Miller Elementary Weekly Update
For the Week of August 31, 2026
Hello Miller Families!
We had an amazing FULL WEEK at Miller Elementary! We hope that your little ones are coming home excited about school, talking about their day and I bet a little exhausted! Please remember it takes a few weeks to settle into Back-To-School routines. You can help at home to have a quiet and relaxing wind-down time when they get home each day.
As described below, our kindergartners will be participating in many upcoming kindergarten assessments. The KRA and other check-ins are required activities to help us better know your child and to support them throughout their kindergarten year. In order to complete these assessments, we utilize the Labor Day Long Weekend to bring in last names A-L on Friday September 4th and students with last names M-Z will attend on Tuesday, September 8th. This means that all kindergartners and K-5 students have a 4 day weekend.
Finally, we will be adding bus and car rider tags to bookbags next week as we prepare to end wearing their daily name tag. Thank you to all the families for having your child wear it to and from school each day! This helps us ensure children are getting on the correct bus and arriving home safely to you each day.
Reminder: There is NO SCHOOL on Monday, September 7th to celebrate Labor Day
Kindergarten Only Reminder:
Children with the last name that starts with A-L will attend on Friday, September 4th. (They will stay home on Tuesday, September 8th.)
Children with the last name that starts with M-Z will attend on Tuesday, September 8th. (They will stay home on Friday, September 4th).
Preschool Only Reminder:
We will see all our preschool friends on Tuesday, September 8th!
We hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Kindly,
Maria Goodman
Miller Elementary Principal
330-954-2189
Reading to your child at home is one of the most powerful, impactful ways to build early literacy skills, nurture a love for learning, and prepare them for future academic success. Whether you are cuddled up with a toddler or exploring picture books with a preschooler, sharing stories together creates lasting bonds and builds vocabulary every single day.
To help grow your home library, we are lucky to have access to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
What it is: A free book-gifting program that mails a high-quality, age-appropriate book directly to your home every month.
Who qualifies: Children from birth through age 5.
Cost: Completely free to families.
Dolly Parton created this amazing program and it will be part of her legacy to inspire a lifelong love of reading in all children. If you have little ones at home, check their website (imaginationlibrary.com) to verify eligibility and enroll your child today!
Kindergarten Assessment Days for the KRA
- Friday, September 4th - Back to School Assessment Days - K-5 Children A-L attend School and M-Z NO SCHOOL (NO PRESCHOOL)
- Monday, September 7th - NO SCHOOL FOR ALL - LABOR DAY
- Tuesday, September 8th - Back to School Assessment Days - K-5 Children M-Z Attend School and A-L NO SCHOOL (ALL PRESCHOOL STILL ATTENDS)
SEPTEMBER
- Tuesday, September 1st & Wednesday 2nd - Kindergarten Speech Screenings
- Monday, September 7th - NO SCHOOL FOR ALL - LABOR DAY
- Wednesday, September 16th - School Picture Day - More Information Forthcoming
OCTOBER
- Friday, 10/09 - NO SCHOOL for NEOEA Day
- Monday, 10/12 - NO SCHOOL for Staff Professional Development Day
- Friday, 10/30 - Fall Costume Parade and Festival - Times will be shared later
This is a friendly reminder that we have sent out tuition letters to any families that have an upcoming payment due on September 15th. These letters came home in your child's take home folder this past week and will be coming home with our preschoolers next week.
Our total tuition cost for preschool is $2000 and full-day kindergarten is $2500. Many families have paid the initial down payment and we collect the next set of fees by September 15th and the final payment will be due on January 15th.
If you sent in a check for the September payment, thank you! We will be running credit cards that you have listed on file after September 15th. If you have changed your credit card information or would like to change the card we have on file, please call Erin Toler at 330-562-6199 and she's happy to get the new information. As a reminder, the tuition information along with our tax-id number for taxes can be found on the tuition contract you signed for preschool or kindergarten enrollment.
