Afton Elementary School

Newsletter

December 7, 2007

Dear Parents and Guardians:

Reading Incentive Team:

Another year is flying by. Our students participated in their first Reading Incentive Awards ceremony on November 30. We had an outstanding number of elementary students, 120, who became JV Readers. Afton Elementary students and their families once again showed their creativity in the many projects that were on display during the last two weeks of November. These projects showed scenes from favorite stories. They included dioramas, posters, models, cubes, and even one oil painting. Thanks to all who participated.

The highlighted literary genre for December and January is folklore. Folklore, stories that have been orally passed down from one generation to the next and from one country to another, encompass many forms including fables, fairytales, tall tales, myths, legends, and nursery rhymes. Mrs. Palmerπs kindergarten will be giving a presentation on December 14, and Mr. Matthewsπ fourth grade will present on December 21. Both assemblies will begin at 2:15 p.m. in the elementary cafetorium.

Please be aware that January 25^th is Dress Like a Favorite Folklore Character Day. Take some time over the holiday vacation to explore some of the many possibilities with your child. Keep up all the great reading as we enter the next phase of our program. This is a great time to sit down with your child and discuss their reading progress. Let them know how proud you are of their accomplishments and set goals for improvement. Stress with them that learning is a life-long process, and we all should strive to do our best in everything we do.

Parent/Teacher Conferences:

Parent/Teacher conferences were held on November 29 and 30. We are glad that so many of you could come in to meet with your childπs teacher(s). Communication with parents is very important to us. You are your childπs first educator and working together as a team with the school is crucial to ensuring your childπs success. If you have not had a conference with your childπs teacher, please call today and arrange one. We like to meet with all of our parents at the end of the first marking period to discuss your childπs strengths and needs and to set goals for the remainder of the school year. Your support is appreciated by all of us.

Miles of Quarters:

The United Way sent us a thank you letter for our donation of quarters. We collected $193.35 for the Chenango County United Way. Thank you all for your support!

Grandparentsπ Day:

Grandparentsπ Day, a Celebration of Family, was a huge success. This was a school-wide effort and everyone worked as a team to provide this incredible program. Kindergarten, First and Second grade students performed poems and songs. Third graders made flowers for our visitors. Fourth grade students provided decorations and served as greeters and Fifth grade students designed the program. The elementary band and chorus performed under the direction of Chris Luttinger and Thomas Bittner. A slide show was presented depicting typical elementary happenings. We thank Michelle Howard and Stacey Gridley for taking photos and putting this slide show together. The program ended with a sing-a-long led by Thomas Bittner. This was a great time and what a wonderful way to show our appreciation for family!

Food Collection:

Pastor Dolly from the Afton Methodist Church attended our Grandparentsπ Day celebration to accept donations of non-perishable food for the Afton and Bainbridge food pantries and soup kitchens. Thank you so much for your generosity. We collected a large amount of food and your support will help many families in the area. Thank you!

Along with December comes even colder weather! Here are a few reminders:

• Please remember that when there is a one or a two-hour delay, breakfast is not served. Also, band, chorus and/or Morning Program are cancelled. Students are not permitted in the building until 9:40 a.m. (one-hour delay) and 10:40 a.m. (two-hour delay). This is important because the staff arrives later and there is no supervision for students arriving early.

• Please be sure to dress your child according to the anticipated weather. Please see that he/she wears boots when the ground is wet or covered with snow as well as a hat, mittens and heavy coat. Parents will be notified when their child does not have proper clothing and asked to dress them appropriately the next day for outdoor play.

• Recess is held outside whenever possible. There have been concerns about our outside temperature policy. To address this, we have checked with other districts in our BOCES and the consistent policy is for students to go outside if the temperature is not below 20 degrees including the wind chill. Recess periods are part of the state required physical education program and mandated by our wellness policy. We will honor a one-day written request to keep a child indoors, however, after that a doctorπs note is required per school policy.

