Strawtown Family Newsletter

Principal's Message

Dear Strawtown Families,

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Halloween! As we enter the month of November and season of thanks and gratitude it is always important to stop and take stock for all that we have in our lives. Sometimes it is easy to get lost in the shuffle of life and in our daily routines, but taking the time to appreciate those small moments promotes better mental and physical health. To that end, I am very grateful to the community with all the support I've seen for Slimesgiving(open until November 7th)! The students are very excited about the campaign and it is something that helps out the local community, the big sliming event will take place on November 26th on the early release day before the holiday.

This month, we will also be celebrating Kindness Week during the week of November 16th-20th. The link has the flyer with the daily themes. At the end of the week, we will have a Cultural Arts Assembly, Corey the Dribbler for all grades and we will dazzle the kids with his basketball skills while talking about respect.

In addition here is a link to the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation which has great resources for ways to incorporate kindness at home and in the community. I once attended a conference on kindness, the speaker's take was that authentic kindness is hard, so the more opportunities that we give our children and students a way to engage in practices of kindness early on the more it becomes ingrained to who they are as people. Just like gratitude, kindness is equally impactful on our mental and physical health!

Thank you for all you do for your children and in partnering with us to make a strong community dedicated to helping all of our students thrive!

In Partnership,

Colin Andersen

Monthly Information

November Calendars:

Please use this link to access the November calendar for the events happening at Strawtown this month. You can also use this link to see the November school lunch menu.

Early Release Day:

On November 25th, we will have an early release day(1/2 Day). We will be dismissing at 10:30 in the morning. Please make sure to get all dismissal changes in by Tuesday afternoon so we can make sure to have everything coordinated for the half-day.

Slimesgiving:

Thank you for supporting the Slimesgiving Initiative so far! The drive remains open until 11/6 and the food will be delivered to the Clarkstown Family Resource Center the following week. The Sliming will take place on November 25th.

Safety Drills:

We will be conducting a safety drill during the week of 11/2. This notice satisfies the NYS state requirements to notify families about upcoming drills. If the drill does not happen next week, we will send out notice of its rescheduling.

Roasting Awareness:

Here is an article by our own Dr. Gabeau on the importance of helping kids understand what roasting means and when it can go too far. Often times, conflicts for kids start as lighthearted affairs but then cross the line.

At Home STEM Challenge:

In honor of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade this month, this month's STEM at home STEM challenge is make a balloon protype. Please see the instructions from Ms. Imperial our Enrichment and Dimensions teacher. Prototypes will be put on display in our Enrichment room.

Parent-Teacher Conferences:

Conference Day is approaching at the beginning of December. Evening Conferences are virtual via Google Meet on Thursday, December 3rd and in-person conferences will be on Friday, December 4th. Shortly we will send out more communication on how to sign-up for the conferences, stay tuned!

Trivia Tuesdays:

Each Tuesday as part of the morning announcements, I ask a trivia question. If your child would like to submit a trivia question to my list, please email me with the question, answer, and source of the information. It is a fun way to start the day off!

November Closings:

Remember that November 3rd is a Superintendent's Conference Day and schools are closed! In addition, we are also off on November 11th, 26th and 27th. Please be advised that we have an early release day on November 25th with a 10:30 dismissal time.

Arrival and Dismissal:

Please try to build consistency with your child's arrival and dismissal routines. Frequent changes are complex for the kids to navigate and may cause confusion for us here at the building level or on buses. We want to ensure a safe arrival and dismissal at all times. At the same time, I understand life happens, so if a necessary change occurs, please make sure to email your child's teacher and the main office at strawtownoffice@ccsd.edu no more than 24 hours before the dismissal change and please not after 12:30 on a school day unless it is an emergency. This communication is essential to accuracy when there are dismissal changes. In addition, for car pickups/drop-offs, please do not to pass anyone in the parking lot, even if you offload your child faster than the person in front of you this creates a safety hazard.