Dear Albert Schweitzer community,

We've had a busy month of December with Parent/Teacher Conferences, our Winter Concert, Craft Night, and our annual Holiday Sing-a-Long. Students are also working to complete Roaring Reader monthly challenges, and we are asking for your help to encourage more independent reading at home. Teachers are piloting two Science programs, and we continue with Ready Math and HMH for reading and writing. WIN (What I Need) groups have been up and running, and the goal of WIN is to support the core instruction and provide extra supports to help students be successful in all areas including providing interventions and enrichment to students.

As 2024 comes to a close, I want to wish each and every Schweitzer family a happy and safe 2025! We have been working incredibly hard since September to align instruction to standards and differentiate teaching and learning to meet students where they are at to help them grow. In the coming weeks, students will be taking their Middle-of-Year assessments to progress monitor their growth and see if they are on track to meet our building goals and their individual learning targets. We look forward to measuring progress during the month of January.

Have a festive and Happy New Year!
Dr. Amy Orlando
Principal

SAVE THE DATE:
December 24th thru January 1st-NO SCHOOL Winter Holiday
January 2nd-School Resumes (Happy New Year!)
Month of January-Middle-of-Year Universal Screeners in Math & Reading for K-4 Students

January 20th-NO SCHOOL (Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday)

January 27th-January 30th-Scholastic Book Fair (Evening Book Fair Wednesday, 1/29)

January 29th-3rd & 4th Grade Literacy Night

February 7th-Albert Schweitzer Sweetheart Dance
February 7th-National GO RED Day & American Heart Association Fundraiser

On Monday, December 9th, the 4th grade Orchestra and 4th Grade Chorus played and sang beautiful holiday melodies for parents and families at the Winter Concert. Students played during the day for the school and to a full house in the Carl Sandburg auditorium in the evening. It put everyone in the holiday spirit!

We invite you to join our ESSA Federal Programs Parent Advisory Team to help shape supplemental school programs funded through Titles I, II, III, and IV. Your input is crucial in supporting student success and improving educational experiences in our district.

As a member, you’ll:

• Provide feedback on academic and program goals.
• Collaborate to ensure programs meet student and family needs.
• Guide decisions for Title-funded initiatives.

When: Thursday, January 9, 2025, at 7:00 pm

Location: Virtual

Click here to register for the meeting!

As a Title I school, it's important that we keep families and our school community well informed about activities and important information related to Title I. Please enjoy the most recent Title I Family Engagement Newsletter below.

We would like to thank the following individuals, families and groups for helping to make this holiday season more special for the community:

1. Fourth grade safeties and Ambassadors collected items for ‘Winer Warmth’ and ‘Family Games’ for the Salvation Army
2. Schweitzer students and their families for supporting Adopt-A-Family
3. Middletown Township Police Department-Shop with a Cop
4. Queen of the Universe
5. Kiwanis Club
6. NFT
7. The Carroll family
8. The Carson Family
9. The Peranteau family
10. The Selger Family
11. The Salisbury Family
12. The Gallardo family
13. The Williams Family
14. The Schmerbeck Family
15. The Stockunas family
16. Amanda Hopkins
17. Sue Coyle
18. Dara Bullick
19. The 4th grade team-Mrs. Dupoldt, Mrs. Hanley, Mrs. Mancini, & Ms. Nicholl
20. Organizers: Kelly Moyer, Nicole Schultz, & Mary Ellen Pulak

Roaring Readers Celebration

Calling all third and fourth grade families! Join us for a celebration of literacy!

January 29, 2025 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Albert Schweitzer Elementary School Library

Join us for a night to celebrate Schweitzer's Roaring Readers! Families of third and fourth graders will participate in a literacy night full of fun, giveaways, raffles, and refreshments. Families will learn how to make reading fun and will walk away with great ideas to support literacy in the home. Students will showcase their love of reading by dressing as their favorite character/author, reading from a favorite book, or creating a book project to show to families. We hope to see you there!

Please R.S.V.P. by clicking below if you plan on attending!

Mrs. Montalvo an Mr. Wells hosted the annual Holiday Schweitzer Sing-a-long! Students were featured playing the piano and singing “All I Want for Christmas” along with grade-level songs, skits, and a fun video featuring what everyone loves about Mr. Wells as he wraps up his last sing-a-long with the Albert Schweitzer family. The Grinch and a blow-up Elf joined the occasion. SO MUCH FUN!
*Some photos provided by Mr. Saxton. Thank you!

Schweitzer’s school-wide PBIS team hosted a “Give Back” night on Thursday, December 12th for students and their families with a craft night. Students came with their families to make holiday crafts to take home in exchange for dropping items off for the local food pantry. Students and staff had a festive time!

