The Leighton News

Dear Leighton Families,

I can not believe that we are already half way through the month of September! We are still enjoying the beautiful weather that comes with the change of seasons and enjoying the beauty of our campus as students and staff enjoy the outdoor learning trail and garden area. Thank you to our Outdoor Learning Space team of Fifth Grade staff and some of our amazing parents for helping us keep these areas in beautiful condition for students and staff to utilize during the day for instructional purposes.

We enjoyed the Fairy House projects and viewings this week in the Leighton Trail. The "Magic Forest" came alive this week at Leighton Elementary as our Miller and Leighton students created fairy houses (Fifth Graders) and fairies (Kindergartners) for the Fifth Grade Fairy House Project. Check out the pictures below. It is one of our favorite times of the year when we get to invite our Miller friends to Leighton for a week of magic! Please feel free to stop by with your families this weekend to walk the Leighton Trail!

We have completed our benchmarking assessments for Fall called Aimsweb and our staff is working diligently to continually refine our instructional practices to meet the needs of each of our students. These assessment are given three times a year in the Fall, Winter, and Spring. Other beginning of the year assessments are also given to provide a complete picture of our students strengths and areas in which we can support them while fostering the development of our 6 competencies and strategic vision through the design of our excellent learning environments.

Mr. Morris and I enjoyed spending last week with students in all grades as we kicked off Principal Pals week where we went to each classroom and shared a story and had a Q and A with students about what it is like to be a Principal. I think one student said it best when he related, "This is the best day ever!" Mr. Morris and I couldn't agree more. Spending our days with our students is truly the "best day ever". We topped off our days together with popsicles at lunch. Thank you to our PTO moms who helped with this process. We appreciate you!

I could not be more proud of our students, staff, and educational community for the teamwork and partnerships already this school year in supporting our whole-child approach to teaching and learning and helping us to ensure all students are "future ready". We are truly blessed to work with your amazing children each day.

Thank you for your continued support, teamwork, and partnership this year. Please reach out anytime you may need anything. We are here to help and support!

Kind Regards,

Michelle Nizen, Building Principal

Jeff Morris, Assistant Principal

A Note from the Counseling Department.......

Since we are welcoming Fall this weekend, I wanted to share what our class lesson topic for the Fall will be ~ we will be talking about resilience and perseverance during our class visits. And since October is also National Bully Prevention Month, there will be a lesson loaded into all Google classrooms pertaining to that topic, as well.

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

Ms. Tami Mazzella

(330) 562-2209, option 3

tmazzella@aurora-schools.org

Mrs. Lindsey Ambrosia

(330) 562-6199, ext. 5414

lambrosia@aurora-schools.org

Thank you to everyone who has completed their final forms for this school year. As a reminder, there was an additional form added to final forms entitled Student and Family Handbook which will require all parents to sign in order for Final Forms to be completed for the school year. This form will show red until a review of the handbook and a signature is provided. Thank you so much for taking the time to go back, review, and sign this document. We are still seeing a larger number than usual of incomplete Final Forms due and this additional check will help to ensure everyone is set for the school year. Once again, even if you have completed final forms, you will have to go back in and sign off on this additional form to complete the process. Thank you so much for your attention to this matter and double checking to ensure your Final Forms process is complete to ensure you are receiving all the important information for this school year.

We are so excited to start a new tradition of holding a Pancake Breakfast for our Leighton Families to kick off the start of the school year and foster our theme for the '24-'25 school year of "Building Community". There is no cost associated with the breakfast instead donations will be accepted and go towards our outdoor learning spaces: Leighton outdoor garden, trail, and the revitalization of the old amphitheater. Please RSVP on the link provided by September 24th if you are interested. You must RSVP to attend so that our committee has an accurate count of attendees. Please note the staggered times by last names. We hope to see you there:) Also, if you would like to make a donation you may do so through the QR code provided in the link below. You may donate even if you are not attending the event as we have had a few parents ask about this as well. Thank you so much for your support!

Spanish Club Coming Soon!

Open to 5th Grade Students

Wednesdays after School 3:35-4:15pm

Students may choose 1 of the sessions offered throughout the year

Limited to 25 students per session through a lottery sign up system which was closed today!

