Hello Families and Supporters,
Happy Saturday! With the winter holiday season in full swing, we hope you and your family are experiencing holiday joy even as we have a warm rainy day that does not feel too much like December. We have had quite the mix of weather this week, but our students have been able to have some fun in the snow a few days this week.
Many families filled out a survey giving input on the format for our winter concert. We appreciate that input. At this time, the way we can best present the work students have been doing in music and in the drama enrichment groups is through a virtual format. We will have a live virtual showing of the children's work put together by Mr. C on December 21st. We hope folks can join us live to appreciate all the hard work the students have been doing in their music class.
This event will be recorded and available for families to view at a later date as well. We are hoping to do an in person performance in the spring either outside in our pavilion as we did last year, or in the gym with windows open when the weather is warmer.
Messages for Families Family Survey:
Thank you to those of you who have already completed the survey. This feedback will be helpful as we plan for the remainder of the school year. If you have not taken the survey yet, please do so. We estimate this may take 10 to 15 minutes to complete. If you are choosing to give feedback, please do so by 12/13. We appreciate you taking the time to help us grow. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YGYSSSN
Winter Clothes:
As the weather is getting colder, please send your child to school with a coat, hat and mittens, as well as boots and snow pants as the snow comes. It is also helpful to wear layers inside the building as the temperature in our old building changes throughout the day. Your child may leave their winter gear in their locker if you wish. They will still need sneakers for PE on many days as well.
If you need help getting winter gear for your child, please reach out and we will assist you in getting some warm clothes.
Winter School Closures:
In the case of school closure due to inclement weather, we will post on Spectrum (https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/weather/closings) when our school is closed. For the most part if Homer Central Schools are closed, we will be too since we fall within their district's geographical boundaries, but there may come a time when we need to close and they do not.
If your local district of residence is closed, there will be no bus transportation provided for your child on that day. If we are still open and it is safe for you to transport them, please do. If it is unsafe or you are unable to transport them, please keep them home. It will be an excused absence
Remote Learning Preparations:
Should we have an abundance of snow days this winter, we may choose to make some snow days remote learning days. Information will be sent out via email if this is the case. All teachers are preparing for the possibility of us having to go remote either due to an abundance or snow days or due to COVID quarantines. Please reach out to your child's teacher if you do not receive information about how to access their google classroom.
A Note from the Nurse:
If a child needs to sit out of PE or Recess we require they come in with a medical note. Please make sure that we are notified if they have to sit out and also notified of when they can participate again.
COVID Vaccination Information:
Now that there is a vaccine available for children ages 5- 11, some families are choosing to get their children immunized against the COVID-19 virus. This is not a required vaccine, however, it is important that we know if you are choosing to have your child vaccinated for contact tracing and quarantine decisions. Please send an email to Mrs. Leaf (leaf.carmer@truxtonacademy.org) and Mrs. DeHart (tdehart@homercentral.org) if you choose to have your child vaccinated after they receive each of the shots. You do not need to send in copies of the cards at this time, as Mrs. DeHart is able to look it up once she is notified.
A Note from the Office:
Please have your child check the lost and found for any of their missing belongings. There are many gloves and artiles of winter gear that have been found.
Community Information
The YMCA is collecting can openers and other good as part of their holiday food drive. Please see the attached flyer if you want to contribute.
Ways to Help Our School
Sign up for and use Amazon Smile with Truxton Academy as your chosen charity
Amazon Smile is a division of amazon that donates a portion of sales from many items to a variety of charities and nonprofits. Truxton Academy is one of those nonprofits. If you are purchasing items from amazon, please go to https://smile.amazon.com/ and choose Truxton Academy as your charity of choice. Purchases you are making anyway will benefit our school.
3- 4 STEAM Enrichment Program Dog Treat Fundraiser
We have our presale link for our STEAM Team dog treat fundraiser. Students have worked hard to provide a delicious, natural and fun treat for our furry friends. Treats can be sent home with students or picked up at the school on Thursday, December 23. Please indicate in the comments which you prefer. Thank you!https://www.signupgenius.com/go/904084EA5A82DA2F85-dogtreat
PTO Fundraiser:
Treat your taste-buds and support the Truxton Academy Community at the same time! Hollenbeck’s Cider Mill has graciously partnered with the PTO on a Pie Sale Fundraiser from next Wednesday, 12/15 – Sunday, 12/19. Mention Truxton when you purchase any of their delicious pies during that period and TA will receive 10% to support our students and school. Hollenbeck’s encourages you to order ahead but will honor this deal on impromptu purchases as well. Email Erin with any questions at pto@truxtonacademy.org. Please see the attached flyer and spread the word.
