Little Bolts News!
2025-2026 Trimester 2
⚡NO SCHOOL- March 16
⚡NO SCHOOL- Easter break, April 2-6
⚡April 10- Spring Picture Day
⚡ELA PSSA window- April 20-24
⚡Math/Science PSSA window- April 27-May 1
⚡Field Day- May 8
⚡NO SCHOOL- May 22,25
⚡LAST DAY OF SCHOOL/Early Dismissal- May 28
✨ Report Cards are posted on the Portal
✨ If you do not have a portal click this link to set it up.
✨ On your portal:
- check transportation.
- check attendance
✨ Please submit excuse notes/early dismissal's on the portal (under "student data forms" ).
✨ Doors open at 8:30 (Please do not drop students off before 8:30 as there is no supervision) if your student arrives after 9:00 an adult needs to accompany the child into the office to sign them in.
A Message About Student Attendance
Dear Families,
I hope this message finds you well! I wanted to reach out and share something that truly makes a difference in our students' success: consistent attendance.
Why Does Attendance Matter?
When students are here every day, they:
- Build momentum in learning — Each lesson connects to the last, and missing days means missing critical building blocks.
- Develop strong relationships — With teachers, classmates, and the school community.
- Feel more confident — Regular participation helps students stay engaged and feel part of the classroom.
- Enjoy school more — Students who attend regularly tend to have better attitudes about learning.
The Real Impact
Even a few missed days can add up quickly. Research shows that consistent attendance is one of the strongest predictors of academic success at every grade level.
How Can You Help?
- Plan ahead — Try to schedule appointments and vacations outside school hours when possible.
- Keep a morning routine — A consistent wake-up time and morning routine make getting to school easier.
- Communicate with us — If your child will be absent, let us know. If there are barriers to attendance, we're here to help.
- Make it a priority — Show your child that school matters by ensuring they're here and ready to learn.
We're a Team
Your partnership is invaluable. Together, we can create a year full of growth, friendships, and amazing learning moments. When every student is present and engaged, our entire school and classrooms thrive!
If you ever have concerns or questions about attendance, please don't hesitate to reach out.
Thank you for your dedication to your child's education!
Warm regards,
Mr. Joel Moran, Principal
Our elementary students have been busy spreading holiday cheer in the community! Students created handmade ornaments to decorate the trees at Littlestown’s newly renovated Community Park. We are grateful to partner with Mayor Beskid and the borough to help make the park festive and welcoming for everyone to enjoy. Thank you to Mayor Beskid for supporting our students and celebrating their creativity as we work together to strengthen our community connections.
ACES Fabulous First Graders had so much fun learning during the second trimester. The students spent many days writing facts about animals, exploring 2D and 3D shapes and explaining the steps used to solve number stories. A major highlight was Christmas Around the World which provided many opportunities to learn facts about other countires. The 100th Day of School was an extra special milestone to celebrate, full of fun and creativity with lots of projects and activities about the number 100. Having the story Enemy Pie brought to life was such a great treat and so exciting to watch!
Our students were excited to celebrate the holidays with their family and friends. During this trimester we continued reading to the therapy dogs. They are so excited when it is their week. Also, we had PNC Bank visit and gave a great presentation that went with what we were teaching in social studies, Our Community. In writing, our focus was nonfiction. We researched and read many biographies, books on United States and Pennsylvania symbols and holidays. We are very excited for this last trimester as we continue to learn and grow.
It has been a busy trimester for Third Grade! We enjoyed doing a joint project with Ms. Rakowicz in Art Class where the students photographed an object and created a poem. This went along with our Immigration Unit in Social Studies too. Ms. Long, our Artist in Residence, taught small group lessons in our Language Arts class that connected to the work being done in Art and Social Studies. The students created amazing pieces of art work and poetry! In Math the students learned about multiplication, division, and fractions. The lineup for the third trimester will be geometry, area & perimeter, measurement, time, and graphing. We sure have a busy semester ahead! Science was full of exploration as we explored weather, natural disasters, and biomes. We are collaborating with Ms. Fink on a biomes and adaptations project. Up next…adaptations and lifecycles which will include many hands-on labs!
4th Graders are Taking Ownership of their Learning!
All fourth graders are working to successfully pass two iReady lessons in both reading and math per week. Students work with their teachers to take ownership of recording how they are doing on their lessons in each subject area. These lessons are individualized to help students grow in the areas and levels they need.
In 4th grade math, Trimester 2 was all about fractions! Students focused on comparing fractions, finding equivalent fractions, decomposing fractions, and adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers. Students also learned to convert improper fractions to mixed numbers. Recently, the students applied their knowledge of fractions to plot and analyze data on Line Plots. We look forward to finishing up our fraction unit and moving on to decimals and geometry in Trimester 3!
In 4th grade science we have been learning about different types of forces, energy, and sound. To demonstrate potential and kinetic energy we made chain reaction machines. Next trimester we will be learning about electricity, light and heat. We will wrap up the year with animal and plant adaptations.
We are VERY proud of how hard our students have worked on TDAs (Text Dependent Analysis). In particular, students have the 5-paragraph format down, and they are great at citing specific evidence. We are continuing to improve in explaining how our evidence supports our answer. Currently, we are developing the complex task of comparing and contrasting TWO different texts with regard to theme, point of view, perspective, events, and topics.