As students begin their educational journey, there are some state-mandated checkpoints and assessments to ensure that we are monitoring your child's growth and development. To accomplish these activities, it's best if we bring small groups of children to school to work on these various assessments.
All K-5 (NOT PRESCHOOL) will be by participating in the Fall Assessment Days on Friday, September 4th, and Tuesday, September 8th.
Friday, September 4th - Kindergarten KRA-R Assessment Days - Kindergarten Students Whose Last Name Begins with A-L Attend School (M-Z Does not attend school this day)
NO SCHOOL MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7th - LABOR DAY
Tuesday, September 8th- Kindergarten KRA-R Assessment Days - Kindergarten Students Whose Last Name Begins with M-Z Attend School (A-L Does not attend school this day)
In addition to our assessment days, we will be completing many of our kindergarten assessments during our normal school day. These screening assessments are required by the State of Ohio and they provide us with information to better know your child and to kick-start the school year to best meet their needs. We wanted to share what assessments they will be participating in and the expected dates so you know what is happening at school.
The dates listed below show the various windows of time we will be conducting assessments.
Speech & Language Screening - Kindergarten Students (September 1st & September 2nd)
Your child will work one-on-one with one of our speech and language pathologists to conduct a speech and language screener.
Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA-R) - Kindergarten Students (Sept. 4th & Sept. 8th)
This assessment looks at your child’s readiness for engaging with instruction aligned to the kindergarten standards. These assessments are completed through observation in the classroom and via an interactive assessment on an iPad. Here are the skills that are checked:
- Social Foundations- including social and emotional development
- Mathematics
- Language and Literacy
- Physical Well-being and Motor Development
iReady Benchmarking - (Week of August 24th & Week of September 8th)
A 3-minute kindergarten universal screener to check your child's incoming knowledge of letters, sounds, and phonemic awareness.
Ohio English Language Proficiency Screener - (Around the week of September 8th)
Students whose families speak a 2nd language in the home as reported in Final Forms will take a language proficiency screener. This assessment is given by Mrs. Levey or Mrs. Flannery our English Learner educators.
Vision & Hearing Screening - All Kindergarten Students (Month of September & October)
Our school nurse conducted vision and hearing screening at kindergarten registration. She will conduct re-checks on some children and wrap this up on any child that missed registration in the spring.
We will communicate any results that require follow-up or reach out to you if we have any further questions. We are looking forward to getting to know your child a bit more!
Hello Miller Families,
It has been such a joy welcoming your kind, capable, and adorable Kindergarten and Preschool students to Miller! My name is Mrs. Lindsey Ambrosia, and I’m honored to serve as the school counselor. I support students and families in the areas of social-emotional learning, academics, and—even in Kindergarten—career exploration. For example, we’ll highlight student strengths and learn about community helpers as part of the career standard.
This is my 22nd year in education. I’ve previously worked as a classroom teacher, middle school counselor, and elementary school counselor, and helping students has always been my passion. Outside of school, I enjoy cheering on my three children—Dominic (15), Daniel (13), and Elle (13)—at their sporting events. My husband, Brian, and I live nearby in Hudson with our children and goldendoodle, Lila.
At Miller, I provide individual counseling, small groups, and classroom guidance lessons. I’ll share upcoming classroom topics in this newsletter. If your child is recommended for individual or small group counseling, I’ll contact you directly to obtain consent. For now, my focus is helping all students transition smoothly into the new school year. I will be at Miller three days each week, typically Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. On other days, I serve students at Leighton Elementary.
As we head into another full week, I’m including two helpful resources:
Please don’t hesitate to reach out at any time. I look forward to a wonderful school year together!
Warmly,
Mrs. Lindsey Ambrosia
School Counselor
📞 (330) 562-6199, ext. 5414
📧 lambrosia@aurora-schools.org
Transportation schedules are now available through the MyRide K-12 App. Thank you to the parents who responded previously and registered your students. Please note: schedules and route times are subject to change due to continuing student changes.
