Craddock's Weekly Update

I am so excited to celebrate 60 amazing Craddock staff members this week! This is THE hardest working, kindest, most collaborative group of passionate educators you have ever met and I am so lucky to work alongside each of them as they work hard to grow our students! Although we try to make sure they know how appreciated they are all throughout the year, we will take extra good care of them this week! Happy Staff Appreciation Week Craddock Staff! The gratitude is flowing extra this week for each and every one of you!

Dear Craddock Families!

What a week we had at Craddock! More spring benchmarking, National School Lunch Hero Day celebrating four wonderful ladies, beautiful sunny days outside on the playground all culminating with a visit from author and illustrator, Nomar Perez! It doesn't get much better than that!

Second grade teacher, Jessika Gonzalez with help from Craddock's Culture Committee secured a visit from Mr. Perez on Friday, May 3rd where he spent about 30 minutes with each of our classrooms. During this time, he shared about his upbringing in Puerto Rico, which inspired one of his books "Coqui in the City." Students also got to hear the story and then learn how to draw a coqui! They had so much fun and were so engaged by Mr. Perez! We hope many of our young readers and writers will use his visit as inspiration as they continue to grow their writing, reading and illustrating skills at Craddock! What a GREAT day! Check out some pictures from his visit below.

I also want to make sure our families know how grateful the staff and students of Craddock are for all the support we received during Cruisin' Craddock in September of 2023. We would never have been able to afford bringing an author in for the kids without it. THANK YOU!

We are down to fourteen days left to pack lunches, organize book bags and set alarm clocks to get out the door for school. There is a lot coming these next 14 days, so stay connected to the Weekly Update and don't hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns.

It's going to be a fantastic week! We cannot wait to see all of our wonderful, adorable 1st and 2nd graders on Monday! Have a great week!

Sincerely,

Kim Stewart, Principal

Craddock Elementary School

330-562-3175 (office)

216-849-2552 (cell to call or text)

kmstewart@aurora-schools.org

As we begin the process of wrapping up the current school year, we can't help but begin to think about next year. Part of that process is the formulation of class placements. Class placements are constructed in a very particular manner, using data and input from the educational experts at Miller, Craddock and Leighton. We take many factors into consideration when making these decisions and feel it is very important that your input is utilized as well. You know your child best!

Although I cannot guarantee specific teacher requests will be granted due to a number of different factors, it is important to have as much information about each child as possible before the class list-making process gets underway. We recognize that parents/guardians are a valuable source of information to add to our knowledge about what works best for each child. Your information will be very helpful as we determine your child's placement for the 24-25 school year.

If you are interested in having some input, please fill out the following information and submit this form by Friday, May 10, 2024. Any feedback received after that date may not be able to be considered. You are also welcome to call or set up an appointment to speak with me specifically about your thoughts and concerns. I can be reached by email at kmstewart@aurora-schools.org or by phone at 330-562-3175. Thank you!

We are so excited to be planning this super amazing day for our students and staff! Field Day is a day-long experience where our students move from station to station, collaborating and strategizing their way to lots of fun! There will be 19 different stations the kids go to and the Kona Ice truck will make an appearance, as well!

Another great part of this day is all of the parents that agree to dedicate some of their time to volunteer and help out! We LOVE having you! We will have a need for help in the AM, as well as the PM. Our PTO Vice President will be distributing a sign up soon, so be on the lookout! More information on the actual day will be out closer to May 17th!

Welcome to all of our Upcoming Leighton Families! It is so hard to believe that the end of another school year is upon us and we will once again be welcoming a new group of 3rd Graders to Leighton Elementary.

I am so excited to meet each of you and am looking forward to welcoming you to Leighton Elementary on Monday, May 6th for our in-person 2nd to 3rd Grade Parent Meeting from 5:30-6:30pm. The parent meeting will be held in the Leighton Gym where we will open our evening together with a presentation from myself, Mr. Lehman, Assistant Principal, and Mrs. Mazzella, School Guidance Counselor, so we can share all the wonderful things that make Leighton Elementary an amazing place to learn and grow. Two of our Third Grade Teachers will also be sharing some information about what to expect in Third Grade. Our presentation will be followed by a building tour and a visit to the 3rd Grade classrooms. There will also be time for a question and answer session!

