Craddock's Weekly Update

For the Week of November 28, 2022

Mrs. Menta's Message

Welcome back Craddock!


We hope you had a fantastic five days with your children but cannot wait to see their adorable faces back tomorrow! We are rested, recharged and ready to take on this stretch from now through winter break! It's going to fly!


We are so excited to welcome our new secretary, Mrs. Kerchenski tomorrow. She is all set up and ready to go! Please know that we are no longer checking emails for Mrs. Bayer, so if you need anything at all, please reach out to Mrs. Kerchenski. A little bit about her and her contact information are located below.


Our first trimester Gather reports go live this Friday! Please make sure you read the letter below if you need support on accessing your child's Gather portal. You are also more than welcome to reach out to me!


Have a wonderful week and feel free to reach out if you need anything at all!


Take care,


Kim Menta

kmenta@aurora-schools.org

330-562-3175 - office

216-849-2552 - cell (call or text)

Welcome to Craddock Mrs. Kerchenski!

We are very excited to welcome Mrs. Jenny Kerchenski to Craddock starting Monday, November 28th. She will be our new secretary and working hard to fill Mrs. Bayer's big shoes!


Mrs. Kerchenski comes to us with a lot of experience working with people, as well as within the Aurora City Schools. She did a lot of volunteer work with the PTO and Band Boosters. She also spent time as a paraeducator at Harmon Middle School. She has since been a substitute secretary for the district and spent many days last year at Craddock! She is entering the role of secretary with great experience and solid knowledge.


In her free time, Mrs. Kerchenski loves to work in her flower garden and spend time with her beautiful family. We are very excited to have her here and know she will be a wonderful fit for Craddock, helping all the staff, students and families. Please make sure to reach out and welcome her! Her email is jkerchenski@aurora-schools.org and she can be reached at 330-562-3175.

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Craddock Transportation Request 22-23

If at any time, you wish to change your child's mode of transportation for one or more days, you must fill out the Google form attached. We are no longer able to accept notes, phone calls and/or emails to do this, outside of emergencies. Thank you!

Here we go again Craddock! Help us dominate across all the buildings for the second year in a row! We are so excited for this fun event once again and look forward to being able to contribute a lot of help to others!

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This week in PE students learned a new game from Nigeria, Africa called Ambutan. The children of Nigeria bury a stick in loose sand/soil and take turns scooping the soil away with their hands. Whomever causes the stick to fall loses. In PE we used a rhythm stick and beanbags. Mrs. Jessel is seeking other games from around the world. If you and your child would like share one please send it to her via email.

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News from Mrs. Ambrosia, Craddock's School Counselor

Greetings Families! I hope this finds you enjoying this fall weekend! As the school year progresses, I have had many conversations with families about behaviors presenting at home. Our students do an excellent job of following our school expectations using respect, responsibility and problem solving throughout the day. When they return home to their safe space, there may be a potential rise in behaviors. With this particular age group, I find myself using the Love & Logic approach to interact in a positive manner with the students. As a parent, I have found this blog super helpful. Also, for those students experiencing an emotional overload during unexpected events, it’s often because they’re not sure how to cope or self-regulate. I hope this coping skills poster provides them with some activities to try when feeling overwhelmed.


Mrs. Lindsey Ambrosia

School Counselor

Craddock Elementary School

330.562.3175, ext. 1260


Craddock's Nurse, Mrs. Courtad

Mrs. Courtad plays a HUGE part in ensuring all of our students and staff are safe and well taken care of while at Craddock each day. If you ever have any questions or comments for her, please don't hesitate to call her directly at 330-954-2147 or send her an email at dcourtad@aurora-schools.org.

Miller Preschool Peer Applications for 23-24

Miller Elementary is currently accepting applications for those interested in having your child be a part of our special education preschool program for 2023-2024 as a role model peer. Applications will be available beginning November 1st. 2022 at the Miller Elementary School Main Office and online at our website, www.aurora-schools.org. All forms must be returned by Wednesday, November 30th, 2022. All children must be 3 years of age and potty trained by August 1st, 2023. Please call Miller Elementary at 330-562-6199 if you have any questions. Thanks!

Craddock's Reporting System - Gather

For all of our first grade families and new-to-Aurora families, you will notice that Craddock does not follow the typical quarterly schedule the rest of the district does due to our reporting system. We are incredibly lucky to be part of Gather. This is a narrative reporting system that will provide you with an in-depth look of how your child is progressing in regards to our standards.


Please click the button below to read the letter, which will provide you much more information on the program, as well as how to access it and when. Feel free to reach out to your child's teacher or our main office with any questions!

Car Rider Protocol - IMPORTANT!

Many thanks for your patience as we get things up and running. It will take us a few weeks to run at optimal speed. We will work daily to fix, modify and adapt things to be as efficient as possible. Your patience is greatly appreciated by all our staff.


Students can be dropped off at 8:40 a.m. at the earliest! Please do not allow them to exit your car until that time, as there is no staff to monitor them. Pick up will begin promptly at 3:10 each day. If everyone knows the system and cooperates, we will have all students in cars in 15-20 minutes.


Here are some things I need all car rider families to do, which will help immensely.


  • Please do not use Willard to line up for drop off or pick up. We are working with the police to get it blocked off, but in the meantime, please avoid it. Enter Hurd Road off of New Hudson and begin lining up there. Please see the map below for guidance.
  • Parents are not permitted to get out of their car when dropping off or picking up their child(ren). It is one of the main reasons the flow of traffic slows down. If you need to do that, you must pull into a marked parking spot. Again, we ask you don't do it at all. We have plenty of staff available to help your child in or out safely.
  • All students must exit their car on the passenger side of the vehicle. We understand this can be tricky with child locks and car seats, but it is in the best interest of all our car riders to have it be this way. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
  • We are not permitting people to turn left into the school from Hurd Road. You will be asked to continue down Hurd, turn around and join the end of the line.
  • We ask that you please respect the guidelines we have set up and follow them consistently. Everyone involved in the car rider process, staff and parents, thank you!
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Mark Your Calendar

Friday, 12/02 - Trimester 1 Gather Narratives are LIVE

Monday, 12/05 - Wednesday, 12/07 - The Holiday Shop

Wednesday, 12/21 - Winter Parties from 2:15 - 3:00

Thursday, 12/22 - Tuesday, 1/03 - NO SCHOOL (Winter Break)

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Important PTO Information

Click Here to Join Aurora's PTO

If you'd like to join PTO, please click the link and fill out the form.