Leighton Update

Dear Leighton Families,

As we close out the month of January, I want to thank our school community for their resilience. The winter weather has certainly been difficult, making it a challenge to settle back into our typical school routines after the break. However, I am thrilled to share that our staff and students have done a phenomenal job leaning back on our school-wide expectations and procedures. This commitment has allowed us to continue establishing positive learning environments, even when Mother Nature is not being particularly cooperative.

Mid-year is a vital time for assessing growth, and we have recently completed our Winter Benchmarking and building-wide MTSS meetings. These sessions are crucial for establishing the best possible instructional plans and supports for our learners. Speaking of the weather, Leighton has currently had five days of school cancelled. Should we reach a 7th, 8th, or 9th day of cancellation, we will offer asynchronous online lessons with activities and assignments. Your child’s teacher will post the information to Google Classroom by 9:00 AM on those days for students.

As we look toward the end of February, the scheduling process for our Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences has begun. Your child’s teacher will be reaching out soon, or already has, with specific information regarding spring conferences. If you would like to inquire about a conference, please contact your child's teacher.

As January concludes, we also celebrate Board Appreciation Month. We are incredibly grateful for the Aurora Board of Education, including President Mrs. Mehalis, Vice President Mrs. Klich, and Board members Mr. Acomb, Mrs. Schneider, and Mrs. Fuller. Their support, selflessness, and time are extremely valued, and we truly couldn't do what we do without each of them!

Finally, we are extremely proud of Aurora’s own, AJ Barner, as he prepares for Super Bowl LX! We ask that all students wear Seattle Seahawks colors or gear on Friday, February 6th to support him. He has the entire force of Greenmen Nation behind him next Sunday!

Sincerely,

Spencer Warders

Principal

Leighton Elementary

The Ohio State Achievement Tests (OST) are administered each year. These tests give insight on how well our students are achieving and growing in the various grade and content standards of the classes they are participating in. Leighton administers English Language Arts and Math OST assessments in grades 3, 4 and 5 as well as Science OST in grade 5. The dates for our building wide tests are as follows:

English Language Arts OST

April 15th: 3rd Grade (1/2 Homerooms)

April 16th: 3rd Grade (1/2 Homerooms)

April 21: 3rd (1/2 Homerooms), 4th and 5th Grades

April 22: 3rd (1/2 Homerooms), 4th and 5th Grades

Math OST

April 29: 3rd Grade (1/2 Homerooms)

April 30: 3rd Grade (1/2 Homerooms)

May 5: 3rd Grade (1/2 Homerooms), 4th and 5th Grades

May 6: 3rd Grade (1/2 Homerooms), 4th and 5th Grades

Science OST

April 29: 5th Grade

April 30: 5th Grade

These assessments give valuable data and information for our school. If you know your child will be absent for these dates, please fill out a planned absence form. Additionally, please contact our school counselor, Mrs. Wadkins, at nwadkins@aurora-schools.org

Thank you.

Due to our recent snow day, the Leighton Group Picture Day originally scheduled for January 27th has been postponed. We are currently coordinating with Ripcho Studios to secure a makeup date for these photos. As soon as the new date is finalized, we will share that information with all families. Thank you for your patience as we work to get this rescheduled!

Sessions 3 is for our 3 grade students. A final forms will be sent out this week with the google form to sign up for the "lottery". Approximately 25 students will be selected for the session.

First, we want to thank our families for your patience and for following our car rider procedures. To help keep our students safe and ensure the line moves as quickly as possible, please keep these procedures in mind:

Fill the Gaps: Please pull all the way up to the sign (or the car in front of you) before stopping to load your child. This allows more cars into the loading zone and significantly speeds up the process for the entire line.
Passenger Side Only: For the safety of our students, please ensure they only enter or exit the vehicle from the passenger side.
Need an Extra Minute? If your child needs a little extra time with their gear, please pull into a parking spot in the lot. This keeps the flow of the line moving and prevents delays for other families.
Cones are Important: The map shown below shows where the cones are often out (the orange lines) to show are traffic pattern for for car pick up and drop off and to limit cars crossing into the bus lane with Leighton and Miller. Please do not cross where the orange lines are during the drop of and pick up times.

Thank you for your cooperation in keeping our mornings and afternoons running smoothly!

During this time of the year, we begin to have students who meet the thresholds of notifying families about excessive absences. If your child meets the criteria of missed hours, a letter must be sent from the school alerting you. Please also be reminded that it doesn't matter whether the absences are excused or unexcused. We have to track the hours missed regardless of the reason and communicate to you when this has been met.

We have attached our planned absence form and policy. Please make sure you read through this important message and understand that planned absences and absences due to illness all count for missed hours. If you have any further questions, please contact the main office.

LES Planned Absence Form

We have had an increase in students becoming ill at school. To help us keep all students healthy and learning, we ask that parents please remain vigilant about monitoring your student's symptoms. A key strategy in preventing the spread of illness is to keep sick children home.

Please remember that students must be free of fever (without the use of fever-reducing medication), vomiting, and diarrhea for at least 24 hours before they may return to school.

Your support in adhering to these guidelines is greatly appreciated and helps ensure a healthier environment for all Leighton students and families.

Questions? Please contact our Leighton School Nurse Mrs. Harper at eharper@aurora-schools.org

Change In Transportation Form

Click Here for Miller's Preschool Peer Screening Application

Feb 2-6: COGAT and IOWA testing week for 5th grade

Feb 12: Valentine's Day Class Parties

Feb 13: NO SCHOOL (Teacher In-Service Day)

Feb 16: NO SCHOOL (Presidents' Day)

Feb 19: Parent/Teacher Conferences

Feb 26: Parent/Teacher Conferences

Click Here For Leighton 25-26 Important Dates Calendar

Click Here For Leighton's Lunch Menu

You can track your child's lunch account by setting up your profile. You may also send in cash or a check written out to the Aurora City Schools.

Click Here To Add Money To Your Child's Lunch Account

Click Here to Purchase Tickets to Princess Prom

Click For Leighton Arrival and Dismissal Procedures

When reporting your child's absence, please call 330-562-2209 and select option 1. You will be prompted to leave a message with the name of your child and the reason for the absence. If you need to talk to our attendance secretary, Mrs. Mariah George, please select 0 and you will be connected during normal school hours.