News From Fort Zeller Elementary
October 2026
Hello to our Fort Zeller Families,
I can't believe we are already starting October. This school year is off to an amazing start. Everyone at Fort Zeller strives to create a safe, welcoming and accepting learning environment for all of our students. We want Fort Zeller to be a place where students love to learn and staff love to work! Our students are definitely doing their part to make Fort Zeller so special by always being respectful, responsible and ready to learn.
We look forward to collaborating with our families to create an amazing Fort Zeller experience. Together, as a team, we will make it a great year!
All the Best,
Jodi Houck
1. Conferences - This year we will once again be using a system called PTCfast to schedule parent teacher conferences. This is an online system that allows parents to set up their own conference time from a given list of times. This also eases the ability to schedule across buildings in the district as needed. The link for signing up will be sent in the November Smore and it will also be sent in a mass email to parents as we get closer to conferences.
2. Race for Education - Thank you to everyone who has donated to our Race for Education event! We truly appreciate your generosity. If you would like to see your child participate in the event, the schedule for the day is listed below. You can come on Friday and cheer your child on while they race/run/walk. Please be sure to sign-in with the PTO outside when you come to watch.
3. Schoology - If you have not done so already, please join your child's Schoology Course so you can be in communication with his/her teacher. Please don't hesitate to call the teacher if you need help.
4. Trip Forms - If you are planning on going on a trip, please make sure to fill out a trip request form and turn it into the office. Planned trips require the principal's approval in order to be excused. For all other absences, you can complete the excuse on Power School, or turn in an excuse to the office through email (fzattendance@elcosd.org) or paper copy.
LOOKING AHEAD
Oct. 1 (Day 2)
- Raider Readers
Oct. 6 (Day 5)
- Fire Prevention - Fire Trucks visiting Fort Zeller
Oct. 8 (Day 2)
- Family Groups
Oct. 9 (Day 3)
- Race for Education Event Day!!
- Homecoming Football Game
Oct. 12 (No School)
- Columbus Day
Oct. 13 (Day 4)
- Two Hour Late Start for Students
Oct. 14 (Day 5)
- Rising Raider's (2027-2028 Incoming Kindergarteners) @ 5:00 pm - Information Below
Oct. 16 (Day 2)
- Race for Education Rain Date
Oct. 19 (Day 3)
- School Board Meeting @ 6:00 pm
Oct. 22 (Day 1)
- First Grade Field Trip - Corn Cob Acres
Oct. 23 (Day 2)
- Rain Date - First Grade Field Trip
Oct. 28 (Day 5)
- End of First Marking Period
Oct. 29 (Day 1)
- PBIS Assembly
Oct. 30 (Inservice - No school for students)
- Happy Halloween Tomorrow 🎃
Wednesday, October 14 - Fort Zeller Elementary
Lunch service will remain the same as set by your eligibility status (Free or Reduced) and/or paid meal pricing from the beginning of the school year.
We encourage everyone to apply for Free or Reduced Lunch pricing at SchoolCafe.com, COMPASS website www.compass.state.pa.us or a paper application is available at all school building offices.
Counselor's Corner With Mrs. Brosius
Here’s what’s been happening with Mrs. Brosius!
R.E.A.C.H. Lessons
Kindergarten: Students spent time learning about Ms. Brosius and what a School Counselor does. We read The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld and talked about how Ms. Brosius is like the rabbit in the story - and all the ways she can help students at school the way the rabbit helps the boy in the story!
1st grade: We read The Color Monster by Anna Llenas and talked about how Ms. Brosius is like the girl in the story – and all the ways she can help students at school the way the little girl helps the Color Monster in the story!
2nd grade: 2nd graders talked about and had the opportunity to ask questions about the 2nd grade job program! 2nd graders who already completed applications completed their interviews! They will find out soon if they were selected for a 2ndgrade job!
PBIS
-As of September 17th, students filled 540 Bee Cards: and we still have the rest of the month to go! They are doing such a great job showing Respectful, Responsible, and Ready behavior! I’m so proud of our students!
Library News
Library Sparks – Mrs. Davis
Welcome back to the library! The books missed you! During the first few weeks of school, we all explored the library learning about authors, illustrators, and how to take care of our library books. Every student had the opportunity to borrow their first library book of the school year! Please remind your students to take good care of their library books and bring them back to exchange for new books each library day. I’m looking forward to sharing great stories and learning lots of new things in the library this year!
STEM Discoveries – Mrs. Davis
We kicked off our STEM year with the Egg in a Bottle experiment! Student were surprised that we could get an egg or water balloon to fit inside a small neck bottle! We began learning about scientists, how to think and observe like a scientist, and reviewed how to take care of our school technology (iPads). We will explore the engineer design process and mathematical challenges later this month. Students are building the skills to cooperate, collaborate and express their creativity!
What's New in Music Class?
This month, students have been busy making music! Kindergarten students are practicing rhythm syllables, exploring how sounds are created by hitting, shaking, and scratching different musical objects, and learning new songs such as Apple Tree and fun action songs.
First and second grade students are reviewing previously learned rhythms, notes, and note names while continuing to build their music-reading skills.
