Montgomery Elementary News
February 8, 2019
Contact Us
Linda Overbeck, Principal
Amy Debelak, Asst. Principal
Office 686-1730
Absence Line 686-1736
FAX 792-6131
School Nurse 686-1733
Cafeteria 686-1735
Transportation 686-1785
Website: http://www.sycamoreschools.org/Domain/13
Location: 9609 Montgomery Road, Cincinnati, OH, United States
Phone: 513-686-1730
Facebook: www.facebook.com/montgomeryelementaryofficial/?fref=ts
Twitter: @Montgomery_Elem
POSITIVE CHARACTER TRAIT WORD FOR THE WEEK OF 2/11/2019
TRUSTWORTHINESS – A trustworthy person keeps promises, tells the truth, and will not hurt anyone with unkind actions or words.
TRUSTWORTHINESS means being reliable.
SPECIALS SCHEDULE for the week of February 11, 2019
Monday 2/11 - B DAY
Tuesday 2/12 - C DAY
Wednesday 2/13- D DAY
Thursday 2/14 - A DAY
Friday 2/15 - B Day
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
February
18 - President's Day - No School
SCHOOL NEWS
Dear Montgomery Families,
At Sycamore Community Schools, we strive to ensure that every child who enters our buildings feels comfortable and safe, both physically and emotionally. We work hard to help students succeed academically, socially and behaviorally; therefore, we recently partnered with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to offer additional mental health services for students in grades K-12. Beginning February 4, Children’s Hospital will provide a licensed therapist, Karen Celesti, five days a week to work in the district with students at Maple Dale Elementary and Montgomery Elementary who need additional services.
Karen Celesti is a licensed Independent Social Worker with 24 years of professional mental health experience. Since 2001, she has been working at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in the Emergency Department and the Division of Endocrinology. Prior to serving children and their families in Cincinnati, she provided counseling services to cancer patients at Duke University Medical Center. She has also served as a clinical therapist and partial hospitalization coordinator at Psych Systems of Cincinnati. Celesti received her Master of Social Work at the University of Cincinnati.
This optional and confidential service is in addition to the services provided by our dedicated school counseling staff. The school counseling program is an integral component of all aspects of our schools, as it helps students be emotionally healthy and ready to learn, and as mental health needs increase, so does the need for more acute care.
On February 4, teachers, administrators, and parents will have direct access to Ms. Celesti’s expertise. She will collaborate with educators, parents and the school counseling staff to create safe, healthy and supportive environments that strengthen the connections between home, school and the community.
Sycamore Community Schools began collaborating in Spring 2017 with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Mindpeace, a non-profit organization that helps align the partners, infrastructure and processes for children’s mental health solutions between schools and local agencies. Ms. Celesti joins our team of school-based therapists supporting our other buildings through this joint effort.
Parents, teachers, and school counselors can make student referrals for service. Families can cover the cost of therapist visits through insurance, Medicaid or private pay options. The partnership is self-sustaining and does not require any financial investment by the school district. Concerns about your financial responsibility should not be a barrier to care. The billing department at CCHMC and Mindpeace have committed to supporting families in finding access to care.
Mental illness affects approximately one in five children and access to services can be difficult. It is our hope that by having Ms. Celesti at Maple Dale Elementary scheduling appointments and facilitating the services will come with greater ease to our students and their families.
The partnership between Sycamore Community Schools and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital was facilitated by MindPeace, an organization that functions as a catalyst in the creation and maintenance of mental health partnerships between schools and local agencies. For more information about our new services, you can reach out to Lisa Zelvy, Pupil Services Supervisor, at (513) 686-1700 or zelvyl@sycamoreschools.org. If you are interested in scheduling an appointment with the therapist, please contact our school counselor, Beth Hill, or Ms. Celesti directly to begin the process.
Thank you,
Linda Overbeck
Principal
PTO NEWS
PTO PRESIDENT’S REPORT
A SUPER Thank You to Everyone who helped organize
and run Carnival! A Special Thank you to all the Families
that came out and supported Montgomery Elementary!
Our After School Enrichment Program began on last Tuesday! Thank you to everyone that is participating!
We hope all the students had a wonderful first week! Please contact Jamie Mack with any questions at
montgomeryenrichment@gmail.com
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PTO MEETING
Our next General PTO Meeting is
Wednesday, March 6th at 9:30am!
Please follow our private Facebook group, “Montgomery Elementary PTO” to learn about upcoming
events and see photos of your children having fun experiences at school.
The PTO would not be able to do what we do without our amazing volunteers, parents, teachers, and
staff. If you would please take a moment to fill out the Montgomery Elementary PTO Questionnaire we
would greatly appreciate your feedback.
Have questions please contact me, Kristy Felss, at mtpto@sycamoreschools.org.
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MAKE A DIFFERENCE
The Montgomery Elementary School's Make A Difference Committee is sponsoring an after-school service activity on Thursday, February 14, beginning at 3:45 on the stage. We will be making Take-Away craft and snack bags for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House. The bags are meant for the patients and their families. The Committee will provide all necessary supplies but we do ask that you register your student via the Sign-Up Genius link below. Also, please remember to send a note to school on the 14th to let your child’s teacher know that he/she will not be taking their normal transportation home that day. You may join us for this activity but if you can't, please pick up your
child by 4:30.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094DAEAD2CA1FE3-afterschool3
A SUPER Thank You to EVERYONE who helped organize
and run the Carnival! Below is just a small snapshot of the MANY volunteers who
helped make the Carnival such a huge success.
Sycamore High School Choral Program Presents
the annual
CABARET
Saturday, February 9th, 2019 @ 7pm at Sycamore High School in
The Hub. This event showcases the solo, duet, and small ensemble vocal performers from the talented Choral Program. Tickets: $10 Advance | $12 Door DVDs may be purchased on the tickets order form on the left or at the door. $10
All tickets festival seating. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Sponsored by the Sycamore Vocal Boosters Association
Tickets available starting February 1 @ http://www.aveschoir.org/Cabaret-Tickets. Limited seating. Proceeds benefit the Sycamore High School Choral Program and Sycamore Vocal Boosters.
Best Wishes to FIRST LEGO League Jr. Teams
Head out to support four Sycamore FIRST LEGO League Jr. teams with 2nd and 3rd graders from the various elementary schools at an expo at iSpace in Sharonville on Sat., Feb. 9 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. The event is free to the public. This year's theme is Mission Moon.
Find out more information at http://wpafbstem.com/pages/k12_FLLjr_ispace.html.
GEAR is hosting this activity on President’s day and it is open to all students, grades 2-6. Please find details and registration on our website:
http://www.sycamoregear.org/build-it-challenge-info.html. Registration closes on Feb 15.