M E S P R E S S

P R IN C IPA L’S COR NER

M o n t g o m e r y E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l V a l l e y C e n t r a l S c h o o l D i s t r i c t

141 Union Street

Montgomery, NY 12549

Phone: 845-457-2400

Main Office: ext-14511

Attendance: ext-14507

Online: www.valleycentralschools.org

JANUARY 2016

Dear Montgomery Families,

Happy New Year to all of our MES families! I like the following quote from Michael Josephson; “Approach the New Year with

resolve and find the opportunities hidden in each new day.” At times, we take things for granted and forget how lucky we are

with what we currently have. I hope that 2016 brings your family and your friends good health and much happiness. We are all

very fortunate to have such a caring and supportive school community!

With only three weeks of school in December, the month seemed very short. It is always exciting to work in an elementary

school during the holiday season. The children are such an inspiration and get so excited during this time of year. Thanks to our

PTA, the students enjoyed a wonderful Tree Lighting Ceremony, Mad Science Assemblies, and the Holiday Boutique. It was

great to see our budding musicians perform at our Winter Concert. The students also had a great time at our MES Holiday

Express and Caroling days to end this fun month. Although the formal time of giving ends after the holidays, please remember to

continue to help the less fortunate.

This year’s budget process has been scheduled and can be reviewed on the MES homepage. Please call the District with any

questions you may have in regard to the upcoming budget. Often, second-hand information can be inaccurate and it is best to get

information directly from the District.

Please review some important dates for January:

Monday, January 4 – School Resumes

Monday, January 11 - BOE Meeting 7:15 CO

Wednesday, January 13 – MES Family Math Night @ 6:30-8:00 PM

Monday, January 18 – Martin Luther King Jr. – No School

Thursday, January 21 – K-2 MES Writing Night @ 6:30 PM

Monday, January 25 – MES BOE Presentation Night @ 7:15 PM

Friday, January 29 – PTA Family Fun Night @ 7:00 PM

It has been great to be a part of such a caring school community. Our school is very proud of all the holiday food distributed to

help our needy families. I would like to thank all of those who donated food, and all of our staff that spent so much time

organizing and distributing these food baskets.

Thank you for reading with your children each night and for ensuring that they are in school each day. Parental support and

attendance in school is critical for the success of each child. I hope you had a nice winter recess, enjoying the time with family

and friends. Everyone at Montgomery wishes you the best that the New Year has to offer.

Respectfully,

Gregory Heidemann

Principal

In declaring a New Year’s resolution, children can set personal and/or academic goals to identify a target for their own success. Setting goals is a child’s first step to success. Our students, at Montgomery Elementary, are encouraged to have high expectations for their academic achievement and set goals to improve upon their own academic abilities. It is understood that all children are different and have varied capabilities, but if children believe in themselves their accomplishments will be never-ending. Parents can help their children have more success in life and in school by investing the time to teach them how to set and reach goals. A future goal may be to earn a college scholarship, but today it may be as simple as getting ready for school independently. Think of it as a time investment. Break the task process into baby steps. You are teaching your child the fundamentals as they accomplish a step by step process of skill building. Your tasks are to teach, be a role model, and reinforce each productive behavior step. If you positively reinforce each skill along the way you will enjoy the bonus of building your child’s self-confidence. It can be simpler than you think. To assist you on this journey, the following website can be a useful resource. Nine Steps to Teach Your Child Goal Setting; please go to http://kamaron.org/Parenting-Education for more information.) During this New Year, the Montgomery Elementary faculty/staff will continue to love, cherish and embrace the individuality of each student while challenging them to do their very best and believe in themselves. Good luck and have fun on your goal setting adventure in 2016!!!

A New Year’s Resolution!

January 2016

Montgomery Elementary School

Be a Bucket Filler, NOT a Bucket Dipper!!!

Assistant Principal’s Page Mr. Matthew Canino

matthew.canino@valleycentralschools.org/457-2400 X14520

January Anti-Bullying Initiatives Mix-It-Up at Lunch:

Grades 2-5

No Name Calling Week

Grades K-5: Interactive

Read Alouds

Character Education daily

announcements

Citizens of the Month

Star Student Awards

Bucket Filler reminders!

