Mrs. Goodman's Message
Hello Miller Families!
We had another fantastic week learning and growing at Miller! We have kicked off our first few days of parent-teacher conferences and we are looking forward to meeting with more families next week. We appreciate your partnership and collaboration to make your child's preschool and kindergarten year truly exceptional.
We have included important updates about our Fall Festival Party on October 31st along with a costume parade. All families are invited to watch us parade outside to see your wonderful children dressed up if your family would like your child to participate. Additionally, we are looking for volunteers for our Fall Festival Party. Please see the PTO section of this newsletter for the sign-up link! If your family would not like to participate in the Fall Festival activities, please reach out to your child's teacher or let me know if you have any questions.
I want to remind all kindergarten families to check your Final Forms messages! I sent out an important update about an upcoming Early Elementary Curriculum Night that we are offering on November 2nd. This event is for our K-3 families and is an exciting opportunity to learn about our curriculum models and approaches! Please make sure you RSVP by October 26th!
Our last reminder is about the use of cough drops during the cold and flu season. We allow the use of cough drop lollipops in our school clinic, only. If your child is experience a cough and you would like them to use a cough drop lollipop, please send them in at the time of their illness and our nurse, Jackie Pawlowski, will hold on to them and oversee your child while consuming. During this time of year, we begin to receive a lot of requests if your child can have a cough drop at school so we wanted to share our policy. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Have a great weekend!
GO GREENMEN!
Maria Goodman
Miller Elementary Principal
330-954-2189
Important Dates and Events
October
- Thursday, 10/19 - Parent Teacher Conferences (Scheduled with Classroom Teachers)
- Tuesday, 10/24 - Parent Teacher Conferences (Scheduled with Classroom Teachers)
- Tuesday, 10/31 - Fall Festival & Costume Parade (More Information Forthcoming)
November
- Wednesday, 11/1 - PTO Meeting
- Thursday, 11/2 - K-3 Parent Curriculum Night - 6:30-8:00 @ LES - See Flyer & RSVP
- Tuesday, 11/14 - Picture Retake Day
- Wednesday, 11/22- Sunday 11/26 - Thanksgiving Break - No School
- Monday, 11/27 - School Resumes
Fall Festival Party
This year, we want to celebrate the fall season with our students as well as enjoy the traditions of dressing up in costumes at school. We want to share some of the guidelines that we will be implementing for our Fall Parties so you can plan accordingly.
Preschool Fall Festival: Tuesday, October 31st, 10:15AM & 2:00PM
Kindergarten Fall Festival: Tuesday, October 31st, 10:15AM (AM Kinder) & 2:00PM (Full Day & PM Kinder)
- At Miller, we are asking that your child brings their costume to school in a bag and they will change before our party times. If your child needs to wear a portion of their costume (specific pants, leggings, or shirt) throughout the day, that is perfectly OK. Please advise that costumes need to be functional, school safe, no weapons can accompany a costume, and no full face coverings.
- We will be working with our PTO headroom parents to plan fun games or activities, and specific visitors will be allowed into our school for the Fall Festival Party. All visitors will be checking in and no other siblings or guests will be able to attend. Thank you for your cooperation.
- We will have a weather-permitting outdoor costume parade where you can come up to the school and view all your wonderful children! A specific map can be found below and you can expect it to start at 10:15 for AM classes and 2:00 for PM/Full Day classes. If the weather conditions are poor, the outdoor parade will be canceled and we will not hold an indoor event.
- The PTO will be supplying a sweet treat for our party and more information about the snack will be forthcoming.
Please advise that our costume guidelines may be different from the other buildings. Our children will not be wearing their costumes all day due to some challenges with restroom breaks throughout the day. We have learned from past experience that many costumes zip and snap in the back and children cannot manage this in the restroom independently.
Picture Retake Information
School pictures have arrived and all picture packages have been passed out to anyone that placed an order. Our picture retake day will be on Tuesday, November 14. This will be an opportunity for first time pictures as well as any retakes. More information about how to send them back or re-order will be shared closer to the date. The class composite will be sent home once Ripcho has all retakes wrapped up and every child can be included.
