Week of 5/22-5/26/2023

• Monday – Day 3
• Tuesday – Day 4

• Wednesday – Day 5

• Thursday – Day 1

• Friday – Day 2 - Early Dismissal at 12:00 for Grades 1-5

Week of 5/29-6/2/2023

• Monday – No School - Memorial Day
• Tuesday – Day 3

• Wednesday – Day 4

• Thursday – Day 5

• Friday – Day 1

Mrs. Diana Sektnan (silent "t" in her last name) will join us at Lincoln as our new school secretary starting May 22, 2023. Diana is thrilled to be joining the team of at Lincoln Elementary. She comes to us from the Midland Innovation + Technology Charter School where she has spent the last school year. Diana has over fourteen years of administrative assistant experience with a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership from Robert Morris University, and a Bachelor’s Degree from Westminster College.

Diana and her husband reside in Moon Township along with their two children and two little apricot poodles, Sophia Rose and Levi. She has been active as a cheerleading coach for thirty years, as well as owning her own bakery business. Diana's passion lies in the education field when it comes to helping every student, every teacher, and every administrator by providing the highest level of professionalism. She is excited for this new opportunity and looks forward to supporting the staff, students and families at Lincoln! Diana can be reached at dsektnan@mtlsd.net should you need to connect with her. Please join us in welcoming Mrs. Sektnan to the Lincoln family!

During the week of May 22–26, 2023, the PA Farm Bureau Mobile Ag Lab will make its return to Lincoln Elementary School. Thanks to the generous financial support of the Lincoln PTA, we are able to provide this wonderful experience for all of the students at Lincoln. The PA Farm Bureau Mobile Ag Lab is a “is a 40-foot mobile classroom that travels across the state of Pennsylvania bringing an interactive field trip style experience directly to schools and students in grades K-8. The Mobile Ag Lab is equipped with over 30 STEM-based science experiments and lessons, a certified teacher, and all the supplies needed for a hands-on learning experience. Each science experiment is designed to emphasize a different aspect of agriculture, including Pennsylvania’s commodities, the environment, biotechnology, food and fiber. While on our lab, students work cooperatively to solve a problem as they form a hypothesis, collect data and draw conclusions while focusing on the scientific method. Each lesson on the Mobile Ag Lab focuses on increasing student knowledge on the importance of agriculture and its impact on their daily lives.” (Excerpt taken from https://pfbfriends.com/ag-lab/)

We are so excited to offer this different learning experience for the students at Lincoln. Thanks again to the Lincoln PTA for sponsoring the PA Farm Bureau Mobile Ag Lab!

BOGO Scholastic Book Fair at Lincoln May 18-19-22

Support your school by shopping at our Scholastic Book Fair!

• VOLUNTEER SIGN UP
• Book Fair Promotional Letter
• Book Fair Schedule
• Book Fair Homepage
• E-Wallet Letter
• In a Buy One Get One Free Book Fair, all profit is passed on to the purchaser in the form of buying one book and receiving one free book of equal or lesser value in lieu of cash or Scholastic Dollars earnings.

Donation Opportunity

We usually use earned Scholastic Dollars to pay for books for students unable to shop. Unfortunately, Scholastic Dollars cannot be used on the buy one, get one deal. If you would like to fund purchases for students unable to shop, please use THIS LINK to donate to “Abe LincolnStudent” in Mrs. Staub’s Pre-K class. All funds donated to this account will be used to purchase books for students who would otherwise be unable to shop. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Maureen Staub

mstaub@mtlsd.net

We continue administer the spring benchmark assessments to students in using AimsWeb Plus and Measures of Academic Progress (MAP). The MAP assessments (Measures of Academic Progress) are given in reading and mathematics for all students in Grades K–5. The MAP assessments are administered on-line using Chromebooks and/or iPads. Additionally, students in Kindergarten – Grade 3 will take the AIMSWeb Plus literacy and mathematics assessments. These tests target literacy and math development skills and are proctored individually to each student in Kindergarten - Grade 1, while students in Grades 2 - 3 will take these assessments within their homeroom classes. Year end reports will be sent home with all students in June 2023. If you have questions about these assessments or about how they impact when support services are offered, please speak with your child’s classroom teacher or Dr. Kitsko.