As we use our new communication platform, you will receive school notifications via email messages, texts, and voicemails through SchoolMessenger. Email communication will come from broadcasts@schoolmessengermail.com. Please DO NOT 'Unsubscribe' from these emails.

In the future, the goal is to receive messages from my direct email (aorlando@neshaminy.org). However, you will see it from the extension above for now as we transition. We look forward to continued family and community engagement through our district communication system.

Thank you to all parent/guardians that came out to meet with teachers to discuss student progress for the 24-25 academic year. These conversations are important to learn more about what your child is learning, their strengths and challenges, and how you can best support them in school and at home.

Each month we conduct safety drills at each of our buildings including Fire Drills, Lockdowns, and other safety drills including a Hold, Secure Hold, and weather-related drills. Dr. Orlando oversees any drill or emergency at Schweitzer, and administration at all levels are in contact during any situation at the building level. Conducting these drills helps prepare students and staff for a real emergency, and they are an important part of our monthly routines.

The Curriculum & Instruction Department is excited to introduce LinkIt! Student Portal, a valuable tool that allows parents and guardians to access their student's data with ease. Through this portal, you will be able to view your child’s performance on both benchmark and state assessments, along with a variety of other local assessments.

Click the parent letter below as well as the step-by-step instructions on how to access your child's data through LinkIt!.

First grade readers and writers from Mr. Wells's classroom pop into to demonstrate just how much they are growing as learners!

Recess is a time for students to get fresh air, get a movement break, and socialize with friends. Please talk to your child about what they are choosing to do at recess. We are providing reminders of appropriate and safe play at recess so that it remains fun for everyone. Students will be reviewing with teachers reminders of expected behaviors including rules and expectations of games and being safe by keeping hands and feet to self. We appreciate your support by talking about this with your child(ren) at home. Thank you.

Please review the Kindness Calendar with your child for the month of January!

Mrs. Moyer's School Counselor Website

https://www.neshaminy.org/domain/1464

PTO Officers for 2024-2025

President - Erica Saxton

Vice President - Vicki Barnes-Lee

Treasurer - Jessica Ozdemir

Recording Secretaries - Devon Wills, Nicole Frazzetto, & Christina Trama

Corresponding Secretary - Sara Trainor

Parliamentarians - Chirag Shah & Matthew Dupree

Below are two easy ways to earn cash for our school through "Give Back" programs.

1. Box Tops For Education:-Cash can be earned for our school through this program in a variety of ways, the box top for education app allows users to earn cash for their school by purchasing products that participate in this program and scanning your receipts in the app or emailing your digital receipt. You can also earn by connecting your account to participating retailers, such as Walmart and making purchases at those retailers, in addition, cash can be earned through periodic bonus box opportunities found on the app. Our school will receive a check twice yearly in December and April.

Steps to start earning:

1. Download the Box Tops App to your mobile device.

2. Register for an account: In order to start earning for your school and access the features of the app you must register for an account. Membership is free!

3. SHOP! Purchase box top for education products

4. SCAN your physical receipt. Scan your full receipt in the app within 14 days of the date of purchase.

5. Connect accounts. Connect participating retailer accounts to your account in the app (ex: Walmart)

6. E-receipts and receipts for online purchases (grocery pick-ups or delivery), visit the app for more details, including participating retailers and other restrictions.

Our school can earn up to $20,000 cash per year through this program beginning March 2 and runs through March 1 of the following year. We all shop and this is a great way to earn for our school and give back to our kids.

2. REDNER'S RECEIPTS-Our school can earn 1% back on the save-a-tape totals on your receipts.

Steps

1. Save your Redner's receipts

2. Send in your receipts in an envelope with your child’s room number and teachers name marked PTO

3. Help your child earn incentive prizes!

This save-a-tape program is a wonderful opportunity to give back to our school and provide fun opportunities for our kids.

Mystery Motivator:

Rana Kaya-Mrs. Cahill/Grade 2

Principal: Dr. Amy Orlando

aorlando@neshaminy.org

Secretary: Mrs. Carey Franklin

cfranklin@neshaminy.org
Clerk Typist: Ms. Dorie Beisel
cbeisel@neshaminy.org

Website: https://www.neshaminy.org/ses

Location: 30 Harmony Road, Levittown, PA, USA

Phone: 215-809-6380

Facebook: facebook.com/Schweitzeres

We are working hard to keep our Albert Schweitzer Facebook page updated with lots of photos from school events. Please be sure to visit our site often and 'Like' our page!

https://www.facebook.com/schweitzeres/