Miller Elementary Weekly Update

February 24, 2023

Mrs. Goodman's Message

Hello Miller Families,


We had another fabulous week in preschool and kindergarten! I think we experienced every weather pattern from a breezy warm day, to a little bit of rain, sleet, and today it snowed. Please help your child dress for the ups and downs of our crazy weather in northeast Ohio and send a coat on days we will be heading outside.


This past week we held our Kick Off to Kindergarten meeting for the 2023-2024 school year! We had a packed house with standing room only. I will share it was exciting to see all the many families come out and get ready for the next step in your child's educational journey. If you have any questions about registration or if you need to select a registration timeslot, please see the links below.


I wanted to communicate that we will be utilizing a short-term substitute in our clinic for the next potential 4-6 weeks. Our school nurse, Jackie Pawlowski, will be out of the building on a leave of absence and we have secured Jaime Keyes for the majority of the time who is a substitute nurse for the Aurora Schools. She will be answering all emails and phone calls that families have regarding illness, medical needs, and nursing care plans. We wanted everyone to be aware that the same level of care will be provided in the weeks to come.


I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and you enjoy the final days of February! I can't believe the month of March will be here next week. As a reminder, our district has updated our school calendar to add an additional Professional Development Day in March. There will be NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY, MARCH 6th in order for staff members to continue with state-mandated professional development in Literacy Instruction.


Have a wonderful weekend!

Maria Goodman

Miller Elementary School - Principal

330-562-6199

Email mgoodman@aurora-schools.org

Kickoff to Kindergarten 2023-2024

The Aurora City Schools' Kindergarten Registration for the 2023-2024 school year has officially started! Please help spread the word to your neighbors and friends. We held our Kick Off to Kindergarten this past week and if you were unable to attend, please use the presentation link below to view all the important details. Additionally, make sure you have selected a registration time slot for March 8th or 9th to officially enroll your child in kindergarten. All Miller preschool children transitioning to kindergarten need to update their Final Forms for the 23-24 school year and complete all the forms in the registration folder before registration day. Please don't hesitate to call Miller Elementary School with specific questions about kindergarten at 330-562-6199.

Extra Clothes

With the warmer temperatures this week, our students enjoyed some messy recess time! Although we make parts of our outdoor play areas off-limits, little children seem to find the mud from time to time.


1: Please make sure your child has a change of clothes in their backpack. This includes extra socks and underwear. They often feel more comfortable in their own clothing.


2: Our clinic is running low on pants. If your family has a pair of girls or boys pants that your child has out grown and you would be willing to donate to our school, we would appreciate any donations. Please send in washed items labeled "Extra Clinic Clothes" and we will put them to good use. Thank you!

Save the Date for Donut Days

The Aurora Elementary PTO will be hosting 2 Donut Days on March 21st and 22nd for all Miller Elementary children. Please see the schedule listed below for your child's assigned day. We will be sending home a flyer requesting a response if you plan on attending this fun event. This response helps us order enough tasty treats! If you have a child in both preschool and kindergarten or in different classes, you may select one of the days to attend or come on each of the scheduled days so your child can be with their classmates.


Tuesday, March 21:

  • All preschool classes, AM & PM (Ms. Sarah, Ms. Jaime, Ms. Lauren, and Ms. Amanda)
  • 1/2 day Kindergarten, AM & PM (Mrs. Verhotz)
  • Mrs. Buettin
  • Mrs. Forster

Wednesday, March 22:

  • Mrs. Sabulsky
  • Mrs. Yonally
  • Mrs. Kidwell
  • Mrs. Gallucci
  • Mrs. Jaworski
  • Mrs. Haughey
  • Mrs. Smerkar

Important Dates and Events

Monday, 2/ 27 - Aurora Board of Education Meeting @ 7:00 PM in the C& I Building

Wednesday, 3/01 - Elementary PTO Meeting at 6:30 PM

Monday, 3/06 - No School (PD Day for Staff) *Recent board-approved change to the district calendar.

Wednesday, 3/8 - Kindergarten Registration (By Appointment Time)

Thursday, 3/9 - Kindergarten Registration (By Appointment Time)

Sunday, 3/12 - Daylight Savings Time Begins

Week of March 20th - Right to Read Week

Tuesday, 3/21- Donut Days (See Schedule)

Wednesday, 3/22 - Donut Days (See Schedule)

Week of March 26th - SPRING BREAK - NO SCHOOL

Monday, 4/1 - School Resumes After Spring Break

Friday, 4/7 - No School

Monday, 4/10 - No School

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Nurse Update: Cold, Flu, COVID, & RSV

Here are some important reminders to ensure the safety of our school community each day:

  • Check your child each day for illness symptoms. If they begin to feel ill during the day, please know our school nurse, Jackie Pawlowski, will assess your child and make contact with a family member when necessary.
  • Students sent home with a fever, may not return to school until they are fever free without medication for at least 24 hours. This means if your child was sent home on Tuesday at 12:00 p.m. with a fever, he/she may not return to school until Thursday. If your child does return the next day, our school will be calling for you to come and pick him/her up. Please help to support our efforts in this area. This also is the protocol if your child is vomiting. They need to be vomit free for 24 hours to return to school.
  • We will send a Final Forms notification if there is a communicable disease reported in your child's classroom. This can help you monitor your own child and make informed decisions about symptoms.
  • Please make sure your Final Forms medical information is up to date. We will closely read the health section to address any medical concerns.


Finally, please make sure your child has extra clothes in his/her backpack. Accidents and spills happen all the time and they often prefer to have their own clothes instead of wearing our spare clothes.

