Dear Little Elba Lancer Families,

Thank you for being amazing partners in your child's education. I was amazed at the turnout for our parent-teacher conferences last week. Our teachers were very excited to share your child's progress so far this year. I love the partnerships you have established and how you work hard to continue to reinforce learning at home. Children never stop learning about values and relationships when they enter a classroom, nor do they cease learning academics (and attitudes about learning), when they are at home or elsewhere in their community. They constantly observe how the significant adults in their lives treat one another, how decisions are made and executed, and how problems are solved. So thank you for working so hard to develop our Little Elba Lancers into amazing humans!

As you enter the next holiday season, I hope you enjoy the traditions and time with your friends and families. This time of year also allows us to pause and reflect on what the year has brought. Thank you for welcoming me into your Lancer Family and community. I continue to be excited about all we are accomplishing together for our children and look forward to continuing to celebrate our collective success this school year. As always, please reach out with any questions or concerns!

With Lancer Pride,

~Jessica

Congratulations to our November Lancer Leaders! These students demonstrated being respectful, responsible, and safe and were nominated! Keep up the good work!

National Honor Society and Elementary Student Council would like to thank everyone for the support of this year's Stuff the Turkey Food Drive! It was truly a UPK-12 and community effort this year! With your generous donations, we were able to provide 30 Elba families with a Thanksgiving feast.

One of the things I loved the most about this month in kindergarten is how much they are growing and learning the ropes (of school). They are becoming experts at telling the days of the week and the months of the year.

Students are becoming very independent in the cafeteria, learning how to open their snacks, Lunchables, and milk. Thank you for helping them do this at home! It is sometimes very tricky to open some of the packages! Great job kindergarten!

A combined PE class allowed all second-grade students to work together in stations. They may have taught me a few things about jumbo cup stacking and hula hoops.

Fourth graders have been working very hard in chorus preparing for the Holiday Concert. I love hearing how much progress they have made in just a short amount of time.

Before Thanksgiving, fourth graders read the story Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade. Students then created their own balloons that were showcased in Mrs. P's very own Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade display.

This month 5th graders had the opportunity to examine different pumpkins in Ag! They used their estimation and comparison skills! In writing, students learned about why authors change paragraphs in texts. They examined some pieces of a book they read to determine whether the author created a new paragraph because a new person was speaking, there was a change in plot or place, there was a new problem, to emphasize a point, or if there was a change of pace or time. To follow up the learning, students revised their own stories to create new paragraphs following what real authors do. Before Thanksgiving break, fifth graders had the opportunity to review their multiplication facts while playing Pie Face!

The day before Thanksgiving I was invited to 6th grade's Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. What a fun time to be able to continue to build relationships with our oldest Little Lancers! We enjoyed popcorn, pretzels, and jelly beans. We were even able to squeeze everyone in the same classroom to watch the movie.

12.7.22-12.8.22 - BEST Secret Santa Shop

12.10.22 - Pancakes with Santa (Class of 2023 Fundraiser)

12.13.22 - BOE meeting - 6:30pm

12.15.22 - Winter Concert

12.19.22 - BEST meeting - 4pm

12.22.22 - Cozy Tree items due

12.26.22-1.2.22 - Winter Recess - No School

Please remember the following for keeping your child home from school:

• fever of 100 degrees or greater, in the past 24 hours without medications
• chills
• frequent, hard cough or chest congestion (controlled with medications)
• shortness of breath
• sore throat
• headache
• coughing
• nasal Congestion
• sleepy from an illness; Fatigue
• muscle or body aches
• ear pain and/or drainage from the ear
• large amount of discolored nasal drainage, especially with facial pain, headache, or fever
• nausea, vomiting/diarrhea, in the past 24 hours
• Active scabies
• fungal infection
• strep infection/impetigo (honey crusted sores around nose/mouth, rash) not treated with antibiotics less than 24 hrs
• pink eye
• loss of taste or smell

NOTE: Your child will be sent home from school if any of these symptoms occur during the school day. This increases your child's optimum health and comfort and also protects other children from becoming infected.

If your child will be absent from school or tardy, please contact the Health Office at 585-757-9967 ext. 1240. You can leave a message any time of day or night. A written excuse must be sent when the child returns from an absence.

A few reminders:

• Please do not exit your vehicle as it holds up the line of other drop-offs.
• If you need to help your child out of the car, please park in the parking lots and walk them up.
• Do not drive around other vehicles dropping their students off.
• Please encourage your child to get out of the vehicle themselves and go right onto the sidewalk.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.