Onondaga Road - Happy Holiday Season!

Home and School Connections
As you recall, we experienced our first snow day of the season on Monday, November 21, which would have been a conference day for elementary school teachers and parents.  Luckily, with some flexibility and a lot of cooperation between home and school, we were able to reschedule most conferences.  If you need any further information about your child’s day to day school progress, please do not hesitate to contact us at any time.  Thank you for your continued support from home.

Jump, Jump… Jump Around!

Last Wednesday we were wowed by our fifth grade Jump Rope Club.  Fifth graders who chose to participate attended early morning practices for eight weeks.  They mastered many skills and tricks, and the audience was amazed at their talents. Thank you, parents, for providing morning transportation for your children to be able to attend practices, and thank you, students, for your hard work!  Click on this link if you would like to check out our jump ropers:

OnondagaRoad Jump Rope Assembly

Literacy Coalition of Onondaga County
Do you know of a child between the ages of newborn and five years old that would love the gifts of books and reading?  Well, we’re in luck.  The Literacy Coalition of Onondaga County, in conjunction with a program called Imagination Library, has free books for our little ones.  Imagination Library is a free, early literacy program that delivers to children age birth to five a new, age-appropriate book in the mail each month.  This promotes love of reading and learning.  To find out more information on how you can access free books for young children, just click one of these links:

                     http://onliteracy.org/frequently-asked-questions/ or http://onliteracy.org/

A Time for Giving

I am always amazed at how generously our community comes together to help one another at this time of year.  Our students are involved in several community service donation drives, and your generosity does not go unnoticed.  Thank you to all who have donated gifts and food to help make someone else’s holidays a little brighter.  Every bit helps, and Onondaga Road families and staff have, once again, gone above and beyond to embrace our local community.

For Your Calendar

• Wednesday, 12/7 – Board of Education Meeting, 7:00 at WGHS
• Thursday, 12/8 – Merry Go Round Theater visits grade 4 at school
• Friday, 12/9 – Merry Go Round Theater visits grade 3 at school
• Friday, 12/16 – Kindergarten builds gingerbread houses
• Monday, 12/19 – Grades 4 & 5 concert, 7:00 at WGHS
• Wednesday, 12/21 – Board of Education Meeting, 7:00 at WGHS
• Friday, 12/23 – Classroom holiday celebrations (Last day of school)
• Monday, 12/26 through Monday, 1/2/17 – Holiday Break – Schools are closed
• Tuesday, 1/3/17 – Back to school!  Happy New Year!

Onondaga Road November 2016

Remember that Tuesday, November 8, is a half day of school.  Students are dismissed at 11:30.

Friday, November 11 is Veterans’ Day.  Please thank and acknowledge those who have served proudly to protect our nation.  There is no school on Friday in honor of Veterans’ Day.

Last week was a busy one at Onondaga Road.  We started the week with our ghosts and goblins celebrating Halloween.  Thank you all for helping to make our parade and celebration safe and fun for our children.

We also had the grand opening of our new Onondaga Road School cafeteria last week!  The construction project was worth the wait!  With much planning involved, students practiced safety rules and procedures and learned how to operate in the cafeteria.  We did practice runs with all grade levels on Tuesday, giving everyone a chance to learn how to enter the cafeteria, wait in line politely, find their seats, eat and clean up, and exit the cafeteria.  On Wednesday all of our fifth graders were the first students to actually eat lunch in the cafeteria.  They were most appreciative, and they were positive role models for other students.  On Thursday, we had breakfast in the cafeteria, and then we hosted Kindergarten, grade 4 and grade 5 for lunch.  Then finally, on Friday, all grade levels K-5, 358 students total, ate their lunch in the cafeteria!  As I said, the construction project was certainly worth the wait!  Ask your child to explain to you what it means to be cafeteria STARS.

Now that our school renovation project is coming to completion, we have cordially invited our retired Onondaga Road staff to come back and see our new learning space.  We look forward to hosting our retirees and Board of Education members the morning of November 21 and sharing our new surroundings.

