Dover Avenue Elementary News

DA Families,

As the leaves finally start falling, it’s crazy how fast our first nine weeks flew by! October was busy and full of energy, wrapping up with a PBIS Reward party to celebrate our students' behavior. School spirit was huge during Dover-Phila week with all the dress-up days, and winning the game on Friday night made it even better. We capped off the month with our Halloween dress-up day—even the staff got in on it with our costume contest! Every student got to vote for their favorites, and we also asked students to bring in $1 to donate to Noah's Hope, a great local group picked by our Community Impact Committee, and raised $130.

On top of all the events, we got our literacy groups up and running to give extra support and make sure every student grows into a confident reader. Report cards are heading home with students today, so be on the lookout for those to check out their progress and see notes from their teachers!

November is going to be just as busy. We’re looking forward to seeing you at Parent-Teacher Conferences on November 17 and 19 to talk about how your child is doing. We'll also come together as a school to honor our veterans at our Veterans Day Assembly.

Thank you for being such valued partners in your child's education. We look forward to sharing another wonderful month of learning and growing together!

Mrs. Katie Nicholson, Principal

Dover Avenue Elementary School

We have picture retake day on Wednesday, November 4. If you would like your child to retake their picture, please be sure to return your photo packet on Wednesday and add a note on the envelope detailing what you would like done differently. We will also take pictures of any new students on this day.

PREPAY LINK: solidrockphotos.gotphoto.com/prepay

SCHOOL OR EVENT NAME: DOVER AVENUE RETAKE 2026

PREPAY DEADLINE: Thursday, November 5 at 11:59pm.

This month we will have our parent-teacher conferences either on November 17 or November 19 We are looking forward to meeting with you to share about your child's progress this year!

Throughout this month, teams will be scheduling a special event for our students and a special guest to join them for breakfast before school! Permission slips will be sent home with your child as your team's scheduled date gets closer! You will help your child select their "special guest," whether that's YOU, a grandparent, aunt or uncle, mentor, coach or anyone else that they would like to share with our school staff for this special breakfast! Students who may not have a special guest available, will arrive to school as normal. We kindly ask that only one guest attends with your child as our spacing is limited for this special event!

• November 5: Mrs. Maybaugh and Miss McPeek
• November 10: Mrs. Hamsher and Mrs. McGarry
• November 12: Mr. Reveal and Mrs. Hostetler
• November 13: Mrs. Fuhrer, Mrs. Schumacher, Mrs. Barker, and Mrs. LaBrake
• November 18: Mrs. Worst and Mrs. Nitz
• November 24: Mrs. VanGilder, Mrs. Pellegrino, Mr. Statler, and Mrs. Yoder

Beanstack is a digital reading tracker platform that helps motivate students to build strong reading habits. Through the web or mobile app, students can log their reading minutes, earn virtual badges, and participate in our school-wide challenges. At Dover Avenue, we use Beanstack as part of our core reading initiative to encourage students to read consistently throughout the year.

Our second challenge of the year, Hallow-Reads, will be completed tomorrow. We had 124 students complete this challenge and earn a cookies and milk party during lunch recess on November 9!

Our next challenge is Read Grateful!

• Goal: Log 300 minutes of reading in Beanstack.

• Reward: Students who complete the 300-minute challenge will earn hot chocolate during library in the month of December!

This year we will be using an online platform called PowerSchool Behavior Support to support a positive school environment. This is a key part of our Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) program in which we focus on our students Being Respectful, Responsible and Safe!

How It Works:

This free app and website will be our primary way of documenting both positive and unexpected student behavior throughout the school day.

• Real-Time Updates: Teachers will input behavior directly into PowerSchool Behavior Support daily. This will give you timely updates to celebrate your child's successes and to discuss ways to improve behavior at home.

• Primary Communication Tool: This platform will be our main way of communicating any unexpected behavior incidents, which we call "Tornado Warnings" and to celebrate the great things your child is doing at school. While we will primarily use the digital platform, a paper form may also be sent home in certain situations.

3Bs - Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe - Reward Parties:

This platform will also help us plan for our nine-week 3Bs Reward Parties. Our first party took place last Friday! Students got to watch a movie and eat a bag of chips thanks to PTG! Our next party will take place on January 14 in the afternoon! Students with a 70% positivity percentage will be able to participate.

Each month, teachers choose a "Top Tornado" for their class based on their behavior! Teachers are looking to see who is being Respectful, Responsible and Safe! Congratulations to our Top Tornadoes for October!

Our school counselors are available for any student. They are a safe and comforting first step for our students. Counselors can also serve as a connection to any additional, specialized support you might be seeking for your child. Please reach out to them right away if you are in search of support for your child or have any concerns to discuss with them.

