Parent Communication

Happy New Year Champs Families! I hope you and your family had a restful and joyful holiday season. As we enter the new year, I want to take a moment to reflect on the growth and progress our students have made thus far and share a few exciting updates and important reminders for the months ahead.

The first half of the school year has been filled with academic progress, personal growth, and school-wide achievements. It has been wonderful to see students engage in new learning experiences, build relationships, and develop their skills both inside and outside the classroom. As we move into January, we are excited to continue this journey and set new goals for the second half of the year.

We hope to see you all at our Family BINGO night on January 23rd.

Reminders

• Attendance: Regular attendance is crucial for your child’s academic success. Please ensure your child arrives on time and attends school consistently. If your child will be absent, please notify the school office in advance.
• Winter Weather: Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the cold weather. Be sure you are receiving messages from SCSD regarding school closings and other important information.
• Health & Safety: As we continue through cold and flu season, we kindly ask families to keep students home if they are feeling unwell. Please remind your child about good hygiene practices, such as washing hands regularly and covering coughs and sneezes.

Thank you to our incredible families, staff, and community for your continued support. Your involvement in your child’s education plays an essential role in their success. We are so fortunate to work together to provide a nurturing, positive, and enriching environment for all of our students.

Let’s look forward to a wonderful and productive second half of the school year!

Principal Thomas

C.H.A.M.P.S.: Courageous Hardworking Accountable Motivated Persistent Safe

Van Duyn is an inclusive learning environment where everyone is respected, empowered, encouraged, and supported to thrive and succeed as responsible global citizens while being held to a standard of excellence in academic achievement and personal character

We are an inclusive community that believes all students can learn.

January 13th is the first meeting for student council! Congratulations again to our student council elected officials!

In Ms. Newton's Class: Kennedy M and Kamyrn B.

In Ms. Markland's Class: Jade M and LaMarrah M

In Ms. Huynh- Boyle's Class: Tr'Veyah C and Jayden L.

In Ms. Dewey's Class: Aries F and Jazmine P

In Mrs. Marquis Class: Bella F and Brielle R

In Ms. Grady's Class: Makayla H, Tamia M and Lineka H (This class had a 3 way tie)

Pre-K will be working on community helpers and counting. We will also continue with our social emotion units from the second step where we will be discussing accidents with friends,

and how to be caring.

In English Language Arts we are working on reading nonsense words. These are words that do not make sense. They are make-believe words such as zet, lon, etc... Your child will use their knowledge of letter sounds to sound out the word and then read the whole word. We practice reading nonsense words in order to make sure your child and decode words and not just memorizing words. In Math by the end of January, we will begin our core set fluencies. These fluencies will be composed from addition and subtraction facts up to 5. In Social Studies we are continuing to work on celebrating our Unique Cultures in America. Our Final Project will showcase different ways on how your child feels they are unique as well as does being unique make them feel. Please make sure to check your child's red folder daily for important information.

😊 Ms. Fagan, Ms. King, Ms. Allen, and Ms. Bridges

First Grade is starting a new unit in humanities. The unit is Same Story, Different Way. This unit will focus on retelling two fairytales that are different.

In math we are adding and subtracting numbers in the teens. We are also going to begin introducing place value.

First Grade would like to give a shoutout to Legend W in Ms. Floyd's class. He has been doing an amazing job in class, working very hard, and being accountable for his actions. Great job Legend!

😊 Ms. Glover, Ms. Acevedo, Ms. Peneston and Ms. Floyd

In 2nd grade we are currently starting our new unit for ELA Skills and Writing. In this unit we will learn more about vowel teams and continue to read grade level stories. In math we are in the middle of a module that focuses on adding and subtracting with place value and solving word problems within 200.

Shoutouts:

Ja’niya M. in Ms. Garcia and Mrs. Napolitano’s class! For being a hard worker, never giving up, and for accepting feedback. She is always participating in class and loves to help others. She is making great progress in all academic areas!

Justus F. is always going above and beyond to do what is right. He is very helpful and has been an expert within our classroom. He is always willing to help students when they are struggling on classwork. He is engaged and participates during lessons. Justus is a CHAMP!