Congratulations to our November Citizens of the Month:

First grade: Caleigh Stevens

Second grade: Victoria Swislosky

Third grade: Travis Neumann

Fourth grade: Sabrina Robinson

Fifth grade: Elyse Davis

The following students made honor roll for the first marking period. In celebration, all honor roll students were invited to a celebration breakfast in Mrs. Ludwigπs room on December 12. Thank you Mrs. Ludwig! We are so proud of all of these students for their academic accomplishments:

4^th Grade 5^th Grade

Alexanderia Alford Joseph Birch

Kerstin Canaday Tyler Burns

Nikita Caratelli Brenna Caiati

Joseph Cardenas Elyse Davis

Kelzie Collins Robert Dawson

John Corey Conner Erckert

Connor Decker Michelle Fransen

Joseph DeVona Emily Greenwood

Nolan Erckert Tanya Hatton

Shyahna Gaydorus Rebecca Haynes

Stephanie Golden-Thomas Timothy Kelly

Conor Graven-Briggs Julia Knapp

Daniel Graven-Briggs Joshua McAvoy

Daniel Graves Ellie Mertz

Nicole Haynes Oliver Mohr

McKayla Hodge Cassidy Phillips

Daphne Knapp Christiana Raymond

lexis Lockwood Addie Shapley

Dakota Lockwood Bailey Sherman

William McManus Caleb Stevens

Brittany Palmetier Elizabeth Swislosky

Sabrina Robinson

Rebecca Sickler

Dominic Smith

Dominic Steele

Leslie Tallmadge

Allison Wylubski

Our annual Holiday Breakfast will take place on Friday, December 21. Breakfast is free to all students on this day. This is a wonderful tradition that we do year after year.

Our Winter Concert featuring the Elementary Band and Chorus will be Monday, December 10, at 7 p.m. in the auditorium. All band/chorus members are to report at 6:30 p.m.

DATES TO REMEMBER

Monday, December 10 Holiday Concert 7:00 p.m.

Participants report at 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, December12 Honor Roll reward breakfast 8:00 a.m.

(4^th & 5^th grade honor roll students)

Friday, December 14 Team Read grades K-2 assembly 2:15 p.m.

Friday, December 21 Holiday Breakfast - Free to all students

Team Read grades 3-5 assembly 2:15 p.m.

Monday, December 24 ≠ Holiday Break

Tuesday, January 1

Please be sure to enjoy these final weeks of 2007. Have a restful and enjoyable holiday with your family and friends.

Sincerely,

Kimberly Werth

Elementary Principal

KW:js

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MISSION STATEMENT

Working together within an environment of respect, creativity, and academic challenge; we will use all available resources to help all students learn to be responsible, productive and eager to continue learning.

WHATπS HAPPENING

A GUIDE TO HOME EVENTS

Tuesday, December 11	Boys Modified Basketball vs. Cincinnatus	4:30 p.m.
Wednesday, December 12	Varsity Bowling vs. Sidney Girls Modified Volleyball vs. Hancock Girls JV Volleyball vs. Greene Girls Varsity Volleyball vs. Greene	3:45 p.m. 4:30 p.m. 6:00 p.m. 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, December 13	Boys Varsity Swim (area schools)	5:30 p.m.
Friday, December 14	Boys JV Basketball vs. Unadilla Valley Girls JV Basketball vs. Unadilla Valley Girls Varsity Basketball vs. Unadilla Valley Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Unadilla Valley	4:15 p.m. 4:15 p.m. 6:00 p.m. 7:30 p.m.
Monday, December 17	Boys Modified Basketball vs. Greene	4:30 p.m.
Tuesday, December 18	Boys JV Basketball vs. Sidney Girls JV Basketball vs. Sidney Girls Varsity Basketball vs. Sidney Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Sidney	4:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m. 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, December 19	Boys Modified Basketball vs. Harpursville	4:30 p.m.
Thursday, December 20	Boys Varsity Swim (area schools)	5:30 p.m.