News From Fort Zeller Elementary
January 2024
Principal's Message
As we close the door on 2023 and excitedly begin 2024, it is important to recognize the opportunities ahead of us, while acknowledging the great accomplishments behind us. As a school community, we have worked hard during the first half of the school year; focusing on our three PBIS goals to support our students in reaching their fullest academic and social-emotional potential.
- Be Responsible
- Be Respectful
- Be Ready to Learn
Evidence of our building goals were seen throughout our classrooms. This focus was also evident during conversations with staff working collaboratively to support our students academically and social-emotionally.
The first half of the school year established our solid foundation, preparing our students for the rigor, perseverance, and application necessary to push their academic and social-emotional learning to new heights. Similarly, our winter break provided time for reflection and rejuvenation, resulting in new strength and new thoughts to end our year strong. I look forward to watching student strengths and thoughts come alive in the classroom during the second half of the year. This looks different within each classroom and for individual learners, but can be observed in class discussions focused on students making connections to the instructional activities, posing high level questions, and exploring their thinking and the thinking of others. Let the 2024 learning adventure begin...HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Take care,
Jodi Houck
Important Information
1. Drop Off - With the weather getting cooler and for student safety, please remember that parents SHOULD NOT drop students off prior to 8:30 unless you see a staff member outside greeting students and the doors are opened. Students dropped off prior to staff being available are out in cold weather and unsupervised which is not safe.
2. Winter Testing - January is the time we complete our winter testing with students. They will be completing the Linkit! testing for ELA and math, Acadience, and Spring Math in early February. These assessments give us the information we need to help our students grow academically. Please make sure your children come to school rested and ready to do their best.
3. February Parent/Teacher Conferences - These conferences are not for all students and by teacher invitation only. If you do not receive an invitation for a conference, but would like to talk to your child's teacher, please feel free to reach out to them at any time.
4. Kindergarten Registration - Please help spread the word that kindergarten registration will be opening soon for the 2024-2025 school year. Please keep an eye out for more information.
LOOKNG AHEAD
Jan. 2: (Day 4)
- Welcome Back to School! Happy New Year!
Jan. 3: (Day 1)
- School Board Meeting @ 6:00 pm
Jan. 5: (Day 3)
- Family Groups
Jan.12: (Day 4)
- Raider Readers
Jan. 15: (MLK Day)
- No School
Jan. 16: (Day 1)
- Board Meeting @ 6:00 pm
Jan. 17: (Day 2)
- End of the 2nd Marking Period
Jan. 22: (Inservice Day)
- No School for Students
Jan. 31: (Day 3)
- Two Hour Late Start
Operation Warm a Child
Students and Class of the Month
Kindergarten - Ethan F (Miss. Kolovani) & Lillian G. (Mrs. Yocum)
First Grade - Ja'Cory B. (Ms. Ogurcak) & Riley U. (Mrs. Hartman)
Second Grade - Lucas S. (Mrs. Kane), Evelyn W. (Mrs. Jackson) & Adam G. (Mrs. Wenzel)
Class of the Month - Mrs Zurick's AM Kindergarten Class
During the month of December, we were focused on cooperation. Throughout the month of January, we are focusing on courage. Courage means being able to do things that make you nervous, unsure or afraid.
Holiday Sing Along
ELCO Food Pantry & Caring Closet
The ELCO Raider Food Pantry is Open!
The ELCO Raider Food Pantry is now open and available for the ELCO families. With the support of our ELCO staff, local businesses and churches, we are able to provide our ELCO families with an additional resource.
If you are in need of immediate assistance or you'd like to donate to the ELCO Raider Pantry, please reach out to Kelly Smith, ELCO Social Worker, at 717-306-3242 or Kim Wilson, ELCO Food and Nutrition, at 717-306-3270 for a confidential appointment to the pantry.
Raider Readers
Our Raiders Readers visited Fort Zeller in December. Our HS friends read the story Thank You, Omu! (pronounced AH-moo). The story focused around showing compassion towards others.
For the follow-up activity, students thought about what they can do or say to show compassion. Students created a “Recipe for Compassion Soup”.
It is always such a wonderful experience for our students when the High School Students come and read with them!
Counselor's Corner With Mrs. Brosius
Families, I can’t believe 2024 is almost here! This school year is flying by! Here is what we’ve been up to with Mrs. Brosius!