Citizens of the Month

December 2015

Serafina Espinoza

Emily Sharpe

Giavanna DiViesti

Maeve Eagan

Bianca Ricciutto

Taylor Longo

Anna Berenson

Caitlyn Wieczorek

Emma Quaglietta

Giannie Restivo

Taylor Montalvo

Kendra Tansey

Amy Lind

Ellie Watson

Congratulations to the following students who were selected as

the “Star Students” for the month of December:

Leah Rieber

Jacob Gridley

Michael Traina

Star students of the month

december 2015

Aiden Suchy

Ryan McWilliams

Joseph Niedermeyer

Breyten Schaper

Liam Castellane

Jack Savachik

Nicholas Russio

Jacob Gridley

Jason Murphy

Kaitlyn Taylor-Certo

Camryn Faulkner

Maria Carr

Mia Steele

Congratulations to our fourth graders on a beautiful job preparing their Senior Center holiday program! Thank you to everyone who came out to carol for our tree lighting!. Also, a congratulations to all our performers in this year’s Winter Concert! We are proud of all of you and would like to recognize all of our speakers and Colin Quinn and Nahdia Mattison for their leadership! We finished out the month with our Montgomery Elementary School Sing Along! What a great way to spread Holiday cheer, singing loud for all to hear! We have so much to look forward to in January. There will continue to be opportunity for any vocalist or instrumentalist to perform solos in music class. We have enjoyed learning to sing into the microphone and appropriate audience behavior as well. All grade levels will continue to sing on solfeggio (do, re, mi) using Kodaly hand signs. Third graders will begin to learn to play their recorders and earn Recorder Karate belts. All other grade levels will be learning about the fascinating inner workings of science in sound! I can’t wait to see their eyes light up as they enter our music lab of science! We will be learning about the elements of a musical production as our fifth grade's performance of this year's musical, THE LION KING JR. approaches. Look for ticket sales to begin for our show in February!

Musical Notes

TEAMWORK – MAKE IT YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION!

Mrs. Sulzbach

It is hard to believe that it is just about 2016!! I wish all our families a Happy New Year! Our character trait of the month is TEAMWORK and our 5th graders are writing and reading their announcements for January. We are all familiar with teamwork being defined as: cooperative or coordinated effort on the part of a group of persons acting together as a team or in the interests of a common cause. Here at MES, we are a team working together to help each student be successful. Teamwork can consist of students working together, whether it is to: complete a class project, learn a new game at recess, be a good friend and include others, continue to be bucket fillers or show good sportsmanship while participating in Physical Education class. Let’s help our children learn the true meaning of what it takes to be a good team member. This includes practicing positive teamwork habits, such as: open communication (which allows everyone to be able to share their ideas and opinions); respect (all members must be respectful toward each other); problem-solving (to be able to learn how to resolve conflicts and work smoothly together even during rough times) and working toward a common goal (the team can resolve problems and work through disagreements toward the end goal). All of this takes practice and knowledge, but remember that T*E*A*M = Together Everyone Achieves More!

LET’S HEAR IT FOR SOAP A study in Michigan has found that school-age children who wash their hands four or more times during the day are less likely to get sick than their classmates. Those who washed up suffered 24 percent fewer sick days from colds and flu and 50 percent fewer sick days due to stomach illnesses. Hand washing is the best way for adults to avoid spreading infectious diseases too. (Source: University of California at Berkeley Wellness Letter.)

WINTER IS HERE The cold weather has arrived. However, whenever possible we will be sending students outside for recess. Please be sure that your child comes to school with a warm coat, mittens or gloves, and a hat and boots when necessary. The District procedure is to go outside for recess when the temperature is 20 degrees or above which includes the wind chill factor. We understand your concerns regarding the health of your child when they have colds and coughs etc. If your child has a temporary health issue and you would like him/her to remain inside for recess, we will honor that request with a written note from you for one day. For requests lasting longer than one day, a note will be needed from your doctor stating how long your child will need to remain indoors. If your child has a health issue that is contingent upon a specific temperature threshold, that temperature must be stated in the doctor’s note.

