Arthur O. Eve #61

Happy New Year! We’re excited to kick off 2026 with continued learning and growth at A.O.E. Please mark your calendars for Parent-Teacher Conferences on Tuesday, January 27, 2026 from 5-7. This is a great opportunity to connect with your child’s teacher and discuss progress and goals for the remainder of the school year.

As we navigate the winter season, we kindly ask that if your child is feeling sick, please keep them home. This helps prevent the spread of illness and keeps our school community healthy and safe.

We’re also thrilled to announce that our Boys Basketball Team for Grades 3–4 will begin this month! Be on the lookout for game schedules and come out to cheer on our team. Your support means so much to our students!

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, we will have a day off to reflect on his legacy and the values of equality and service. Let’s take this time to remember his powerful words:
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”

Thank you for your partnership and support!

Warm regards,

Chelsea Bush

Principal

(716) 816-3400

Arts Coordinator Mrs. Rose prepared a crafty activity for students on our Cozy Milk n' Cookies Day, Dec. 22. Students could choose a snowflake- or festive Christmas tree-making activity to celebrate the upcoming holidays with art! Here's a small sampling from various rooms...Pictured below, Mrs. Pritchard's Gr. 1 student, Samiyah Moss, showcases her festive picture!

Courage is “the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear.” On January 20th we will celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday. Martin Luther King Jr. showed great courage and great faith in change.

How can you show courage at Home?

• Saying sorry- It takes courage to admit when we are wrong.
• Try new things like food and games. Take responsibility.

How can you show courage at School?

• Stand up for a friend in need.
• Raise your hand in class to ask a question.
• Do the right thing, even if others are not.

Having courage helps children to persevere against challenges, and in the process it raises their self-esteem. When children feel good about themselves and see that they have the personal power to make courageous choices, they are more likely to lead personally satisfying and successful lives.

Congratulations 🎉 to Ms. Zywar's Gr. 3 student, Noah Hill!

We are very proud of the fact that you were nominated as a top student who has demonstrated Fairness during the month of December! You will now be a key student in helping us uphold quality “CHARACTER” within our school. Congratulations on being selected as the Student of the Month. You will be honored and acknowledged in the morning announcements. Keep up the great work and continue to strive for greatness!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Bush, Principal

Mrs. Randle, Assistant Principal

Up and Adam

Debbie Zapata, Yong Ling Kang (Illustrator)

A winning, uplifting story about a boy with Down syndrome who helps his neighbors in the aftermath of a storm in a way only he can.
It's the morning after the big storm. Adam and his dog, Up, are finishing breakfast when Adam sees the mayor on TV asking everyone to pitch in with the cleanup. She says, “Now, it's time to get to work. Up and at 'em!” When Adam hears the mayor tell him and Up to get to work, he's on it! “We can help!” he says. All day, the pair do what they can --- clearing the sidewalk, fixing a birdhouse, passing out cookies. But it turns out, Adam's most important contribution to his community is one he doesn't even think about --- his smile. Because when anyone sees Adam smile, they smile, too. And as Adam says, “A pair of smiles can make a difference.”
Debbie Zapata's sweet story scores on two fronts: it features an endearing and authentic representation of a child with Down syndrome, focused on his abilities, not disabilities, and it offers an inspiring model of how everyone can make a difference in their community. The book is full of positive examples of community, contributing and inclusion, and beautifully captures the character education themes of kindness, teamwork, initiative and citizenship.-www.goodreads.com

Parents and caregivers: Here is the Arts Integration theme for January. How can you support this integration at home? Sometimes, it's as simple as starting a conversation about your child/ren's school project. What product are they creating? Then, keep a look-out for them in February's newsletter!

Happy New Year 🎊 Families!

Pre-K is wrapping up our unit on “Taking Care” and getting ready to dive into our next exciting theme: "Community Helpers!" This month, we’ll explore the important roles people play in keeping our community safe and healthy. We’re hoping to welcome a special visitor from the Fire Department to share what they do.

We will also learn about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the incredible contributions he made to promote kindness, fairness, and equality. Through stories, discussions, and activities, we’ll talk about how we can make our classroom and community a caring place for everyone. Thank you for partnering with us in your child’s learning journey—January is going to be full of discovery and inspiration!

