Hello Families and Supporters,
Winter has arrived and this week. We had an interesting mix of warm and cold weather. One day the kids got outside and played in the snow and the next they enjoyed some beautiful sunshine. This week was Spirit Week and it was so fun to see the students show their Truxton Academy School Spirit with different themes each day!
I got into all of the classrooms this week during their Readers' Workshop time and was so impressed with the reading work that students are doing. The 4th graders are working on character analysis and relating the characters' lives to their own. The second and third graders are working on reading tricky words, not only with regards to how to say the word, but also figuring out what the word means. The first graders are working on using different strategies to figure out tricky words and using more than one strategy when the first one doesn't work. The kindergartners are practicing letter sounds and finding words and pictures in their book that start with certain letter sounds. The progression from learning to match letters to sounds to being able to think through the meanings of words and comprehend complex stories that relate to real life is a beautiful thing to see. I am so proud of all of the hard work our students and instructional staff are doing!
There is a lot of important information in this email so please read it all thoroughly.
Messages for Families
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.
A Note from the Nurse:
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 at this point, 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 (tracy.dehart@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.
If you are looking for a way to get your child vaccinated, Kinney Drugs has some local options that may be available.
These no-cost vaccination clinics for students in Cortland County Schools, age five (5) to eleven (11) will be located at two sites, the Homer Training and Education Center at Homer High School and OCM BOCES McEvoy. Here are the clinic dates and times below……
(1st dose clinic) Tuesday, 11/23 3-8 p.m. OCM BOCES Cortland-McEvoy Campus
(2nd dose clinic) Tuesday, 12/14 3-8 p.m. 1710 NY-13, Cortland NY 13045
(1st dose clinic) Monday, 12/6 4-8 p.m. Homer Training and Education Center @ Homer High School
(2nd dose clinic) Monday, 12/27 4-8 p.m.
Complete all of the requested registration information for the 11/23 clinic at BOCES McEvoy visit this link: https://kinneydrugs.as.me/CortlandCitySchoolsPediatricCovidClinic
For the 12/6 clinic by visiting this link: https://kinneydrugs.as.me/HomerCentralSchoolsPediatricCovidClinic
There are limited slots, so in order to take advantage of this opportunity, each guardian must register their child for the vaccination as soon as possible. We thank Kinney Drugs for offering these clinics to students in Cortland County!
If you choose to get your child vaccinated and they have a minor immune response to the vaccine, here is guidance on whether or not they should come to school the next day: Basically, if they have a cough, shortness of breath, runny nose, loss of taste or smell, or a sore throat, these are not signs of an immune response and they should stay home and follow protocols for illness. If they have a fever, this is a sign of an immune response, but the guidance still requires them to stay home until they are 24 hours fever free without fever reducing medicines. If they have muscle pain, fatigue, headache, chills, or injection site pain, they are not required to stay home from school, but can do so if these symptoms make school very uncomfortable for them. These are typical signs of an immune response to the vaccine and there is no need for medical attention unless they last more than 2 days.
Nutrition Update with Ms. Taylor
In the Truxton Academy cafeteria we take food pretty seriously, and we want you to as well! We believe nutrition is the best gift we can give our children to help them stay healthy now and in the future. We'll be popping into the newsletter every two weeks sharing seasonal recipes the whole family can cook together, re-growing projects, grocery shopping tips, etc., and whatever else we think you would love! If there are specific topics you'd like to learn more about in the cafeteria section of the newsletter feel free to email me at taylor.foster@truxtonacademy.org, and I'll do my best to accommodate! As a certified Functional Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach I have the expertise and knowledge to answer your nutrition questions as well. I would love to include a nutrition Q&A piece to the cafeteria section of the newsletter every so often, so start emailing me all those questions you have and let the food fun begin!
Community Information
Food Pantry/ Turkey Give Away
The Truxton/East Homer Methodist Church is hosting a food pantry and turkey give away. Thanks to those families who donated food for this effort. Please see the attached flyer to take part in the turkey and food give away.
Upcoming Dates:
11/22- Second Grade Field Lesson to SUNY Morrisville - trout and diary programs
11/24- 11/26- Thanksgiving Break- NO SCHOOL
12/21- Winter Concert Time and method TBD
Updates from the classrooms:
Ms. Elliott (K):
Our kindergarten friends have been working really hard through our challenging math unit called collect, count, and measure. All week they've been using connector cubes to measure the lengths of objects and comparing their quantities. We've also been using our comparing and measuring skills during science. We categorized leaves focusing on their size, shape, edge pattern, tip shape and texture.
Mrs. Francis (K/1):
Ask you K/1 kiddo about: - Our new letter sounds Gg and Oo
- Using our Eagle eyes super power when reading
- Creating their own surveys and finding out what their classmates like and dislike
- Their favorite and least favorite things
- How our eyes work and how cool the perception picture we saw were (monkey vs. mountain lion, duck vs. bunny)
Ms. Smith (1st): Ask the students in Ms. Smith's class about: *What are Pollinators? *What are different ways seeds travel to other places? *About their new handmade number lines! *What are some ways we can help protect the water? *What is the difference between long and short vowels? *What are some expectations of reading with a partner? Ms. Jess (2nd): Ask your Second Grader about...-"huh?" words and how to fix their own mistakes in reading -if order matters in subtraction -what they are grateful for -and what food they are researching to find out where it comes from. We have our Trout Field Lesson Monday November 22nd. We will be outside the whole time so please pack snow pants, boots, coat, hat and mittens. Thank you! Ms. Madysen (3rd): Ask your third grader about…-4 strategies readers use to help figure out how to pronounce and define hard words (chunking the word, does it look like a word I know, does it sound like a word I know, using what has happened in the story to see if it makes sense) -how authors use context clues (gist, synonyms, antonyms, definitions) to help readers figure out the meanings of hard words -the different shades of meanings words have -the first draft of their personal narrative -how mathematicians use data to collect information about a question and then organize it into categories. Ms. G (4th): The 4th graders have been working super hard in math this past week. They learned a new strategy of using arrays and breaking them apart to help them solve tough multiplication problems. The 4th graders also started a new unit in writing about realistic fiction. Ask your kiddo what their realistic fiction story is going to be about... their ideas are pretty interesting! The 4th graders also finished a class read aloud about The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo. They really enjoyed the book and some of their "minds were blown"... See if they will share with you what the read aloud was about :) Señora H (Spanish): In Spanish, we learned how to talk about our families. We also learned the phrases Buenos Dias, Buenas Tardes and Buenas Noches. If your children would like to access some great Spanish songs, stories, games, and crafts, they can log into Rockalingua.com. Log in: Truxton Password: 1234 Mr. C (Music): We are planning a winter concert for December 21st. Please answer this quick survey as we gather information about how to best meet our communities needs for this concert: https://forms.gle/SVnL1oVCtm8QZDMp9 Mrs. Boyden (PE): In PE Kindergarten & 1st grade we learned and practiced overhand and underhand throwing! We worked with partners and played games to help us with our throwing! In 2nd - 4th grade we began our football unit! Learned how to pass and catch and football through a variety of games. We even tried our first game of flag football! Thank you for your continued support of our school family! Have a great weekend!
- Sara and the Truxton Academy Team