• Mrs. Kaitlyn Dunlap, Dover Avenue Elementary, 330-364-7117 ext.7506, dunlapk@dovertornadoes.com
• Mrs. Cary Keck, East Elementary, 330-364-7114 ext.7629, keckc@dovertornadoes.com
• Mrs. Kelsey Grewell, South Elementary, 330-364-7111, ext. 7706, grewellk@dovertornadoes.com

Dougy Center Resources for After a Suicide Death

https://www.dougy.org/resources/cause-of-death/suicide

Dear Parents and Guardians,

In November, during our Second Step classroom guidance lessons, students will be learning how to respond with compassion and how to manage difficult emotions. Also, I will be spending time with students learning about the dangers of cyberbullying and how to appropriately recognize it, report it, and refuse it. Cyberbullying is on the rise among our youth, and it is often related to low self-esteem, suicidal ideation, anger, frustration, and a variety of other emotional and psychological problems (https://cyberbullying.org/facts). For more information regarding cyberbullying and how you can help your child, please click here.

Another part of social-emotional skill building at Dover Avenue is our Monday Mindful Minute. Each Monday morning, we start the week with a brief exercise in mindfulness, deep breathing, or positive self-talk. These Mindful Minutes are shared on the announcements to help students and staff start the day focused, calm, grateful, and connected. We encourage you to continue these coping skills at home too. In closing, thank you for all you do, and as always, please reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Dunlap

School Counselor

*Free language assistance with respect to school programs and activities is available for all students and families of Dover City Schools. Please contact your child's building principal for translation or interpretation services.

October was a great month for our PTG! Thank you for our volunteers who helped with our Spirit Shop! PTG also provided a bag of chips for our students for their PBIS Reward Party! They also provided suckers for our first Beanstack reward and will be providing cookies and milk for our next reward from the Hallow-Reads Challenge!

November will be a little quieter as we prepare for the busy holiday season! PTG will provide meals for our teachers during parent-teacher conference nights. They will also begin working in collaboration with Toys for Christmas to provide Christmas gifts for our elementary families in need. Lastly, we will have our Mother-Son Skate Night on November 15th and will be kicking off our Poinsettia Sale this month too!

Please mark your calendars for December 10th for our ornament wrapping party in the library from 6-7 PM. We will also be sending out a Sign Up for the Santa Shop, which will take place from December 7th through 11th.

For more info, contact doveravenueptg@gmail.com or join the Dover Ave PTG Facebook Group. Lots of information can be found on the PTG Website as well, including upcoming events and helpful resources for families throughout the school year.

Our meetings are held in the East library at 6:00 on a Thursday of each month! Our next meeting is November 12!

We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events and meetings!

Dover Executive Board:

• Erika Koffa, president
• Miranda Malarik, vice president
• Lacey Smith, secretary
• Jessica Karl-West, treasurer

Dover Avenue Board:

• Stacey Gordon, president
• Haleigh Harmon, vice president
• Amanda McConnell, secretary
• Taylor Wright, treasurer

Throughout the year we will practice Fire Drills, Tornado Drills, Lockdown Drills and Evacuation Drills. We perform these Safety Procedure Drills in order to be prepared in case of an emergency. We will discuss these drills with our students. We have already completed a few first fire and tornado drills already. Our students did a great job of practicing for these emergencies.

Please review the 2026-2027 Elementary Student Handbook which can be found on our district website under Parents >> Handbooks ( https://www.dovertornadoes.com/Handbooks.aspx )

Breakfast and Lunch are available for students daily. Breakfast and lunch will be FREE again this year to all students! Milk is available for purchase for $0.50. Ala carte funds can be added using your Payschools Account (https://dovercity.healtheliving.net) or make checks payable to Dover Schools Cafeteria with student name in the memo line.

If your child needs medication at school, in accordance with state and board policies, we are not permitted to dispense medication without directions and signatures of both the physician and the parent or legal guardian. If it is essential that a child takes medication during the school day, medication forms are available on our district website or you may stop in the office.

In compliance with the Missing Child Act and for the safety of our children, parents are requested to call Dover Avenue School (330-364-7117) before 8:25 AM to report the reason for your child's absence. We encourage student attendance every day to ensure continuity of learning. However, if your child is absent, please send a note following the return of your child to verify his/her absence. If the absence is due to a medical, dental, or legal appointment, please provide a verification note on the provider’s stationary upon return to school. If no call or note is received within 24 hours, the absence(s) will be marked as unexcused.

Parents and guardians who are not yet registered on the StopFinder app will receive an email invitation on August 11th. These invites will be sent out as soon as the upcoming school year's bus routes are finalized, allowing you to track arrival times in real time.

Please click below for the information that was sent in the spring--there is still time to join!

https://www.dovertornadoes.com/Downloads/StopFinder%20Letter.pdf

We are very excited to announce that Dover City Schools has partnered with FinalForms, an online forms and data management service. FinalForms allows you to complete and sign academic and athletic forms for your students. FinalForms saves data from year-to-year, meaning that you will never need to enter the same information twice! FinalForms also pre-populates information wherever possible, for each of your students, saving you time.

You may review your data at any time to verify it is current. You will be required to sign your forms once per year and after any update. You can access these forms with the link below or through the Parent Portal on the Dover City Schools website. https://dovercity-oh.finalforms.com/

Thank you for your assistance in streamlining our paperwork processes at Dover City Schools.