ROCKin Through October!

Week In Review

Author Vist: 

It was an amazing two weeks at "The Rock!" I continued to be amazed of the many wonderful things that take place on a daily basis. Students were certainly busy this week and really worked hard! We would like to thank author Troy Cummings for visiting "The Rock" last week. He was very engaging! Both staff and students loved the presentations he offered.

Unity Day

It was great to see all the orange in the building on Unity Day in support of bullying prevention!

Grade 1 Science Experiments

Grade 1 worked very hard in preparing and carrying out their science experiment in which they studied erosion!

A Great Partnership

Mrs. Spurchise's class and Mrs. Callahan's teamed up last week to listen to a read-aloud "The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin," and then worked together to create their own pumpkins. A fantastic activity and opportunity for students to interact with each other. Teamwork makes the dream work!

2019 Annual Spelling Bee (Grade 4 & 5)

Congratulations to the following students who will be advancing to the district level competition on Thursday, November 7 at Camillus Middle School! We wish you the best of luck!

Dylan Wainwright (Grade 5 Cunningham)

Keira McGlaughlin (Grade 5 Cunningham)

Edison Coles (Grade 5 Cunningham)
Daniela Thorpe (Grade 5 Callahan)
Laura Anastasio (Grade 5 Callahan)

Looking Ahead

Positivity Project 

Over the next two weeks, staff and students will focus on the character strengths CREATIVITY and BRAVERY, which will lead us to our Veterans Day Assembly on November 8th! 

A Friendly Halloween Reminder

As we keep school safety at the forefront of our district decision making, thank you for understanding that Split Rock Elementary will continue last year's practice and will no longer hold outdoor Halloween costume parades. We will hold an indoor parade on Thursday, October 31, so that our students can have the experience within the building. Following the parade, each classroom will be partaking in a classroom party. ONLY parent volunteers who signed up at Open House will be able to enter the building and permitted into the classrooms for the parties. Implementing these protocols ensures the safety and well being of both students and staff. We thank you ahead of time for respecting these procedures.

D.E.A.R Program Has Kicked Off 

Drop Everything And Read! D.E.A.R began on October 24 and will run until November 8. Split Rock's PTO sent a letter home with a calendar and all the pertinent information. Be sure to chart your progress on the calendar and have your child return it to school on Friday, November 8. Upon submission, you will be entered in a drawing to win a $10 Scholastic Gift Certificate to use the Split Rock Book Fair November 13-15. There will be one winner per classroom!

Halloween Candy Drive

Our Halloween Candy drive is back! This year the Split Rock PTO is partnering with the Syracuse VA Medical Center for our Halloween candy drive. You may bring in your extra Halloween candy to school November 1-8. The Grade 5 students will package all candy donated to create treat bags for our Veterans, which will also include a thank you note for serving our country. A letter was sent home last week explaining the event in further detail.

Veterans Day Celebration Assembly

Our Veterans Day Assembly will be held on Friday, November 8 at 1:45 pm. We look forward to hearing from honorary guest speaker retired Army Captain and current NYS Trooper Robert Burke!

Special Guests

We would love to have your son or daughter bring a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle and/or sibling as a special guest if they are are a veteran and have them recognized during the assembly. If your child has a veteran that would be willing and able to attend the assembly please email me directly at mkimpland@westgenesee.org. I would ask that you include their rank, branch of service and the year in which they served.  

Artifact Walk

We will be setting up an artifact/memorabilia collection to honor those who have served our country. Tables will be set up along "The Bridge" hallway so the students can showcase pictures of their relatives in uniform, for all students to view the day of the assembly. We will start collecting photos/memorabilia immediately and continue through Thursday, November 7, the day before the event. Students will receive the pictures back no later than Tuesday, November 12. Please look for a letter to be sent home later this week with more details.

Early Dismissal Reminder: Tuesday, November 5 is a Half- Day for students. Dismissal will be at 11:30 am. Please be sure to send a note if your child's drop off location will change for that day.

Upcoming Dates:

Thursday, October 31:

• Halloween Parade 

Friday, November 1:

• Veterans Halloween Candy Drop-off begins

Tuesday, November 5:

• Half-Day Students- Early dismissal 11:30 am 

Wednesday, November 6

• BOE Meeting 7:00 pm

Thursday, November 7

• District Spelling Bee Competition at Camillus Middle School 

Friday, November 8

• Veterans Day Celebration Assembly 1:45 pm
• D.E.A.R Program ends
• Veterans Halloween Candy Drop-off ends

October Happenings at The ROCK!

Ready To Go

I hope everyone had a great long weekend with family and friends and enjoyed the great fall weather! We should all feel rested and rejuvenated and ready to continue and grow as students, as we work toward Thanksgiving Recess. Both staff and students will be extremely busy over the next month with both academic learning and many events and activities! These are all things you won't want to miss, so be sure you are doing everything you can to BE IN SCHOOL AND PRESENT! Attendance is important and will continue to be a focus at "The Rock!"  If you are not in school you are not learning!

