Miller Elementary Weekly Update

Hello Miller Families,

Happy Sunday! This upcoming week we will be kicking off our February Kindness and Appreciation Month! Starting tomorrow, our PTO is sponsoring our Teacher & Staff Appreciation week! Nationally, this special week is recognized in May, but we all know how busy that time of year can be. February is a great month to spread some kindness and cheer. Please see the reminder below outlining a few special days ahead.

The following week, we will celebrate Valentine's Day and have a fun week filled with themed days and a PBIS celebration for filling our Pom Pom jar! Please look for specific communication from your child's teacher about our upcoming celebration of Valentine's Day and sharing cards with our classmates.

As a reminder, we have our rescheduled Preschool Music and Literacy night this Wednesday, February 8th at the same time and same location as previously scheduled. We will be sending out some updated information to our preschool families via Final Forms. We are looking forward to this fun-filled event!

Here's to a wonderful week ahead!

Maria Goodman

Miller Elementary School - Principal

330-562-6199

Email mgoodman@aurora-schools.org

Hello, Heart Heroes! Our Kids Heart Challenge is continuing at Miller Elementary School! Our school has been busy fundraising, helping others, and of course, having fun. We currently have raised $5,894! If we reach our school goal of $7,000, every student that raised over $50 will get a chance to throw a pie at Mrs. Barnes or Mrs. Goodman! Visit the Miller School page at http://www2.heart.org/goto/Miller or download the Kids Heart Challenge app! Our fundraising event ends on Friday, February 10th. THANK YOU for your continued support!

The Aurora City Schools' Kindergarten Registration for the 2023-2024 school year will begin in February! Please help spread the word to your neighbors and friends. We will be holding our Kickoff to Kindergarten parent-only meeting on Tuesday, February 21, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. at the Aurora Schools’ Conference and Innovation Building located in front of Aurora High School at 119 W Pioneer Trail.

Residents of the Aurora City School District who have a child turning 5 by September 30th, 2023 are invited to attend our Kickoff to Kindergarten meeting to pick up registration materials and learn all about kindergarten. We will be holding our registration days on March 8th and 9th. You will select a registration timeslot using the links shared at the parent meeting. All presentations and registration information will be shared on our district website if you cannot attend this parent meeting. Please don't hesitate to call Miller Elementary School with specific questions at 330-562-6199.

You may have noticed on the lunch menu that we now offer 2 lunch choices for children who wish to buy their lunch. We have added an alternative option for children to select between choice 1 the main meal or choice 2 which will soon rotate between 3 options. This upcoming week, students will be offered the bologna & cheese munchable. These choices still include the side items such as fruit, vegetable, and choice of milk. Please discuss these new choices with your child so they can easily make a decision about their lunch each day. Thank you!

This is an important reminder about the dedicated parking spaces at Miller Elementary and all locations in the Aurora Schools for accessibility parking. We have children and visitors in our schools that utilize these spots so that their entrance and exit from school each day provide the necessary clearance for ramps and proximity to the building.

As a reminder, we have three spaces dedicated to reserved accessibility which can be found at the first two spots near the Miller entrance, and a single spot near the playground gate by the preschool doors. Both spaces allow for ramp access and proximity to the building. Families and visitors with dedicated passes are the only ones to be using these spaces.

Monday, 1/30 - Kids Heart Challenge Week - More Information to Come

Wednesday, 2/01 - Elementary PTO Meeting at 6:30 PM

Tuesday, 2/14 - Valentine's Party 10:30 & 2:30

Friday, 2/17 - No School (PD Day for Staff)

Monday, 2//20 - No School (President's Day)

Tuesday, 2/21 - Kickoff to Kindergarten Parent Meeting at 7:00 PM (C&I Building)

Wednesday, 3/01 - Elementary PTO Meeting at 6:30 PM

Monday, 3/06 - No School (PD Day for Staff) *Recent board-approved change to the district calendar.

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 during the day, please know our school nurse, Jackie Pawlowski, will assess your child and make contact with a family member when necessary.
• Students sent home with a fever, may not return to school until they are fever free without medication for at least 24 hours. This means if your child was sent home on Tuesday at 12:00 p.m. 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. This also is the protocol if your child is vomiting. They need to be vomit free for 24 hours to return to school.
• We will send a Final Forms notification if there is a communicable disease reported in your child's classroom. This can help you monitor your own child and make informed decisions about symptoms.
• Please make sure your Final Forms medical information is up to date. We will closely read the health section to address any medical concerns.