Food Drive:
Volunteers are collecting food donations from now until Monday December 20th to give to students over the upcoming school break. If you would like to donate there is a list foods needed. Any additional questions please contact Courtney Harrington, parent, by email at nharrington687@gmail.com or (607)427-1108.
Upcoming Dates:
12/13/21: Board of Trustees Meeting 7PM- in person and via zoom
You can also join via Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/91567143586?pwd=cGM3bjZlemxGTGVtUmMwRk5WdG5iQT09
Meeting ID: 915 6714 3586
Passcode: 9ia1fw
PTO invites you to join us for our monthly (virtual) meeting Thursday, 12/16 from 5:30PM-6:30PM via zoom at:
https://cornell.zoom.us/j/3684590088?pwd=L3pGTUhvKzJ2aURzK1VjdFR2NmNkQT09
Meeting ID: 368 459 0088
Passcode: 943676
Phone: +1 646 518 9805 US (New York)
12/17- National "Ugly Christmas Sweater Day"- We invite everyone to wear an Over the Top holiday sweater to bring some extra joy to the school on this day.
12/24/21- 12/31/21: No School- Winter Holiday Break
1/3/22- School Resumes
Updates from the classrooms:
Ms. Elliott (K):
This week the kindergarteners worked on:
-counting/combining small amounts and writing the numbers
-finding items that begin with the sounds of the chosen letters
-expressing themselves in our 'all about me' theme for social studies
Mrs. Francis (K/1):
Ask your K/1 student about:*Blending words which use our new letters Mm, Rr, and Bb (words like man, rip, cob) and how we read a 5 letter word!!! (grass)
*The reading strategy of Stretchy Snake
*Counting beans and making a number sentence and then representing that sentence
*Sharing our family pages with our class
*Learning about Hanukkah, making a Menorah, and playing dreidel
*Our super smelly scent challenge and all the good and bad things I had them smell (that was a lot of fun!!)
Ms. Smith (1st):
This week in 1st grade we:
*presented our community helper project
*wrote letters and said goodbye to our two awesome student teachers
*started our new phonics unit on l blends
* worked hard on subtraction word problems
*started our new reading unit on non-fiction books
Ask your students:
*what community helpers do and which on they chose to present on
* what they miss about our two student teachers
* what sounds fl, cl, pl, bl, and gl say
* if ms smith has 16 apples and 5 were eaten how many does she have left?
*what can they do to learn from a non-fiction book before they even begin to read the words
Ms. Jess (2nd):
Ask your Second Grader...-how books can teach us a life lesson and what life lessons they learned in their reading,
-how many strategies they can use to solve addition and subtraction story problems,
-how to use ten sticks and ones blocks to solve math problems like 24+16,
-the 5 parts of a letter and who they wrote a letter to,
-where some of our school food comes from,
-to retell a story to you,
-and to show you words with the vowel team 'ee.'
Ms. Madysen (3rd):
It's been a very busy week here in third grade!
Ask your third grader about...-the three prefixes un-, dis, and re- and what there different meanings
-what the different types of expository writing (biography, information/research reports, news reports)
-the topic they plan on researching more about
-what a line plot is (they've been making lots of them!)
-the different units of measure (yards, feet, inches) and how they are equivalent to one another
-how to read a historic timeline
I also had the opportunity to participate in PE with the kids one day this week and oh, what fun we had!
4th Grade:
Our fourth graders have been exploring division problems with remainders in math. Ask them about the 3 different ways to deal with remianders in word problems.
In science, we have been learning about climate change and exploring the impact on our natural world.
In ELA, the students have been working on reading nonfiction. They have been focusing on learning new vocabulary through non-fiction texts and looking at how text features help us understand the new information.
Señora H (Spanish):
In Spanish, we continued to learn about animals on the farm, "la granja", and learned a couple of fun songs. We also learned how to describe things that are big and small, "grande y pequeño".
Mr. C (Music and Enrichment Drama): In Music and After School we are preparing for our virtual Holiday performance! Mrs. Boyden (PE): This week we had some more fun in PE with dodgeball-like games! The Strider Bikes were delivered this week and I can't wait till spring to get the littles on two wheels! Check out our facebook and instagram pages for pictures of our students' learning throughout the year: https://www.facebook.com/truxtonacademy Thank you for your continued support of our school family! Have a great weekend!
- Sara and the Truxton Academy Team