We are equally as excited to meet our upcoming 3rd Graders on Monday, May 20th when they make their way over to Leighton Elementary from 9:30-10:30am to enjoy meeting Mrs.Nizen, Mr. Lehman, Mrs. Mazzella, the Third Grade Teachers, and, of course, spending some time on the playground. During this time students will start their morning with a brief welcome by me, and then each classroom will be paired with our Fifth Grade Leighton Leaders who will help take students on a tour around the building and even make a visit to the third grade classrooms to meet the teachers. Our time together will end with a visit to the playground. I can not wait to meet each of you and our upcoming Third Graders in the next few weeks!

Lastly, As we near the end of the school year our teams at Leighton will be getting ready to begin the process of student placements for our third, fourth, and fifth graders. This process takes several days to complete as many factors are worked through including servicing needs, data to support best placement, teacher and specialist input, parent input, and any student needs. Mrs. Stewart has already shared this form with our families! We work very hard to ensure each student is placed in the best learning environment. While we are unable to take specific teacher requests, please feel free to fill out the form provided if you have any special circumstances of which I should be aware. I do my best to honor special circumstances. Mrs. Menta will also be meeting with me to share any special circumstances.

See you soon at the May 6th 2nd to 3rd Grade Parent Meeting!

Kind Regards,

Mrs. Michelle Nizen

We are working really hard at Craddock to streamline communication so we can be as efficient as possible when getting your child home safely and reporting attendance. To do that, we moved last year to being completely electronic, which we will continue this year and have expanded K-5!

If you want to change your child's transportation in any way, please scan the QR code below or click the button below to fill out our Google form. This can be done from any device and your reply will be sent immediately to our secretary, Mrs. Kerchenski.

Also, if your child is absent, instead of calling us, you can also use this code to report the absence and 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. It's hard to manage communication coming in from all those different medias for 400 plus students. Thank you in advance for your help and let us know if you have any questions at all!

MAY

• Monday, 5/06 - Friday, 5/10 - Staff Appreciation Week
• Monday, 5/06 - 3rd Grade Parent Orientation at 5:30 in the Leighton Gym
• Tuesday, 5/07 - Moebius Field Trip for McBenttes and Julien
• Wednesday, 5/08 - Happy School Nurse Day
• Wednesday, 5/08 - 2nd Grade Music Concert (6:00 and 7:15 shows based on teacher - more information above)
• Thursday, 5/09 - Aurora Library Field Trip for Martin and Williams
• Friday, 5/10 - Aurora Library Field Trip for Goff
• Sunday, 5/12 - Happy Mother's Day to ALL of Craddock's Amazing Moms!
• Monday, 5/13 - Moebius Field Trip for Yaeger and Serafino
• Tuesday, 5/14 - Aurora Library Field Trip for McArthur and Heffernan
• Tuesday, 5/14 - Moebius Field Trip for Wilk and Brezovec/Favitta
• Tuesday, 5/14 - 1st Grade Parent Orientation at 6:30 Craddock Gym
• Wednesday, 5/15 - Aurora Library Field Trip for Janko and K. Armbrecht
• Wednesday, 5/15 - Moebius Field Trip for Gonzalez
• Thursday, 5/16 - Moebius Field Trip for Leko and Moticak
• Friday, 5/17 - Craddock Field Day
• Monday, 5/20 - 2nd Graders to Visit Leighton
• Monday, 5/20 - Aurora Library Field Trip for L. Armbrecht
• Monday, 5/20 - Board Meeting at 7:00 Conference Center
• Wednesday, 5/22 - Aurora Library Field Trip for Acevedo and Doherty
• Thursday, 5/23 - Last Day of School/Last Day of Trimester 3
• Thursday, 5/23 - 2nd Grade Lunch on the Lawn from 12:00-1:00 (more information to come)
• Friday, 5/31 - Trimester 3 Gather Narratives Live

Email: kmstewart@aurora-schools.org
Website: www.aurora-schools.org
Location: 105 Hurd Road, Aurora, OH, USA
Phone: 330-562-3175
Twitter: @CraddockSchool