The Royal Scroll - September

Welcome to the fantastic first grade! The students have been learning and practicing classroom and school rules and routines. They have visited all the special classes: Art, Music, Library, and PE. The first graders have also learned to navigate through our beautiful new building.

In Math, the first-grade classes have been solving addition and subtraction equations using multiple strategies. They are able to use the very cool interactive Clear Touch boards to demonstrate their work.

During ELA time, the first-grade students are being instructed in Unit 1 of Fundations. We are practicing correct letter formation and bumping the lines when writing letters. Skywriting and proper writing position are practiced daily.

Our first lesson in Social Studies is, “How do we help others?” The students are reading, participating in group activities, and discussing how to help others at home and school. Please read with your child nightly. Choral, repeated, and echo reading are all great ways to build reading fluency.

Aronimink’s Back to School Night is Thursday, September 21st . We hope to see you there!

~First Grade Team

Second Grade is off to a superb start! We are very excited to be back in school, meeting new friends, and learning new routines. As of now we have worked out our pick-up/bus routines (if there is ever a change please call the office as well as emailing your child’s teacher).

By now you should have received correspondence from your child’s teacher. If you have not, please call the office and make sure your email address is correct in our files.

We hope to see everyone at Back to School Night, where we will be explaining important homework and daily procedures. Back to School Night is September 21, 2023 at 6:30pm. Your child should NOT be attending as this is a night for teachers and parents only.

Also, your child should have brought home a chromebook that is assigned to them. Please have your child charge their chromebook EVERY NIGHT as we use them daily, at times, in the classroom. We do not have extra chromebooks in the classroom, so it is very important that their chromebook is charged everyday. Thank you in advance for your help and cooperation with this.

You can access the supply list through the link below. If possible please add a roll of paper towels and a bottle of hand soap. All classrooms are now equipped with a sink, but we need soap and paper towels to make the most of it in our classrooms. We are super excited to be your child’s teacher this year. Please reach out with any questions you may have.

~The Second Grade Team

Home & School Association Information

Please contact our Home and School Association through our school's e-mail if you would like to join or have any questions: bywoodelemhomeandschool@gmail.com.

Home and School Association Officers:

President: Kia Fields

Vice President: Troy Medford

Each school year, the DCIU coordinates a “celebration of reading” event. After reading books from a special book list, teams of 10-12 fourth and fifth graders from schools across Delaware County meet one evening in the spring to compete against one another. On the night of this exciting competition, teams are asked factual questions about the books from the special book list in three rounds. Students are awarded ribbons based upon the number of correct responses. The competition is friendly and fun!

Mrs. Lee is the coordinator of the Charles Kelly Reading Olympics team. Mrs. D’Urso is the assistant coordinator. All 4th and 5th graders are invited to join, and agree to read a minimum of 8 books from the DCIU book list.

Mrs. Saldutti is a veteran teacher at Drexel Hill Middle School. Mrs. Saldutti has been a teacher in Upper Darby School District, in Drexel Hill Middle School for 27 years! This is the only work-home she knows and has spent her entire career here. Mrs. Saldutti is a 6th grade special education teacher. Mrs. Saldutti obtained her Bachelor's degree from West Chester University where she studies Special Education. She obtained her Master's degree from Widener University where she studied Elementary Education.

When Mrs. Saldutti is not working with our students, she enjoys spending her time with her favorite people, in her favorite place, at the beach! Mrs. Saldutti has a dog named Daisy, a Jack Russell Shorty, who she describes as her treasure! Daisy is also a big fan of the beach! You'll find her jumping waves and chasing seagulls! Mrs. Saldutti is married with two children, a son and daughter!

If you need to contact Mrs. Saldutti, you can email her at vsaldutti@upperdarbysd.org.

Opening day at Garrettford was a blast! Everyone was so excited to see each other and be back in the swing of things. Mr. Carey, the art teacher, decorated the playground with welcoming messages and the building was all spruced up with new Royal themed paint and shiny waxed floors.