November dates for your calendar:

• Tuesday, 11/8/16 – Half-day dismissal at 11:30
• Wednesday, 11/9/16 – PTA meeting, 6:30 in the library
• Thursday, 11/10/16 – End of PTA Cherrydale fund raiser
• Friday, 11/11/16 – Veterans’ Day
• Wednesday, 11/16/16 – Board of Education meeting, 7:00 at WGHS
• Monday, 11/21/16 – Half-day for parent teacher conferences, 11:30 dismissal
• Tuesday, 11/22/16 – Half-day for parent teacher conferences, 11:30 dismissal
• Wednesday, 11/23 through Friday, 11/25/16 – Thanksgiving break, school closed

Onondaga Road Halloween update

BOO!   

Halloween is coming soon!   

The children are ready to pick out their costumes, play tricks, and enjoy plenty of treats.  Please follow these important guidelines to make the Halloween school day, Monday, October 31, a safe and happy one for all of our children: 

• Please send your child’s costume to school in a bag.  Do not send your child to school in costume or wearing make-up. All scary, violent, bloody masks, weapons, spears or other dangerous accessories and costumes are not appropriate for school and must remain at home. Our youngest students can be frightened easily, and we want them to have a positive experience. 
• The parade will begin at 2:00.  Spectators for the parade will stand in the bus loop in front of the school. We will block that area from traffic.   Please do not stand on the sidewalk in front of the building, because the students will be parading the entire length of the sidewalk. 
• Halloween parties will be held in the classrooms after the parade. Due to health and safety concerns, only adults who are already designated helpers will be permitted into the classrooms during the parties, and those helpers must sign in at the main office and wear a visible visitor’s badge. Helpers are asked not to bring younger children. All treats should have a label so that they can be checked, as we have many students with allergies. 
• If you are a helper or plan to dress up to attend the parade, please avoid wearing masks. Adults are not permitted to wear full-faced masks.  Naturally, we must be able to recognize everyone who is interacting with our children. 
• Please encourage your child to ride the bus home. Minimizing the car traffic at the end of the day will help us get the children to their buses safely. Children will not wear their costumes on the buses but will have plenty of time and assistance to remove their costumes before dismissal. We will follow normal dismissal procedures. 
• As always, if you must pick up your child due to other appointments at any time, please be sure to send a note and sign him/her out in the main office. 

For additional Halloween fun for the whole community, please visit our annual district Halloween Carnival sponsored by the WGHS R2 Club on Thursday, October 27, 2016, 4:00-7:00 p.m. in the West Genesee High School lower gym. 

Onondaga Road Halloween update

BOO!   

Halloween is coming soon!   

The children are ready to pick out their costumes, play tricks, and enjoy plenty of treats.  Please follow these important guidelines to make the Halloween school day, Monday, October 31, a safe and happy one for all of our children: 

• Please send your child’s costume to school in a bag.  Do not send your child to school in costume or wearing make-up. All scary, violent, bloody masks, weapons, spears or other dangerous accessories and costumes are not appropriate for school and must remain at home. Our youngest students can be frightened easily, and we want them to have a positive experience. 
• The parade will begin at 2:00.  Spectators for the parade will stand in the bus loop in front of the school. We will block that area from traffic.   Please do not stand on the sidewalk in front of the building, because the students will be parading the entire length of the sidewalk. 
• Halloween parties will be held in the classrooms after the parade. Due to health and safety concerns, only adults who are already designated helpers will be permitted into the classrooms during the parties, and those helpers must sign in at the main office and wear a visible visitor’s badge. Helpers are asked not to bring younger children. All treats should have a label so that they can be checked, as we have many students with allergies. 
• If you are a helper or plan to dress up to attend the parade, please avoid wearing masks. Adults are not permitted to wear full-faced masks.  Naturally, we must be able to recognize everyone who is interacting with our children. 
• Please encourage your child to ride the bus home. Minimizing the car traffic at the end of the day will help us get the children to their buses safely. Children will not wear their costumes on the buses but will have plenty of time and assistance to remove their costumes before dismissal. We will follow normal dismissal procedures. 
• As always, if you must pick up your child due to other appointments at any time, please be sure to send a note and sign him/her out in the main office. 

