Dover Avenue Elementary News
January 2024
Message From the Principal
March 2024
DA Families,
March arrives with a promise of warmer days ahead! Though winter may still cling to mornings, we get to see the sun just a tad longer. It's a season of transformation, both in nature and in our students' lives!
February was full of lasting memories including our 100th Day of School, Valentine's Day Party, our 4th grade musical and a 5th grade PAC visit. What a great month it was!
Spring Break will be right around the corner -- a time to rest, make memories and prepare for the busy end of the school year! When we return from break, we'll jump right into testing season with all of our upcoming state tests! This is just one way our students get a chance to show us all that they've learned this year. We can't thank you enough for your continued partnership this year and look forward to seeing what they can do on their tests!
Mrs. Katie Nicholson, Principal
Dover Avenue Elementary School
Valentine's Day boxes (in real life)
Spring News & Events
Ohio State Testing
- April 9-10 - 5th Grade ELA
- April 11-12 - 4th Grade ELA
- April 16-17 - 5th Grade Math
- April 18-19 - 4th Grade Math
- April 23-24 - 5th Grade Science
Spring Pictures
Spring Picture Day is March 7. There will be no class pictures or retakes.
Spring Musical Preview at DHS
All Dover Avenue students will get the opportunity to preview the Dover High School Musical - Anything Goes on March 15 in the morning! A parent memo will be coming home soon about this!
Student Handbook
Please review the 2023-2024 Elementary Student Handbook which can be found on our district website under parents: https://www.dovertornadoes.com/Handbooks.aspx
Rainbow Connection Dress-Up Days
The Rainbow Connection has partnered with Dover City Schools over the years and helped us to provide equipment and services for our students and families. We would now like to give back to this organization. Students can participate in two special dress-up days on March 4 and 5 to support the Rainbow Connection! Students are asked to make donations in whatever amount families see fit. We are encouraging $0.50 for these days!
Monday, March 4-Hat Day
Tuesday, March 5-Pajama Day
Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences
Parent-Teacher Conferences are scheduled for February 29 and March 6 from 3:15-6:45. Spring conferences are not required for each student; however, your child’s teacher may request to meet with you. You may also request a conference with your child’s teachers if you would like as well.
Workbook Fees
Workbook fees include the cost for novels and workbooks. Grades 4-5 workbook fees are $25 and were due September 30, 2023. Please make checks payable to Dover Avenue Elementary. Report cards were held for any unpaid workbook fees. (If you need a fee waiver application, please call the office.)
Class Assignments for 2024-2025
In looking ahead to the next school year, we will soon begin establishing class assignments. Many factors are considered when determining a class.
Services such as Intervention, Speech/Language Services, Enrichment, Boy/Girl Ratio, and student personalities all need strong consideration as classes are arranged. In the past many parents have offered requests for certain teachers which really hinders the school’s ability to comprise class lists.
All three elementary principals will develop class lists along with much teacher input. We are very proud of our teaching staff in Dover and have the utmost confidence in their abilities to work positively with all students. Therefore, we will not accept personal requests for individual teachers. However, we are open to information about your child which may help us when assigning students for the 2024-2025 school year. Professionally, we would like the flexibility to assign all students, but if you feel there is information from the following list that is pertinent, please provide it to the Principal where your child currently attends.
All information should be sent in writing NO LATER THAN FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 2024 to the school office to the attention of Mrs. Murphy/Mrs. Nicholson/Mr. Zesiger. The confidentiality of all letters will be secured.
Important Information for DA Families
Absences
In compliance with the Missing Child Act and for the safety of our children, parents are requested to call Dover Avenue School (330-364-7117) before 8:30AM to report the reason for your child's absence. We encourage student attendance every day to ensure continuity of learning. However, if your child is absent, please send a note following the return of your child to verify his/her absence. If the absence is due to a medical, dental, or legal appointment, please provide a verification note on the provider’s stationary upon return to school. If no call or note is received within 24 hours, the absence(s) will be marked as unexcused.