R.E.A.C.H. Lessons
December
Kindergarten was introduced to a Little Spot of Anger. We talked about angry feelings and what happens to our angry spot if it gets too big. It will pop, just like a balloon, and we might do things that aren’t nice like yell, stomp, hit, or throw things. We thought about what Peaceful Spot taught us last month and brainstormed ways to shrink our angry spot to a more manageable size!
First graders made “sweaters” for special people in their lives. We talked about compassion – what it means and how to show it! We read the story Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett, about a little girl who finds a very special box of yarn and uses it to make her town a better place!
Second grade students also focused on compassion. We read the book Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts. The main character, Jeremy, showed compassion by ignoring what he wanted and giving someone what they needed. Sometimes taking care of other people can be difficult, and that’s ok, but it makes our world a better place to be!
January
Kindergarten – We will meet a Little Spot of Anxiety!
First – We’re going to talk about Growth Mindset and the Power of Yet!
Second – Second graders are going to be talking about diversity and what makes each of us unique!
Small Groups
I am starting a whole new round of small groups when we return from the break! So if your student hasn’t started their group yet, they will be starting very soon!
PBIS
Our students are doing an awesome job of filling their bee cards! So far this year, Fort Zeller students have filled 2,270 bee cards! I am so proud of them for being so respectful, responsible, and ready to learn!
Library Sparks - Mrs. Davis
We celebrated Dino-vember at the library this month!
Kindergarten explored fictional dinosaur characters and laughed at How Dinosaurs Eat Their Food by Jane Yolen.
First Grade learned about what it means to be extinct and loved meeting Mo Williams character Edwina in Edwina: The Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She was Extinct. First grade also worked on dinosaur activities in Keynote on their ipads.
Second Grade began learning about research, fact and opinion and strategies for finding information. Second grade enjoyed finding facts, collecting data in a Would You Rather survey, and sorting facts vs. opinions about dinosaurs.
What's New in Music Class?
In Kindergarten, students are finding the heartbeat of music through songs like Johnny Works With One Hammer and Alligator Pie. Students are writing quarter notes and eighth notes. (Ta’s and Ti-ti’s)
First grade students are learning note names and values. They are practicing to draw the quarter, half and whole notes. They also started their first musical listening story!
Second grade students are working with the blues scale, soloing techniques on the ukulele and discussing new musical genres.
A Note From ART - Mrs. Panza
This month in Mrs. Panza’s art classroom, all grade levels and artists were working with collage materials of paper, glue and scissors. Kindergarten artists started creating collages and made choices about how abstract they want their artwork to look (with some inspiration from Henri Matisse’s The Snail). Students also listened to Snail Trail by Jo Saxton for inspiration for their snail work. First grade artists used the elements of art and collage methods to create their winter artwork. We used tools to create repetitive markings on the paper. Charley Harper’s minimalist Cardinal artwork was something we looked to for ideas. Cardinals were the focal point (principle of emphasis) of the artwork that also featured a winter background and cutting of complex shapes. Second grade artists created collage artwork this month focusing on organic and geometric shapes with a winter landscape setting. Artists also used the color wheel as a resource when selecting a color group/family/scheme for their winter landscape. Printmaking details were added as finishing touches.
Thanks for a great month in art class!
Get Moving in Physical Education - Mr. Babiarz
December was a very active and fun month in physical education classes. Students completed a physical fitness unit, during which they learned how their bodies become stronger from exercise while playing fitness games like Rock-Paper-Scissors-Fitness, Spin the Pin and Dice Race. All of the activities within the fitness unit had hearts pumping, muscles working and students smiling. There were even active games that incorporated the use of a projector to turn the gym into a theater so that students could play “video” games like Balloon Pop and Level Up.
Our students are very excited about the month of January, as we will introduce the rock climbing wall. Everyone will learn how to “traverse climb”, which is when someone safely climbs sideways across the rock wall. As students master the art of traverse climbing, they will learn a number of fun climbing games that involve coordination, balance and concentration!
What's Happening in Kindergarten
What's Going on in 1st Grade
During the month of December first graders have been working on the “h brother” digraphs, th, and ch. The students also explored different strategies to help solve subtraction problems to 20. We also began Spring Math this month, a daily math intervention. First graders also learned about holiday traditions in other countries around the world. Plus they were able to shop at the PTO’s Gingerbread Shop, Thank you PTO!
2nd Grade Updates
Reading Corner
Recently, we started the program “Books 4 Raiders”. Once a month, each student will have an opportunity to select two books to keep at home. The purpose of this program is to create a love for reading. The level excitement, which our students have shown thus far, for getting “new” books has been gratifying to experience. When the books come home, you will notice a rubber band around the books, with a yellow note attached to a book. The note explains the program and also states that the books can be kept at home. We hope your child enjoys reading or listening to their “new” books being read aloud! Happy reading!!