Mrs. Brancazio will be reaching out to confirm spots in each session:)

Please reach out to Lauren Brancazio with any questions @ lbrancazio@aurora-schools.org

We have been off to a great start with teaching, learning, and reinforcing, our 3 pillars of being respectful, responsible, and problem solvers. Our 3 pillars make up the heart of our Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports framework in our K-5 Elementary Buildings. Each week teachers have taught and reinforced these 3 pillars and what each of them looks like and sounds like in all areas of the school. This will be followed by teaching and reinforcing our 11 "focus skills" which support students in making good behavior choices and positively reinforces those choices so we continue to support and promote the prosocial behaviors we want to see!

Students have been excited about our "Pom pom" system representing our 3 pillars (green poms=respectful; white= responsible; and black= problem solving) and earning poms for demonstrating these pillars in any area of the school. Each pom earned is used to fill up their classroom pom pom jars. When these jars are filled, student bring their classroom jars to the office and empty them into the Building Wide Pom Pom Pail!!

We are so excited to find out what our building wide reward will be as we are half way to filling up our building wide Pom Pom Pail.

Don't be surprised if you child comes home excited about earning the "golden fork" as a class during lunch and recess. Classes are always working to earn "positive compliments" during lunch and recess. Every two weeks, classes who earn the most "positive compliments" earn the right to display the " golden fork" outside their classroom door for all to see and enjoy popsicles at lunch or an extra recess with Mrs. Nizen and Mr. Morris.

Pom Pom Shout Out occur every morning over announcements where we acknowledge students who have earned a special shout out for outstanding efforts in demonstrating our 3 pillars in their academic or behavioral pursuits. Students will recieve a pom pom shout out reward and pick out of our PBIS store!

Leighton Pride is Building Wide!

We are looking for a few more volunteers to support in the Media Center from 1-3pm each day . If you are interested, and have a day that you might be available to help, please reach out to Jennifer Kinkoph, Media Specialist, at jkinkoph@aurora-schools.org

Sign up now for the Aurora Elementary PTO. The deadline to sign up for a Homeroom parent is September 10th, Halloween Party sign up & Book Fair volunteer sign up will begin at the end of the month.

Welcome back to the 2024-2025 school year, it was exciting to welcome students back into the building this past week. Below you will find information and links regarding our lunch program:

Pricing Information:

• Paid Lunch: $3.40

• Milk $.50

• Ice Cream $1.00

• Free & Reduced: Both are no charge (Please complete the free and reduced form online located in the Aurora City Schools website ).

Payment Information:

Payments can be made thru My Payments Plus. Parents can either send their child in with money to pay for lunches (exact amount, or more that can be applied to their account) or they can go to the Aurora Schools Website and go to Lunch Accounts under the quick links tabs to get to the MY Payments Plus section and add money to their kids account that way. It is preferable to pay online in advance but students may also bring in money during lunch.

• https://www.mypaymentsplus.com/welcome

• https://www.aurora-schools.org/

Please be sure to keep tabs on your child’s lunch account balance to avoid going into a negative balance. We will always ensure all students have lunch, but it is appreciated by our lunch staff if a positive balance can be maintained.

The August Menu is linked for your convenience below. This menu is also located on the school website as well.

If you have any questions please reach out to:

• Krista Guerini, Director of Food and Nutrition, at kguerini@aurora-schools.org

• Sal Arquilla, Director of Facilities, Maintenance and Operations at sarquilla@aurora-schools.org

We are no longer mailing out transportation information. You can go to: https://versatransweb04.tylertech.com/Aurora/elinkrp/Login.aspx (cut & paste into your browser or use the button link below.)

The login information is as follows:

User name = jane.smith (That is the student's first name period last name with no spaces) Password = students date of birth 01012021 with no characters or spaces between mmdayyear

Once you are in, go to "Work with students" and then "View my students"; you should see all your students to choose from. Routes do change from time to time when new students are added so please check back over the next week to ensure your pick-up and drop-off times.

All students are assigned a bus route using their home address. If your child will be using an alternative stop such as a daycare or caregiver, please make sure you submit an alternative bus stop form as soon as possible.

We also now have GPS on all of the school buses. You can see when the bus is to arrive at your home. Download the app "versatrans my stop" from the app store and sign in the same as above. If you have any questions or concerns with transportation, please email us at transportationinfo@aurora-schools.org and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Note, we are never sure how many students will be riding the buses. Once schools open we will make necessary adjustments for buses that may be full.