For additional Halloween fun for the whole community, please visit our annual district Halloween Carnival sponsored by the WGHS R2 Club on Thursday, October 27, 2016, 4:00-7:00 p.m. in the West Genesee High School lower gym. 

Book Fair and Reading Night at Onondaga Road

Read All About It!

OR will host a PTA sponsored Scholastic Book Fair next week, Monday, 10/24 through Wednesday, 10/25.

These classes will visit the book fair on Monday:

Mrs. Hudson
Mrs. Marchesani
Mrs. Welch
Mrs. Schulz
Ms. Tschernjawski

All other classes will visit the book fair during their library classes on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Everyone is welcome to come to the book fair during our Reading Night 5:30-7:00 Wednesday evening.  Also, visit the story teller, Jim McCarthy in the gym.  Please look for the Reading Night flyer that came home with your child for details of the evening event!

October News and Boos!

We’re getting there… Take a look at the progress of our new cafeteria!  Before long we will be dining here for breakfast and lunch.  You can see that the room is painted and the contractors are in the process of laying floor tiles.  Our new furniture is in the storage trailer waiting to be put in place soon.

Wednesday, October 19 is Unity Day.  Please wear orange to show that you stand up against bullying!  We will have special guest readers from the West Genesee High School R2D2 Club visiting OR to read to our students, and we will have our monthly R2D2 assembly on Unity Day.

Our annual Scholastic Book Fair, sponsored by OR PTA, will be held October 24, 25 and 26 during the school day.  Students will visit the book fair during their library classes (Thursday library classes will visit on Monday that week), and students are also welcome to return to the book fair Wednesday evening, October 26 during Reading Night.  Watch for details to come home on flyers with the children.

Halloween is spooking around the corner!  The Halloween parade will be held at 2:00 on Monday, Halloween Day, October 31.  Please remember that scary, violent costumes are not appropriate and not permitted for school, and weapons are NOT permitted in school as Halloween props.  Let’s keep the day enjoyable and SAFE for everyone.  A detailed letter about Halloween will be sent home with all students.

Mark your calendar:

• Wednesday, October 19 – Unity Day (Wear orange!)
• Monday – Wednesday, October 24-26 – Scholastic Book Fair in school
• Wednesday, October 26 – Reading Night 5:30-7:00 p.m.
• Friday, October 28 – Annual PTA Cherrydale Fund Raiser begins and runs through November 10
• Monday, October 31 – Halloween Parade, 2:00 p.m.

Looking ahead:

• Wednesday, November 2 is school picture make-up day.  If your child was absent or needs pictures retaken, this is the day.
• If you have yet to schedule a parent-teacher conference, please contact your child’s teacher.  Conference days are scheduled for Monday, November 21 and Tuesday, November 22.  These days are half-days for students, 11:30 dismissal.

Onondaga Road First Week Notes

We finished our first September week of the new school year, and what a week it has been!  The students were so excited to see all of the changes that have been made to our building.  It looks great, and sparkly clean!  The new library is a big hit, and a well-deserved addition for our children.  Soon we'll be dining in our new cafeteria, and we'll welcome that building-wide central air conditioning, too! 

Thank you to all who were able to attend our Curriculum Night on Thursday evening.  It's been a warm week here at school, as you may have experienced on that warm night, but hopefully your time here was informative for you and you were able to get a feel for how your child's day will run.  

Please join us next week for our first PTA meeting on Tuesday night, September 13, 6:30 p.m. in our new library.  This will be a time for us to plan several fun events for our children.

