November 2026

Dear IEC Families,

As we welcome November, I am reminded of how much there is to be thankful for in our IEC community. Every day, our hallways and classrooms are filled with learning, laughter, kindness, and opportunities for students to grow. I am continually grateful for our amazing students, dedicated staff, and supportive families who make the Intermediate Education Center such a special place. It is the little moments, a student helping a classmate, a teacher celebrating a breakthrough, or a child showing leadership in the hallway that make a big difference in our school community.

November is a wonderful time to slow down, enjoy the beauty of the season, and reflect on the importance of gratitude, kindness, and connection. As we move through the month, I wanted to share a few updates, reminders, and ideas for enjoying some learning together at home.

Looking Ahead: Parent-Teacher Conferences

As we approach December, please watch for our upcoming Parent-Teacher Conference sign-up information. Conferences will be held on Friday, December 11, and there will be no student attendance that day. These conversations are an important opportunity to celebrate your child's growth, discuss progress, identify goals, and continue building the strong home-school partnership that supports student success. We look forward to connecting with you!

Lancer Learning Time

Our Lancer Learning Time continues to provide students with additional opportunities to receive support, strengthen skills, and explore special projects before the school day begins. Teachers share their specific days and times through Google Classroom or email, so please encourage your child to check for opportunities that may be helpful. We love seeing students take ownership of their learning and make the most of these extra opportunities!

Leading with Kindness: Our IEC Wildly Important Goal

Our 2026–2027 Wildly Important Goal (WIG) continues to guide the work we do each day: By June 2027, 85% of IEC students will report that they feel cared about, known, and understood by the adults and peers in our school.

Creating a school where every child feels connected, valued, and supported is something we take seriously. Throughout the year, classrooms are tracking Random Acts of Kindness and finding meaningful ways to strengthen relationships. Students are also working toward this goal by:

• Completing student surveys three times throughout the school year.

• Having opportunities to share their voice with an adult at least once a week during DEAL.

• Participating in daily Random Acts of Kindness tracking.

We are proud of the ways our students are stepping up as leaders and showing that even the smallest acts of kindness can make someone's day!

Learning Together This Fall

November is a perfect month to bring a little learning into your family time! You don't need a worksheet or a formal lesson to make meaningful connections. Sometimes the best learning happens during everyday activities. Here are a few ideas to try together:

• Fall Math Challenge: Visit a local farm stand or grocery store and have your child compare prices, calculate totals, estimate costs, or determine how much change you should receive.

• Gratitude Around the Table: During dinner, have each family member share one thing they are thankful for each day. Challenge your child to explain why they are grateful and how they can show appreciation to someone else.

• Fall Reading Adventures: Choose a book to read together or encourage your child to read aloud to a younger sibling. Talk about the characters, make predictions, and connect the story to real-life experiences.

• Nature Walk and Writing: Take a walk and look for signs of fall. Collect observations (leaves, colors, weather changes) and have your child write a short poem, story, or paragraph describing the season.

• Kindness in Action: As a family, choose one random act of kindness to complete each week. Write a thank-you note, help a neighbor, donate gently used items, or surprise someone with a thoughtful gesture.

• Family Game Night: Pull out a board game, card game, or puzzle. These activities encourage problem-solving, strategic thinking, communication, and teamwork all important skills we practice at school!

Most importantly, enjoy the time together. These simple experiences reinforce what students are learning every day while creating memories along the way.

Honoring Our Veterans

On Wednesday, November 11, we recognize and honor the brave men and women who have served our country. School will be closed in observance of Veterans Day. We encourage families to take a moment to thank a veteran, attend a local ceremony, or talk with children about the meaning of service, sacrifice, and gratitude. The Youngstown Veterans Park ceremony and the Lewiston Veterans Parade are wonderful opportunities to show our community support.

Thanksgiving Recess

Thanksgiving Recess will take place November 25–27. We hope this time provides your family with an opportunity to relax, enjoy favorite traditions, and make special memories together. Whether you are gathering around the table, spending time outdoors, baking something delicious, or simply enjoying a little extra time together, I hope your break is filled with happiness and gratitude.

Stay Connected!

If you haven't already, please be sure to follow our Lewiston-Porter Intermediate Education Center Facebook page. It is a great way to stay connected and see the wonderful things happening throughout our building. We love sharing classroom highlights, student accomplishments, special events, and moments that make us proud to be Lancers!

As we head into this season of gratitude, I want you to know how thankful I am for the partnership we share. Thank you for trusting us with your children, supporting our school, and helping us create an environment where every student has the opportunity to learn, lead, and succeed.

May your November be filled with meaningful moments, family traditions, kindness, and plenty of reasons to be thankful.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Rodriguez
Principal Intermediate Education Center

Sunday 11/1- Daylight Savings Time Ends, "fall back" 1 hour

Tuesday 11/3- Election Day

Wednesday 11/11- No School Veteran's Day Holiday

Thursday 11/12- IEC School Pictures Re Take Day

Friday 11/13- World Kindness Day-To highlight good deeds, compassion, and community spirit across more than 28 nations.

Saturday 11/14- World Diabetes Day to mark the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin alongside Charles Best in 1921

Wednesday 11/25-Friday 11/27 Thanksgiving Recess

Thursday 11/26- Thanksgiving holiday

Unity Day for National Bullying Prevention Month

took place on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, with the signature call to action being to

wear and share the color orange to symbolize kindness, acceptance, and inclusion

Mrs. Brook (social worker) & Mrs. Amado (school counselor)

give a presentation on bullying prevention

Our 5th grade Safety Patrol team is ready to lead and watch out for all students in Pre-K through Grade 5. Any 5th grader who wished to sign up, was asked to complete an application including an essay of why they would be a good candidate to be a Safety Patrol leader.

