your child's last name on tags so that clothing can find it's way back and remind them to check the lost & found for items they might be missing!

- Our school theme of the month for of March is Friendship

- It can still be quite cold out so please remember to send in warm outdoor clothing for recess. We try to go outside as often as possible for recess. To play in the snow, boots, snow pants and gloves are needed. PTA has purchased sleds for some winter fun.

-Please remember to send in a note if your child has a change in their normal dismissal routine. Emails are to be used in an emergency with a phone call as a follow-up. We no longer accept verbal dismissal changes and the district does not allow single day bus changes. Students are permitted to ride the bus to a regularly scheduled sitter - busing to playdates is not allowed. When sending in a note please include your child's first and last name and exactly what they will be doing for dismissal. Thank you for your understanding.

Email: bboyd@rhcsd.org
Website: https://www.redhookcentralschools.org/millroadis
Phone: (845) 758-2241 35100
Twitter: @RH_MR3_5