HAND SANITIZERS

Please do not send your children to school with hand sanitizers. They are alcohol based and some students are highly allergic. The District has installed non-alcohol sanitizers in strategic areas throughout the school for student use. Classroom teachers also encourage hand washing throughout the day. The Orange County Health Department has reported that washing hands with soap and water is the best method to combat germs.

FROM THE OFFICE

For Snow Days, Cancellations, Delays and/or Early Dismissals, you can check the district website, listen to your radio or call the Valley Central School District’s main telephone number.

The following radio stations regularly report school delays and cancellations: WGNY (1220 AM, 103FM & 1340 AM) WHUD (100.7) WBNR (1260AM, 104.7 FM) WPDH (101.5) WRWD (107.3 FM) WRRV (92.7FM, 96.9FM) When calling the District telephone number, 457-2400, you will hear a recorded message It will give the date and information regarding the school closing or delay. If you hear the normal daily message, school is in session at the regularly scheduled time. All school delays, cancellations and/or Early Dismissals will also be posted on the District website: www.valleycentralschools.org. For 2-Hour Delays - On a regular school day our doors open at 9:00am for students. However, when we have a 2-hour delay, children should not arrive on school grounds prior to 11:00am. when adult supervision is available. Also on days when there is a 2-hour delay, breakfast will not be served and morning Club Kid will be cancelled.

NEWS FROM THE CAFETERIA

Please send in separate checks for Breakfast and Lunch. They are two different programs. Breakfast tickets are $1.55 each and lunch tickets are $2.55 each. They can be purchased in increments of 5, 10, 15 or 20 days. Please write your child’s name and their teacher’s name on each check you send in for lunch and/or breakfast. If your child wishes to purchase milk the price is 60 cents per carton. If your child has to charge lunch or has any outstanding lunch/breakfast charges they will not be allowed to buy extras. Students are also not allowed to charge for extras. Please do not send in metal containers of fruit. If the tabs break off we can not open them. Also, please do not send in glass bottles. Thank you for your cooperation. Any questions call 457-2400 ext. 14890. Mrs. Patricia Marron Cafeteria Manager

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

EARLY DISMISSAL DAYS

(Dismissal at 12:10 P.M.)

MARCH 2, 2016

HOLIDAY BASKETS The Health Office would like to extend our sincere appreciation to all who made the “Adopt a Family Program” a wonderful success. This year 22 families will have a brighter holiday because of your generous spirit. A very special “Thank You” to: The Village of Montgomery PBA, St. Mary’s Church, Montgomery Nursery School, Montgomery Elementary PTA, Girl Scout Troop 158, ERA Realty and the Knights of Columbus. We also want to thank our own school families who adopted a family this season. It may be cold outside but Montgomery has a very warm “HEART”.

Attention all VC Families!! The Valley Central School District announces its anticipated half-day & full-day Universal Pre-kindergarten (UPK) Program for 2016-2017. Eligible children include those who reside in the district and who will be 4 years old on or before December 1, 2016. If you have an eligible child or know someone who has an eligible child, please share this information with them. A Parent Information Night and Vendor Fair will be held on Thursday, February 25, 2016 at 7:00 PM in the Berea Elementary Cafeteria (snow date is March 3rd). The application process is February 25, 2016 through April 15, 2016. Please visit the UPK website for additional information at: valleycentralschools.org, click on the Universal Prekindergarten link found on the left side menu.

Thank you!

January 2016 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

Happy

New Year

2

3

4

5

6

7

8 9

K nights of

Columbus

Free Throw

Competition

10-12 AM

10 11

BOE Meeting

7:15 PM

12

13

K-5 Family

Math Night

6:30-8:00 PM

14 15 16

Knights of

Columbus

Free Throw

Competition

Snow Date

17

18

Martin Luther

King Day

NO SCHOOL

19

20 21

MES K-2

Writing Night

6:30 PM

22

.

Hobby Fair

7:00 PM

23

24

25

BOE Meeting

7:15 PM

26

27

28

29

Family Fun

Night

Reflections

Ceremony

End of 2nd

Quarter

30

31