In our word study, we have moved on to Greek and Latin roots. Finally, in grammar, we’ve learned how to correctly put adjectives in order, how to use relative adverbs, and we’ll soon be studying how the proper use of coordinating conjunctions can improve our sentences.
A Special Video Call with Ms. Allen:
Over Thanksgiving break, one of our teachers, Ms. Allen, vacationed in Ireland and England. While there, she did a special video call for our 5th grade students from the Tower of London! She took the entire 5th grade on a virtual tour of the older part of the fortress and was able to answer several questions from students about the history as well as what it was like where she was in the building. Did you know that William Penn was once a prisoner in the Tower? Who knew!? Each classroom logged into the video call from their homerooms and the students seemed to enjoy this experience very much!!
A Visit with a Soil Scientist:
During our science unit on The Web of Life, the 5th grade learned about decomposers in the soil and how soil comes from matter that has been broken down. Suzanne Shea visited our class as a guest speaker and shared her knowledge of composting and soil decomposition with the 5th grade. The students enjoyed looking through a microscope and seeing real bacteria at work in the compost.
ACES Counselor’s Corner (for the 2025-2026 school year)
Teaching Kids Accountability & Self-Control
Tip from Dr. Charles Fay & the Love & Logic Series
Helping Raise Responsible Kids Since 1977
There seems to be an epidemic of entitlement in kids. When kids are held captive by the beast of entitlement, they must be encouraged to take positive risks that provide opportunities to develop different beliefs. The only way to see the benefits of personal responsibility is by doing something positive and experiencing the intrinsic joy it provides.
Entitled children must also experience difficulties so they learn that they can overcome challenges through perseverance. Love and Logic helps parents replace the sense of entitlement in their kids by guiding them to develop healthy expectations. Here are some examples of how you can help your kids shift from a sense of entitlement to healthy expectations.
*Expect Kids to Solve Their Problems
Whenever kids encounter difficulties, ask lots of questions like, “What do you think you’re going to do?” and “What’s your plan?” You can also add, “I’m interested to see how you solve this.” As kids experience challenges, convey the expectation that they will work through them. This will prevent them from expecting someone else to solve all their problems.
*Expect Kids to Contribute
Chores are the #1 antidote to entitlement. Kids who contribute appreciate what they have and are far less likely to take the contributions of others for granted. Get them contributing to the household and family, and watch entitlement disappear.
*Expect Kids to Earn the Things They Get
This doesn’t mean we don’t give kids gifts or commit unsolicited acts of love. But for the things they often ask for, we can ask how they plan to pay for them or earn them. From purchases, to playing sports, to driving, avoid making things free. Instead expect kids to work to earn all or part and see if they don’t appreciate those things the most. When kids expect others to solve their problems, entitlement grows. One of the most effective ways to shift that mindset is by giving kids the tools to think for themselves.
In PE class, students were able to experience their own Winter Olympic Games. We focused on the three core values of the Olympic Games, which are Excellence, Friendship, and Respect. Students were able to compete in activities such as, the bobsled, ski jumping, speed skating, curling, hockey, slalom skiing, the skeleton, and the biathlon.
Health Room Reminders
Flu Season is here and we aim for everyone to stay healthy:
➢ If your student is sick, please do not send them to school. The student may come back to school after being fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medication and is feeling better. REMINDER: If a student is absent for three (3) or more days, a Doctor’s note is required upon the student’s return to school.
➢ For sore throat and worsening cough, please follow-up with your primary provider. The health room does not have the testing to determine if your child is contagious or not.
➢ Keep your student home for vomiting and diarrhea. The student may return to school 24 hours after being free of symptoms.
➢ If your child has asthma, please ask your provider to prescribe an inhaler for school emergencies. Please sign and use the form on our website
❖ For recurring health room visits of your student for headaches and stomachaches, please follow-up with your primary care provider to get to the real cause of the symptoms. This will help the student to remain in class and not miss class hours.
❖ If you notice your child with head itchiness, please check your child’s head for lice or nits (eggs). While head lice are not a health hazard, they are common, but not harmful but can be spread through direct head-to-head contact or sharing items like brushes and hats. Treat with lice shampoo and follow directions, if noted. Use fine combing for everyday check.
Students can not carry any medications with them in school. This includes cough drops and over the counter medications like Tylenol, Ibuprofen, vitamins, or supplements. If your student needs to have medication or needs a cough drop, Tylenol or Ibuprofen, they can visit the health room for these medications. Students are not allowed to bring in prescription medication to the health office, according to school policy all medication must be bought in by a parent and guardian and the parent or guardian will need to sign the medication in with the health office.
The health room does not have any allergy/cold medicine. If your child needs allergy/cold medicine please be sure that they are taking it prior to coming to school and that it will last for 8 hours to get the student through the day.
Please be sure that your student(s) are eating breakfast in the morning so that they can have the fuel they need to get through the morning and be ready to learn. Breakfast is free for all students this year in the cafeteria. Please remind students to stop by and grab something to eat so that they can be fueled to start their day.
