• December 5 – 9 - PTO Book Fair
  

• December 6 – PTO meeting at Family Support Center (CHS), 6 PM

• December 7 – Muffins with Mom & Donuts with Dad Book Fair 7–8AM. *Please enter at the Gym Doors for this event!

• December 7 – Report Cards Open on Parent Portal

• Thursday December 8 – NO SCHOOL – Conferences 12 – 7 PM
• Friday December 9 – NO SCHOOL – Conferences 8 – 3 PM
• Monday, December 13th- BOE meeting, 6pm at CMS
• Friday December 23 – Yearbook Orders Due
• Friday December 23 – SH Winter Games
• December 24- December 31- Holiday Break

It is important that you have logged into your PowerSchool Parent Portal to access your child's report card. A print copy will not be sent home.

Step 1: Parents log into the PowerSchool Parent & Student site: http://ps.clarenceschools.org

Step 2: Select your elementary student from the top row if you have multiple children.

Step 3: Click on the ‘Elementary Report Card’ icon to the left to view your child’s report card.

Important Notes:

• This will not be accessible until 12/7 at 3:00pm
• Report cards cannot be viewed through the PowerSchool app
• Report cards may not display correctly from a mobile device browser
• If you do not have your login information or forgot your username/ password, contact your school directly

This is a special time of the year when we come together to celebrate the growth and learning that is taking place with our students. The work of learning to read and becoming more proficient readers is multi-faceted and woven throughout all areas of the school day. Our overall goal is to give children access to both the secrets of the alphabetic code and relevant experiences with texts. We continue to reflect and reevaluate our curriculum. We have been making small shifts in our reading curriculum without sacrificing the heart of our balanced literacy program.

There is now a greater emphasis on phonics instruction in the primary grades. Phonics is the first building block of independent reading. When your child has met the big milestones for phonics knowledge, their reading journey will shift into developing fluency and comprehension. There has been a shift from level based grouping for reading to skill-based grouping. You’ll note that we will not be placing an emphasis on a letter-based reading assessment in these early grades. While assessing and providing reading levels (Level A, B, C, D, E) was a simple way of naming reading progress, we now believe that a more targeted way is determining a students’ level of phonics development and where they are in a more specific reading progression. This shift enables students to be met where they are at with their phonics knowledge and materials are carefully chosen to enable them to apply and practice the skills they have acquired through their phonics instruction.

Some examples of helpful practices to continue to include at home are: reading to and with your child, modeling your own reading habits and behaviors, incorporating reading in everyday activities to include reading street signs, store names, labels, directions, recipes, etc., having magnetic letters accessible to identify letter names and to build words, playing board games, including your child in the writing of lists, letters and cards, visiting the library and bookstore and making the acquisition of new reading material joyful and exciting.

We are forward to our continued work together to help your child grow as a reader!

If you have not yet signed up for your parent-teacher conference, click HERE to be directed to our sign up Smore. Should you have trouble accessing the sign-up, please email Mrs. Arroyo at jarroyo@clarenceschools.org

• Day one of PT Conferences is Thursday, December 8th from 12pm-7pm
• Day two of PT COnferences is Friday, December 9th from 8am-3pm
• All parent-teacher conference meetings will be held in-person.

While you are here for P/T Conferences, please take a look down our cafeteria hallway at the growing Lost and Found! There are many pieces of clothing, water bottles, lunch pails, etc. that your child may be missing. See the commercial below from our 4th grades who manage the Lost and Found.

Our annual PTO Hat and Mitten Tree will be displayed in the month of January to help warm our community this winter season. Be on the lookout for information on how to help adorn the tree after break.

Our 2022 Winter Games will be held on Friday, December 23rd with the schedule below. Parents are invited to watch students compete during grade level times. Please be aware, as in the past, parents who come will view the games from the stage and there is limited room. Our door monitor, Mrs. Grenzebach, will greet you at the gm doors to sign in. Please have your IDs ready.

• 8:15 – 8:50 Grade 5
• 9:00 – 9:35 Grade 4
• 9:45 – 10:20 Grade 3
• 10:30 – 11:05 Grade 2
• 12:00 – 12:40 Grade 1
• 12:50 – 1:30 Kindergarten

As the winter months bring dark, cold, and snowy mornings, please remember:

• Students need to be dropped off by 8:00am to start their school day.
• Students are marked tardy at 8:05am and will need to sign in to the main office
• Please drop your child off in the large bus loop by the front door it you do not see a drop-off aide outside (as the school day has begun and they are in class)
• Be aware you are traveling through a space where many students and adults are walking. Please proceed slowly and with caution
• When dropping your child(ren) off, they should exit the side closest to the sidewalk
• Please be mindful of other vehicles moving in the circle

If your child is going to be absent from school or will be tardy, it is important that you contact the attendance clerk, Mrs. Gilbert to report the absence. You can reach her at 407-9270 or at sgilbert@clarenceschools.org.

Why does attendance matter?

• Starting in Kindergarten, too many absences can cause children to fall behind in school.
  
• Missing 10% can make it harder to learn to read.
  
• Students can still fall behind if they miss just a day or two every few weeks.
  
• Being late to school may lead to poor attendance.
  
• Absences can affect the whole classroom if the teacher has to slow down learning to help catch students up.

Email: jarroyo@clarenceschools.org
Website: https://www.clarenceschools.org/Domain/12
Location: 9560 Boncrest Drive East, Buffalo, NY, USA
Phone: 716-407-9250
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SheridanHillSharks/