Dear Leighton Families,

Happy April!! I hope all of our families had a restful, rejuvenating, and relaxing Spring Break last week. It is so important to recharge our batteries for the fast and furious 2 months left of school with all the end of the year festivities.

Next week marks the start of State Testing. Through the rigor of our ELA, Writing, and Math Frameworks as well as our Science and Social Studies content standards, our students are prepared to "rock the test". Over the course of the school year, students and staff have been working hard to develop important critical thinking skills through problem solving and student led learning opportunities. Please find the testing dates below in Mrs. Mazzella's update and keep in mind these important testing reminders:

Being sure to arrive on time to school as testing is right away in the morning, eat a good breakfast, be sure your child has working headphones at school, and support your child at home by engaging with practice testing materials and resources located at the following website:

https://oh-ost.portal.cambiumast.com/families.html.

Please check out the important dates section at the bottom of the newsletter for important end of the year events such as concerts, field days, and student/parent events. More information and dates will be coming your way in the next few weeks.

As we embark on the closing of another year, I always find myself reflecting on the beautiful blessings the school year has afforded us. I inevitably find myself beaming with pride at all we have accomplished especially during the unprecedented 2 years of the pandemic. The innovation, critical thinking, resilience, empathy, balance, and collaboration exemplified during this time to continually create learning environments that foster our exemplary curricular frameworks and a whole child approach to teaching and learning is awe inspiring. As we continue to be lead learners and model this for those entrusted to us, we find that these times have taught us that anything is possible in our wonderful world of education. What greater example can we share with our learners than to always let them know they can accomplish anything they put their minds to, and, what better "calling" then to be those given the title of "educator" to support each students' forward momentum. Please know the role you play in helping us provide the best education is paramount. We couldn't do it without the support of our families. Thank you for all you do and your continued partnership!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Kind Regards,

Mrs. Michelle Nizen, Building Principal

Mrs. Maria Goodman, Assistant Principal

Our UDL (Universally Designed Lessons) hone in on each focus skill allowing us to explicitly teach those skills, reinforce them, and connect them to our strategic vision including our 6 competencies of a learner (critical thinker, collaborator, innovator, resilient, balanced, and empathetic). Ms. Mazzella also capitalizes on teaching these skills in her classroom lessons focused on various topics including friendships, growth mindset, perseverance as it relates to school work, etc.

We announce our next Golden Fork winners next week! These classrooms earn this honor by demonstrating our 3 pillars in the lunchroom and at recess while following all the expectations. Congratulations went out to Mrs. Yusko, Ms. Most, and Mrs. Nagy . These classrooms will be passing the Golden Fork along to the next winning classes to display outside their classroom doors.

Our next monthly PBIS office raffle will be Friday, April 1st. Students will continue to turn in their caught being good tickets to the office and a building-wide drawing will take place, where caught being good tickets will be read over the announcements and students will pick a prize from our PBIS rewards cart.

Lastly, our 3rd quarterly PBIS building wide reward of an extra recess was a big hit. Students had fun playing various games and enjoying the sunshine with friends from other classes. We are gearing up and looking forward to our last quarter event!

Here are some great resources to support your PBIS efforts at home. Thank you for your partnership!

https://www.pbis.org/resource/supporting-families-with-pbis-at-home

https://www.pbis.org/resource/supporting-families-with-pbis-at-home

THANK YOU to all who ordered from our spring Foertmyer & Sons fundraiser!!! We were able to raise $5,976.00!

PICK UP for the flowers will be Sunday May 15th in the Leighton parking lot. Times will come closer to the date.

Our last PTO Meeting will be held Wednesday 4/12 at Dunkin Donuts @ 7:00pm, we hope to see you there!

Princess & Pins Event

If they have not already, your daughter will be bringing home a form for our upcoming bowling event for your daughters and their one special grownup.

This event will take place 4/29 at Roseland Bowling Alley (this is not replacing Princess Prom, just an event we thought would be fun)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cnAtxq6oCBaWVMnAG7hpgLW8VHzemPIgemAxYYLLGoo/edit?usp=sharing

Save the Date: Family Night at the Drive In May 21st at Midway Drive In in Ravenna

Want to Help Next Year?

Use this link to sign up to chair events next year. If you have any questions please feel free to email auroraptopres@gmail.com

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pb-R4mz0HSKHaBPkl7FV-LCTPZDR16CIcT1IYwIa26g/edit?usp=sharing

As a reminder, please monitor your child for any COVID-related symptoms and contact our school nurse if you have any questions. We appreciate your attention to this.

• Check your child each day for COVID-related symptoms. If your child is showing any symptoms whatsoever, it is best to keep him/her home to monitor.
• 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 nurse will be calling for you to come to pick him/her up. Thank you for your support and efforts in this area.
  
• We have COVID-19 home testing kits available that we can send home with any child or family should you question symptoms or exposure. We will be able to answer any questions about these kits should the need arise.
• Please make sure your Final Forms medical information is up to date. We will closely read the health sections to address any medical concerns.

If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Tanski in the clinic at 330-954-2285 or email her at atanski@aurora-schools.org

**** If your child will be absent for an extended period, please reach out to your child's teacher and they will get school work ready for your student for the period of the absence. You may pick up the work outside the main office on a table that will be labeled with your student's name. We are a google district and utilize google classroom in our 3-5 classes. Please check in with your child's teacher about any google classroom posting and/or assignments in his/her absence.