I've attached several pictures from our first school week... Enjoy! 

Welcome Back to Onondaga Road

Welcome to Onondaga Road for the 2016-17 school year!

You will be pleasantly amazed at our newly renovated building!  A lot of hard work has gone into this project, and we’re ready to invite our children back to school.  We have a beautiful new library, several newly painted classrooms, new classroom cabinetry, a bright new main-entrance hallway, new bathrooms in every classroom, and more to come…The next phase will be the completion of our new cafeteria, so we are looking forward to that, too. 

Here are some important dates for your calendar as we get this year started:

• Tuesday, September 6 – First day of school!  This is a full day, 9:00-3:20.
• Thursday, September 8 – Curriculum / Meet the Teachers Night – 6:00-7:30 – Please see the flyer that comes home with your child on the first day of school explaining details for this Curriculum Night.
• Tuesday, September 12 – PTA Meeting in the library, 6:30
• Wednesday, September 28 – School Picture Day
• Thursday, September 29 – Half-day for students, 11:30 dismissal

Last year our school’s Shared Decision Making Team (SDMT), in close collaboration with our Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), sought input from you, our Onondaga Road families, for feedback regarding many after school events and enrichment activities for our students.  Thank you for the feedback!  We received over 100 responses to our questionnaire, and we are using that information to help plan and guide our PTA and school sponsored events.  You will notice on the school calendar several activities already in the works (Reading Night, Scholastic Book Fair, Enrichment Day, Family Picnic, etc.).  Our first PTA meeting will be a great time to plan these events, but we can’t do it without YOU!  Please consider attending our PTA meeting on Tuesday, September 13 at 6:30 p.m. in our new library to learn more!

We look forward to seeing our smiling children on Tuesday, September 6.  Rest up – it’s going to be a busy, productive year of learning and growing!

Onondaga Road June Update

The end of the school year is just around the corner, and OR is a busy place! 

Annual Family Picnic:
Friday evening, June 10, 5:30-7:30 p.m. is our family picnic, sponsored by our OR PTA.  The event is a family favorite, so come celebrate the end of another outstanding school year with us!

There are a lot of other upcoming events, so be sure to mark your calendar with these dates:
Friday, June 10, 5:30 – Family Picnic
Tuesday, June 14, 9:45-1:30 – Grade 4 goes to the Erie Canal
Tuesday, June 14, 2:00 – Flag Day Celebration
Wednesday, June 15, 7:00 – Board of Education meeting at WGHS
Thursday, June 16 – Grade 5 goes to Ultimate Goal
Thursday, June 16 – Kindergarten goes to Le Moyne Family Theater
Friday, June 17, 9:30-11:30 – R2D2 Olympics (Wear your team color!)
Friday, June 17, 2:00 – Banana Split Picnic
Monday, June 20 – Grade 5 walks to Fairmount Glen Miniature Golf
Tuesday, June 21 – 9:30 – 5^th Grade Recognition Ceremony (in OR gym)
Wednesday, June 22, 10:00-11:00 – Grade 5 visits West Genesee Middle School

NOTE about the last two days:
Tuesday, June 21 and Wednesday, June 22 are half-days for students.  Dismissal is at 11:30 both days.

Other Interesting OR  Info:

Each year our 4^th and 5^th grade students participate in a project summarizing what they have learned through the CODE (Community Oriented Drug Education) program, and then a “winner” is selected from each class to share his or her project at the final CODE assembly.  The theme for this year’s 4^th grade poster project was Internet Safety, and for the 5^th grade essay project t was Drug-Free Me.  The projects were thoughtful and thought provoking.  Congratulations to this year’s highlights:

Grade 4 – Olivia Creaser, Alexis Ager, Laela Lansing

Grade 5 – Sophia Van Horn, Anthony Pontello, Caleb Williams

Several 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th graders submitted posters for Senator DeFrancisco’s annual Earth Day Poster Contest.  Their strong messages encourage people to take care of our earth and our community.   One of our 4^th graders, Chris Coyne, was acknowledged for his poster contribution, and the Senator himself came to OR to congratulate him! 

