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Vesta l Centra l School Distr ict MAY 2017

UPCOMING SCHOOL CLOSINGS AND HOLIDAYS

Friday, May 12-STUDENT EARLY RELEASE @ 11:50AM

Monday, May 29—NO SCHOOL (Memorial Day)

Dear Tioga Hills Families,

I hope you and your children enjoyed the spring break! May prom-

ises to be a busy month here at Tioga Hills, packed with many dur-

ing-and-after-school activities, often enriching the curriculum.

This month will include the following:

The annual PTA-sponsored Talent Show

NYS grades 3-5 Math exams and the grade 4 Science

Performance Exam

A 4th and 5th grade chorus and band concert

The second annual BU Chemistry Outreach program here

for students in grades K-5

The 5th grade field trip to VMS as part of the transi-

tional process

A visit from the BAE Hydrobus

VOTE DAY

With the PTA –sponsored Special Interest Fair

A Spring Carnival for fun and to support the planning

of a fall celebration that will honor the 50th anniver-

sary of the opening of Tioga Hills

Enjoy the warm days ahead,

Jane M. Hashey, Principal

Table of Contents

April is National Poetry Month...5

Attn: 1000 Book Club………………...7

Butterfly Garden………………………...6

Counselors’ Corner…..………….….…..2

Incoming Kindergarteners….……..9

Math Moments…………………………….13

Meet the Candidates…………………. 5

Morning Program Calendar……....12

Music Notes………………………............3

News from the Health Office ...6

NYS Math Testing……………………….7

NYS Science Testing……….…………7

PTA News…………....………..….……..…..9

School District Vote……………….....5

Spotlight on 5th Grade……..……….7

Spotlight on Art…………………………..4

Spring Carnival…………………………....11

Student Leadership Jobs…….….…4

T.H. Picture Corner………….………....8

To Parents Who Drop Off….……. 2

PRIORITY MAKE UP DAY—FRIDAY, MAY 26th

Due to the winter storm and State of Emergency earlier this year, we have used all of our

allotted snow days plus one additional day. As previously conveyed, there will be school on

Friday, May 26, 2017.

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The counseling office continues to be a center of activity……….

The Banana Splits program is very busy and looking forward to our end-of-the-year “Splits” party on June 1st!

FIFTH GRADE PARENTS AND STUDENTS We continue steps in the transition process to the middle school. We are excited to be going on our tour on May 11th. I will also be in homerooms doing more work on help-ing 5th graders understand the change and transition to middle school. This is an op-portunity for them to get answers to all of their questions in their familiar classroom

environment. Below is a save the date...this evening is another opportunity to learn about VMS in fun way along with your 5th grader learning success tips and information in a fun format that will help in yet another way to make a smooth transition!

Fifth Grade Parents & Students Save This Date:

Tuesday, May 15, 2017 @ 6:00 p.m.

Vestal Middle School, S. Benita Blvd.

Please continue to contact me if you have any questions or concerns I always welcome part-

nering to help our students succeed! I can be

reached at 757-2366. Rhonda Ruhm, M.S.Ed, C.A.S.

School Counselor

Note:

Please continue to respect the parking pro-

cedures, especially at AM drop-off and PM

pick-up times. There have been some com-

plaints about parents not parking in desig-

nated parking spots at both times of the

day and causing congestion for others,

parking at the drop-off zone in the AM and

walking their children inside the building,

and still picking up children in parking lots.

Please make sure parking is safe and a

smooth experience for all. Thank you for

your cooperation!

TO PARENTS WHO DROP OFF THEIR

CHILDREN IN THE AM

We have signage by the flagpole that indi-

cates where to drop off

students. Please drop off

your child and then move on.

If you wait at the flag pole

to watch your child enter

the building, it often holds

up the line and can cause problems, espe-

cially if cars behind the delayed vehicle let

their children off and try to drive around

the vehicle that is standing. Please be

courteous to others.

Also, keep in mind, that there is a staff

member on “bus duty” each morning and

that person monitors that ALL children en-

ter the building safely.

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Music Education

Quote of the Month

“Music expresses that which cannot be

said and on which it is impossible to be

silent.”