Transportation
Updated bus routes will be available before school on the district website under the Parents tab. https://www.dovertornadoes.com/TransportationServices.aspx If you need to change your child’s mode of transportation home, please contact the office by 1:00PM.
Meals
Breakfast and Lunch are available for students daily. Breakfast will no longer be free this year. If you’d like to purchase breakfast for your child it is $1.00. Lunch is $2.50. Milk is available for purchase for $0.50. Ala carte funds can be added using your Payschools Account (https://dovercity.healtheliving.net) or make checks payable to Dover Schools Cafeteria with student name in the memo line.
Medications
If your child needs medication at school, in accordance with state and board policies, we are not permitted to dispense medication without directions and signatures of both the physician and the parent or legal guardian. If it is essential that a child takes medication during the school day, medication forms are available on our district website or you may stop in the office.
Drills
Throughout the year we will practice Fire Drills, Tornado Drills, Lockdown Drills and Evacuation Drills. We perform these Safety Procedure Drills in order to be prepared in case of an emergency. We will discuss these drills with our students.
Child Find
Dover City Schools receives IDEA-B funds for the purpose of the education of children with disabilities. Annually, at the September Board of Education meeting, discussion will be held regarding how the district will spend its IDEA-B funds. Time will be allowed for public comment.
Raptor Visitor Management System
Dover City Schools will be using the Raptor Visitor Management System in all of our schools to strengthen school safety for students and faculty. Part of keeping students and faculty safe includes knowing who is in our buildings at all times, and the Raptor system allows us to do that. The Raptor system will better allow us to screen visitors, workers, and volunteers in our schools and provide us with a safer environment for all. Upon entering a district building, visitors will be asked to present a US government-issued ID such as a Driver’s License, which can be scanned or manually entered into the system. If a parent or guardian does not have a scannable ID, the school staff member can use any form of government identification that includes a photo to manually enter the person’s information into the Raptor system. The Raptor system checks the visitor's name and date of birth for comparison with public state and national databases of registered sex offenders. The registered sex offender database is the only official database checked by the Raptor system. No other data from the ID is gathered or recorded, and the information is not shared with any outside agency. Upon approval, Raptor will issue a badge that identifies the visitor, the date, and the purpose of his/her visit. If anyone other than a parent or guardian is signing a child out from school, he or she may be asked to present identification, as well. A visitor’s badge will not be necessary for those who are not going past the main office but are simply dropping off an item in the office or picking up paperwork. The safety of our students is our highest priority. The Raptor visitor management system allows us to quickly identify those who may present a danger to our students. Thank you in advance for your understanding and your support in enhancing school safety procedures in our district.
In the month of February we continued to do our literacy groups, although some students adjusted groups based on their mid-year assessment data. Teachers were able to use all of our mid-year assessment data to measure student growth and modify their instruction to match our students' needs.
As March progresses, teachers will wrap up teaching current content standards to prepare for upcoming state assessments in April. This preparation includes reviewing key concepts, practicing test-taking strategies, and providing opportunities for practice tests with feedback. We understand the potential stress surrounding standardized testing and assure you that our teachers are committed to providing comprehensive support and resources to ensure all students feel prepared and confident on test day.
Accelerated Reader
Don't forget about our next AR goal as well! Please encourage your child to keep reading and to take AR quizzes! Students need 50 points in order to participate in our third nine-weeks reward - Popcorn Party with flashlight reading!
PBIS Update
Each week students are randomly selected for receiving Tornado Shout Outs. These students are given a certificate and their picture is put on our slides on the main floor. Each month, teams of teachers look at our PBIS data and choose 1-2 "Top Tornadoes" to earn a special lunch with me, a special sticker and certificate. Congratulations to the following students for being our “TOP TORNADOES” for February and the many other students who received a Tornado Shout Out this month!
