Happy April!

Happy April!

April is upon us, and with it comes the promise of warmer weather and the vibrant energy of spring! We've had a busy and productive few months. We hope you enjoyed reading "Flat Stanley" as a family during the month of March for PARP. We had wonderful discussions here at school and great celebrations for our love of reading.

We hope you all have a restful and recharging spring break. As a reminder, school is closed from April 14th-April 25th. We look forward to seeing everyone back on 4/28 for the last 2 months of the school year.

As the weather warms, we encourage you to spend quality time with your children outdoors and enjoy the beauty of spring. Thank you for your continued support and partnership.

Sincerely,

Denielle Toth and Taylor Ramsey

Principal and Assistant Principal

• April 14th-25th: No School- Spring Recess
• May 8th: Math Night 5-6:30pm
• May 19th, 20th, 21st, 27th : Kindergarten (Incoming) Screening
• May 20th: Budget and BOE Vote
• May 22nd: No School; Supt Conference Day
• May 23rd-26th: No School; Memorial Day Recess
• June 18th: 1/2 Day Students; Staff Development
• June 19th: No School; Juneteenth
• June 24th: Last Day Students

The Parental Input Survey has been added to our Fricano Primary website for the 2025-2026 school year. This form is available to families who would like to share information about their child in preparation for the placement process. Please remember that we cannot honor requests for specific teachers. No emails/letters will be accepted. Forms will be due by May 2nd, 2025.

All families who have an incoming Kindergarten student for the 25-26 school year and would like to fill out the form after Kindergarten screening, you will have from May 22nd-May 27th to complete the form.

When you come in to volunteer here at Fricano, it is our policy that younger siblings are not present as this takes away from the interaction with our classroom of students. This includes being a Mystery Reader, Centers volunteer, Birthdays, etc. Thanks for helping us create positive experiences for our students and for families!

Also, if you plan to take your child home after you are in visiting, please make the change in Pick Up Patrol ahead of time. Select the date and the early dismissal option to help make our dismissal run smoothly!

We know that there is a lot of language used in schools that can be confusing. Take a look below for some commonly used acronyms and what they mean here at Fricano!

1. RTI: Response to Intervention. This is a system of support for all of our students to support them to meet our academic benchmarks. With classroom and school wide assessments, we are able to see what skills students excel with and which may be more challenging. If your student receives "RTI" reading or math, this is small group instruction to help boost their skills so they find success! Our groups change based on student ability throughout the year so your child may receive RTI at one point in the year and not another.
2. AimsWeb: Achievement Improvement Monitoring System. This is a nationally normed assessment that we use as a benchmark for both math and reading. Your student is assessed using AimsWeb three times per year (fall, winter, spring). This gives us information about where you child's skills are in the areas of both math and ELA.
3. SEL: Social Emotional Learning. This concept is the process through which people acquire and apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. We support SEL skills at Fricano through morning meeting, Mental Health Team push in lessons, lunch bunches, as well as teachers embed practice with skills into our daily curriculum.
4. IEP: Individualized Education Program. This is a written document created as a team (Committee on Special Education) with school personnel and families to support students with a disability.
5. PBIS: Positive Behavior Interventions and Support. We use our PBIS bees here at Fricano to support student behavior in a positive way, teaching lessons and modeling expected behaviors in different areas of the school day. Students receive golden tickets for showing this expected behavior within school and on the bus.
6. STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics. STEAM is an approach to learning that uses these concepts. While here at Fricano, we complete STEAM activities that develop these skills at a basic level, this practice and skill building allows for our students to have the skills and knowledge necessary as they become adults to compete in a global world.
7. SST: Student Support Team. Here at Fricano our SST includes both counselors, our social worker, our psychologist, and administration. The team works together to support students behaviorally, socially, and emotionally. The team supports ideas within the classroom, supports families, and also supports students in small groups.
8. ENL: English as a New Language. Mrs. Battaglia supports our students who speak languages other than English in their homes within their classroom settings to help them find success.

Website: https://www.starpointcsd.org/fricano
Location: 4363 Mapleton Road, Lockport, NY, USA
Phone: 716-210-2100
Twitter: @FricanoPrimary