Welcome to the 2012-2013 School Year!

As we complete our first week of school I am sending a warm welcome to everyone.  We are off to a great start here at Onondaga Road and are excited for another productive school year!

We have several new staff members joining us this year! Tim Lane is our new P.E. teacher, Maggie Mercer will be our 4^th/5^th grade orchestra teacher, Leah Causer (formerly Leah Randall) has returned to our school to teach music, and Kristen Galimi will be a first grade teacher assistant. In addition, Julie Darmody-Latham joins me as my intern for this school year.

I hope you all can make it to our free PTA Ice Cream Social this coming Monday, September 10 from 6 – 7:30 pm.  In addition, our first PTA meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 12 at 6:15, followed immediately by our Open House at 6:45. We encourage ALL parents and guardians to attend both events on this evening.  We have an active PTA and are always looking for new members and ideas.  In addition, our annual Fall Open House will give parents and guardians an opportunity to hear from your child(ren)’s teachers regarding curriculum, classroom expectations and ways parents can partner with the school to help students have a successful school year.  Please note that this event is for adults only.  In the spring, we will offer a Family Open House Night.

Wellness Policy   As I mentioned in my summer letter, we are implementing a district-wide Wellness Policy.  Dr. Brown discussed ways this affects school lunches on his recent blog at http://superintendentwgcsd.blogspot.com/ .  In addition, the elementary schools will no longer celebrate birthdays with food.  Teachers will communicate directly with you about their ideas for alternative ways to honor students on their special day.

Redistricting   We are thrilled to welcome several new students and their families to our school.  In addition, we look forward to next year when West Genesee will redistrict (redraw the lines that dictate who goes to which school). This process will bring more students to our school from one of the other elementary schools. We will be scheduling opportunities within the next few months for families to visit their new schools this year.  Stay tuned for more info on this. For additional information on redistricting, please refer to the district website (http://www.westgenesee.org/) and click on the quick link “Redistricting”.

Safety: The safety of our students is always the foremost concern of all of us at Onondaga Road. To help us keep your child(ren) safe, please keep in mind the following:

·         If you have special custody arrangements, please provide us with the court documents as soon as possible, so we may follow the court orders.

·         We may only release students to their parents/legal guardians unless a written note has been provided with alternate instructions to release the child to a step-parent, grandparent, significant other, neighbor, etc. Picture identification may be required, so please be sure the adult has this with him/her.

·         If a student is being escorted from school by an adult, the adult must sign the student out at the main office.  No student is allowed to meet the adult at his/her car.

·         If a student arrives late to school, an adult must escort him/her to the nurse’s office to be signed in.

Please feel free to call the office with any questions regarding these policies.

SNN We are once again encouraging our West Genesee community to sign up for SNN (School News Notifier).  This is a fabulous, easy-to-use way for families to stay connected to the happenings all around the district. In addition, you can sign up to receive notification of school closings and delays. The simple directions for registering for SNN were sent home with our summer mailing.  Please call us if you would like some assistance with this process.

School Supplies:  We realize these are difficult times for many families. To ease some of the burden our district PTAs have a number of  school supplies that are available for donation. If you, or anyone you know, are in need of school supplies for our students, please contact your child’s teacher or Mrs. Geiss and we will handle this confidentially.

Working Toward Excellence:  We have an number of initiatives that are aimed at helping students reach their highest potential. Over the course of the coming school year, you will hear about:

·   OLWEUS (pronounced All-vay-us) – This is a research-based anti-bullying program we have adopted to meet the mandates of the Dignity for All Students Act. You will have an opportunity to view a short informational video about this program at our Open House Night on September 12.

·   RtI (Response to Intervention) – A number of research– based interventions will be provided in and/or out of the classroom to students who demonstrate difficulty on periodic screening measures.  Student progress will be measured and closely monitored to help all students grow and achieve in all areas of the NYS Common Core Curriculum.

There will be so much more to share over the course of the year.  Please continue to check in on my blog as well as our school newsletter, library link and PTA news.

In the meantime, enjoy some photos below from our kindergartners first day!

Mrs. Geiss

 Onondaga Road Welcomes Our Kindergarten Students!!