Victor Hugo

Upcoming Music Events

Please join us for our upcoming perfor-

mance!

May 22nd

4th and 5th Grade Chorus

5th Grade Band

7pm, Tioga Hills Cafetorium

Grade Level Spotlight: 3rd Grade

Our 3rd grade students are learning a

new instrument – the recorder! Learning

the recorder lets our students apply

what they’ve learned in music class from

Kindergarten through third grade in a

performance situation. Students have

the opportunity to join orchestra in

fourth grade and band in fifth grade.

The recorder experience introduces

them to the process of learning the

physical, technical, and musical skills nec-

essary to master an instrument. We

hope you’ll join us for our recorder con-

cert at 7pm on June 5th!

MUSIC NOTES

2nd Grade Families: Thank You!

A special “thank you” goes out to the

families of our second graders. We had

so many helpers and volunteers this year,

that I was unfortunately not able to

thank all of you individually. Without

you, the 2nd grade musical would not have

been a success! We’re lucky here at Tio-

ga Hills to have such involved and sup-

portive families!

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The following students have their amazing artwork on display in the Office Art Gal-lery this month:

Be sure to check out the Office Art Gallery…now featuring artwork by Evan Wademan

and Diana Kalashnik. Congratulations to those students for such a fine job!

STUDENT FLAG RAISERS

The following students helped Mr.

Doolittle raise the flag during the

month of April:

Sophie Altmire Kayleigh Marsh

Logan Avery Anthony Mazzeo

Parker Dzuba Ava Meza

Trevor Fundis Gracie Mones

Jace Gannon Evan Palkert

JT Gannon Max Policare

MJ Hicks Jessica Secord

Jamilyanna Jemmott Olivia Slocum

Kaelynn Jones Elena Struble

Tess Labosky Keira Teed

Ethan Lilley

STUDENT ANNOUNCERS

A GREAT job was done by

the following students who

helped us out in April with morning an-

nouncements:

Colin Brubaker Michelle Secord

Charlotte Coker Madelyn Slocum

Ryleigh Dando Abby Stockwin

Camden Gendron Ryan Teed

Gabe Nickels Christine Tran

Lauren Policare Kaiden Wescott

Aidan Ruhm Abby Wickman

HALLWAY HELPERS

As part of our Actions Count program we are having “hallway helpers” at the

end of day. They are students who will smile and are friendly, remind stu-

dents to walk, keep hands and backpacks to themselves, and report any dangerous behavior.

In April our helpers were:

Alex Bernstein Isabella Daino

Colin Brubaker Anna Howell

Chloe Burkhard Megan Howell

Stephen Cerquone Lauren Mitchell

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SCHOOL DISTRICT VOTE-MAY 16

Please remember to come out and

vote on our Vestal School District

budget and board members.

Also, the annual Special Inter-

est Fair will held in the room

125-127 that

evening and we will have

a PTA sponsored Spring

Carnival from 5-7:30.

MEET THE CANDIDATES

There is a Meet the School Board Candi-

dates on Monday, May 8th, at 7pm at Vestal

Middle School cafeteria hosted by District

Council. All are invited to attend!

April is poetry

month, and

there are so

many different

kinds of poems

to celebrate! I

hope all stu-

dents had as

much fun selecting, memorizing and reciting

poems during their library classes, as I did.

Congratulations to the following students,

who did such a great job, that they were

asked to recite their selected poem at our

whole school Poetry Recitation Assembly on

April 12th!

Mason Burke Gemma Nelli

Lillianna Thurston Aidan Ruhm

Rowan O’Donnell Charlotte Coker

Addison Webb Kade Tobler

Raymond Mattice Alex Bernstein

Jenna Holleran Samara Struble

Angus Milligan Zachary Zembek

Teagan Walter Amelia Howell

Evan Webb Nathan Brookhart

Gracie Mones Anna Howell

Joaquin Paler-Large Garrett Potter

Alana Shear

The Kindergarteners also did a fantastic job

reciting a nursery rhyme with their class at

the assembly, complete with motions.