Our renovation is coming along nicely, and we’re looking forward to moving into our new library in the fall!  

May 2016 – OR News…

The month is a flurry of activity!  Be sure to mark your calendar for these OR events:

Thursday, May 12 – 6:30-7:30 p.m. – Spring Open House – If you live in the neighborhood, you might consider walking to school for this event.  Parking is always a premium, but with our construction, you may experience slightly reduced parking.

Tuesday, May 17 – Budget Vote – 6:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. – at West Genesee High School

Tuesday, May 17 – Grade 3 goes to the Landmark Theater to see Charlotte’s Web

Wednesday, May 18 – 7:00 p.m. –  Board of Education meeting at West Genesee High School

Thursday, May 19 – Special Olympics – We are proud to be represented by our kindergarten and first grade athletes!  Go team!

Friday, May 20 – 8:30 a.m. – Chorus Club

Monday, May 23 – 7:00 p.m. – Grades 4-5 Concert at West Genesee High School

Wednesday, May 25 – Grade 4 NYS Science Performance Test

Wednesday, May 25 – 6:30 p.m. – PTA Meeting in OR library

Friday, May 27 – “Snow Day!” – All schools are closed for the day!

Monday, May 30 – Memorial Day

Here are a few photos of our renovation project.  Enjoy!

 Here we go, ORANGE, here we go! 

It’s fun to feel the community pride as our SU Orange men’s and women’s basketball teams advance to the Final Four!  Let’s show our Orange Pride this weekend.  Go ‘Cuse!

March was certainly a busy month here at OR.  Be sure to ask your child about any of these events:
We started the month with our annual Science Fair where our 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th graders showed their savvy science skills and amazed us with their scientific processes and experiments.  We also had CODE assemblies for all grade levels.  We welcomed Irish dancers, bag pipers and drummers on St. Patrick’s Day.  Many grade levels participated in lessons from Mr. Gramlich, our very own Science Guy (like Bill Nye!).  Our 5^th graders experienced a science dissection demonstration.  All of our 1^st grade classes made a visit to Hospital Land.  Our 3^rd graders performed an awesome “Makin’ Music” choral concert.  We all participated in bus safety drills, so remember to talk to your children about their role in staying safe.  And our Student Council is hosting a book drive in collaboration with one of the Syracuse City elementary schools. 

April showers bring… Construction!  If you have yet to visit our school and see the progress of our renovation, be sure to ask your child about the view out the lobby windows!  They are witnessing history in the making here! Progress is coming along nicely, and you can see the outline of what will be our new library.  When the children grow up and move from Onondaga Road, they will have “I remember when…” stories to share about how we used to eat lunch in our classrooms because we didn’t have a cafeteria!  Once the library is complete, which will be this summer, the existing library will become the new cafeteria.  Stay tuned for progress updates as we continue to renovate!

We need YOU!
Our Shared Decision Making Team (SDMT), in collaboration with our Parent Teacher Association (PTA), are asking for your input…

Have you and your children attended or participated in any of these events: 

• Ice Cream Social?  Family Picnic?  Reading Night?  The Book Fair?  Field Trips? Purchase of a Yearbook?  Classroom Parties?  The Science Fair? Assemblies and Author Visits?  If so, we hope you have truly enjoyed your experience and have become a part of the school community.  We also hope you will consider helping with future events; we can’t do it without YOU!
• Do you or your family have any suggestions for new or different school events?  We would love to hear from you!  Our SDMT will work closely with our PTA to listen to your input and work collaboratively toward saving our OR traditions and also bringing new events to life.  Please take a few minutes to answer these few questions so that we may continue to improve our school community.  Here is a link to our questionnaire: 

    School Community Survey

Dates to Remember:

• April 5, 6, 7 – NYS ELA Testing for Grades 3, 4, 5
• April 8 – Report Cards are Distributed
• April 12 – Merry-Go-Round Theater Visits Grades K-2
• April 13, 14, 15 – NYS Math Testing for Grades 3, 4, 5
• April 13 – 6:30 pm, PTA Meeting in the OR Library
• April 20 – 7:00 pm, Board of Education Meeting at WGHS
• April 21 – “Poem in Your Pocket” Day
• April 25-29 – Spring Break (School is Closed)

Onondaga Road March update

March certainly came in like a lamb!  Spring is in the air! 