~Ms. Fisher, Mrs. McGarvey, & Mrs. Roberts

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy New Year! The Kindergarten Team hopes everyone had a well-rested break and got to spend time together as a family. Sometimes when we come back to school, it is hard to remember rules and expectations. With that being said, over the next few days we will be revisiting classroom rules and reminding students what is expected.

During ELA in the month of January, we will be working on the letters K, P, U, and B. We will be forming the letters out of playdough, sand, whipped cream and other sensory experiences. Please help practice these letters at home.

Lastly, during Math, will be starting on Unit 6 which focuses on basic addition and vocabulary. We will use pictures and manipulatives to solve addition problems. Closer to the end of January, we will focus on basic subtraction and vocabulary. If you have any questions or concerns, please let us know.

~Mrs. Gentzler, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Simson, & Mrs. Vangelista

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Welcome back! We are moving into the half-way mark of First Grade. This is the time of year we start to see reading fluency build. Our Middle-of-Year Benchmark Assessment is here, and we are excited to see the growth in the following probes: Letter Naming Fluency, Phoneme Segmentation Fluency, Nonsense Words -Correct Letter Sound Fluency and -Words Recoded (read) Correctly, Word Reading Fluency, and Oral Reading Fluency.

This month, to help build fluency, we are covering ending blend concepts including ending t blends, ending l blends, and remaining blends. The last week in January we will cover y as vowel 'long i'. Please continue reading those weekly decodables because it includes all learned concepts and Red Words, and this will help your child flourish as a reader and a writer.

In Math, we are beginning Unit 6 Shapes and Solids. The students will be identifying 2- and 3-D shapes. We will also learn how to build new shapes and composite figures. At home, ask your child to identify shapes they see in their everyday life, describing their attributes: size, color, # of sides, # of vertices (corners).

In Science, students will learn about daylight changes and seasons.

We look forward to sharing the data with you during Parent Teacher Conferences!

~Mrs. Balzer, Mrs. Fischer, & Mrs. Pritchard

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy January! We are excited to share what we are learning in Second Grade this month. In Math, students will be learning strategies to fluently subtract within 100. We will be practicing this skill using different strategies like number lines, base ten blocks, decomposing, vertical subtraction, counting back, and counting on.

In ELA, students are reviewing the dipthongs oi,oy, ou, and ow. We will also be learning the long i sound (-igh) and the doubling rule for words with -er, -ed, -est, and -ing. Please remember homework for Math and Reading is a review of what we are learning in class.

In Social Studies and Science, students are learning about Earth's land and water.

~Ms. Graves, Miss Janas, Mrs. Janas, & Miss McLaughlin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy New Year to all. 3rd grade has been working hard on learning multiplication and division. Our current Math unit will continue our multiplication study by learning about area. Please keep studying math facts with your child to help further their fluency.

In ELA, we have been working hard on reading to understand a text. Students are expected to look for information to answer questions from a text. We have been highlighting answers to key questions to guide comprehension. Reading at home daily is a great tool to further fluency and reading compression. Keep up the good work!

~Mrs. Barrett, Ms. Kwiatek, & Ms. Zywar

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Fourth Grade ELA, we are beginning Unit Three with a focus on Diversity. In this unit we will read realistic fiction, autobiography, fiction, and poetry. We are currently working on analyzing characters in realistic fiction.

In Social Studies, we are working on Chapter Six, which focuses on social change and the Civil War in New York.

In Math, the Fourth graders are working on multiplication and division with a focus on the standard algorithm, area models, and bar diagrams. We are also working on multi-step word problems.

The Science focus is Earth’s Features, specifically: erosion, land features, mapping, and rocks and minerals.

