The Stony Brook Scoop

Dear All Star Families,

It was wonderful to see so many students and staff wearing read for Autism Acceptance last week. There are some highlights from our morning announcements in a video linked below.

This week we are celebrating Earth Day! On Wednesday, April 22, we will wear blue and green to celebrate our planet. We will also have Walk/Bike to School on Wednesday. Staff will be meeting students and families along the various routes to school. Come out and join us!

Take Your Child to Work Day is Thursday, April 23. There is a form below to complete if your child will be missing school that day. This is an excused absence.

Lastly, please consider helping with our Top Secret Staff Appreciation Projects. We would love gift cards to use in a raffle at the PTO Staff Appreciation Luncheon on May 7, as well as any thank you notes! The details are below. I truly appreciate your support!

Sincerely,

Ms. Gianfredi

Walk and Roll to School Wednesdays are always a big hit, and we are excited to walk / bike to school for Earth Day! Our teachers and celebrity walkers will start at Stony Brook at about 8 am. Please join us on the walk/ride!

I have been working with Hopewell Township Officials and our Police Department to start a 'Bike Bus' where students can meet at certain points throughout the neighborhood and bike to school together. For this to happen successfully, we need parent volunteers. If you would be interested in helping out, please email me at nicolegianfredi@hvrsd.org.

Please complete the form below by Tuesday, April 21st for your child to be marked with excused absence. We need one form for each child in your family.

We will keep this form in the Scoop for the next two weeks.

We will be celebrating Staff Appreciation during the week of May 4th. The Stony Brook PTO has a great week planned for our staff, but we need your help! We are collecting gift cards and thank you notes. Last year, with your generosity, EVERY staff member (teachers, paras, secretaries, custodians) received a gift card and a thank you note! We hope we can do the same thing this year! Here are the details:

1. We are looking for $10 - $15 gift card donations to raffle off during our luncheon on Tuesday, May 5th. Please consider donating gift cards to local establishments. Here are some of the places our staff members loves: Starbucks, Dunkin, Udo's, Pennington Bagel, Piccolo, Marco's, Vito's, Candela's, Panera, etc. This will be a fun addition to the luncheon!

2. There is no better way to show staff appreciation than by writing thank you notes. We would love our staff members to receive hand-written thank you notes. Please encourage your older students to write a note. For younger students, we have attached an easy template to use. Notes from parents and guardians are also great! This website has some good ideas to get you started. Please don't forget our secretaries, CST, counselor, nurse, paraprofessionals and custodians!

Please drop items off in the Main Office or have your child deliver their "top secret" items to the Main Office. We would love to surprise everyone on May 5th!

Thank you in advance for your help!

Warmer weather is upon us!

We ask that you apply sunscreen before your child comes to school. Consider sending in a hat and sunglasses, too. Please note that if you send sunscreen in, our students will be applying it outside at the start of recess to be mindful of students with allergies.

The HVRSD Counseling Department recently presented a Parent University event about Building Resilience. Here's a link to the webpage with the recording and a PDF of the slides.

Our online yearbook ordering site is live! Order your 2025-2026 SB Yearbook now--it's a great keepsake to remember the school year.

https://stonybrookelementarypto.membershiptoolkit.com/form/m/374690

Paper order forms were sent home if you prefer to reserve your yearbook that way.

The SB Color Run is set for Friday May 1! Register using the link below or the paper form that came home. https://stonybrookelementarypto.membershiptoolkit.com/form/m/376674

Registration is $15 per runner and all students, siblings, and home adults are welcome to participate as long as they each register and pay.

We are heading into busy days at Stony Brook as we round out the school year! Please see our planned dates for the remaining SB PTO events of this year.

Spring is Field Trip season at SB and every grade is taking a trip this year, paid for in full by the SB PTO! Attending our events and participating in our fundraisers allows us to continue to provide field trips, assemblies and other fun events!

Upcoming SB PTO Dates

Thursday, April 23: SB PTO Meeting at 7pm via Google Meet

Friday, May 1: Color Run--registration materials coming home this week!

May 4-8: Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week

Friday, May 15: Ice Cream Social

Friday, June 5: SB Trenton Thunder Night (Festival Ensemble will perform!)

If your child will be out of school for 10 or more consecutive days, this TEMPORARY WITHDRAWAL FORM must be submitted. Please return your form to the main office.

If you have advance notice, please let your child's teacher and the Main Office know as soon as possible.

**Please note that teachers do not send work home for students missing school for a temporary withdrawal or short-term vacation.**

Get all the details you need about school lunches/breakfast, including menus, pricing, and Free & Reduced Lunch forms HERE. Remember, even if you received Free & Reduced lunch last year, you still need to complete new forms for the 2025-2026 school year.

• Take Your Child To Work Day
• Tree Planting Celebration in the Morning
• SB PTO Meeting, 7 pm via zoom

Friday, May 1

• PTO Color Run

Looking ahead to May - specific info to come.

• May 5 - Early Dismissal / One Fine Day
• Week of May 11 - State Testing for Grades 3 - 5, CogAT testing for Grade 2. More info in next week's newsletter.

Here are our morning announcements highlighting our school's celebration of autism acceptance and inclusion!