Congratulations on a job well done! Thank you

to our PTA for providing wonderful refresh-

ments for the reciters! Thanks also to the

“runners-up” who are helping us wrap up poet-

ry month by sharing their poem on the morn-

ing announcements (Kiera Ellis, David Ripp,

Adriana Karnauch, Ryan Wavra, Tilly Mac-

namee, Jenna Brookhart, Liam Gale, Jade

Jemmott, Leo Stockwin, Josh Dudinyak,

Miah Mullen, Jonah Mercia, Maryka Bleir,

Frank Consolazio, Madison

Lilley, Ty Sullivan, Lindsey

Steele, Jordan MacDonald,

Nathan Klym, and Camden

Gendron).

Sincerely,

Mrs. Langton

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News from the Health Off ice

Physical Exams

A friendly reminder...it’s not too early to schedule next year’s mandated physical exams

for your child who will be in 2nd or 4th grade!

Medication

If your child has medication in the Health Office, it has to be picked up by the parent by the

last day of school.

Lost and Found

We have many sweatshirts and jackets in our lost and found! Please stop by to

check if any belong to your child. Please remember to write your child’s name

in their coats, jackets, etc. so they can be returned to them.

Thank you for all the attendance calls and messages.

Volunteer Opportunities for Our School Butterfly Garden

It’s that time of year again when we are beginning to plan for the school’s butterfly gar-

den. We need your help for the garden to be successful. Donations of any of the following

would be greatly appreciated:

watering cans

gardening gloves for children and adults

trowels (the small “shovels” for the garden)

hand cultivators (a 3-pronged mini rake)

cool stones for butterflies to warm their wings

bags of garden pebbles

some annual seedlings

Please note that supplies do not need to be new. If you are clean-

ing out the garage and find some tools that you just don’t use, we

would love to have them.

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ATTENTION 1000 BOOK CLUB

MEMBERS:

Spring has sprung, and it's a great

time to get outside and read!

Please notify the Main Office when your

child reaches any of the desig-

nated benchmarks! As an added

treat, members will receive a Big

Dipper gift certificate when they

complete 25, 50, 75, or 100 bags

while supplies last. Thank you, Big Dipper!

As always, if you know a child who will begin

Kindergarten in 2017 or 2018, please invite

them to join the 1000 Book Club! It's nev-

er too late to join. Simply ask Main Office

staff for help getting started or email

th1000bookclub@gmail.com for more infor-

mation.

ANNUAL TRIP TO HIGH-

LAND PARK

The 5th grade annual trip to

Highland Park will be on Friday, June 2.

5th GRADE MOVING UP CERE-

MONY

Coming in June—The 5th Grade

“Moving Up Ceremony” will be held

on the last day of school, date and time TBD

in the Tioga Hills Cafetorium for parents/

guardians, students and teachers. Light re-

freshments to follow in the gym.

NYS SCIENCE TEST-

ING—ATTENTION PAR-

ENTS OF 4TH GRADERS

We will administer the New

York State Science Performance Test on

Wednesday, May 31st and the New York

State Science Written Test on Monday,

June 5th.

NYS MATH TESTING—ATTENTION PAR-

ENTS OF 3-5TH GRADERS

I would like to remind you that we

will administer the New York

State Math Test on Tuesday,

Wednesday and Thursday, May

2-4. You can help your child do his or her

best by assisting in the following ways:

Make sure your child gets a good night’s

sleep each evening before testing.

Make sure your child is on time for school

each morning and has eaten a nutritious

breakfast and will be having a nutritious

lunch.

Do not schedule appointments for your

child that would interfere with the test

sessions.

Children react in different ways to stand-

ardized testing. Some are anxious. Please

offer a positive message that demonstrates

your confidence in your child such as, “I

know you’ll do your best.” Some try to do

their best, which we all encourage. Some

think there is little personal value to the

test. Let them know that they should try

their best as future supports are scheduled

for them as testing scores require.

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Lot’s of events this past month at Tioga

Hills!

Poetry Recetation

Spring Orchestra Concert

The Bagpipers Visit

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ATTENTION PARENTS OF INCOMING KINDERGARTNERS!

