Miller Elementary Weekly Update

February 12, 2023

Mrs. Goodman's Message

Hello Miller Families,


Happy Super Bowl Sunday! I hope everyone is enjoying this glorious sunny weekend. Our preschoolers had a busy week at Miller and you can see in this adorable photo that we were even practicing our throwing and catching for the big game! A big thank you goes out to our preschool staff and families for coming out to our Music and Literacy night with Ms. Abbey. She has been a community partner for the past few years and it was wonderful for you to sing, dance and read with us on this special night.


We also want to thank each of you and the PTO for showering our teachers and staff with goodies, food, and cards all week long! We feel honored to be with your children each day and we appreciate your partnership in helping your child grow, thrive and learn.


We will celebrate Valentine's Day this upcoming week along with our Random Acts of Kindness Spirit Week! Please look for specific communication from your child's teacher about our upcoming celebration of Valentine's Day and sharing cards with our classmates.


Finally, this is a reminder that we have two shortened weeks ahead as our district partakes in professional development this Friday 2/17 and we will be closed on Monday 2/20 for Presidents' Day.


Here's to a fun week ahead!

Maria Goodman

Miller Elementary School - Principal

330-562-6199

Email mgoodman@aurora-schools.org

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Easy craft: How to make a no-sew T-shirt cape

Kids Heart Challenge 2023

WOW! It's official!!!! We have passed our fundraising school goal of $7,000 with a grand total raised of $10,070.99!


We will have a celebratory assembly in early spring to recognize our entire school for becoming heart-healthy and helping to raise funds for the American Heart Association. As promised it looks like Mrs. Barnes and Mrs. Goodman will be getting pies in the face and rumor has it a few extra visitors will also be participating. Stay tuned... and THANK YOU!

Kickoff to Kindergarten 2023-2024

The Aurora City Schools' Kindergarten Registration for the 2023-2024 school year will begin in February! Please help spread the word to your neighbors and friends. We will be holding our Kickoff to Kindergarten parent-only meeting on Tuesday, February 21, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. at the Aurora Schools’ Conference and Innovation Building located in front of Aurora High School at 119 W Pioneer Trail.

Residents of the Aurora City School District who have a child turning 5 by September 30th, 2023 are invited to attend our Kickoff to Kindergarten meeting to pick up registration materials and learn all about kindergarten. We will be holding our registration days on March 8th and 9th. You will select a registration timeslot using the links shared at the parent meeting. All presentations and registration information will be shared on our district website if you cannot attend this parent meeting. Please don't hesitate to call Miller Elementary School with specific questions at 330-562-6199.

Reserved Accessible Parking Spaces

This is an important reminder about the dedicated parking spaces at Miller Elementary and all locations in the Aurora Schools for accessibility parking. We have children and visitors in our schools that utilize these spots so that their entrance and exit from school each day provide the necessary clearance for ramps and proximity to the building.


As a reminder, we have three spaces dedicated to reserved accessibility which can be found at the first two spots near the Miller entrance, and a single spot near the playground gate by the preschool doors. Both spaces allow for ramp access and proximity to the building. Families and visitors with dedicated passes are the only ones to be using these spaces.

Important Dates and Events

Monday, 2/13 - RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS SPIRIT WEEK

Tuesday, 2/14 - Valentine's Party 10:30 & 2:30

Friday, 2/17 - No School (PD Day for Staff)

Monday, 2//20 - No School (President's Day)

Tuesday, 2/21 - Kickoff to Kindergarten Parent Meeting at 7:00 PM (C&I Building)

Wednesday, 3/01 - Elementary PTO Meeting at 6:30 PM

Monday, 3/06 - No School (PD Day for Staff) *Recent board-approved change to the district calendar.

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Nurse Update: Cold, Flu, COVID, & RSV

Here are some important reminders to ensure the safety of our school community each day:

  • Check your child each day for illness symptoms. If they begin to feel ill during the day, please know our school nurse, Jackie Pawlowski, will assess your child and make contact with a family member when necessary.
  • 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 will be calling for you to come and pick him/her up. Please help to support our efforts in this area. This also is the protocol if your child is vomiting. They need to be vomit free for 24 hours to return to school.
  • We will send a Final Forms notification if there is a communicable disease reported in your child's classroom. This can help you monitor your own child and make informed decisions about symptoms.
  • Please make sure your Final Forms medical information is up to date. We will closely read the health section to address any medical concerns.


Finally, please make sure your child has extra clothes in his/her backpack. Accidents and spills happen all the time and they often prefer to have their own clothes instead of wearing our spare clothes.

School Counselor Updates: Mrs. Ambrosia

Hello Families! I am happy to share all Kindergarten Students are ZONES of Regulation “graduates.” This means they can recognize and identify their feelings and connect those feelings with possible coping skills. We have been working over the last few weeks to understand all feelings are okay, triggers may cause certain feelings, and coping skills are the things we do to self-regulate. Triggers are the events that happen right before a feeling. Coping skills help us “regulate,” independently. If we can’t self-regulate, it’s okay to ask a trusted adult to help us!