School Counselor Updates: Mrs. Ambrosia

Hello Families! I am happy to share all Kindergarten Students are ZONES of Regulation “graduates.” This means they can recognize and identify their feelings and connect those feelings with possible coping skills. We have been working over the last few weeks to understand all feelings are okay, triggers may cause certain feelings, and coping skills are the things we do to self-regulate. Triggers are the events that happen right before a feeling. Coping skills help us “regulate,” independently. If we can’t self-regulate, it’s okay to ask a trusted adult to help us!


While your student has some visual reminders about coping skills within their classroom and possibly some that they brought home, I wanted to provide you with additional resources to ensure you can find the coping skill that best suits your home needs. Please check out these additional resources below:


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Moving forward, we will focus on the topics of kindness, diversity and inclusion. During this month of February, our focus will be to celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week and Black History Month. Beginning next week, we will focus on the following kind acts each day:


Monday, February 13- Tell someone, “Good job.”

Tuesday, February 14- Give a silent wave.

Wednesday, February 15- Say, “Hi!” to someone you don’t normally talk to.

Thursday, February 16- Give three students a compliment.


Kindergarten and Preschool classrooms will visit these topics in varying ways, but I wanted to share with you some of the activities and resources your children may be referring to at home:


The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation | Kindness at Home

Kindness Slide-Ambrosia

K-2 Diversity & Inclusion Literature for Families


As always, please reach out with any questions! I hope you enjoy a wonderful weekend at home with your families!


Lindsey Ambrosia

School Counselor

Miller Elementary School

330.562.6199, ext. 5414

Craddock Elementary School

330.562.3175, ext. 1260

Reporting Absences

There will be times when your child is ill or needs to miss school due to appointments.

We ask that you call Miller School at 330-562-6199 to either speak with Vicki Wolf or leave a message. Please share your child's first name, last name, teacher, and the reason for the absence. If they are going to an appointment, please ask for a doctor's note to have on file here at school. Thank you!


If your family will have a planned absence due to an event or vacation, you will need to fill out a planned absence form for our schools. Please send in a note requesting this form as soon as you know your anticipated date.


If your child is experiencing illness symptoms and you have questions for our school nurse, Jackie Pawlowski, you may call 330-954-2286. She can help answer any questions.

Important PTO Information

Hello Miller Families! Below are AEPTO updates.


1. Our next AEPTO meeting is March 1, 2023 at 10:00am.

Location has changed and the meeting will be held at Schell Bell in Aurora (334 E Garfield Rd, Aurora, OH 44202). We hope to see you there!


2. Save the Dates!


March 5, 2023 - Community Event at Ol'Chefski's BBQ! Visit Ol'Chefski's between 12:00pm-7:00pm (or until sold out) and Ol'Chefski's will donate 20% of the proceeds to AEPTO!


March 21 & 22 at 8:15am - Miller Donut Days

We will divide classes between the two days -


Tuesday, March 21:

  • all preschool classes, AM & PM (Ms. Sarah, Ms. Jaime, Ms. Lauren, and Ms. Amanda)
  • 1/2 day kindergarten, AM & PM (Mrs. Verhotz)
  • Mrs. Buettin
  • Mrs. Forster

Wednesday, March 22:

  • Mrs. Sabulsky
  • Mrs. Yonally
  • Mrs. Kidwell
  • Mrs. Gallucci
  • Mrs. Jawroski
  • Mrs. Haughey
  • Mrs. Smerkar

If your family has kids scheduled on both days, please choose one day that works best for your schedule.


More information is coming. Thank you to our chairs, Ashley Ingersoll and Kate Nixon, for working on this event!


Thursday, April 6 from 5:00pm-9:00pm - Mother & Son Event at Fun 'n' Stuff!

Tickets are on sale now! You can purchase tickets through the Schoolze app (under the fundraiser section) or through our website (https://auroraelementarypto.org/). Adult tickets are $20 and sons are $10 each. This event is only open to boys in pre-K - 5th grade at Miller, Craddock, or Leighton Elementary Schools.


Sunday, May 7, 2023 at 2:00pm - Magic Gives Back

AEPTO and the Harmon High PTO (HHPTO) are partnering with Ganley Chevrolet of Aurora to proudly present "Magic Gives Back!" This is a Vegas style magic show and a unique fundraising platform developed specifically for local schools and communities. Magic Gives back will be held at the Solon High School Auditorium.


3. AEPTO Board Positions for 2023-24 year

Samantha, our current VP for Craddock, will be the VP at Leighton next year. Therefore, the VP position for Craddock will be available! Please email her at auroraptocesvp@gmail.com if you would like to hear more about the role or if you are interested! The Treasurer position will also be open next year, if you would be interested in hearing more about that role please email Ashley at auroraptotreas@gmail.com


4. Foertmeyers Spring Flower Sale!

Next week your student will come home with a catalog and parent letter with instructions on how to set up your students shopping link.

Key Dates:

Sale Runs: 2/28 - 3/14

Flower Pick Up Date: May 7th (Before Mother's Day!!!)

Any questions, please reach out to Katie Stump at kstump316@gmail.com or Anna Kandra at anna.kandra@gmail.com


Upcoming Events

2/28 - Foertmeyers Spring Flower sale starts

3/1 - APETO Meeting at 10:00am

3/5 - Community Event at Ol'Chefski's

3/6 - No School

3/8 - Kindergarten Registration

3/9 - Kindergarten Registration

3/14 - Spring Flower sale ends

3/21 - Miller Donut Days

3/22 - Miller Donut Days

3/27-3/31 - Spring Break, no school


If you have any questions, please let me know!


Jen Borman

AEPTO VP-Miller

auroraptomesvp@gmail.com

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Aurora Schools Foundation

Important Updates From Our Superintendent Mike Roberto