Symmes Elementary School
Newsletter
October 16, 2020
Mark your Calendar!
- October 27: Picture Day (Face to Face AND Virtual)
- November 7: Picture Retake Day
Parent/Teacher Conferences
ALL conferences will be held virtually, for both Virtual Classroom and Face-to Face students. Parents will receive details regarding the conferences as they get closer. Dates are as follows:
Nov. 19 (Thursday) Evening Conferences (K-6)
Nov. 20 (Friday) Daytime conferences (No School-K-8 only)
Nov. 23 (Monday) Evening Conferences (K-4 and 7-8)
PICTURE DAY IS COMING!
Picture Day for face to face students will be held on October 27th during the school day.
Picture Day for Virtual Classroom students will be held at Symmes Elementary on October 27th, from 4:30-6:30.
No sign up required
No pre ordering required
Parents should park in the gym lot and should not enter the building.
Students will enter through the gym doors and be escorted to a socially distanced, safe waiting area.
There should be a minimal wait time. Each picture session takes approximately 1-2 minutes.
- After picture day, families will receive an email with information about how to access and order their student's pictures.
Love Our Library
Please support the Love Our Library program at Symmes Elementary by allowing your child to donate a new library book in celebration of his/her birthday. With your $15 gift, your child may select a book from our “birthday batch” of books to help build and enrich our library collection. Although we cannot check books out this year we still LOVE books! Your student(s) will be able to personalize a bookplate for their selected book and will get a photo on the wall with the book selection. If your student is in a virtual classroom, I will send you a list of options and then you could send me a picture of your child for the wall. We will include summer and early fall birthdays with our October pictures.
Our Love Our Library program is great way to celebrate and leave a literary legacy in your child’s name.
Thank you for your help in building a better library.
Lisa Gausmann, Symmes Media Center
To participate please donate $15 (cash or check payable to Symmes Elementary School). If Face to Face, you can send it to school with your child in an envelope. If Virtual Classroom, please drop it off at school or mail to Symmes Elementary, 11820 Enyart Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45140.
With your $15.00 gift, please include:
Student’s Name
Whether your student is Face to Face or Virtual
Your student’s teacher
Your student’s birthday (month and day)
Occasion if other than a birthday
All donations must be received by May 11, 2021.
Happy Birthday and Happy Reading!
Symmes Steppers is Back!!
We are excited to be able to offer our Steppers program this fall! It will look a little different but will still serve to encourage fitness and fun for Symmes students!
Face to Face Students – Each teacher will be given the option to take their homeroom out to the track one day a week during one of their recess blocks. Those students will “BEe Responsible” for tracking their laps and reporting it to their teacher. Students will be rewarded for reaching their mileage milestones with a special certificate!
Virtual Students – We encourage virtual students to head outside and engage in a physical activity for 20 minutes every Wednesday. That could be a walk or run around the neighborhood, a bike ride, creating an obstacle course… the options are endless! We will be posting ideas to the Symmes PTO Facebook page every Wednesday as well as the reward certificate template for virtual families to print at home and present to your child when you feel they have gone above and beyond!
Please be sure to check the Symmes PTO Facebook page each Wednesday and post a picture of your child “Stepping”!
If you have any questions, please contact Sara O’Hara at symmessteppers@gmail.com
Information About Outdoor Movie Night
October 16 - Outdoor Movie Night at Symmes
As you may know, late last week Hamilton County moved to the RED Covid-19 Zone. With that change, comes restrictions that prevent us from hosting our Outdoor Movie Night on October 16. We were so excited to see you all but for the safety of everyone we are postponing the event until the spring.
Information for Parents about upcoming Fall/Halloween Celebrations
Due to COVID restrictions, we will not be able to have a Fall/Halloween parade at Symmes this year. While this is a tradition that we all look forward to and love, we need to ensure the safety of our staff and students.
We are planning some fun activities for your students:
Fall Classroom Celebrations
Will feature a book read by Mr. Forsthoefel.
Prepackaged snacks and treats to enjoy outside or to be taken home provided by PTO.
Classroom Games and crafts provided by PTO.
Volunteers and guests are not permitted in the building at this time.
Details will come from your child's teacher.
School Wide Orange and Black Day
On October 30, dress in your orange and black.
No costumes will be permitted at school.
Non Scary Halloween shirts are permitted.
Virtual Halloween Parade
Whether your children are virtual or face to face, please send us pictures of your children in costume
Pictures will be used to create a fun iMovie for classrooms to watch.
Black & Orange Day!
On Friday 10/30/20, we invite everyone to wear
Black & orange or a favorite fall/seasonal shirt!
(no costumes please)
Join the PTO!
Who can become a member?
Any parent or guardian of a current Symmes Elementary Student (virtual and face-to-face learners), or any current Symmes Elementary Staff Member. Please fill out one the forms below to become a registered PTO member.
How much does it cost to become a member?
There is no mandatory cost involved in membership.
How can I help?
Due to the circumstances facing the entire District during the 2020-21 school year, the Symmes PTO will not be organizing any formal fundraising activities during the first semester. The PTO will still be working hard to support all of our virtual and face to face students, staff and families. Many teachers have faced additional costs this year, so please consider supporting the PTO if you are able. All four elementary schools are contributing to the virtual teachers as well.
Online membership form
Paper membership form (print and mail)
Thank you.
Symmes Elementary PTO
For your information:
LOST and Found
We are accumulating a number of lost and found items. As a reminder, please clearly label all belongings with your child’s last name. To minimize risks due to COVID-19 while attempting to reunite items with their owners, we are going to follow the following process.
Every Friday in our building newsletter we will include a picture of current lost and found items.
If you see an item that belongs to your child, please remind them to claim that item in the cafeteria during their lunch. They can notify any staff member in the cafeteria that they need to claim their item.
If your child forgets, you can email their teacher to ask for help reminding the student.
Your child will have1 week to claim the item.
After 1 week, all items accumulated in the Lost and Found will be removed from the building.
Here are this weeks' lost and found items:
Virtual Picnic
Starting in October, your child will have the option to join a "Google Meet" to hang out with Mrs. Ralston....and other guests! Lunches will be held on the following schedule:
Kindergarten - 12-12:30 (1st Thursday of the month)
Grade 1 lunch - 12-12:30 (1st Tuesday of the month)
Grade 2 lunch - 11:45 - 12:15 (2nd Tuesday of the month)
Grade 3 lunch - 12-12:30 (3rd Tuesday of the month)
Grade 4 lunch - 11:35-12:05 (4th Tuesday of the month)
*Please only have your child attend their grade level meet so we can more easily manage our numbers.
This is optional for students, and is an additional time for us to stay connected.
We know that there will be some months that we will not be able to get together, but we look forward to seeing you all as often as possible!
Virtual Meal Curbside Pick Up
The pick-up location for all families for virtual meals is no longer at the High School. You instead will pick up at your student’s assigned school location. IF you have multiple students that attend different buildings, meals for all of your children will be available for pick up at the OLDEST child’s school. You do not need to visit multiple schools.
Pickup time for Symmes will be Wednesdays from 10:00 am to 11:00 am.
If you have not already signed up and would like to do so, please sign up here. Please note, the cutoff each week to sign up is Sunday at Midnight.
TECHNOLOGY HELP FOR VIRTUAL CLASSROOM STUDENTS
Need help?
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Click here to be connected with Symmes Ambassadors:
https://www.sycamoreschools.org/domain/909
Click here if you want to help other families: