Hello Families and Supporters,
Happy Friday! We had a beautiful day to end our week after a rainy day for Field Day yesterday. This week was a busy one with many kids participating in the Cortland County Dairy Parade, 4th graders going to the Cortland County AgStravaganza at the County Fairgrounds, and Field Day yesterday. Our school won best overall entry at the Dairy Parade and the kids who were on the float sang their hearts out in Spanish during the parade. I was so proud of how they represented us.
Similarly, our 4th graders did well at the AgStavaganza and had so much knowledge. They learned some new things, but also could have presented some of the other information because they had already learned it at our school throughout the year or in past years. Next year, we might have to work out for our students to present at this event.
Thank you so much to Mrs. Boyden for organizing Field Day on Thursday. And a super huge thank you to the volunteers who came out and spent their day with us helping to run or set up stations or serve lunch: Courtney Harrington, Mary Finch, Jamie Smart, Genevieve and Jeff Mezzo, Cassy Vickery, Eric Petit-McClure, Peter McClure, Tiffany Ackerman, Jessica Zimmerman, Jamie McKinney, Paul Downing, Kay Reakes, Kristen Leach, Kim Eckhardt, Deb Burton, Amanda DeLee, and Celia Daniels. Thank you also to the many parents who came and spent the day with their children and all of our staff who worked so hard to make this day a success for our students! We are so grateful for you, our school family and community!
This year, we added another new staff member to our school. Laurie MacPherson has joined us as a part time teaching assistant. Here is a little information about her:
I am Laurie MacPherson and I am excited to join the staff at Truxton Academy as a TA. I live in Pompey with my husband and two children and lots of pets. (1 dog, 2 cats, 2 parakeets, 1 bunny, 2 goats, and 8 chickens) While I’ve been working recently as a forest school teacher and an editor, I’ve also spent many years working in libraries. Some of my favorite things are reading with my kids and working in my vegetable garden. I also really love spending time in nature and learning all about our local plants and animals. I like to write, especially about history. I am the vice president of the Pompey Historical Society, where I get to learn about some of the interesting history of the area. I can’t wait to get to know everyone in the Truxton Academy community!
Laurie is here on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays through the end of the school year. Please welcome her if you see her.
The Board and Staff surprised me with a little recognition ceremony yesterday in front of the students and parents who were around after the field day activities ended. I was so surprised and thank them very much for their kind words. They made me cry right before we took a school wide photo. The students then all brought me cards (and made me cry again). I truly love this school and community and will greatly miss seeing the kiddos every day after once this school year ends. We have two more weeks together though and I am very grateful for that. Thanks to the Board and Staff for their thoughtful gift and the recognition.
Looking ahead to the 2022-2023 school year:
I can't believe this year is almost over, but it is. We are already planning for next year where our school will include grades K- 5. There will be some changes in grade levels for some teachers. We are still hiring for one classroom teacher position. Please spread the word as we want someone great who is an enthusiastic teacher and a great fit for our mission. Here is our plan for grade level assignment for next year:
Kindergarten- Miss Elliott
1st Grade- Miss Smith
2nd Grade- Ms. Jess
3rd Grade- Mrs. Francis
4th Grade- currently open
5th Grade- Ms. Chelsea
We are Hiring:
We currently have openings for the following positions for this year or the upcoming 2022-2023 School Year:
- Head of School (2022-2023)
- Social Emotional Specialist (Social Worker or Social Emotional and Academic Intervention Teacher) (2022- 2023)
- Classroom Teacher (2022- 2023)
- Substitute Teachers (current and 2022- 2023)
- Teacher of the Arts: Music, Drama, or Dance (2022-2023)
All positions are posted on indeed.com.
If you know anyone who is interested, please ask them to send a resume and cover letter or letter of interest to info@truxtonacademy.org
Important Note from the Office-
As the warm weather has arrived, we are experiencing several speeding vehicles in the school zone particularly at arrival and dismissal times. Please adhere to the 15 mph speed limit and remember these are all our children.
From the Truxton Academy PTO -
Read-a-Fun Fundraiser: The PTO is extending the Read-a Fun Fundraiser through June 17th. Please have your children keep reading and reaching out for sponsors. We are really excited to promote reading and help our school raise the necessary money for our ongoing needs. Thank you so much for your support! Keep reading kiddos!