~ Mrs. Gilmartin, Mr. Robson, & Mrs. Rosa

🎨Artists of the Month: Nnena Kalu and Bang Chan (scroll to 'Artists of the Month')

📝Author of the Month: Debbie Zapata

As we begin 2026, a reminder about the Spring NYSESLAT, which we are always preparing for! The NYSESLAT is our formal gauge of English language proficiency in your student, and determines the ENL instruction pathway for next year, so it's important that we do as well as we are able! The Speaking portion of the assessment for our ELLs is in April, while Reading, Writing and Listening are in May. More information will be sent home in the coming weeks. In the meantime, you are always free to explore information about the NYSESLAT, including test samplers, here.

Mrs. Baldwin-Harris

lbaldwin@buffaloschools.org

Every student should be reading for 15 minutes, nightly. For our youngest learners in Pre-K and Kindergarten, we ask that parents read to them. Each month, any student who reads at least 10 books or 10 chapters will receive a “golden” coin and be able to select a book from our school’s Book Vending Machine. Students must complete The Principal’s Reading Challenge Log and return it to their classroom to qualify.

Logs are due January 30 this month, so get reading! 📚

This month's character trait is Courage. In January, we will focus on managing emotions, calm-down strategies, and facing challenges. We will explore brave moments and courage affirmations in announcements. Social emotion lessons will also explore anxiety management and coping skills.

'Brave' is when you feel afraid but choose to do the right thing anyway. Being brave can help you make important decisions. Here is a practice we can use at home and at school to help us:

We can begin by practicing our brave breaths. Close your eyes. Place one hand on your heart and one hand on your belly. Take a slow, deep breath, and count to four in your mind. Feel your belly get bigger and full of air, like a balloon. Now count to four and slowly breathe out. We can practice Rest and Relax. Take one more Brave Breath together slowly. Imagine your feet relaxing. Now imagine your legs relaxing. Imagine your belly relaxing. Now imagine your arms and hands relaxing. Finally, relax your neck and head.

Finally, our student support team welcomes Dr. Tara Howard as our new school psychologist. Dr. Howard will be here at school 61 on A, B, and C days. Please remember that our entire student support team is available to offer supports to students and families. We are in Room 107 and can be reached by calling the main office.

🫶🏽

Dr. Howard, School Psychologist

Ms. Miller, Guidance Counselor

Mrs. Piwko, School Social Worker

If you have any concerns regarding your child's academic, social-emotional, or behavioral skill development, please complete this Request for Assistance Form

Pragmatic Language

Using conversation starters is a way of encouraging your children to participate in a conversation with you by telling what they think about various topics or telling what their favorite things are, etc. Examples of some questions are: What is your favorite kind of pizza? What is your favorite movie? Why? What is the best thing about being a child?, etc. While conversing, they are also learning to respect the opinions of others, formulate questions, give justification and many other pragmatic and language skills.

~Mrs. Karen Miller, SLP

It may not be a door they decorated, but 61's Occupational Therapists, Krystal Reed-Hinman and Lexy Onley decked our Library's 'fireplace' with outstanding holiday cheer this year! With the help of their students, the space was transformed into a 'fire- and ice-place,' OT's take-off on the Christmastime classic 'The Year Without Santa Claus.' What a beautiful job! No matter who wins first place, this is a definite winner to us!

💊*Medications Notification*: The clinic nurse needs a doctor's order for all medications children are using on school grounds - even over-the-counter.

Please DO NOT send inhalers, epi pens or other medications in your child's backpack! The nurse must see documentation for, and have record of, medical conditions requiring medicine needed during the school day, for the safety and well-being of all students. To this end, parents/guardians must bring medication to the clinic and sign the corresponding paperwork for our files.

Parents, take a moment to ensure we have a current phone number on file for you. In the event of an illness, we need a working number to call. (See the 'Update Your Contact Information' button below!)

Lastly, as we are in the thick of illness season, a reminder that if your child is sick, do not send them to school.

Thank you,

Nurse Sellers

716-816-3406

Jan. 5: School Resumes

Jan. 7: Building-Wide DIBELS Day

Jan. 8: MTSS Assembly

Jan. 14: Heart Gram Sale Begins

Jan. 19: MLK Jr. Day, No School

Jan. 20: Gr. 2 Field Trip to BPO

Jan. 27: Parent-Teacher Conferences

You can view it on the Food Service Department website here. Select "translate" to view it in Spanish or Bengali.

Parent Page