Preschool Enrollment for the Current 23-24 School Year
We are currently accepting names of families interested in having their child be a part of our integrated preschool program for the current 2023-2024 school year. We still have openings in preschool and we will be holding screening days to meet potential children and explain more about our program. In addition, if you know of any families who might be interested in their child being a part of our preschool program, please feel free to pass this message along!
We have attached the preschool waiting list form below so we can collect the names of all interested families. We will reach out to families in the next week or two when we host our screening days. Children must be 3 years old, potty trained, have clear communication skills, and demonstrate age-expected social and emotional skills to be considered as a peer for our integrated program. If you have any questions, you can email Lauren Barker at lbarker@aurora-schools.org.
School Wide PBIS Skill of the Week
Don't worry, this is part of the social development of the young child. They are now at the point where they can recognize what the expectation should be, and they can identify when it is not happening. The challenge with "Tattle-Tales" can be the constant repetition of the reported events.
We work to help children know when something is an emergency and they need to get adult help versus when they see something they can "ignore and worry about themselves." We explain that the adults are here to notice all children and we will help anyone that needs assistance with the expectations. This skill can take months to develop, but we do like to stop and directly teach what to do when a child notices something that is not quite right.
Our PBIS skill is reinforced with a Greenmen Proud Pom. When we see a child "being a good role model" they earn a pom and help to fill our class bucket and school bucket.
Updates From Our School Counselor ~ Mrs. Ambrosia
Welcome to October! As this month comes around each year, I take it as a sign that we are familiar with our school routines and beginning to become more comfortable inside our classrooms. It’s a great time to consider the way we and others feel inside our classroom. October is National Bullying Prevention month across our country. At Miller, we are focusing on how we can use kindness with our peers, especially during recess. Please consider using the Kindness Challenge at home as a talking point with your family. It’s a great reminder of small tasks we can complete to let those around us know we care. When we transition into Fall, as parents, we find ourselves moving from one activity to the next in order to benefit our children. It’s important to remember to take care of ourselves, too. Included is an article to remind all parents that self-care is key to survival. It’s what keeps us moving and at our best. The stress ball activity may be of interest to your family during one of our longer weekends coming up. Finally, during classroom guidance lessons, when focusing on how to be safe and have fun on the playground, the Kindergarteners and I discussed a few different things we could try when we weren’t exactly sure what to do on the playground. If you show them our playground visual below, they should be able to tell you all about it! This plan should work for any unstructured play time. Enjoy!
20 Micro (Yet Mighty) Self-Care Challenges That Make Any Day Better
5 Easy Steps to Make a DIY Stress Ball
Mrs. Lindsey Ambrosia
School Counselor
330.562.6199, ext. 5414
Updates From Nurse Jackie Pawlowski
Here are some important reminders to ensure the safety of our school community each day:
- Check your child each day for illness symptoms. If they begin to feel ill, please know she will assess your child and make contact with a family member when necessary.
- Students sent home with a fever or vomiting, may not return to school until they are fever or vomit-free without medication for at least 24 hours. This means if your child was sent home on Tuesday with a fever, he/she may not return to school until Thursday. If your child does return the next day, our school will be calling for you to come and pick him/her up. Please help to support our efforts in this area.
- We will use Final Forms to communicate any health concerns or communicable diseases that may arise in your child's class. Such examples include strep throat, pink eye, and COVID. This will allow you to closely monitor your child for any similar symptoms.
- Please make sure your Final Forms medical information is up to date. We will closely read the health sections to address any medical concerns.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email our school nurse Jackie Pawlowski at jpawlowski@aurora-schools.org.
Miller Elementary: Preschool & Kindergarten
Principal
Vicki Wolf
Secretary
Email: mgoodman@aurora-schools.org
Website: aurora-schools.org
Location: 646 S Chillicothe Rd, Aurora, OH 44202, USA
Phone: 330-562-6199