by: Ashton Shultz, TAES Assistant Principal

Tyrone Elementary is thrilled to announce that it has been recognized by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a Tier I school for positive behavior. Over the past several years, the elementary staff have worked diligently, partnering with IU facilitators, families, and the community, to refine and enhance the TAES positive behavior intervention and support (PBIS) program. Our families may recognize this program by its acronym, SOAR, which stands for Safety, Ownership, Achievement, and Respect. There are many components required by the state to be recognized as a PBIS implementor. The recognition process is rigorous and requires several areas to be met with significant evidence of effective implementation. TAES met the standards and is ready to begin the process of further recognition through the tier II and III process.

In November, our elementary principals, Miss Musselman and Mrs. Shultz, went to Hershey to attend the Pennsylvania Positive Behavior Implementors Forum. During the conference, they were presented with the recognition banner for Tyrone Elementary. This banner is proudly displayed in the lobby of the elementary building.

Tyrone Elementary would like to extend our deepest thanks to our students, families, and the community for their continued support with the SOAR program. Without this partnership, the PBIS program would not be successful. Whether it is volunteering for a SOAR event, reinforcing positive behaviors at home, participating in fundraisers like coin wars, or donating items for the SOAR raffle, the involvement of our families and the community is vital to the success of this program. We look forward to continuing our work and digging into the next steps in the recognition process.

--by Amber Creamer, Preschool Teacher

Preschool students at Tyrone Elementary have been learning about fall, farms, pumpkins, and PA Woodland animals. We took our first field trip to Valewood Farms in Loretto, Pennsylvania and learned about cows, went on a hayride, chose a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch and enjoyed some homemade ice cream! We talked about how pumpkins grow and even had the opportunity to explore a pumpkin by cutting one open! Prior to the field trip, a special guest from Dance Fusion come into the school and taught the students some country line dancing. The preschool students had the opportunity to pet some farm animals with the Cuddle Coral as well.

We are learning the schoolwide rules on how to SOAR and participated in a GLOW dance party where each student earned some fun glow accessories!

As the Thanksgiving holiday approached, we talked a lot about things for which we're thankful and how we can show our thankfulness to others.

October was a very exciting month as we dove into the fall season! Kindergarten was busy with middle of the year testing, learning lots of letters, sounds, high frequency words and numbers. It is amazing to see the growth they have made since the beginning of the year! We also celebrated the fall season with a fall rotation among all of the kindergarteners!

The fall rotation consisted of a STEM room where students were building play doh monsters, made a house for a ghost and worked on fine motor skills by using tweezers to catch spiders in their web, a coloring room where student enjoyed a quiet space to color fall coloring sheets, a fall movie room where we watched a few fall themed shows, a dance party room, and a Spookley the Pumpkin room where students heard the Spookley story and made a craft. Students ended in the obstacle course room where they had to complete the fall obstacle course! This was a great way to build community between all classes and teachers.

Mrs. Colyer’s class finished the month by getting to learn about an Indian holiday, Diwali, by a past student! Diwali is the celebration also known as the festival of lights, or how light has overcome darkness. This student proudly shared about her culture and the symbols of Diwali which includes, lanterns (which represent the light) , rangoli’s which are beautiful, colorful art that is created on the floor with colored sand and diyas which are small colorful lamps that are lit during the holiday. The class got to make each of these things with the student as we all celebrated learning about her culture together!

We quickly moved into November! November was busy as the teachers got to meet with parents during parent teacher conferences. As we look forward to the holiday season, we have filled the hallways with disguised turkeys, yummy thanksgiving recipes, and suggestions on what to eat to save the turkey’s! We even got to meet and hold baby turkey’s thanks to a willing staff member!

As the school year passes, we are excited to continue to see how our kindergarten students grow!

-submitted by Mrs. Colyer, TAES Kindergarten Teacher

Over the last few months, students in first grade have been studying living and non-living things through many different lessons in science, as well as within our reading curriculum (SAVVAS). Students have had the opportunity to learn about the life cycles of many living things, how animals adapt and change, and everything there is to learn about owls!