😊Ms. Garcia, Ms. Napolitano, and Ms. Tzetzis

Humanities:

We have begun a brand-new unit this month in Humanities, we are learning about Migration, Communities and Culture. Students are enjoying learning about the push and pull factors that cause others to migrate. Please ask your scholars questions about this, they will tell you all about it! We are now in the middle of the year, meaning our new reading goal is 105 words per minute. Please practice reading with your scholars each night to continue to develop their reading fluency skills.

Math:

In math we have begun module 3, which focuses on Multiplication and Division within units of 0,1,6-9 and multiples of 10. This unit dives deeper into both multiplication and division that we built foundational skills around in module 1. Multiplication fluency is our focus for this module, please continue to practice this with your scholars and lookout for fluency packets making their way home after winter break.

Writing:

Students have just begun their argumentative writing unit, where they are working to develop a claim based on their personal opinions. We are continuing to practice mechanics of writing in this unit, specifically punctuation, spacing, letter foundations and penmanship.

Shoutouts:

Congratulations Journee B. For passing both set A and B multiplication fluency.

Congratulations Giovanni K. For passing set A multiplication Fluency.

Shoutout to NaiYana D. For getting a perfect score on her November CER Response.

Shoutout to Caleb G. For getting a perfect score on his December CER Response.

😊Ms. DelaCruz, Ms. Kendall, and Ms. Perez

Math: We are working in Module 4. The primary focus is on geometry, specifically exploring lines, angles, and two-dimensional shapes, including their properties like parallel and perpendicular lines, as well as learning how to measure angles using a protractor ; students will also classify shapes based on their angles and sides, and solve problems involving angle relationships within figures.

Humanities: In this unit, students will explore the time during the American Revolution. Through viewing, reading, and discussing a range of informational texts and videos, fourth graders will come to understand the major events that led up to the outbreak of war. Students will learn to read like historians by pulling information from text features, analyzing primary sources, and taking notes in different formats. They will understand why there are multiple perspectives, or points of view, about the American Revolution, and take a stand on whether they think the colonists should have declared independence.

Science: Our 4th grade scientists are exploring the "Energy" unit. This unit focuses on teaching students about different forms of energy, how energy transfers between objects, and basic electrical circuits, allowing them to explore concepts like conductors, insulators, and building simple circuits to create light using batteries and bulbs, all while emphasizing real-world applications of electricity and magnetism in everyday life; essentially, it introduces students to the fundamental ideas of energy through hands-on investigations and experiments.

😊Ms. Huynh-Boyle, Ms. Newton, Ms. Markland, and Mr. Montgomery

MATH:

Hello Families! I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday break! I want to start of by giving a shout out to all of the CHAMPs that have passed the Core Set Fluency Set A and are working on Set B: Jame'ir, Raegan, Kaelynn, Jazmine, Moises, and Demari. Help your CHAMP pass too by going over their multiplication facts with them! We will be starting a new module (3) in the new year that focuses on addition and subtraction of fractions. We begin the module revisiting the foundational fourth grade standards addressing equivalent fractions pictorially using tape diagrams and number lines. By the end of the module we move away from the concrete representations creating equivalent fractions numerically as a means to add and subtract. This is only the start of our deep dive into fractions this year and your CHAMPS cannot wait! As always, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns you may have. Take care! - Mrs. Marquis

HUMANITIES:

Happy Holidays!! Hope everyone had a nice break and stayed warm with all the winter weather. We miss all our CHAMPS and can’t wait to see them!

This month in Humanities we are finishing up our unit on Rights & Responsibilities. During this unit we have learned about our government and how it runs, along with our responsibilities as citizens. Ask your 5th grader what makes a healthy democracy. They should have a lot to share with you! Shortly we will begin our new unit about Westward Expansion. We will be learning about what caused settlers in the United States to move west. Students will be continuing to learn how to write a quality Claim, Evidence and Reasoning (CER) response.

Please make sure to have your 5th grader read for 20 minutes every night. I have seen reading improvements in students who have been consistently reading! Keep up the great work families!! As always please reach out with any questions or concerns!!