We're just days away from our Spring Sing (& Other Things) Concerts! Students in Grades 1-5 have been singing, moving, playing, and creating in their Vocal Music Classes to prepare for these special performances. Families should make plans to attend in-person or to tune into the live stream at bit.ly/41r2TNJ All performances will be held in the Lincoln Elementary School Gymnasium, and family members are welcomed to attend.

Note: There is no specific dress code for the performance. Students are asked to wear something nice to school on the day of their performance.

Guests should access the school using Door A1. Should guests need a wheelchair accessible entrance, please inform the office so arrangements can be made for those guests to enter the school at Door B3.

Grade 5 Performance

• Tuesday, May 23
• 10:30 AM

Grades 1 & 3 Performance

• Wednesday, May 24
• 10:30 AM

Grades 2 & 4 Performance

• Wednesday, May 24
• 2:50 PM

On Thursday, May 25th at 2:30pm, our Lincoln Band and Orchestra students will be performing for their fellow students and the school staff. The musical selections will be the same ones families saw at the evening concerts earlier this spring. While we do not have the space to accommodate our students' families for this concert, we will be livestreaming this concert for families to view if they choose to do so. The live stream link can be accessed via the link below.

• Students in Grades 1 – 5 will have an early dismissal at Noon on Friday, May 26, 2023. Students will not eat lunch in the school this date.
• Both sessions of kindergarten will attend school on this date.

School will not be in session on Monday, May 29, 2023, in observance of Memorial Day. School resumes on Tuesday, May 30, 2023. Please make note of this day off for the students on your calendars.

We are excited to announce that we will be hosting a Career Day this year for our fifth graders! On May 31st, our fifth grade students will be given the opportunity to attend a Career Day that introduces students to a variety of career possibilities. In planning for our Career Day, we are looking for nine speakers to volunteer 30 minutes of your day to speak with our students.

During the morning of Wednesday, May 31st, there will be instrument selection for students in grades 2 – 3 (this does not pertain to students who will be continuing with an instrument – just for those starting a new instrument). Grade 2 students will only be able to try out for strings; students in grades 3 can try out for a band instrument or a string instrument. Information about the instrument selection process will be sent out by Mr. DeLaurentis, Mrs. Harris, and Mrs. Wockley. All questions about instrument selection should be directed to one of them at ddelaurentis@mtlsd.net, aharris@mtlsd.net or kwockley@mtlsd.net.

In celebration of the end of the 2022-2023 school year & "graduation" to Jefferson Middle School, our 5th grade students will be participating in Lincoln Elementary's 5th Grade Field Day. Details are as follows:

• DATE: Friday, June 2nd
• TIME: 12:00 - 3:15
• WHERE: LINCOLN PLAYGROUND
• ACTIVITIES: Kickball, Volleyball, Basketball, & Softball* *Bring your baseball/softball glove, a water bottle (both labeled with your name) & sunscreen!
• LUNCH: Provided by the Lincoln PTA

Please direct questions to one of 5th Grade teachers - Ms. McElhinny, Mr. Ogg or Mrs. Zutz. We hope to see your student here on June 2nd!

On Monday, June 5, 2023, we will once again be having our Lincoln Elementary Grand Finale. This day, which is being sponsored by our Lincoln PTA, is our own take on a school-wide field day. Events are being selected to involve the students in different types of art, music and athletic activities. The various activities are designed to be fun learning experiences for all students. Lincoln Elementary Grand Finale event stations will be set up throughout the school building and grounds. We are planning some great things for the students for June 5th! A parent volunteer form is linked below. We need lots of help to make it a "grand" day for everyone involved.

The following field trips are scheduled in upcoming weeks. Please make sure that the students have submitted the appropriate permission forms to the classroom teachers in advance of the trip. Parent chaperones MUST have all three (3) clearances on file to serve as a program volunteer for all of these field trips. Feel free to contact the school office with questions. Thanks to the Lincoln PTA for its financial support for many of the Lincoln Elementary School field trips.

Grade 5

• Meadowcroft Village
• Tuesday, June 6, 2023
  
• 8:45 am – 2:00 pm

Tuesday, June 6, 2023

• Regular school day
• Last day for K (PM) with a normal 3:30 pm dismissal

Thursday, June 7, 2023

• Last day of school
• K (AM) students will dismiss at 11:20 am
• Grade 5 Clap Out at 11:45 am
• Grades 1 – 4 will dismiss at 12:00 Noon

As you may know, on the last day of school each year, we celebrate our 5th graders with the Grade 5 Clap Out! We line the hallways with all of our other students and staff, then have the 5th graders walk through through the school one last time to a rousing round of applause. The 5th graders then exit Door A1 to see their families.