The first few days were spent with teachers getting to know the students and getting them accustomed to routines and expectations. We had our first fire drill and students learned about safety on the playground. By the end of the week, everyone seemed to be adjusting and then we had to pivot with half days due to the heat wave. Garrettford staff and students proved to be resilient and rolled with the changes and the challenges presented by the heat.

We are truly off to a good school year and looking forward to making fun memories and learning new and exciting things.

Highland Park Royals are working all month long to earn 1,500 Golden Tickets for following our

B's: Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and always, always Be Kind, and Be Royal! We are

looking forward to a water balloon toss outside. We already have over 1,000 tickets as of 9/22/23.

We have also started our Cool to Be Kind winners. Thanks to Mrs. Hanna for organizing such an

awesome program!

A very big thank you goes out to the Hillcrest Home and School Association for kicking off our new school year with their Back to School Social!

2023 - 2024 Home and School Association Officers

President: Mary Reichard

Vice President: Suzanne and Gary Carvin

Treasurer: Jack Simmons

Secretary: Maria Harkness

Home & School Association Meetings

September 12, 2023

October 12, 2023

November 9, 2023

December 7, 2023

January 11, 2024

February 8, 2024

March 7, 2024

April 11, 2024

May 9, 2024

Hillcrest HSA meetings start at 6:00 pm in the Hillcrest Library.

All are invited to attend!

Every year, the Kindergarten Center's faculty and staff host a water ice social to meet the new

students entering kindergarten. This is an exciting event for students, families, and teachers!

Primos Elementary students and staff gather to celebrate the school year coming to an end, show some class pride and spend a day being active.

Welcome back, Stonehurst Hills families! September was the start of our counseling lessons for the year. Each class at Stonehurst Hills will have one counseling lesson per month, to ensure that all of our students receive instruction in Social-Emotional Learning (SEL). I am so happy to be back in the classrooms, spending time with our Stonehurst Superstars!

In first and second grade this month, students were introduced to “Social Skill of the Month,” where we will learn a new social skill each month of the school year. We talked about our first social skill of the year: Using Good Manners. In third, fourth, and fifth grade, we reviewed the difference between bullying, a conflict, and a mean moment. Students played a review game and did an awesome job participating and showing what they learned!

Before to the first day of school, families were invited to meet their teachers and cool off with a

sweet treat!

First graders in Room 203 have been learning about taking turns and being good sports in our Social Studies Unit. We practiced by playing a game together and then congratulating each other on

a job well done.

In Ms. Markowitz's class students read the book, "The Crayon Box that Talk." They then got to design their own crayon to display. Students also completed a get-to-know-me project for back to school!

Our Third Grade Scientists are learning about Life Cycles by planting a Purple Hairy Plant. They

were very excited to use the safety goggles and gloves.

Fourth graders learned that scientists often work in teams and that teamwork requires important collaboration skills. The students worked together as a group to stack their cups using a rubberband and string. Each member of the team held an end of the string and they worked together to stack the cups. Students learned about balanced and unbalanced forces and how forces were used in the game. Everyone loved playing Cup Stack!

Congratulations to Mohd "Iftakhar" Tarunno and Josiah Saddick, the respective third and fifth place winners of the National YoungAstronomer Award. The award is sponsored by The Astronomical League to recognize the outstanding astronomical research achievements of high-school-age students throughout the United States. Iftakhar's research is titled, "Identifying Lunar Lava Tubes Using Thermal Inertia Mapping" and Josiah's research is titled, "Basalt Thickness of Mare Imbrium Using Two Methods." We are so proud of these students whose research was recognized on the national level!

Also, Congratulations to Mohd "Iftakhar" Tarunno and Elise Olmstead, winners of the Delaware Valley Amateur Astronomers (DVAA) Youth Awards. These young scholars were invited to attend the DVAA June meeting to accept their awards and present their research. Upper Darby High School was represented beautifully as Iftakhar presented "Identifying Lunar Lava Tubes Using Thermal Inertia Mapping" and Elise presented "Analysis of Double Ridges on Europa." Following the student presentations, Dr. Steve Conard of Johns Hopkins University presented "Light Pollution 201."