Social Media #ELCOexcellence
ELCO School District is growing our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram channels. Click on the icons and follow along!
Why:
Celebrate our students.
Keep parents, students, alumni, and the community in the loop of what is happening in our district.
Promote the great things happening such as athletics, activities, and other events.
Build an ongoing conversation about the positive impact our district is making in the lives of our students!
What do I need to do?
If you are on these social media channels – follow us!
Help promote these accounts to your family and friends.
If you aren’t on these platforms – that’s OK. The district will continue to provide communication through traditional channels.
Nurse's News
Hello families! Hope everyone is staying healthy this holiday season. Just a quick reminder regarding flu and cold season. If your child is experiencing any symptoms, such as a temperature of 100 degrees or higher, vomiting, or diarrhea, please keep your child home. They must be free of fever (without fever reducing medication) vomiting, and diarrhea for 24 hours before they may return. We have this policy in place to keep our staff and students healthy and reduce the spread of any contagious illness. If your child requires a medication, please have their doctor fill out the attached paperwork for the nurse to be able to administer it to them. The medication must be brought in its original container received from the pharmacy. Please do not send any medication in without this information, it will not be administered to your child.
The nurse’s office is looking for donations! Boys and girls pants sizes 6/7 and 8/10. If your child has borrowed school clothing, please remember to wash and return, we are running low due to clothing not being returned. A huge THANK YOU to the families who donated items already, we greatly appreciate you!
Have a wonderful holiday season!!
Thank You! ☺️
PTO
1. On Tuesday, January 10, 2024, at 6:30, our PTO will host its next meeting at Fort Zeller in the library. Most meetings will be held on the first Tuesday of every month. We hope that you will consider joining our meetings and provide your valuable input to support our students and staff at Fort Zeller.
2. Volunteering: If you have an interest in being a volunteer in your child's classroom or in our school, please use this link, https://www.elcosd.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=918, to complete the necessary paperwork on clearances. Don't hesitate to call our office at (610) 589-2575 if you need additional assistance.
News from Fort Zeller's PTO
Hello Fort Zeller Families!
Thank you to everyone for an amazing school year so far. Without all of you we couldn’t do the fun events, like the gingerbread shop, book fair, race for ed, etc that we do for the kids at Fort Zeller.
We are so grateful for all our volunteers and families that contribute to the PTO!
Here are some current items going on -
2nd Grade Year Book Cover Contest
All 2nd grade students are invited to enter an original design ✍️ to be considered for this year’s Fort Zeller Elementary School Yearbook 📘. The winning cover design will appear on all yearbooks, and the winning artist will receive a FREE yearbook! See guidelines below.
Designs are due back January 9th 📘
Save the dates -
🗓️ January PTO Meeting - Wednesday, January 10 @ 630PM
🛼Roller Skating Party at Mt. Gretna Rollers Skating Rink
Saturday - February 3
💰 Coin Wars - Starts Monday, February 5
🗓️ February PTO Meeting - Wednesday, February 7 @ 630PM
Gingerbread Shop
Thank you to our PTO for organizing another AMAZING Gingerbread Shop for our students and staff. There were so many wonderful gifts to shop for and our students had the best time picking out those specials gifts for the loved ones in their lives. Thank you to all the volunteers who came in to help our students shop, wrap, and have fun!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
January
2 - Kayson Miller
3 - Levi Frable
4 - Ezekiel Baer
5 - Oliver Mohn
8 - Joseph Noll
9 - Hunter Boltz, Adam El Gamal & Joslyn Thome
10 - Emily Lane
11 - David Hollinger, Andrew Mellon & Ellen Walmer
14 - Aleah Young
17 - Presley Lutz & Corbin Sclesky
22 - Declan O'Neil & Josiah Cruz
25 - Josephina Polukhin
27 - Le'Lani Cherry & Parker Martin
28 - Wyatt Schaffer & Hayden Marchetti
29 - Eliza Frederick
31 - Jeanne Gregro & Eleanora Brosey
Contact us
Fort Zeller Elementary School
243 North Sheridan Road
Richland, PA 17087
Phone: (610) 589-2575
Fax: 610-589-5815
Email: jhouck@elcosd.org
Website: https://www.elcosd.org/Domain/211
Location: 243 North Sheridan Road Richland, PA 17087
Phone: (610) 589-2575
Twitter: @ElcoFort