Halloween is almost here!  

As we keep school safety at the forefront of our district decision making, thank you for understanding that Split Rock Elementary will continue last year's practice and will no longer hold outdoor Halloween costume parades. We will hold an indoor parade on Thursday, October 31, so that our students can have the experience within the building. Following the parade, each classroom will be partaking in a classroom party. ONLY parent volunteers who signed up at Open House will be able to enter the building and permitted into the classrooms for the parties. Implementing these protocols ensures the safety and well being of both students and staff. We thank you ahead of time for respecting these procedures.

Pick Up and Drop Off

The transportation department continues to do a great job of working with us to make our arrival and dismissal procedures as safe and productive as possible. You might have noticed the new bus parking procedures taken place to create a little more space for drop off and pick up. However, it is still not perfect and if procedures are not followed properly, it can still create some concern. We ask that all those picking up and dropping off are very cognisant of all bus warnings during these times and not crossing the paths of the buses when the lights and signs are flashing. Utilizing district transportation is the safest and convenient method of transporting students to and from school. 

Want to Stay Connected?

I do my best to showcase all the learning and hard work that goes on a daily basis at Split Rock. A great way to see this is to follow us @Split_Rock1 to get daily insights as to what is taking place throughout the day in the building. 

Positivity Project

We held our second Positivity Assembly last week to kick off the next three strengths that we will be looking at over the next few weeks. The strengths are; Integrity, Perspective and Creativity. Congratulations to those below who hold these as their top character strengths. These students were recognized during the assembly and celebrated.  A big thanks to Mrs. Chambala who shared some of the ways she is creative and her perspective. She also read "What If.." to the students which were a great way to introduce these traits. Students also had the opportunity to view a Kid President video on being AWESOME!

Upcoming Dates:

Friday, October 18

• Grade 5 Spirit Day~ Wear your BLUE and YELLOW 💙💛

Monday, October 21

• Merry-Go-Round Playhouse (Grade 5)

Wednesday, October 23

• 6:00 pm PTO Meeting
• 7:00 pm BOE Meeting

Thursday, October 24

• Author Visit (Grades k-5)
• DEAR Program Kick-off

Friday, October 25

• West Genesee Wears Pink

*The West Genesee faculty and staff will be showing unity against cancer.  Please join us in raising awareness, and showing support. We would love to have the students at "The Rock," participate if they are willing and able!

Welcome to "ROCK" tober!

Finding Our Groove

Job well done by both staff and students! We have seemed to find our groove and have settled in. Students are working extremely hard as we continue to focus on our FOUR Bs (Be Present, Be Respectful, Be Responsible and Be Safe)!

It was a busy two weeks at "The Rock!" Our band, chorus and orchestra lessons kicked off, we had a visit from Merry-Go-Round Playhouse and Officer Diane Brand, who presented our first round of CODE Assemblies. On top of that, we continue to follow through with our safety expectations and regulations, as we have run through several evacuation drills. Let's not forget about all the wonderful instruction and learning taking place on a daily basis.  Enjoy some of the pictures captured over the last couple of weeks.

Officer Brand teaching our CODE Assemblies

Merry Go Round Theater Presentation 

Mrs. Speich's Chorus Class

Mrs. Lockwood's First Grade Class 

Positivity Project

Over the next couple of weeks we will be recognizing the following character strengths:

Sept. 30-Oct 5 Open-Mindedness

Here students will learn "why people who use open-mindedness are more likely to make accurate decisions and decisions that they won't regret." -Mike Erwin

Oct. 6-Oct. 12 OPM2 (Being present and giving others my attention)

Here students will have the ability to learn what being present means while making sure we are giving our peers our attention.

Upcoming Dates:

Wednesday, October 2

• BOE Meeting 7pm WGHS

Friday, October 4

• P2 Assembly (Grades K-5)

Monday, October 7

•  Chittenango Landing Grade Field Trip (Grade 5)

Thursday, October 10

• Merry-Go-Round Playhouse (Grade 1)

Monday, October 14

• Columbus Day (NO SCHOOL)

Back in the Swing of Things

Back In the Swing of Things:

What a great first full week of school! There is a certain buzz in the air when you step foot in the building and it's what makes "The Rock," what it is. The students have done a fantastic job of getting adjusted to their daily routines quite quickly! Below are several pictures showcasing the beautiful things that are being done daily.

Positivity Kickoff:

A HUGE thanks to our varsity cheerleading squad and Coach Duschen for helping us kick off the Positivity Project in a big way! The students had a blast watching and seeing the critical role TEAMWORK plays when a group of individuals must work together toward a common goal. It's our hope this has built some CURIOSITY in some, to have the OPEN-MINDEDNESS to look into extracurricular activities outside of school to broaden their horizons and reach their full potential.  