We will be hosting this year's Grade 5 Clap Out on Wednesday, June 7th at 11:45 am. All elementary schools will be holding their individual Clap Outs on this same date and time. Please make note of this on your calendars if you have a Grade 5 student at Lincoln. Get your cameras and Kleenex ready! Families are asked to remain outside of the school during the Clap Out.

As you may recall, as part of the District’s ongoing commitment to the social and emotional wellbeing of our students, we piloted the PASS Survey last spring. After careful analysis and review, we have determined that this tool will be helpful in achieving the District mission of providing the best education possible for each and every student.

PASS provides teachers with highly reliable and valid information into how students feel about themselves as a learner and how they feel about school. Research backed and standardized, PASS allows schools to detect possible barriers to student learning, including issues around confidence, resilience, motivation, and concentration. The PASS survey will allow our school to proactively address non-academic barriers to learning, which can compromise the wellbeing and academic success of our students.

The survey questions for Grades K-2 and Grades 3-5 are available for your review. We plan to administer the survey again at Lincoln this month. If you wish to not have your child participate, please inform your child’s teacher. Requests to opt students out from the PASS survey submitted in the fall 2022 will still be honored. Questions about PASS can be directed to me or Dr. Marybeth Irvin, our Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education, at mirvin@mtlsd.net.

Dr. Ron Kitsko

Principal

As we continue to administer the spring benchmark assessments to students at Lincoln in grades 3 through 5. Reading and Math support classes with Mrs. Criswell, Mrs. Zajac and Mrs. Woessner will not be in session. This is due to the fact that the support teachers will be administering PSSA assessments in grades 3-5. Once all PSSA assessments are complete, the support teachers will then begin our Aimsweb Spring benchmark assessments with students in grades K-5 for reading and math. Support classes will not be in session until further notice.

Kindergarten registration packets for the 2023 – 2024 school year are available at all elementary school offices. Students MUST be 5 years of age BEFORE September 8th to be eligible for enrollment in kindergarten this fall. To register a child for kindergarten, please complete the 2023-2024 Kindergarten Registration Sign-Up form (It will open for submission on 2.1.23). Upon completion, kindergarten parents will be directed to the online enrollment center where kindergarten parents can download and complete all necessary registration documents; if preferred, kindergarten parents may also request a registration packet to be mailed home. Kindergarten parents may submit completed packets digitally to Mrs. Elizabeth Smith (elizabethsmith@mtlsd.net), or call the Lincoln Office, at 412-344-2147 to make an appointment to drop off registration materials.

Click on the Links below for helpful information to begin this process:

• 2023 Kindergarten Registration Flyer

• MTLSD Kindergarten Website

• Kindergarten Readiness Brochure

Lincoln School Office will be in communication with kindergarten parents regarding kindergarten orientation and screening dates & times as spring approaches.

We look forward to your child joining us!

How many times have you said, "I don't understand this new math?" We have a solution! Investigations has a resource you can access online to help. Click on the button below, choose your child's grade level, and then the concept. Videos will be provided for every math concept that is taught.

Schoology, the Mt. Lebanon School District's official Learning Management System (LMS) provides families with a deeper look into their student's classwork and learning progress. As of the Fall of 2022, all online assignments will be collected through Schoology.

Calendars in Schoology will have school events listed as well as course events and assignments. Beginning in 2022-2023, the Schoology calendar will replace Dashboard/PowerSchool as the primary calendar for classroom activity. Classroom assignments, due dates, reminders and other events will be posted by teachers in the Schoology calendar.

If you have questions or need support with Schoology, please email us at SchoologySupport@mtlsd.net

For Families

• Families can sign into Schoology by going to app.schoology.com and signing in using the email address registered through PowerSchool.
• Once signed in, parents can follow these directions to join a course.
• The access code for Lincoln families to join MTLSD's Family Guide to Schoology is NTSQ-D33Z-MCD3R.Families with more than one student only need to join one course, though it is suggested to join a secondary course if the oldest student in that family is enrolled in one of our secondary schools.
• If you have not received initial communication from Schoology about your account, email us at schoologysupport@mtlsd.net.