Kindergarten Screening-May 31, June 1, June 2, June 6

This screening will allow us to begin to know your child as an individual learner. Among the

areas to be screened are fine and gross motor skills, speech and language skills, vision, hear-

ing and cognitive development.

A brief letter will be mailed to you soon after screening, summa-

rizing what we learned about your child.

Please contact the main office at 757-2366 if you need to re-

schedule your child’s screening date and time.

Dates to Remember:

PTA Mtg Wed May 3 7pm THE Library

Talent Show May 5 7pm VMS

Carnival/Special Interest Fair/Vote Night. Tues May 16. THE

The Special Inter-

est Fair is coming

May 16! Get those creative juices flow-

ing! Send in your entry form (in the flier

that came home before Spring Break) as

s o o n a s y o u r i d e a i s bo r n .

Special Interest Fair is a chance for every

student to show off their favorite activity,

hobby, or skill to their peers, teachers, par-

ents, and administrators. It’s also a chance

for parents, friends, and faculty to learn

more about what really excites the students

a t T i o g a H i l l s E l e m e n t a r y !

Is your child a skier? Snowboarder? Now is

their chance to make a project showing off

all their tricks, pix, and tips! Do they like

science? Let your Little Einstein show off

their knowledge about sharks or sparks! Do

they like to paint? Perhaps your little Picas-

so would like to create a masterpiece to

share with their friends! Are

they undecided? Now is your

chance to create a memory with

your child learning something en-

tirely new together!

A Note From the PTA:

Greetings Tioga Hills families! May has arrived and with it we look forward to so many new

and returning end of the year PTA events and programs! We are so very thankful for your

continued support and invite you to join us for our next meeting on Wednesday, May 3rd

at 7pm in the library. We look forward to celebrating our amazing students and making memo-

ries during these last couple months of the school year!

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Come join us for "Tioga

Hills Little Big Shots!"

Our annual talent show

will be held Friday, May 5 at 7pm at the Afri-

c a n R o a d A u d i t o r i u m .

All talent welcome! Sign up by

Friday, April 28. Come be with

friends, have fun and be a

"little Big Shot!"

once again generously donated 750lbs of food

items for the Park Terrace Food Pantry,

along with piles of supplies for a local pet

shelter which the Cub Scouts help collect.

Hockey Games, Rock and Mineral Shows, and

a trip to the YMCA pool rounded out our ac-

tivities over the last month. The YMCA trip is

a Scout favorite. This year we played nearly 2

hours’ worth of dodgeball – the highlight be-

ing the kids vs parents games (which the par-

ents won!) Then a few hours in the pool where

our older scouts learned reach and throw

rescue techniques as well as tested out what

it’s like to swim with a life vest on. Many of

them also were brave enough to learn to do

surface dives for the first time, and other-

than a few red bellies they really progressed

with this skill. I’m also proud to say that sev-

eral of the scouts and their sisters took the

BSA Swimmers Test and conquered that dif-

ficult challenge normally expected for older

kids to complete. With spring in the air we

can’t wait to get outside more and more!

Pack 43 Cub Scouts con-

tinue to have a great

time as we transition

from winter to spring. Our Bear

Scouts (3rd Graders) hosted a

carnival of games for the rest of

the Pack this past month. They

even built a ridable hovercraft that Scouts

were able to take turns tooling around the

gym on! The Cub Scouts took part in another

successful food and pet supply drive at the

end of March and start of April. The Terrace

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Join us for

Tioga Hills

Spring Carnival

Vote Night - Tuesday, May 16th

5:00 – 7:30 PM

FOOD, GAMES, CAKE WALK, AND MORE……FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY!!!!

Bracelets for games $5.00 each. Maximum $20.00 per family. Buy

your bracelets in advance – send in payment by Wednesday, May 10th

and bracelets will come home in Friday folders on May 12th.

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Student’s Name ______________________________________________

Teacher_____________________________________________________

# Bracelets _______ Total enclosed __________________ Please make checks payable to Tioga Hills PTA.

Any questions, contact Amy MacDonald at amylynne71@gmail.com

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MAY MORNING PROGRAM CALENDAR

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