A few updates for your calendar:

Tonight’s PTA meeting, March 9, was originally on the calendar as an executive session, but that has been revised.  PTA tonight is open to all!  Please join us at 6:30 in the OR library.  Come one, come all!

Let’s show a little school spirit next week.  Here’s hoping you will help your children participate in as many of the following days as possible from Monday, March 14 through Friday, March 18.

• Monday – Dress Like a Teacher (or Principal) Day
• Tuesday – Mismatch Day
• Wednesday – Rainbow Day

Each grade level can wear a different color on this day:
Kindergarten – Red
Grade 1 – Orange
Grade 2 – Yellow
Grade 3 – Green
Grade 4 – Blue
Grade 5 – Purple

• Thursday – St. Patrick’s Day Green
• Friday – Read a Shirt Day

Onondaga Road - Welcome Back from Winter Recess

A few quick reminders as February comes to an end:

Please send in all of your Box Tops for Education by Friday.  We appreciate your support with this endeavor, as it helps us to acquire points and presents for our school.  We need to submit all box tops by March 1st, so any that you have at home will help!

Parents of grade 5 students, please join us Wednesday evening at 7:15 if you are interested in helping to plan the 5th grade end-of-year celebration.

Thursday, March 3, 6:00-8:00 p.m. is our annual Science Fair for grades 3, 4, 5.  Even if your child chose not to participate this year, you are all encouraged and welcome to attend the event and see the science displays.

If you or anyone you know has a child who will be attending Kindergarten in the fall, please remember to register.  All registration will take place at the District Office.  Feel free to call our school if you have any questions about how to register for Kindergarten!

Onondaga Road February update

Kindergarten Registration

If you or someone you know has a child who will be starting Kindergarten in the fall, it is time to get registered for school!  Registration will be a little different this year, as all families will register at the West Genesee District Office.  You can register your child any time, but preferably between February 1 and March 4, 2016.  The process starts by making an appointment.  You can visit this website or call this number to make an appointment:

    

 https://wgkregistration.youcanbook.me/  

    or call 487-4683

PTA News

Thanks go out to our PTA for coordinating another successful Enrichment Day for our students.  Fun was had by all!  We look forward to many more programs and activities, but we cannot do it without your help.  Please consider attending a PTA meeting, or getting involved as a volunteer in another way.  Our next PTA meeting will be on Wednesday, February 24 at 6:30 PM in our library.  In March, we have a new meeting date added to the calendar, Wednesday, March 9 at 6:30.  Please join us to learn how you can participate in a variety of ways!

New Science Fair Coordinator Needed

Thanks to Greg Couture for coordinating our past three Fairs, but as his children move on, we will be looking for other parents to step up and take over.  If you are interested in getting involved, moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, we need you!  Maybe you’d like to work with a partner or two, or maybe you have some ideas to share, or maybe you’d like to come shadow our current coordinator to see what it entails.  Please send a note with your child, or call the main office if you have any interest in helping out.  We will get you all the information you need!  This year’s Science Fair will be on Thursday, March 3 at 6:00 PM.

Grade 5 News

It’s time to start planning our year-end activities!  If you are a grade 5 parent and would like to join in the festivities, please plan to attend a meeting immediately following our PTA meeting on Wednesday, February 24 at 7:15 in the library.

