February 2020

Union Pleasant

Elementary School BACKPACK EXPRESS

The Newsletter of Union Pleasant Elementary School

Inside this issue:

PTSA News 2

Calendar 3

Mrs. Agle, School Nurse 4

Staff News 4

Days Off

in

February:

February 17—21

for

Mid-Winter

Recess

From the Desk of Mrs. Peffer… In this age of technology, paper works best!!

At UPES, it is very important to us that each child goes to the correct point of dismissal at the end of the day. Lately we have been receiving emails, instead of written notes from parents regarding dismissal changes. While this might seem like a viable option, often times the email is sent to only one office staff member and that office staff member may not be at school every day. We have had several times when this has happened recently, and we are scrambling at the end of the day to check with parents about dismissal plans. In order to be sure that we know the correct point of dismissal for YOUR child, please send a note with your child to be given to his/her teacher. Thanks for your support in this very important matter!

All-County Band and Orchestra Auditions Union Pleasant had a number of intermediate band and orchestra students who auditioned on Saturday, January 11, 2020, at Depew Middle/High School as part of the Erie County Solo Festival. From this audition, some students are selected for participation in ECMEA All-County Band and Orchestra. This is a solo festival in which our students worked hard to prepare solos, play scales (if applicable), and sight read music. They are given a score out of 100. Being selected to audition is quite an accomplishment. Congratulations to the following students who represented our school at this audition. They are:

Victoria Anderson (violin) – who scored a perfect score

Michael Scerra (bass)

Reilly Herbert (flute)

Ava Kurzel (flute)

Leela Mascia (trombone)

Mikayla Mason (alto saxophone)

Rory O’Brien (horn)

Sarah Reagan (clarinet)

Emma Sipos (baritone) – who scored a perfect score

Elise Smith (tuba)

Upcoming Concert for Fifth Grade Band

The Showcase Concert will take place at the Hamburg Middle School on Feb-ruary 10 at 7:00 PM. Students are asked to report to the Middle School Cafeteria at 6:45 PM. For the concert, the fifth-grade bands from Union Pleasant, Armor, Boston Valley, and Charlotte Avenue Elementary Schools will combine to form one big band. In addition, the sixth-grade band will perform. Concert attire for participating students is black on bottom and white on top. To prepare for the concert, there will be a rehearsal at the Hamburg Middle School on Monday, February 10, from 9:15 – 11:00 AM. Buses will transport band students to and from the Middle School. Students will return to their respective buildings in time for lunch.

PTSA News!

Co-Vice Presidents: Emily Mainier (412) 389-9490 and Tara Daggett (716) 361-0787, unionpleasantptsa@gmail.com Treasurer: Sandy Wittmeyer , swittmeyer@hcsdk12.org

UPES PTSA Meetings: The next PTSA meeting is Wednesday, March 11, at 3:15 PM in the Library Media Center . We welcome new parent involvement. Please consider joining us to ensure we have another successful year. SIGN UP TO BECOME A PTSA MEMBER TODAY! Hamburg Central PTSA membership fee is $8.00 per year and you must renew your membership every year. We ask that you please complete the ONLINE APPLI-CATION to join the PTSA. Your donation goes right back into providing PTSA-sponsored programs for your children in our school. Online Registration Directions:

1) Go to: https://hamburgptsa.memberhub.store OR Scan this QR Code 2) Go to “memberships” 3) Enter your information.

Please contact Marcy Koch with any questions about PTSA membership: mogrodnick@hotmail.com Niagara Chocolate Fundraiser: February 13 deadline Orders are due for the Niagara Chocolate Fundraiser on February 13. Pickup dates will be in March. Infor-mation will be coming home with students regarding times and dates. Learning Fair - Friday, March 6, from 6:00 PM—8:00 PM AT UPES UPES Learning Fair is an exhibition that showcases a variety of student interests on topics including science, history, music, animals and more! Projects are displayed in a format of the student’s choice and design. Use of the school Library Media Center for research is encouraged, but projects are completed outside of school. Registration information will be sent home in your child's folder. Fifth-Grade Moving Up Day: If you are interested in helping with the 5th Grade Moving Up Day Activi-ties, please email Kat Walsh - katwalsh1222@gmail.com or Sarah Ely -sarahely3384@hotmail.com. Concert Clothing Closet: Our students grow fast and the PTSA would like to help take the stress out of purchasing new concert clothing. We are collecting donations of good-condition concert clothes and shoes (black bottoms, white shirts) that our students have outgrown. Prior to our school concerts we’ll have Open-Closet hours for families to come in and pick out concert attire that fits their child. All we ask is that you send it back to school clean, and ready for the next student. There is a donation bin in the front office.