On November 12th and November 15th, our first grade classes ventured on their first fieldtrip of the school year to Shaver’s Creek! During our time there, students had the opportunity to dissect owl pellets in search of bones! They also enjoyed the outdoor amenities that included a bird aviary, which included a 35 year old Golden Eagle--Tyrone Area School District's school mascot!

In second grade we have been busy learning a lot. We have been focusing on social studies by learning about maps and types of communities like urban, suburban and rural communities. Students have even been creating their own maps, and exploring different components of the map including continents, oceans, and the compass. In writing, we are working on our first informational text. The students are enjoying learning about a topic that interests them and then writing about it.

On top of all of the new skills and concepts we are learning, these past few months in second grade have been filled with a lot of fun events! With Halloween having passed, students had a great time at their SOAR event glow party. The students enjoyed dancing, playing glow games and purchasing some fun glow objects with their SOAR tickets. That's not all! Most recently, in November, all second grade classes got to participate in a STEM challenge with Mrs. Zupon, the technology teacher. This Thanksgiving theme STEM activity challenges the students to think outside of the box. The students enjoyed the Thanksgiving mazes for their turkey to meander through, as well as an obstacle course to maneuver. Our second grade students had a great time getting to let their creativity shine through with these activities.

--submitted by Mrs. Noel, Second Grade Teacher

As we headed into the month of November, we were feeling extra thankful in third grade. Third graders in Miss Black’s and Mrs. Schopp's classes worked together to come up with a list of school employees who do a lot for us but often go unnoticed. Once students finalized their list and split into groups to write about what each staff member does to make our school day run smoothly. Finally, the group worked together on a portrait of their staff member.

With this activity, students were able to reflect on each school day and learn about how many people in the building are here to make sure they have a safe and successful learning environment. We were able to tie this project into our current science unit on ecosystems. We are talking about how all parts of an ecosystem work together to create a balance. We were able to talk about how we have balance in our school system thanks to all the employees who often work behind the scenes.

Fourth Grade students took their first field trip of the school year on November 14th to the Bryce Jordan Center. They went to watch the Penn State girls’ basketball game against the Niagara Eagles. The students had a great time at this event as they cheered and got to see themselves on the jumbotron many times throughout the game. Some of the students and teachers participated in events and earned prizes throughout the game. After the game they were able to meet and interact with some of the players and many were able to receive autographs from the players as well. Each student was sent home with a poster of the team’s players, a pom-pom and their game ticket.

Influenza (also known as the flu) is a respiratory virus that affects the nose, throat, and lungs. It is contagious and transmitted through the air via droplets from an infected individual coughing or sneezing. Symptoms can last over two weeks and include:

• Fever/Chills
• Cough
• Body Aches
• Breathing Issues
• Fatigue
• Sore Throat
• Headache
• Vomiting
• Congestion
• Diarrhea

The best prevention technique is washing your hands often with soap or water. Avoid touching your eyes and nose. Make sure to cover your cough or sneeze with your elbow. Decontaminate surfaces and object that are used frequently to kill germs and prevent the spread of the virus. An annual flu vaccine can aid in protecting yourself from getting infected with the flu virus.

Keep in mind the guidelines for sending your children to school when they are sickly. Students who have a fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit or higher) must stay home from school and should not return until they are fever free without fever-reducing medications for 24 hours. As always, if your child is just not feeling well, keep the home to allow for more rest and fluids to improve their symptoms. This also alleviates the spread of the virus to others.

The Tyrone Area Elementary School Library provides free access to digital magazines for students for use in school and at a home. Magazines titles include Highlights for Children, Chickadee, National Geographic for Kids, Zoobook, Ladybug, Spider, Sports Illustrated for Kids, and Click.

There is also an ebook version of the 2024 Guinness Book of World Records. The 2025 Edition should be available in January.

New for this school year is an award winning weekly news magazine for kids called The Week Junior.

An archive of older issues is also provided on Flipster.

Flipster is password protected. Please contact Mr. Grady at kdgrady@tyrone.k12.pa.us for login information for home use.

It is the policy of the Tyrone Area School District not to discriminate on the basis of gender, handicap, race and national origin in its educational and vocational programs, activities, or employment as required by Title IX, Section 504, and Title VI. Please direct questions about this policy to the Superintendent of Schools, at 814.684.0710 Ext. 4123.