Miller Elementary Weekly Update

Hello Miller Families!

Oh how we have enjoyed the sunshine and warmer temps these past few days! Getting outside for recess has been so wonderful and our children are working to earn the Green Standard Medal! Have you heard about this, yet? We have started a new acknowledgement system during our recess time to earn the Green Standard Medal for being a great friend, following recess expectations and making good choices! In preschool, they are taking turns showing others how to follow the expectations all while wearing the Green Standard Medal! We can't wait for all children to earn the chance to wear our medals for the day!

The past two weeks have been a little tricky with the flu and other illnesses impacting so many children, families and staff. This flu bug is unfortunately hitting out little ones for a very long time with fever, body aches, and gastrointestinal issues for 5-7 days. Please rest assured that it's important to focus on helping your child rest and recover and we will get them back on track with school once they return.

This past week we held our Kick Off to Kindergarten meeting for the 2026-2027 school year! This is such an exciting time to welcome so many families into the Aurora Schools along with helping our current preschoolers transition to kindergarten! If you have any questions about registration or if you need to select a registration time slot, please see the links below. We have many current preschool families who need to pick a time and complete kindergarten registration in Final Forms. We sent home folders with all families who missed our Kick Off Meeting this week.

Finally, today marks the end of the Second Trimester and our progress reports are available to families in Kindergarten via our Gather reporting system. Reports will be live next Friday, February 27th. A Final Forms message was sent out Friday morning with the directions to log-in so you can make sure you have access by next week. This is our method of reporting progress with families in kindergarten through second grade and provides a lot of important information about their growth as a learner. Preschool will be sharing progress via winter conferences, emails with families, or progress updates sent home. We have a lot to celebrate this time of year!

Reminder: We have one more Professional Development Day ahead before our March Spring Break.

Friday, March 6th (Professional Development Day) - NO SCHOOL FOR ALL STUDENTS

Have a great weekend!

Maria Goodman

Miller Elementary Principal

330-954-2189

mgoodman@aurora-schools.org

Kindergarten Registration for the 2026-2027 school year will take place on Wednesday, March 4th and Thursday, March 5th! Please make sure you have selected a time slot to attend registration if your child is transitioning from preschool to kindergarten.

All Miller Preschool Students registering for Kindergarten must update Final Forms prior to attending registration. Please log into your final forms account and click on the blue rectangle at the top that says "click to switch to the 26/27 registration". All the details about registration for kindergarten can be found in the purple folder which was sent home or distributed at our Kick Off Meeting.

At registration you will learn about a kindergarten screening time. Your child will not need a screening time because they will participate in kindergarten screening during their regular preschool day here at Miller. A report and letter with their results will be sent home upon completion. This is just a quick opportunity for kindergarten teachers to meet your child and see their kindergarten readiness skills!

Kindergarten Registration Sign-Up

We have 24 students who have already joined our school’s team, and together we’ve raised $1,771.02 so far — way to go!

Our school goal is $8,000, and we know we can get there with your help!

Visit our school page: http://www2.heart.org/goto/millerelementary

All donations are due by Friday, March 6th!

CHALLENGE ALERT: If we reach our school goal of $8,000, every student who raises $50 or more will have a chance to participate in a SILLY STRING PARTY with Mrs. Barnes and Mrs. Goodman!

Please reach out to Mrs. Barnes (sslackford@aurora-schools.org) with any questions. Thank you for helping us build happy, healthy hearts!

Kids Hear Challenge Website for Miller Elementary

Yearbook order forms will be sent home with children this upcoming week! You may choose to purchase a yearbook for Miller Elementary using our online order form or the paper copy. We do not order extra yearbooks so please ensure you snag one now if you are interested in having a yearbook for this school year. Click on the link below to order online!

Click Here to Order a Yearbook for 25-26 - ONLINE ORDER CODE QV65VCH7

Nurse Jackie Pawlowski has sent the following message to all families last week and this continues to be elevated in our building for the past week:

We wanted to report to families that we have an uptick in reported cases of a fever and flu-like symptoms in our building. We are seeing severe headaches, fevers, and gastrointestinal symptoms. These are lasting about 5-7 days with fevers on and off. Please be extra diligent in following our illness protocols. If your child has fever, vomiting or has diarrhea, they must be free of symptoms for a minimum of 24 hours prior to their return. This helps to ensure your child isn't returning during the contagious period and thus continuing the spread. At school, we will be enhancing our cleaning protocols, continuing with proper hand washing routines, and spraying the classrooms with our Clorox Machine as necessary.

Thank you for helping in keeping children safe and healthy, especially during cold/flu season.

It's that time of year when we begin to have students who meet the benchmarks of notifying families about excessive absences. If your child meets the threshold 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 benchmarks have been met.

This is also the time of year that planned absences often get scheduled. 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 let me know!

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Planned Absence Form-MES and CES.pdf

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FEBRUARY

Friday, 2/20 - Trimester 2 Ends
Monday, 2/23 - Trimester 3 Begins
Friday, 2/27 - GATHER Narratives for Kindergarten are LIVE for Trimester 2 (Parent Invite Letters will be sent home in February)

MARCH

Friday, 3/06 - NO SCHOOL (Staff Professional Development Day)
Monday, 3/23-Friday, 3/27 - NO SCHOOL (Happy Spring Break!)

APRIL

Friday, 4/03 - NO SCHOOL (Happy Good Friday!)
Monday, 4/06 - NO SCHOOL (Happy Easter Monday!)
Monday, 4/13 - Kindergarten Screening for Current Miller Preschoolers (This will take place during your child's typical preschool day. Results will be sent home later in the week.)
Thursday, 4/23 - Parent Orientation for Incoming 1st Graders for 26-27 5:30 at Craddock

MAY

Friday, 5/01 - NO SCHOOL
Monday, 5/4 - Friday, 5/8 - Staff Appreciation Week
Monday, 5/25 - NO SCHOOL (Happy Memorial Day!)
Tuesday, 5/26 - Preschool Graduation - More information will be shared in the Spring
Wednesday, 5/27 - Kindergarten Field Day
Thursday, 5/28 - Last Day of School for Preschool and Kindergarten
Thursday, 5/28 - Trimester 3 Ends

In all our Elementary Buildings, we utilize a Google Form to report attendance, late arrival, early dismissal, and change of transportation such as switching from a bus rider to office pick-up!

To report an absence or change your child to a car rider or bus rider, please click the button below or scan the QR code magnet that we will pass out at Open House. This can be done from any device and your reply will be sent immediately to our secretary, Mrs. Toler.

If your child will be absent, you will use this form to report the absence along with the reason for the absence. We are working really hard to reduce the amount of phone calls, emails, or notes that we receive. We ask that you reserve those modes of communication for emergencies only. Thank you in advance for your help and let us know if you have any questions at all!

Click Here - 25-26 Attendance and Transportation Reporting

Alternate Bus Stop Form - Email to transportationinfo@aurora-schools.org

Click Here to View the School Lunch Menu

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

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