Miller Elementary Weekly Update

Hello Miller Families!

As we begin a new month, October is a busy time at Miller Elementary! It's important to keep on top of the communication coming from myself and your child's classroom teacher during these next few weeks. Here are some important reminders about some events ahead:

• Parents Teacher Conferences: You should have received a sign-up link from your child's teacher for fall conferences. These will be occurring the week of October 19th!
• The Book Fair will also be at Miller during Parent Teacher Conferences! You can shop before or after your conference time in the evenings of 10/20 or 10/22 from 4:00-7:00 PM!
• The AHS National Honor Society will be offering a drop in babysitting space during Parent Teacher Conferences this year. On Tuesday, 10/20 or Thursday 10/22 from 4:00-7:00 you can bring your children to Miller and coverage will be available during your specific conference time.
• Fall Celebrations: Please see the important reminders below about our Fall Celebrations and Costume Parades. Preschool will celebrate on Thursday, 10/29 and Kindergarten Friday, 10/30.

This newsletter will serve for the next two weeks due to our shortened weeks ahead. I will send out the next newsletter on Friday, October, 16th!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and GO GREENMEN and GO GUARDIANS!

Kindly,

Maria Goodman

Miller Elementary Principal

330-954-2189

mgoodman@aurora-schools.org

We are excited to announce that our kindergarten classes will be going on a short local field trip on Thursday, October 8th!

We will be visiting the Aurora Fire Department and Kiwanis-Moore Park. During our visit, the students will learn all about fire safety, tour the station, meet some of our wonderful local community helpers and they will get some play time at the park!

Field Trip Details:

• Date: Thursday, October 8th

• Destinations: Aurora Fire Department & Kiwanis Moore Park

• Focus: Fire Safety, Community Helpers & Outdoor Play

• Times: This trip will take place during our school day and will not impact our lunch or snack times

  • 9:30-11:00 - Haughey, Gallucci, Verhotz, Sabulsky & Yonally
  • 12:30-2:00 - Buettin, Forster, Heyman & Smerkar

Please make sure your child wears comfortable walking shoes and weather-appropriate clothing for the day. If you have any specific questions, please message Mrs. Goodman and your child's teacher. We will not be bringing parent chaperones for this short local trip since we have many staff members attending to assist.

It is hard to believe how quickly the beginning months of the year are passing by! Each fall, we spend time connecting with families either with a parent-teacher conference or parent-school team meeting. Conferences will be offered on Tuesday, October 20th and Thursday, October 22nd. There may be some additional days and times and your child's teacher will communicate more specific information. We are very excited to meet with each of you to share all of the successes your child has experienced since starting preschool or kindergarten and what we have in store for the months ahead!

• Conferences will be held at school with your child’s teacher, but if that does not work for your family schedule, you can discuss other options with your child's teacher such as a phone conference or virtual meeting.
• We also will have a drop in babysitting service from our High School National Honor Society during your scheduled conference time. You will sign your children in and provide a phone number if they need to connect with you.

This year, we want to celebrate the fall season with our students as well as enjoy the traditions of dressing up in costumes for a costume parade. We want to share some of the guidelines that we will be implementing for our Fall Parties and Costume Parade so you can plan accordingly.

Preschool Fall Festival Costume Parade: Any Family Member Can Attend

• Thursday, October 29th: AM Classes 11:00 and PM Classes 2:45

Kindergarten Fall Festival Costume Parade: All Family Members Can Attend

• Friday, October 30th: AM 1/2 Day Kindergarten 11:00 and Full Day Classes 2:45

Fall Festival Party Times for Volunteers who have signed up with PTO:

Preschool (AM 10:15-11:00 or PM 2:00-2:45)

Kindergarten (AM Half Day 10:15-11:00 or PM Half Day/Full Day 2:00-2:45)

Volunteers may arrive 10 minutes before party times! Thank you!

• 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 11:00 for AM Preschool/AM Kindergarten classes and 2:45 for PM Preschool and Full Day Kindergarten 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 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. Thank you for your understanding and support!

OCTOBER

• Friday, 10/9 - NO SCHOOL for NEOEA Day
• Monday, 10/12 - NO SCHOOL for Staff Professional Development Day
• Week of October 19th - Scholastic Book Fair
• Tuesday 10/20 - Night 1 Parent Teacher Conferences - More Information Forthcoming - Evening Appointments Scheduled with Your Child's Teacher & Childcare will be available
• Thursday 10/22 - Night 2 Parent Teacher Conferences - More Information Forthcoming - Evening Appointments Scheduled with Your Child's Teacher & Childcare will be available
• Monday 10/26 - October BOE Meeting 7:00PM @ the Kohanski Conference Center
• Thursday, 10/29 - Preschool Fall Costume Parade and Festival
• Parade Time AM Preschool 11:00 & PM Preschool 2:45
• Friday, 10/30 - Kindergarten Fall Costume Parade and Festival
• Parade Time AM Half Day Kindergarten 11:00 & Full Day Kindergarten 2:45

NOVEMBER

• Friday, 11/06 - Trimester 1 Ends
• Monday, 11/09 - Trimester 2 Begins
• Tuesday, 11/10 - Retake Picture Day for Miller Elementary
• Wednesday, 11/11 - Veteran's Day - In School Activities to Celebrate our Veterans
• Monday 11/23 - November BOE Meeting 7:00PM @ the Kohanski Conference Center
• Wednesday, 11/25 - Friday, 11/27 - NO SCHOOL for Thanksgiving Break

Our teaching and reinforcing of school expectations and appropriate choices has continued with helping children develop how to BE RESPECTFUL. We are working on "I CAN BE A GOOD FRIEND AND USE KIND WORD and I CAN SHARE, TAKE TURNS, AND WAIT!" These two skills support every child to become aware of others and how their actions and words impact others. Children are still developing the language and communication to express their wants, needs, and feelings.

There are many skills wrapped into the statement, "Be Kind or Be a Good Friend." Children have to understand feelings, develop a sense of others, be ready to share, and be ready to show empathy towards other's feelings. The best way to support our children is through modeling and giving them the practice with the language and actions. Here are some statements that you can teach your child so they can clearly communicate with peers and adults:

1- I'm happy/sad/tired/frustrated/excited - (help your child name their feelings.)

2- Can I play with you?

3- No, thank you.

4- I'll let you know when I'm done.

5- Can I have a turn with that when you're done?

For our children developing language skills, use short sentence structures:

1 - Help please.

2- Turn please.

3- My turn.

4- More please.

5- No, thank you.

Our PBIS skill is reinforced with a Greenmen Pom. When we see a child "being kind to a friend or using kind words" they earn a pom and help to fill our class bucket and school bucket. You can try this at home to encourage the skill of being respectful at home too!

Thanks to the vision of Leighton educators Dr. Sweeney, Mrs. VanFossen, and Mrs. Leone, the Leighton Amphitheater Outdoor Classroom dream has officially come to life!

This week, the Aurora Schools Foundation (ASF) was honored to celebrate with a ribbon cutting ceremony of the newly opened Leighton amphitheater outdoor classroom—a space created for students and the entire community to learn, gather, create, and connect with the outdoors.

The outdoor classroom is dedicated in memory of Sherri Retton, a former Aurora educator whose creativity, compassion, and dedication touched generations of students and colleagues.

The outdoor classroom is open to all students, classes, and the community! To learn more about ASF, visit auroraschoolsfoundation.org.

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