Finally, please make sure your child has extra clothes in his/her backpack. Accidents and spills happen all the time and they often prefer to have their own clothes instead of wearing our spare clothes.

Greetings Families! I have enjoyed visiting the Kindergarten classrooms this week to continue to teach the students about the ZONES of Regulation. This session, we focused on the yellow zone and feeling frustrated, nervous, silly or excited. Our read-aloud was Clark the Shark by Bruce Hale. The students were able to identify all the parts in the story where the main character was feeling silly, excited and nervous. They also did a wonderful job pointing out the frustration of Clark’s classmates during his times of silliness! We always end our lessons by reminding ourselves that any feeling is okay, and when we identify our feelings it is helpful to us and others.

On another note, a resource of interest is this awesome site shared with me by our Director of Special Services, Mike Maglionico: On Our Sleeves.

This site is a simple way to gather community resources, contacts, talking points and activities to benefit your family’s well-being and mental health over the holidays. I found the How-To articles super helpful because as a counselor and a parent, I know how I want my students and children to think of themselves, but am often refining the process in which I use to correct their thinking in a more positive way. I hope you find this resource helpful!

Lindsey Ambrosia

lambrosia@aurora-schools.org

(330) 562-6199, ext. 5414

There will be times when your child is ill or needs to miss school due to appointments.

We ask that you call Miller School at 330-562-6199 to either speak with Vicki Wolf or leave a message. Please share your child's first name, last name, teacher, and the reason for the absence. If they are going to an appointment, please ask for a doctor's note to have on file here at school. Thank you!

If your family will have a planned absence due to an event or vacation, you will need to fill out a planned absence form for our schools. Please send in a note requesting this form as soon as you know your anticipated date.

If your child is experiencing illness symptoms and you have questions for our school nurse, Jackie Pawlowski, you may call 330-954-2286. She can help answer any questions.

1. Teacher Appreciation Week is February 6-10! Please see the finalized schedule found earlier in the newsletter!

Participation is optional but we hope you and your family will help us celebrate all the amazing teachers at Miller! Included in the newsletter are optional templates your child can use on Tuesday and/or Wednesday. If you need a copy made, please let me know. If you have any questions about the week, please let me know!

3. Tuesday, February 14 - Valentine's Day classroom parties
Kindergarten AM & Pre-K AM - 10:30am-11:15am
Kindergarten Full Day/PM & Pre-K PM - 2:30pm-3:15pm

Volunteers are needed!! If you are interested in volunteering, please click the link below!

Miller Valentine's Day Party Volunteer SignUp

4. Save the Dates!!

February 13, 2023 - Community Event at Gionino's Pizza! Visit Gioninos between 10:30am-9:00pm on 2/13 and Gionino's will donate 15% of proceeds to AEPTO!

March 5, 2023 - Community Event at Ol'Chefski's BBQ! Visit Ol'Chefski's between 12:00pm-7:00pm (or until sold out) and Ol'Chefski's will donate 20% of the proceeds to AEPTO!

Sunday, May 7, 2023 at 2:00pm - Magic Gives Back

AEPTO and the Harmon High PTO (HHPTO) are partnering with Ganley Chevrolet of Aurora to proudly present "Magic Gives Back!" This is a Vegas style magic show and a unique fundraising platform developed specifically for local schools and communities. Magic Gives back will be held at the Solon High School Auditorium.

Upcoming Events

2/6 - 2/10 - Teacher Appreciation Week

2/13 - Community event at Gionino's Pizza

2/14 - Valentine's Day Class Parties

2/16 - Family Event at Kalahari

2/17 - No School

2/20 - No School

2/21 - Kickoff to Kindergarten Event 7:00pm at C&I Building (parents only)

If you have any questions, please let me know!

Jen Borman

AEPTO VP-Miller

auroraptomesvp@gmail.com

Maria Goodman

mgoodman@aurora-schools.org

Principal

Vicki Wolf

vwolf@aurora-schools.org

Secretary

Email: mgoodman@aurora-schools.org
Website: aurora-schools.org
Location: 646 S Chillicothe Rd, Aurora, OH 44202, USA
Phone: 330-562-6199