Then, each group went on a week of on the job training. Students learned about how to act outside and how to best keep our students safe. From there, they went to their stations and greeted students and made sure everyone was walking and behaving appropriately. This year, we will be looking to assign team captains and give out rewards for excellence.

The role of Safety Patrol leader is important and is a wonderful first step in displaying leadership skills. Students will be sworn in soon with our Lewiston Police Department. We are excited for an awesome year ahead!

We are ALL out of room on our rack!

Please have your child(ren) check the Lost & Found regularly

(Located in the back of the IEC cafeteria)

Parents are welcome to check Lost & Found as well

come to the main office with your Id

between 9am-10:30am or 1:45pm-2:45pm

As we transition into the busy holiday season, we are focusing on Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind. This month, encourage your child to brainstorm their goals and visualize their success. Whether it's finishing a big school project or improving a skill, having a clear plan helps our students take charge of their own learning journey.

Habit 2: Begin With the End in Mind.

What does this habit mean?

I have a plan. I set goals for myself.

Some questions that you might want to ask your child may include:

What is a goal you have set for yourself?

How will you reach your goal?

How will you celebrate when you reach your goal?

What is a goal we want to work on as a family?

Key Leader in Me Concepts for the month:

• I set goals.

• I make a plan to reach my goals.

• I celebrate when I reach my goal.

November is National Diabetes Month, a dedicated time to raise awareness about diabetes prevention, management, and its impact on tens of millions of people.

Diabetes is a disease that occurs when your blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is too high. It affects about 38 million Americans, including adults and youth. Diabetes can damage the eyes, kidneys, nerves, and heart, and it is linked to some types of cancer.

Each month, one outstanding student from 4th and 5th grade Band, Orchestra, and Chorus is selected for this special recognition. These students consistently demonstrate the 3 R’s—Responsibility, Respect, and Resourcefulness through their actions, attitudes, and interactions with others in music classes.

Our Music Leaders set a positive example for their peers by coming to class prepared, taking responsibility for their learning and instruments, showing respect for their teachers and classmates, and using their creativity and problem solving skills to overcome challenges. They contribute to a positive learning environment and help make our music classrooms wonderful places to learn, grow, and make music together!

For the month of October, the following students were chosen by Mrs. Spinnegan, Mrs. Carere and Mr. Kaminski:

4th grade

Chorus- Adeline Pippard

Band- Fredo Zoda

Orchestra- Charlotte Balisteri

5th grade

Chorus- Ivey Chapman

Band- Everly Abraham

Orchestra- Elliana Sicoli

Congratulations! Keep up the great work!

The IEC coat drive was a huge success! All collection bins were filled with generous donations to support the Lighthouse Women’s and Children’s Center and provide families in need with warm clothing for the colder months ahead. Our K-Kids and Service Learning students helped spread the word by coloring and hanging posters throughout the school and creating a commercial to encourage donations. Thank you to everyone who contributed and helped make this drive such a success!

October brought our second Surprise Attendance Day! Students took part in a silly and spooky Halloween Scavenger Hunt, searching high and low throughout our school hallways for hidden Halloween-themed squishies. All 397 students in attendance had the opportunity to join in the fun and find a surprise! Students who do not celebrate Halloween were also included, with the option to bring their item to the office and trade it in for an alternative. We LOVE when our students are here ready to learn and have fun with us!

REMEMBER, WE GLOW, WHEN WE SHOW UP FOR SCHOOL!

Great job to the following IEC students who participated in the Assemblyman’s Summer Reading Challenge for 2026!

The students will received gift cards to Favorite’s Pizzeria in Lewiston from Assemblyman Morinello on Monday, 10/26/26

Abel Siuta

Adaline Williams

Ainsley Burnett

Christopher Schulz

Liliana Notte

Lincoln Soper

Luken Berrios

Mario Talarico

Sofia Notte

Stella Siuta

The Lewiston- Porter Senior class lined up to cheer the arrival of the elementary students on Friday 10/9/26! The elementary students were smiling, shy and very excited to be so enthusiastically welcomed to school 😁

Our 4th grade students went to the Old Fort Niagara in Youngstown on Friday, October 9th. We participated in the Fall Frontier Days Educational Program. Students explored the early Native American, French, British, and American history of the Niagara Region. We had a wonderful time learning and having fun!

Third grade students have been learning about environments. For a culminating activity, students completed a project based learning unit on playgrounds. The students visited local playgrounds to conduct field research where they observed, explored, took notes, and evaluated many aspects of playgrounds such as safety, accessibility, and fun. Students used their field research to write opinion essays to summarize their findings. This was a fun and meaningful way to gather information.

All of the students from Mr. Frederick's and Mrs. DuMoulin's classes shared book reviews for some 3rd and 5th grade students. They had a great time discussing story elements, genres, summaries, favorite parts, illustrations and why YOU should read the recommended book, too! Guests hopefully had some great book choices to read at home. We are so happy to inspire others and to continue the love for reading!

Our Halloween Science Experiment Event was filled with fizz, fun, and a little bit of spooky science! Students from Ms. Jeffs’ (Mrs. Dowling’s) class, Mrs. Jaruszewski’s class, and Ms. Yager’s class explored chemical changes using baking soda and vinegar. We created bubbling, fizzing “potions” and even watched a spooky “zombie hand” rise right out of a planter pot! It was a frightfully fun way to bring science to life!