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. Donations Needed for our Garden: Our garden is progressing well, and we are in need of some materials for weed control. We are looking for: - non glossy black and white newspaper - well broken down hay mulch or any stage of straw - A large plastic rubbermaid-type container with a lid to hold the newspaper until we get it laid down on the garden bed. We are also looking into the idea of adding rain barrels to help with our garden watering. We are picturing a structure for them to stand on that is raised about 4-5 feet off the ground. If you are able to help us plan and execute this idea, please email Sara (sara.petitmcclure@gmail.com) Upcoming Dates- Check out our calendar of events here: https://www.truxtonacademy.org/calendar-of-events 6/13, 6:00 PM- Board of Trustees Meet and Greet- prior to the board meeting, please join the board members for light refreshments and get to know the wonderful volunteers who help govern our school 6/13, 7:00 PM- Board of Trustees Annual Meeting Board Meetings are held in person at Truxton Academy Charter School in the pavilion, weather permitting, or in Room 105. 6/14- K, K/1, and 1st grade Hiking Field Lesson and Picnic to Tinker's Falls (parents are invited to join) 6/15- 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade Hiking Field Lesson and Picnic to Tinker's Falls (parents are invited to join) 6/15- Kindergarten Graduation 5:30 PM 6/17- 4th quarter ends 6/20- No School- Juneteenth 6/23- Last day of School 6/24- Professional Development Day Updates from the classrooms (Due to this week's hectic schedule, not all classes have an update, but lots of learning happened regardless): Miss Elliott (K): This week in Kindergarten we: *Read 'Scraping The Sky' as a class and focused on reading cvc words *Worked together to solve spelling puzzles *Identified words with short vowel sounds *Identified the names of animals by sounding out the letters in its name *Created a treasure map for our treasure hunt on the playground next week *Worked together to find the missing addend when the sum is 10 *Had so much fun with friends and families on our field day :) Mrs. Francis (K/1): This week in K/1 we:*have been captivated by Magic Tree House #1 during our read aloud time! We talked about setting, characters, character traits, and have been making predictions about what will happen next. *worked with ee and ea words, as well as adding in oa words. *added 2 digit numbers together using manipulatives to help guide us. *continued writing stories of our choice. *started a Social Studies unit called "My Place in the World". We learned about our planet, the 7 continents, and our country. We worked on a project to the this all together. *learned the names and values of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters, as well as poems to help us remember how to tell them apart. *had a blast (even through the rain) on Field Day! There were so many fun stations! Miss Smith (1st): This week in first grade we: -had a wonderful field day! Thank you to Ms. Boyden for planning such an incredible day! -had some fun dunking Ms. Smith in the dunk tank! -signed each other’s yearbooks while Ms. Smith held back tears! -learned about the different layers of the Rainforest! Ask your kiddos if they can remember some of the layers and why there are different layers! -learned what a food chain is and the different types of consumers! Ask your kiddo what meat eaters, plant eaters, eaters who eat both meat and plants are called! -learned about some of the different kinds of animals that live in the Rainforest! -presented our ocean animals to the second graders! -Read the book, ‘What would you do with an idea?’ Ms. Chelsea (4th): Ask your 4th grader about... - What a "conversion factor" is and the mnemonics they learned to recall how customary units of measurement compare. (Length: A "y" with three feet, Capacity: "Once in the land of Gallon there lived four queens, and each queen had two puppies, each who drank two cups of milk a day.") - The "End of the Year" Choice Board projects we began this week. - The AgStravaganza! (How dense plants affect erosion, go-slow-woah foods, how an apple is like a flower, bark grafting, alpaca vs. sheep fiber, how forestry can help you save money on your bills, the difference between a beef and dairy cow, how cows get their names, the difference between the hammer at home and a maple tapping hammer, and how many bees a queen bee lays in a lifetime. ) - What sensory details are, and the tip I gave for finding places to add them to your writing. (Highlight the nouns in your work, then see if you can add more sensory description! Write about the setting so that someone can close their eyes and see/hear/touch/smell/taste what you envision. ) Mrs. Boyden (PE): This week in PE was choice week where each class voted on their favorite games to play! Check out my teaching Instagram Mrs.boyden_pe for pictures of our class activities! We also had our Field Day! Rain or shine we had a blast! Thank you to all the volunteers who made it possible and to the PTO for the bounce house and dunk tank! Mrs. Boyden (Makerspace): This week in Makerspace 3rd and 4th grade continued to work on their smore ovens! K-2 finished the 9 circle challenge. And we did a project for end of year teacher gifts! We have posted a lot of pictures of activities in the past couple of weeks. Check out our facebook and instagram pages for pictures of our students' learning throughout the year: https://www.facebook.com/truxtonacademy
Thank you, as always, for your support of our students and our school family! Enjoy the weekend!
- Sara and the Truxton Academy Team