Mr. Clayton's Weekly Message

Last Friday message for the 23-24 school year! The past 4 months have flown by for me and I can't believe we are wrapping up. Best wishes to our 5th grade students as they leave their elementary years behind. I hope everyone enjoys their summer and I look forward to seeing our returning students and families in August.

-Reminder that the ASEDP program is cancelled for Wednesday the 22nd.

-Proud to say that we have our new sound system has been installed in the cafeteria just in time for the ceremonies next week. Thank you to Ms. Butler for guiding me through the process and thanks to our ASEDP team, lead by Ms. Brunson, for running such a strong program which helped us procure funds for the install.

-Reminder that 1st-5th grade ceremonies are next week.

• Monday, May 20th is 1st (8AM) and 2nd (9AM) grade
• Tuesday, May 21st is 3rd (8AM) and 4th (9AM) grade
• Wednesday, May 22nd (8:30AM)

-Class parties will run Monday and Tuesday of next week for K-5th grade. Teachers and grade level parents will be running the class parties for our students.

• Monday the 20th is 1st and 2nd grade parties from 1-1:30
• Tuesday the 21st is K, 3rd and 4th grade parties from 1-1:30
• Wednesday the 22nd is 5th grade's celebration day activities after the ceremony

-We want to send best wishes to some of our staff members who will not be returning to VES next school year. Ms. Roseberry is retiring from the profession, while Ms. Weiss, Ms. Ward, Ms. Huegel, and Ms. Siegel are moving on to another chapter in their lives. We thank them for their time serving Vanderlyn and wish them well moving forward.

-With that, we obviously will have some new staff in the building next year and I can assure you that your children and the Vanderlyn community are in good hands. I plan to send a message the first part of July with the announcement of the new VES staff members.

-The July message will also contain 24-25 school year details ahead of students returning in August. We're going to have a lot of fun next year and I cannot wait to get started.....after taking some time to relax and prepare of course.

-The past few days have been so much fun working with our principals for the day! The students loved it and picked up walkie talkie usage real quick. The students who served with me are:

K: Isla Henson

1st: Charlie Doyle

2nd: Max Ettinger, Colin Freund

3rd- Katherine Dunlap, Henry Curylo, Austin Benator

4th: Donovan Freund, Ezra Ettinger, Alex Henson

5th: Maggie Curylo, Atharv Joshi

-Our 5th grade teachers had the students work on a Shark Tank project over the past week or so and the presentations were quite impressive. The team behind Dancing Donuts (CEO's pictured below) made a coffee cup/donut container contraption that caught the attention of my love for sweets and coffee. We're still negotiating details, but I am excited to be part owner of their new endeavor. Kudos to Ander Beard, Adenola Badejo, and Andrew Lauman for their work.

Thank you all once again for such a welcoming environment! I truly feel at home here and I look forward to being part of the Vanderlyn community for a long time. Have fun this summer, stay safe and we will see you in August!