PTO Family Movie Night:

A job well done by the Split Rock PTO! We had a fabulous turnout for our Family Movie Night, as the wind and weather did not stop us from having a great time! All families enjoyed the night in the gym with a bag of popcorn and the movie, "Honey I Shrunk The Kids." 

Lost and Found:

Let's stay ahead of this! Please have your child check the lost and found if they happen to be missing anything. We are already starting to collect items! 

MySchoolBucks:

Please check out the link below regarding the new feature available on MySchoolBucks. 

 OnePay Membership Feature on MySchoolBucks

Upcoming Dates:

• Tuesday, September 17 
• Picture Day
• Wednesday, September 18
• 7:00pm BOE Meeting 
• Tuesday, September 24
• Merry-Go-Round Playhouse (Grade 2)
• CODE Grade K-5

Getting Ready To "ROCK"!

                                     Ready To Go!

I hope this blog finds you all well and enjoying what is now the last week of summer vacation. It is my hope you all were able to spend time with family and friends while enjoying the great weather and hopefully reading some great books! With that being said Split Rock Elementary and the staff are ready to go and we look forward to welcoming back our Wildcats on Wednesday, September 4. Our summer crew worked feverishly to make sure the building was in tip-top shape so the staff and students can hit the ground running day one. I thank the team for their efforts and dedication!

By now all students should have received their informational packet for the 2019-2020 school year. Included in the packet:
Class assignment
Open House (Title 1 Night) information and agenda
School Meal Programs information
WG Communication information (Blackboard)

In addition, you should have also received bus information from the Transportation Department, regarding bus number, as well as, pickup and drop off times.

Please contact the office at 315 487-4656 ASAP if you have not received your informational packet!

The first day of school is Wednesday, September 4 is a HALF -DAY for students!
EARLY DISMISSAL is at 11:30am.

Please be sure to send in a note if your child's drop off location will change for that day. 

What's New At "The Rock"?

Staff:

I would like to formally introduce the new staff members for the 2019-2020 school year.

Mary Bergan- Instructional Specialist

Christine Rivers- Instructional Specialist

Melissa Dougher- Art Teacher on Tuesdays

Kyle Prenoveau- Physical Education Teacher on Thursdays

Kyle Muldoon- Band Director

Mike Stachnik- Monday afternoon band lessons

Stacy Bishop- Teaching Assistant

Welcome to "The Rock"! We are very excited to have you all a part of the team!

New Main Entrance:

It won't take long to recognize the most significant change. The main entrance, office, and hallway have gone through a major remodeling process to ensure the safety of both staff and students and is projected to be completed within the next day or two. We are very excited for the students to see the new look!

Raptor System:

This is a friendly reminder that Split Rock Elementary has begun to implement the Raptor Visiting Management System.  All visitors will be expected to submit their driver’s license to be scanned before receiving an identification sticker to wear while if they plan to go beyond the main office in the school. Parents will be able to leave items for their child without entering the school.  We appreciate your cooperation and willingness to help us continually improve our safety procedures as we are working to ensure the safety of all students and staff during school hours. 

Positivity Wall: 

We have dedicated an entire wall to the Positivity Project! The students will see a bulletin board that showcases the Other People Matter Mindset and the character strengths that will be introduced throughout the month. Showcased around the bulletin board will be each student's top character strength, displaying the fact that other people matter and allowing students to recognize the positive qualities of their peers. This will serve as a constant reminder of the desire to build a positive culture linked to the Other People Matter Mindset throughout the entire building!

IMPORTANT DATES:

Kindergarten Orientation: Tuesday, August 27 @ 9am

Student/Family Walk Through: Friday, August 30 @ 9am-2:30pm

You may visit the building and take a "self-guided" tour in order to get your child more acquainted and comfortable with the start of school and the building. Please note that these will be "self-guided" tours, meaning teachers may or may not be in the building during this time.

Open House (Title 1 Night): Thursday, September 5 @ 6pm-7:30pm 

Presentation times:

K-1 - 6:15-6:35

2-3 - 6:40-7:00

4-5 - 7:05-7:25

*Our IS team will be available in the library and throughout the night to discuss our RTI Plan, Collective Responsibility process and programming information. Please be sure to stop by to ask questions, gain insight and pick up the informational flyer! 

** This night will be very informative and is for the parents and guardians. Students should not be in attendance.

PTO Back to School Outdoor Movie Night: Friday, September 13 @ 7:30pm-9:00pm

"Honey I Shrunk The Kids" 

Save the Date: Please mark your calendars to come out to meet and welcome our new Superintendent Mr. David Bills.

Tuesday, September 24 @ 7pm