A Note From ART - Mrs. Panza
August/September Recap: This month in Mrs. Panza’s art classroom, ELCO artists were focused on learning our classroom routines and started creating artwork. Second grade artists paired their creativity and drawing skills to create monster drawings. These drawings focused on using the elements of art—line, shape, space and color. Each artist created 2—one to display at school and the other to send to ELCO MS for an art collaboration project with 7th grade artists at ELCO Middle School. First grade artists focused on the artwork by Joan Miro. His mysterious and imaginative artwork inspired 1st grade artists to use line, shape, space and color in his unique style to create a miniature Miro masterpiece! Kindergarten artists started to explore what art is, materials artists use, how artists think and use their imaginations. Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? By Bill Martin Jr, The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds and Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson are stories that we have listened to/will listen to soon and fit nicely with developing these skills. Throughout the school year, artwork is on display. ELCO’s “Celebrate the Arts” Show will take place later in the school year (more info to follow). Artists will engage in a variety of art learning experiences throughout the year including:
· creating/making art through practice sessions, process-based art and artwork that is mounted for display
· responding to artwork in whole group, small group and independent activities
· collaborative art making & more!
Get Moving in Phys. Ed. - Mr. B
Physical Education classes kicked off the year with a unit on Locomotor Movements. Students became experts at running, galloping, hopping, skipping, jumping and sliding. They also learned about the role of levels, pathways and tempos during physical activities. Everyone loved being active during creative tag games and movement activities that featured all of the different locomotor skills. Students were also introduced to the concept of healthy physical activity and learned how exercise makes one’s heart “happy”!
What's Happening in Kindergarten
What's Going on in 1st Grade
September: This month in first grader:
Knowledge- Fables and Tales were introduced.
Skills- Review for back to school, code work (blending and segmenting), Tricky Words and Nouns were the main topic.
Math- students used counters to model addition stories, added two parts to make a whole and practiced printing addition number sentences.
We practiced being respectful since it was the school wide September character trait. Plus the kids all worked very hard learning the 3 bee first grade rules.
Thank You to Holly Serio, for a great performance!
2nd Grade Updates
Our second graders have been diving into the magical world of Fairy Tales and Tall Tales during CKLA Knowledge Unit 1! We've listened to the exciting adventures of tall tale heroes like Pecos Bill, John Henry, and Casey Jones, along with classic fairy tales such as Beauty and the Beast and The Emperor’s New Clothes. Students have been comparing stories through writing, exploring story elements, identifying main ideas, discussing lessons learned, and expanding their vocabulary with 4–5 new words per story. To celebrate all their hard work, we hosted a Pancake Party, just like Paul Bunyan’s favorite treat!
In math, students have been strengthening their problem-solving skills by using subtraction facts to find missing addends, creating fact families with related facts, and tackling two-step word problems.
We’re so proud of all the learning happening in second grade!
Reading Corner
Our very first Literacy Under the Lights was a tremendous success! We are so grateful to all of the families who joined us. The excitement and energy throughout the stadium made it a truly memorable night for our students and families. We are already looking forward to Literacy Under the Lights next year!
We also celebrated our students’ summer reading efforts with our Summer Reading Celebration! Students enjoyed creating their own delicious ice cream sundaes and had the opportunity to choose a free book to take home and keep.
Thank you to all of our families for encouraging your children to read and practice their literacy skills over the summer. Reading and writing throughout the summer months makes a huge difference and helps children maintain and strengthen the skills they worked so hard to develop during the school year. We appreciate your partnership in helping our students continue to grow as readers and writers!
Social Media #ELCOexcellence
ELCO School District is growing our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram channels. Click on the icons and follow along!
Why:
Celebrate our students.
Keep parents, students, alumni, and the community in the loop of what is happening in our district.
Promote the great things happening such as athletics, activities, and other events.
Build an ongoing conversation about the positive impact our district is making in the lives of our students!
What do I need to do?
If you are on these social media channels – follow us!
Help promote these accounts to your family and friends.
If you aren’t on these platforms – that’s OK. The district will continue to provide communication through traditional channels.
Nurse's News
Welcome back to school!
If you received a letter stating your child is missing his/her dental and/or physical exam form, please continue to send those in. Our school dentist will be here December 4th for those still requiring a dental exam.
Our health screening day was September 21st, in which height/weight, vision and hearing was assessed. I will be sending home health report letters during conferences for only those needing referrals.
Please reach out to me with any questions or concerns!
Mrs. Emily Miller BSN, RN
1. On October 7th, 2026, at 6:30, our PTO will host its second meeting in our library at Fort Zeller.Most meetings will usually be held on the first Wednesday of every month. We hope that you will consider joining our meetings and provide your valuable input to support our students and staff at Fort Zeller. This year we will be offering a ZOOM option to attend the meetings. If you are unable to join in person, please consider joining online using this LINK.
2. Volunteering: If you have an interest in being a volunteer in your child's classroom or in our school, please use this link, to complete the necessary paperwork on clearances. Don't hesitate to call our office at (610) 589-2575 if you need additional assistance.
PTO Officers 2026-2027
●President: Kirsten Wenger
●Vice President: Anna Shanaman
●Secretary: Bobby Jo Arrigo
●Treasurer: Haley Wanner
Contact us
Fort Zeller Elementary School
243 North Sheridan Road
Richland, PA 17087
Phone: (610) 589-2575
Fax: 610-589-5815
Email: jhouck@elcosd.org
Website: https://www.elcosd.org/Domain/211
Location: 243 North Sheridan Road Richland, PA 17087
Phone: (610) 589-2575
Twitter: @ElcoFort