Construction Update

If you have been to school lately, then you have surely have seen some changes!  We have eliminated some trees in the courtyard to make room for our new library.  We have also moved some classrooms and teachers to make way for the next phase of construction.  We witnessed the back-hoe digging out some tree stumps and roots yesterday and leveling some land in the courtyard which will become the library floor.  Very exciting stuff! 

Dates to Remember

• Friday, 2/12/16 – Valentine’s Day classroom parties
• Monday, 2/15 through Friday, 2/19 – School closed for Winter Recess
• Monday, 2/22 – Back to school for all!
• Wednesday, 2/24 – PTA meeting at 6:30 PM
• Wednesday, 2/24 – Grade 5 Parent meeting at 7:15 PM

Have a great week with your family and friends.  We’ll see you soon.

Jeannette Clark

Onondaga Road Enrichment Day Recap

Enrichment Day at Onondaga Road was a huge success this past Saturday. Thanks to all our volunteers who made the day possible. Students were able to participate in activities like Irish dancing, martial arts, coin and baseball card collecting to name a few. The collage below shows some of the fun the students experienced.

Onondaga Road February Blog

Renovation Update

We’re on the move!  As I had previously announced, we are still scheduled to break ground in March for the new library in the courtyard.  Thanks, so far, goes out to Mother Nature for having the weather be so cooperative!  March is coming soon, so there are some necessary room moves happening within the building.  Without disrupting instruction, we have already moved several small-group instructional teachers into different rooms.  This allowed us to free up a classroom that will now become a kindergarten room. Because the construction will be directly outside Mrs. Vitale’s/Mrs. Severson’s kindergarten room, we will be moving that classroom directly next door, one room over, to minimize distraction. 

Keep an eye out for that driveway that will be constructed stretching from the front of the building to the courtyard!  It will be exciting for the children to see the stages and phases of construction.  Most of the work will be done while students are not here during the summer, but they will witness some of the movement!

Dates to Remember

• OR Enrichment Day is this Saturday, February 6 at 9:30-11:30 a.m.
• Open library research night for all students in grades 3-5 participating in the Science Fair is Wednesday, February 10 at 4:00-6:30 p.m. Parents must attend with their children.  You may come any time and do not need to stay the entire time.  Use the time as needed in the library!
• Classroom Valentine celebrations will be on Friday, February 12. Times vary by classroom.
• Winter break runs from Monday, February 15 through Friday, February 19.
• The next PTA meeting will be held Wednesday, February 24.
• The NYS English/Language Arts assessments for grades 3-5 will be April 5-7 and the Mathematics assessments, also for grades 3-5, will be held April 13-15. Please try to avoid scheduling appointments on these days if at all possible. There have been some changes to the testing, including a different vendor, greater involvement of teachers in the test development process, fewer numbers of passages and test questions, and a shift to untimed testing.

Happy New Year from Onondaga Road

Happy New Year!!!

Looks like winter has finally made its way to Syracuse!  Stay warm, and maybe enjoy some good books as you settle in for a few cold weeks.

A few updates to keep you in the loop…

• PTA will meet at West Genesee High School in the LGI (Large Group Instruction) on Wednesday, January 13 at 6:00 p.m..  Please note the time and location change.  Immediately following the PTA meeting, at 7:00 p.m., the Superintendent will host a question and answer session.  Feel free to join us for the annual Talk With the Superintendent!
• Aside from these dangerously frigid days, we try to get our children outside for recess as much as possible.  Remember to send all the outdoor play clothes each day – boots, coats, hats, mittens, scarves, snow pants – and label your child’s clothes with his/her name.
• Monday, January 18 is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  Schools will be closed in his honor.
• Friday, January 29 is a half day for students, as this is a Professional Development workshop afternoon for staff.  Students will receive their report cards on this day as well.  Half-day dismissal is at 11:20 a.m. 

If your child is missing an article of clothing, please have them check in the Lost and Found in the school lobby. Our collection box is getting full.