Thank you and have a safe school year, Transportation Department

Please be sure to utilize our new attendance and transportation form found below as we have moved away from handwritten notes and morning attendance calls in our K-5 buildings. This form is a way of communicating if your student will be absent or a late arrival, if there is a change in transportation, or if they will be picked up for an early dismissal.

*Note: Any permanent changes to bus transportation will require an "Alternate Bus Stop" form be filled out and sent to the transportation department. You can find a link to the form on the Transportation Website, or you can pick one up in the Leighton School Office.

Thank you!

As a reminder, you can find our arrival and dismissal procedures here.

Car rider lines reminders:

Morning Arrival - Car riders will start being unloaded at 8:50 am and then will be able to enter the building at 8:55 am through the 3rd Grade Wing Doors (Door 2) Our goal is to make sure all students are in the building by 9:05 am.

PM Dismissal - Dismissal procedures will be the same as last year by having students line up in alphabetical lines. A staff member will be calling last names for students to line the loading lanes to get into their cars when they pull up.

1. Please remind your child to load cars quickly to keep the line moving

2. Pull all the way up to the top of the pick-up lane to the sign for loading cars. We have found this allows us to load the maximum number of cars possible.

3. Please be sure to have your orange car tag in the rearview window so staff can visibly see it when calling students' last names by Monday, Aug 21st.

** Please see the traffic flow pattern included below for drop off in the mornings and afternoons.

Thank you for your patience as we have worked very hard to ensure a safe, smooth, and rapid arrival and dismissal process. We appreciate your support with these few reminders.

September

2 NO SCHOOL ~ Labor Day

3 Autumn Assessment Day for Students with Last Name M-Z (A-L Stay Home)

4 PTO Kickoff Meeting at the Aurora Inn (6:00 PM)

10 School Picture Day

October

11 NO SCHOOL ~ NEOEA Day

14 NO SCHOOL ~ Teacher Professional Day

18 End of 1st Grading Period

21-25 PTO Book Fair

24 LES Band Concert at High School (7:00 PM)

25 Report Cards Distributed

31 Fall Festival

Please be sure to update your Final Forms information for this school year to ensure you can receive the newsletters each week. If you need any help with updating your Final Forms please contact lschoenman@aurora-schools.org

Please use the following link: https://aurora-oh.finalforms.com

Three ways to pay your student's school fees:

1. Send in with your student a check made out to Aurora City Schools.

2. Call the Board of Education office to make a credit card payment between the hours of 7:00 AM and 3:00 PM at 330-954-2228.

3. Go to the Aurora City Schools website and go to the Parent Page and click on Fee Payments On-Line.

Please remember that when you take your child out of school for a doctor or dentist appointment, the State of Ohio requires that a doctor's note be brought back to the school for attendance purposes. You can give the note to the secretaries in the main office. If you have any questions please contact the secretaries in the Leighton office at 330 562-2209.

• Please monitor your child for illness symptoms. If your child has a temperature greater than 100 F they must stay home until they are fever free for 24 hrs without medication. For coughing, congestion and sore throat that are disruptive or not well contained, it is preferred they stay home until symptoms are decreased or your child has been evaluated by your physician. These guidelines apply to Covid-19 illness as well. Testing and mask wearing are no longer required, but are encouraged.

• Students sent home from school with a fever also 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 Thursday. If your child does return the next day, our school nurse will be calling for you to come to pick him/her up. Thank you for your support and efforts in this area.

• Please consider sending in a spare change of clothes for your student to keep in their locker in the event of spills, toileting accidents or muddy clothes.

• Please contact our school nurse, Mrs. Tanski at 330 954-2285 or atanski@aurora-schools.org with any questions related to illness or the clinic.

**** If your child will be absent for an extended period, please reach out to your child's teacher and they will get school work ready for your student for the period of the absence. You may pick up the work outside the main office on a table that will be labeled with your student's name.

Mrs. Michelle Nizen - Principal

mnizen@aurora-schools.org

Mr. Jeff Morris - Assistant Principal

jamorris@aurora-schools.org

Mrs. Lyn Schoenman-Secretary

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