Spirit Days: Wear these colors to show your school spirit

Friday, February 14th – Red & Pink Valentine’s Day Attire

Tuesday, February 25th – Bulldog Pride Purple & White Day

Union Pleasant Elementary School – Calendar of Events

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

2

3

4

5 6 7:55 AM –

Select Chorus

7 Sundance Kids

Farm Visit to

Kindergarten

8

9 10 Pennies for

Patients drive

ends

Gr. 5 Band

Showcase

Rehearsal at Middle

School;

Gr. 4 -5 Fiddle Fest

Rehearsal at UPES

7:00 PM –

Gr. 5 & 6 Band

Showcase Concert

at Middle School

11 6:00 PM –

Board of Educ.

Budget

Session/

Regular

Meeting at

UPES

12 8:00 AM – Art

Club

7:00 PM

Gr. 4- 12 Fiddle

Fest Concert at

High School

13 PTSA Niagara

Chocolates

Fundraiser

ends

7:55 AM –

Select Chorus

14 Valentine’s Day

Wear Red &

Pink Spirit Day

15

16 17

President’s Day &

Mid-Winter

Recess

- No School

18 Mid-Winter

Recess

– No School

19 Mid-Winter

Recess

– No School

20 Mid-Winter

Recess

– No School

21 Mid-Winter

Recess

– No School

22

23 24 25 8:00 AM – Art

Club

Bulldog Pride

Spirit Day

26 8:00 AM – Art

Club

WNY Dental

assembly for Gr.

K-2 students

Milk for Health

Magic Show for

Gr. K-2

27 7:55 AM –

Select Chorus

28 29

2020

February

School Phone Number: 646-3280 Main Office Mrs. Jacqueline Peffer—Principal Mrs. Susan Wilson - Assistant Principal Mrs. Mary Beth Murray—Secretary Mrs. Sarah Boehringer-Snyder - Secretary Mrs. H. Cantie (Social Worker)x4218 Ms. J. Pula (Social Worker) x4216 Mrs. R. Ganey (Psychologist) x4102 Kitchen x4800 Mrs. Kathy Phillips (Cook Manager) LMC x4137 Ms. Barbara Donovan (LMC Specialist) Attendance/Health Office Mrs. Erin Agle - Nurse 646-3287 Mrs. Renée Zogaib - Secretary 646-3288 Mrs. Amy Carter - Aide 646-3287

Website Address:

www.hamburgschools.

org

Union Pleasant Elementary

School

Editor: Mary Beth Murray

From Mrs. Agle, Our School Nurse...

Parent Handbook on our Website

Information regarding our school and policies can be found in the Parent Handbook on our school’s web page at

http://www.hamburgschools.org. Go to the Union Pleasant page and click on the link on the right-hand side.

Backpack Express Deadline All articles for the Backpack Express are due by the third Thursday of each month. Due to mid-winter recess, arti-cles for the March edition are due by Thursday, February 13, 2020

Due to page constraints, some articles may need to be modified. Submissions can be placed in the mailbox located in the main office. Please include your name and phone number in case there are any questions.

Are you going on vacation while the kids are in school? Please fill out a vacation form and submit it to the attend-ance office to avoid daily phone calls and a unexcused ab-sence. Medication in school………. Please do not send medications of any kind to school with your child. We are not allowed to give your child medication during school hours, unless we comply with the following regulation of the New York State Law:

1. A written order from the doctor, indicating name, fre-quency and dosage of medication.

2. Written permission from the parent allowing the school nurse to dispense the medication.

3. A supply of the medication, properly labeled in the origi-nal container from the pharmacist, brought to the Health Office by an Adult. Student may not br ing medica-tions to school.

This rule is for the safety of your child and the other children in the building. Medication in the wrong hands can be harmful to others. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter! Many parents ask, “When is my child sick enough to stay home from school?” Fever in the past 24 hours Vomiting in the past 24 hours Diarrhea in the past 24 hours Chills Sore throat Strep Throat (must have been taking an antibiotic for at least

24 hours before returning to school) Bad cold, with a very runny nose or bad cough, especially if

it has kept the child awake at night Head lice – until your child has been treated according to the

nurse or doctor’s instructions.

Staff News… Mrs. Julie Maxson is now here as a full-time Computer Aide. Prior to January, she worked between our building and Boston Valley Elementary. We welcomed the following to our staff at Union Pleasant Elemen-tary: Mr. David Coffee – teacher aide Mrs. Amy Carter – health office teacher aide Mrs. Sarah Boehringer-Snyder—main office secretary