SCIENCE/ WRITING:

Hello Van Duyn Family!

We have just finished our literary essay writing unit and have transitioned back into Science. This month the current unit we will be focusing on is separating mixtures. The students will be able to differentiate mixtures and solutions. They will conduct experiments to make, separate, measure and compare different mixtures. They will practice defining problems, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data as well as designing solutions. They will do this independently as well as in small group. This will strengthen their communication skills as well. Special shoutout to Brielle, D'lani, and Lineka for exhibiting a strong understanding of the material thus far and showing exemplary CHAMPS behavior. Please feel free to reach out with any questions, comments, or concerns via TalkingPoints. Have an amazing holiday season! 🙂

😊Ms. Dewey, Mrs. Marquis, Ms. Grady and Mr. Simmons

School attendance builds a strong foundation for learning that helps students succeed in the future. It's difficult to make up for too many absences with homework or take-home assignments.

Each month we put all the names of the families that have 95% or better attendance into our attendance raffle. November's winner was Kha'Mari W!

Each month we also do a class attendance contest. Daily we track classroom attendance, and the classes that have 95% or better get a token on our attendance matters board. At the end of the month, the classes with the most tokens win!

November's winning classes are Ms. DelaCruz and Ms. Bratt!

December's winning classes are Ms. Meaghan and Ms. Grady!

• Jan1st-3rd - NO SCHOOL
• Jan 20th - NO SCHOOL- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• Jan 23rd - FAMILY BINGO NIGHT
• Jan 29th - NO SCHOOL - Lunar New Year

• PFO meetings are once a month: January 27th at 4:45 pm

Please enter door 3 (by the playground)

• All Champ family members are welcome to join PFO. If you are interested in joining PFO please join our meeting. If you cannot attend the meetings and still want to be involved in Van Duyn PFO reach out to Ms. Monique Hill or Ms. Richardson by calling the number listed below.

Contact information:

Van Duyn PFO President Monique Hill

Email: vanduynpfo@gmail.com

Phone: 315-435-5406

ARRIVAL:

• Doors open at 9:05am.
• At 9:15am Door 2 will close and all students must go through Door 1. All late students who arrive between 9:15am-9:30am will enter Door 1 and be signed in.

DISMISSAL:

• Dismissal starts at 3:35pm.
• Parents picking up children in K-5 may pick up their child outside Door 1. Parents picking up a PreK student may pick up their child at Door 3. (By the Playground).
• We do not dismiss between 3:15pm and 3:35pm. If you need to sign your child out before that, please call the main office and let them know.

Before school arrival time is 7:45am. Students cannot enter before school after 8:35am. They will have to wait until the start of the school day if arrive after 8:35am. After school dismissal time is 5:20pm. Student pick up for afterschool will be at door 1. There is no after school on Fridays and for the month of November there will be NO after school on the 23rd or 28th of January.

Website: https://www.syracusecityschools.com/vanduyn
Location: 401 Loomis Ave Syracuse NY 13207
Phone: (315)435-4660
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanduynchamps

Principal: Amanda Thomas

Vice Principal: Nicole Heath

Dean of Students: Zakia Richardson

Social Worker: Molly Phelps

Guidance Counselor: Sharon Boatwright

Board of Education Officers

Tamica Barnett-President

Twiggy Billue-Commissioner of Education

Nyatwa Bullock-Commissioner of Education

Karen Cordano-Commissioner of Education

Mary Habib-Commissioner of Education

Gwendolyn Raeford-Commissioner of Education

Ranette Releford-Commissioner of Education

Administrative Staff

Anthony Q. Davis, Superintendent

Pamela Odom, Deputy Superintendent

Britt Britton, Chief Academic Officer

Rob DiFlorio, Chief Operations Officer

Timothy Moon, Chief Accountability Officer

Laura Kelley, ED.D., Chief of Student Support Services

Scott Persampieri, Chief Human Resources Officer

Michael Puntschenko, Chief Financial Officer

Monique Wright-Williams, Chief of Staff

Katie Moulton, Assistant Superintendent