• Students sign into Schoology using Clever, or at mtlsd.schoology.com with their Google account.

If you are interested in getting to know the family experience in Schoology, please consider checking out the following resources. The webinar series covered four major topics:

• Using the Calendar
• Viewing Courses
• Communication and Notifications
• The Schoology Mobile App

Each video is organized into "chapters," which you can use to find specific content within each video. You can do so either by scrolling across the video timeline, by clicking a chapter title, or by clicking a timestamp in the video description.

PBIS or Positive Behavioral Interventions or Supports is a school-wide positive behavior support system or set of strategies and systems to increase the capacity of schools to (a) reduce school disruption, and (b) educate all students including those with problem behaviors

• Clearly defined outcomes
• Research-validated practices
• Supportive administrative systems
• Use of information for problem-solving

WHAT ARE THE FEATURES OF PBIS?

• Establish regular, predictable, positive learning & teaching environments.
• Train adults & students to serve as positive models.
• Teach and model behavioral expectations
• Create systems for providing regular positive feedback.
• Acknowledge students when they are “doing the right thing”.
• Improve social competence.
• Develop environments that support academic success.

Month Long Recognitions

• Asian Pacific American Heritage Month - This commemorates the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and marks the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks on the project were Chinese immigrants.
• Haitian Heritage Month - Celebrated as an expansion of Haitian Flag Day, this recognizes the heritage and culture, as well as honors contributions, of Haitian Americans.
• Jewish American Heritage Month - Held in May due to the highly successful celebration of the 350th Anniversary of American Jewish History 2004, this month recognizes the diverse contributions of the Jewish people to American culture.
• Mental Health Awareness Month (or Mental Health Month) - This aims to raise awareness and educate the public about mental illnesses and reduce the stigma that surrounds mental illnesses.
• Older Americans Month - This was established in 1963 to honor the legacies and contributions of older Americans and to support them as they enter their next stage of life.
• Better Hearing and Speech Hearing Month - This annual event provides an opportunity to raise awareness about hearing and speech problems, and to encourage people to think about their own hearing and get their hearing checked.

Specific Dates

• May 14: Mother’s Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society.
• May 15: International Day of Families is annually observed by the United Nations across the world to highlight the important affairs central to the welfare of families, such as health, education, gender equality, rights for children, and social inclusion among others.
• May 21: World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, a day set aside by the United Nations as an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the values of cultural diversity and to learn to live together in harmony.
• May 29: Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States to honor and mourn the U.S. military personnel who have died in the course of carrying out their duties.

https://www.mtlsd.org/district/diversity-equity-inclusion

• May 4: National Day of Prayer (US- Interfaith)

• May 8 - 9: Lag BaOmer (Jewish)

• May 18: Ascension Day (Christian)

• May 23-24: Declaration of the Báb (Bahá'í)

• May 25-27: Shavuot (Jewish)

• May 25: Feast of the Ascension of Christ (Orthodox Christian)

• May 28-29: Ascension of Baháʼu'lláh (Bahá'í)

• May 28: Pentecost (Christian)

https://www.mtlsd.org/district/diversity-equity-inclusion

As we are in the spring weather season, I want to remind our students about what they should to wear during outdoor recess.

• Anytime the temperature dips below 50ºF, students should wear a jacket (of some type) outside.
• While it is a family decision as to what each student wears to school each day, I would suggest that students not wear shorts on days when temperatures are forecasted to be below 50ºF.
• Having an extra pair of pants available (left in a student’s locker) is a great way to avoid emotional situations if students wear shorts to school on cold weather days.
• We check AccuWeather and The Weather Channel apps for the current local temperature and “feels like” temperature at several times each day.
  

If your child is experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19, please contact your child's school nurse immediately. The direct contact for any illness/COVID-19 or injury related questions or reporting of symptoms should be your child's school nurse.

If your student is COVID positive, please complete the COVID Student Notification Form in addition to notifying the school nurse.

Please be aware that we are coming up on the 5-year mark from when many past volunteers have submitted their clearances. Clearances for volunteering within the district will expire after 5 years and will need to be renewed. If you have any questions or need to know the date(s) your clearance(s) expires please email Mrs. Smith at elizabethsmith@mtlsd.net.