Dear Leighton Families,

How did we get to the end of January so quickly?!? The first few weeks of January flew by us as we were emersed in Winter Benchmarking and Aimsweb Testing. This information helps our staff to ensure to provide differentiated learning opportunities for our students and support their continued growth and achievement while supporting any needs.

As January is coming to a close we sure have felt and seen the winter weather creep in! As the temperatures have dipped over the last few weeks, please ensure that your child is dressed for the cold weather. Students should dress in warm clothes including winter coats, hats, gloves, scarves, boots, snow pants etc . We typically go out to recess if the "feel like" temperature is between 15-20 degrees or above.

For our Third Grade families, the State has released our parent score reports. Your child will be bringing home a score report and an accompanying letter this Friday. The accompanying parent letter will explain the scores and your child's results. We are looking forward to celebrating our learners successes with you and continuing to help them grow!

We are looking forward to celebrating our teachers and school counselor during the week of February 6th - February 10th which is Teacher Appreciation and School Counselor week . Thank you to our amazing PTO who always puts together a week of wonderful surprises and appreciation for our educators who work so hard each day to provide the best possible learning environments. Please see the schedule of Teacher Appreciation Events below!

We will also be kicking off Black History Month on February 1st as we celebrate diversity and learn about influential historical figures. We consistently embrace all the things that make each of us special and support our learners in celebrating those things.

Parent/ Teacher Conferences are also coming up on February 15th and February 23rd from 5:30-8:30pm or by appointment with your child's teacher. We will be holding conferences in person but a virtual meeting can be arranged if needed. Be on the look out for communications from your classroom teachers to schedule a conference time.

As we round out January we want to continue to celebrate our amazing Board of Education this Month and we want to give a special thanks to each of them for all they do to support our students, staff, administration and schools. We appreciate each of our Board Members! Thank you Pam Mehallis, Miriam Conner, Stephen Sabulsky, Mike Acomb, and Tony Zayas for all you do!!

We are looking forward to a productive, learning filled second semester. Thank you for your continued support, partnership, and active role in your child's education.

Kind Regards,

Michelle Nizen, Building Principal

Ben Lehman, Assistant Principal

After a hiatus due to a pandemic, the Aurora High School’s National Honor Society (NHS) presents a dazzling night of fun at Princess Prom. Aurora students, kindergarten through 5th grade, and their royal chaperone are invited to join us on February 4th from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. The proceeds of this magical event will help fund the NHS scholarships.

The cost of the event will be $25 and additional princesses are $10. Snacks, music, dancing, games and crafts, along with photo opportunities with your favorite storybook prince and princess are included in the magical night.

Ticket payment will be collected at the door the day of the event. Only checks made out to Aurora City Schools or exact change will be accepted as payment.

To reserve your space at the Princess Prom, please sign-up using the link below. Please realize that attendance is limited and on a first come, first serve basis. The link will go live beginning at 8 a.m. on Monday, January 16th, and will close on Friday, January 20th, by noon. The link will close once full.

After a successful introductory session of Spanish Club, we are pleased to say that we will be offering a second session beginning in February. This is a pilot year for Spanish Club and we are using our sessions this year to gather feedback and data in order to learn what works best, and to strategically structure the sessions for next year.

For this reason, and due to the extremely large waitlist, it has been decided that this second session will initially be offered to the first 24 5th graders who are on the waitlist. Parents of these students have already been contacted, and we will continue to reach out to 5th grade parents further down on the waitlist if a spot becomes available. We will also be using this session to determine how to proceed for the third and final session of this school year (which will begin in April).

We appreciate the ongoing excitement for this club, as well as everyone's patience and understanding. Our goal is to include as many students as possible, while also making it the best experience we can for those participating!

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Kayt Binns at kayt.binns@yahoo.com or Lauren Brancazio at lbrancazio@aurora-schools.org

Reminder

Here is the link for My Payments Plus:

https://www.mypaymentsplus.com/welcome

We are excited to be working with a new food service provider called the Nutrition Group! They are working to provide balanced and healthy meals to our children each day.

Click on the link below for the school lunch menus

https://auroraschools.nutrislice.com/

Please reach out to Sal Arquilla at sarquilla@aurora-schools.org for any questions.

Just a few important reminders in regards to pick up and drop off for car riders to continue to help us maintain a smooth, safe, and efficient pick up and drop off. Thank you so much for your support and help in following our safety procedures.

1. Please pull all the way up to the "unloading" zone at the top of the car line when dropping off or picking up. This allows us to load as many students as possible into their cars.

2. Please exit on the passenger side only as getting out on the other side presents safety issues for students.

3. Please DO NOT pull around cars unless a teacher motions you around. This is for the safety of our students. At times, cars may be stopped to wait for a student to get in. Please wait for the adult outside to motion cars through the traffic flow pattern.

4. Please make sure your child is ready to exit when they reach the front of the car line .

5. Please be sure to have your orange tag in your car window visibly so staff can see it when calling students to cars. If you need another orange tag, please ask a staff member who is outside.

Thank you for your help in making the car line run as smoothly and safely as possible.