The following attachment is the directions on how to download the App, if needed. You will need to know your students district ID# which can be located in final forms and their date of birth. You can also find this information on the ACSD website under Departments/Transportation.
Alternate bus stop forms are required each year, as needed https://www.aurora-schools.org/fs/resource-manager/view/6e0e7043-ec28-4663-bfbe-35da94a6e514
If you have any further questions or concerns, please email transportationinfo@aurora-schools.org
If your child will be dropped off or picked up from school, I’ll be sharing more detailed information in upcoming newsletters. Please note that Miller does not have a designated drop-off or pick-up lane. All families must park and walk to the arrival doors. We follow specific arrival and dismissal time frames to help reduce congestion and keep everyone safe. Due to limited parking, this remains one of our biggest logistical challenges. We appreciate your patience, cooperation, and teamwork to help make arrival and dismissal as smooth and safe as possible for all students and families!
At Miller Elementary, all car riders must park their car and walk their child to our main doors or the preschool entrance. We are aware that our parking is very limited and our number one priority is safety in the parking lot. Please drive carefully and look out for little ones. We will have someone in the parking lot directing cars during the first few days to try and assist with arrival and dismissal.
Preschool Arrival and Dismissal Times:
AM Preschool Arrival 8:40-8:50 (Lower Doors) & AM Preschool Dismissal 11:30 (Split Dismissal)
PM Preschool Arrival 12:45-12:50 (Main Doors) & PM Preschool Dismissal 3:20 (Split Dismissal)
Kindergarten Arrival and Dismissal Times
Upper Main Door Entrance - Door 2
Full Day Kindergarten: Arrival 8:55-9:05 and Dismissal 3:25-3:35
AM 1/2 Day Kindergarten: Arrival 8:55-9:05 & Dismissal 11:40-11:45
(We dismiss kindergarten children after preschool.)
Please try to stick to these windows of time in order to smoothly get all children in and out of our building with adult support. Our parking lot is very small and limited. Please be cautious of others and try not to double park. Finally, our accessible parking spaces are reserved for families with the correct car tag. Only families with the correct license plate or tag should be using these spaces. Thank you!
Eating lunch at school is another fun and exciting experience! This might be their first time eating in a large group, opening their lunch box or buying a lunch!
A hot lunch may be purchased beginning next week daily or your child can pack a lunch. They also have the option to purchase white or chocolate milk instead of packing a drink. The main lunch costs $3.50 and milk only costs $0.75. Each child has a lunch account and we will provide you with their lunch account information at Open House. You can add money to their account via a credit card following the directions on the sheet, send in cash or you can send in a check made out to the Aurora City Schools. If you send in money, please place it in an envelope or baggie with your child’s name and a note indicating the money is for lunch. We will deduct the cost of lunch or milk each day that your child makes a purchase. Please make sure your child knows if they are buying or packing a lunch each day. We spend time helping them make their selection at the beginning of the year and soon this is an independent task they complete each day! Some of our classes eat lunch at 11:00 and other classes eat lunch at 12:00. You will find out this specific information from your child's teacher at Open House!
If your child will require any medication to be administered during the school day, they must have a doctor's note on file. We have included all the important medical forms that are necessary.
Additionally, if your child has their well-visit or dental exam this summer, you can either upload the medical forms into Final Forms or bring it to school at our Open House in the fall!
New doctors’ orders and new medication will be required for each school year. You can locate all medication forms on our website at: www.aurora-schools.org→departments→nursing services or download the forms from below!
Miller Elementary: Preschool & Kindergarten
Miller Elementary Principal
Erin Toler : etoler@aurora-schools.org
Miller Elementary Secretary
Email: mgoodman@aurora-schools.org
Website: aurora-schools.org
Location: 646 S Chillicothe Rd, Aurora, OH 44202, USA
Phone: 330-562-6199