While your student has some visual reminders about coping skills within their classroom and possibly some that they brought home, I wanted to provide you with additional resources to ensure you can find the coping skill that best suits your home needs. Please check out these additional resources below:


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Moving forward, we will focus on the topics of kindness, diversity and inclusion. During this month of February, our focus will be to celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week and Black History Month. Beginning next week, we will focus on the following kind acts each day:


Monday, February 13- Tell someone, “Good job.”

Tuesday, February 14- Give a silent wave.

Wednesday, February 15- Say, “Hi!” to someone you don’t normally talk to.

Thursday, February 16- Give three students a compliment.


Kindergarten and Preschool classrooms will visit these topics in varying ways, but I wanted to share with you some of the activities and resources your children may be referring to at home:


The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation | Kindness at Home

Kindness Slide-Ambrosia

K-2 Diversity & Inclusion Literature for Families


As always, please reach out with any questions! I hope you enjoy a wonderful weekend at home with your families!


Lindsey Ambrosia

School Counselor

Miller Elementary School

330.562.6199, ext. 5414

Craddock Elementary School

330.562.3175, ext. 1260

Reporting Absences

There will be times when your child is ill or needs to miss school due to appointments.

We ask that you call Miller School at 330-562-6199 to either speak with Vicki Wolf or leave a message. Please share your child's first name, last name, teacher, and the reason for the absence. If they are going to an appointment, please ask for a doctor's note to have on file here at school. Thank you!


If your family will have a planned absence due to an event or vacation, you will need to fill out a planned absence form for our schools. Please send in a note requesting this form as soon as you know your anticipated date.


If your child is experiencing illness symptoms and you have questions for our school nurse, Jackie Pawlowski, you may call 330-954-2286. She can help answer any questions.

Important PTO Information

Hello Miller Families! Below are AEPTO updates.


1. Our next AEPTO meeting is March 1, 2023 at 10:00am.


2. Thank you to all our families who helped celebrate all our amazing teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week! Also, thank you to all our Head Room Parents for helping during the week and for organizing Thursday's plans!


3. Tuesday, February 14 - Valentine's Day classroom parties
Kindergarten AM & Pre-K AM - 10:30am-11:15am
Kindergarten Full Day/PM & Pre-K PM - 2:30pm-3:15pm


Volunteers can arrive 10 minutes early.


4. Save the Dates!


February 13, 2023 - Community Event at Gionino's Pizza! Visit Gioninos between 10:30am-9:00pm on 2/13 and Gionino's will donate 15% of proceeds to AEPTO!


March 5, 2023 - Community Event at Ol'Chefski's BBQ! Visit Ol'Chefski's between 12:00pm-7:00pm (or until sold out) and Ol'Chefski's will donate 20% of the proceeds to AEPTO!


March 21 & 22 at 8:15am - Miller Donut Days

We will divide classes between the two days -


Tuesday, March 21:

  • all preschool classes, AM & PM (Ms. Sarah, Ms. Jaime, Ms. Lauren, and Ms. Amanda)
  • 1/2 day kindergarten, AM & PM (Mrs. Verhotz)
  • Mrs. Buettin
  • Mrs. Forster

Wednesday, March 22:

  • Mrs. Sabulsky
  • Mrs. Yonally
  • Mrs. Kidwell
  • Mrs. Gallucci
  • Mrs. Jawroski
  • Mrs. Haughey
  • Mrs. Smerkar

If your family has kids scheduled on both days, please choose one day that works best for your schedule.


More information is coming. Thank you to our chair, Ashley Ingersoll, for working on this event!


Sunday, May 7, 2023 at 2:00pm - Magic Gives Back

AEPTO and the Harmon High PTO (HHPTO) are partnering with Ganley Chevrolet of Aurora to proudly present "Magic Gives Back!" This is a Vegas style magic show and a unique fundraising platform developed specifically for local schools and communities. Magic Gives back will be held at the Solon High School Auditorium.


Upcoming Events

2/13 - Community event at Gionino's Pizza

2/14 - Valentine's Day Class Parties

2/16 - Family Event at Kalahari

2/17 - No School

2/20 - No School

2/21 - Kickoff to Kindergarten Event 7:00pm at C&I Building (parents only)

2/28 - Foertmeyers Spring Flower Fundraiser starts (more info coming soon!)

3/1 - Next APETO Meeting at 10:00am

3/5 - Community Event at Ol'Chefski's

3/6 - No School

3/8 - Kindergarten Registration

3/9 - Kindergarten Registration

3/21 - Miller Donut Days

3/22 - Miller Donut Days

3/27-3/31 - Spring Break, no school


If you have any questions, please let me know!


Jen Borman

AEPTO VP-Miller

auroraptomesvp@gmail.com

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Aurora Schools Foundation

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Important Updates From Our Superintendent Mike Roberto