- Jo Lutze
- Travis VanHorn
- Rylan Snyder
- Katelynn George
- Barrett Stull
- Alina Levengood
- Essie Herron
- Owen Russell
Communication
Monthly Newsletters
My monthly newsletters will be sent via text and email every month and will be available on the Dover Avenue website. These newsletters will include special events, Dover Avenue specific information, district news, academic updates and any other relevant information. These will no longer be paper copies sent home. However, a paper copy of the calendar will still be sent home each month. Please be on the lookout for this in your child’s DA Folder and via text/email.
Weekly Assignment Sheets
Your child’s team will have a weekly newsletter / assignment sheet that is sent home with your child. This includes upcoming events, assignments or other important information for you and your child. Please be sure to review this on a weekly basis.
Text Notifications
If you have not yet signed up for text notifications from the district and Dover Avenue, please do so on the link below. This link is located on our webpage under Parents -- Parent Text Notifications "Opt in"
District News
Dover Fine Arts Festival
SAVE THE DATE -- Our first annual district-wide Fine Arts Festival is happening April 27, 2024 from 3:00-7:00 PM at Dover High School! We are currently looking for parent volunteers to help with mounting art so if you are interested, please reach out to our PTG! ( doveravenueptg@gmail.com )
Spring Break
Mark your calendars for Spring Break on Monday, March 25 through Friday, March 29. School will resume Monday, March, April 1, 2024.
Open Enrollment
Open enrollment applies to students and their parents who reside in OTHER school districts (outside Dover). Forms are available online. The last day to complete these is today! *Students who are approved for open enrollment must reapply each year. For questions regarding this process, please contact Mrs. McKeever at 330-364-7104.
Dover Athletic Ticket Information
All tickets for Crimson Tornado home athletic events can be purchased online or with cash at the gate. Reserved-seat season football passes, adult fall all-sports passes, and student (grades 1-12) year-long passes are now available for purchase online through Hometown Tickets via the Dover City Schools webpage: https://www.dovertornadoes.com/Athletics.aspx
*Free language assistance with respect to school programs and activities is available for all students and families of Dover City Schools. Please contact your child's building principal for translation or interpretation services.
Check out the district calendar highlights for next year below!
PTG
Last month we cancelled our monthly meeting as it was a slower month but our meeting this month will be full of upcoming information for all the fun end of year activities! You won't want to miss out! Thank you to our DA PTG for sponsoring our PBIS Reward Party in January and for providing meals for teachers for parent-teacher conferences! Our elementary PTGs have worked together to put together our new Raise Craze that kicked off this week! We encourage your child to get involved in doing acts of kindness for others! If you haven't been able to view the video explaining what this is, please check it out below! We will be hosting a family fun kindness event on March 12 at 6:00 and hope to see you there!
If you'd like to get involved this semester please join our Facebook Group, join the Remind Group or email our PTG!
For more info, contact doveravenueptg@gmail.com, join the Dover Ave PTG Facebook Group or text “@dvraveptg” to 81010 to join our Dover Ave PTG Remind group!
Our next meeting is March 14 in the Dover Avenue library at 6:00!
You can register below by clicking on the link or by scanning the QR Code!
Upcoming Events
- March 4: Top Tornado Lunch with Mrs. Nicholson
- March 4: Rainbow Connection Dress Up Day - Hat Day
- March 5: Rainbow Connection Dress Up Day - PJ Day
- March 6: Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences
- March 7: Spring Picture Day
- March 14: PTG Meeting 6:00
- March 15: DHS Musical Preview
- March 21: End of Third Nine-Weeks
- March 21: Crimson Companions
- March 22: NO SCHOOL - Teacher In-Service Day
- March 25-29: Spring Break
- April 1: School Resumes
- April 5: Report Cards sent home
- April 5: PBIS and AR Party
- April 8: Top Tornado Lunch with Mrs. Nicholson
- April 9-10: 5th Grade ELA OST
- April 10: PTG Meeting 6:00
- April 11-12: 4th Grade ELA OST
- April 16-17: 5th Grade Math OST
- April 18-19: 4th Grade Math OST
- April 23-24: 5th Grade Science OST
- April 25-26: 4th Grade MAP testing
- April 27: Fine Arts Festival 3:00-7:00