Looking Forward to a FABULOUS 2017-18 School Year

We have been treated to some beautiful weather the last few weeks! A few leaves here and there are starting to change. The days are growing shorter. And the biggest tell-tale sign that summer is drawing to a close, the New York State Fair is coming to an end. All these point to the fact that next week, your children will come bursting through our Stonehedge doors eager for a new year to begin.

Our dedicated staff and teachers are busily working to prepare the school to greet new students and welcome back returning ones.

As thoughts turn to the school year, now is a great opportunity to mention a few policies in our building.

Our District's Wellness Policy

The West Genesee Central School District recognizes children need access to nutritional foods and opportunities to be physically active in order to learn, grow, and thrive. Good health fosters school attendance and educational achievement. School district personnel, in partnership with parents, significantly influence the lifelong nutrition and physical activity habits of children. To learn more about the District's policy, please click here.

Making Snack Time a Safe and Healthy Time for Everyone
In order to promote healthy eating and taking into consideration students with food allergies, we are asking that you only send in a snack for your child from the list of foods provided by your child's teacher. We have found in the past that this policy has worked well to keep our students healthy and safe. Since our students may rotate classrooms throughout the day for different learning opportunities, it is essential that all rooms remain free of peanuts and nut allergens.

Please follow the snack guidelines provided by your child’s teacher. Guidelines might be slightly different at each grade level to preserve classroom time.

PLEASE NOTE: These guidelines only refer to foods eaten during snack time in the classroom. Your child may bring whatever foods he or she wishes for lunch that is eaten in the cafeteria. 

At Stonehedge learning is the goal. We strive to keep every child happy, healthy, and safe to help achieve that goal.

Welcoming the Class of 2030!

Earlier this week, we welcomed some very special people to Stonehedge! More than 100 members of the class of 2030 and their parents met with teachers, toured the school, and rode a bus at the annual Kindergarten Orientation. We can’t wait to see everyone again for the first day on September 6.

Dates to Remember:

September 6, FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL (Full Day)

September 14, 6:30 – 8 p.m., Fall Open House

September 20, 6:30 p.m., Welcome Back PTA Meeting

September 19 and 20, Picture Day

Looking forward to seeing you all soon!
~Lori

Have a Great Summer!

Have a Great Summer!

The end of the year is always bittersweet. As we close one school year, we look forward to another: more opportunities for growth, learning, friendship, and new experiences.

A long-standing tradition, our faculty and staff line the sidewalk and wave to students as the buses depart.

Miss Kolis' first grade class earned an end-of-the-year cheetah themed party!

These first graders were feeling silly.

First graders enjoying some outdoor reading.

These big kindergartners are now "fluttering to first grade" like their shirts say.

Even though the rain altered some of the plans for the end-of-the-year picnic in second grade, they still had a great time indoors!

Earlier this morning second graders left well wishes written in chalk on the sidewalk in front of the building.

Counting Down to the End of the Year

With less than a week left to the 2016-17 school year, there are still wonderful activities going on in all of the classrooms. It is always an exciting way to end the year.

An Unusual Visitor on the Playground

You may have heard that a drone was flying over Stonehedge Elementary school yesterday. That would be correct. A community member was flying a small drone over the area for fun. We had children outside and did not want the drone to possibly fall and hit someone, so we briefly brought the children inside until our School Resource Officer could speak to the owner. The drone was out of the area in about two minutes and the children went back outside to play in the great weather.

The Water Carnival Was a "Splashing" Success
Thanks to our tremendous physical education staff and the countless other staff members and volunteers who helped out during this year's water carnival, fun was had by all! The weather was beautiful and some new activities balanced nicely with tried and true ones.

Mrs. Eichhorn, Mrs. Abbott, and Mrs. Graser served up the best snow cones!

Mr. Mercado, Mr. Gangemi, Mrs. Barbuto, and Mr. Yarnell (not pictured) worked incredibly hard to make the event special for the whole school!

A New Tradition Begins
For the first time this year, graduating seniors donned their caps and walked through the hallways of their elementary school. As they walked through Stonehedge, they waved, gave out high fives, and cheered along with the current students who were lining the halls. 

Keeping an Eye on Learning

Mrs. Mathewson's second grade class gets an eyeful during their demonstration. 

Recently Stephanie Scheirer, Growing Healthy teaching assistant, visited with second graders and performed a demonstration dissection of a sheep's eye with the children. 

The demonstration coincided with a science unit the students were studying. The visual dissection taught students more than anything a book could! They retained a great amount of information about the eye. They were surprised about the size and feel of the eye and compared a sheep's eye to a human eye.

Dates to Remember
Monday, June 19 and Tuesday,  June 20 are full days of school.
Wednesday, June 21 is a half-day with dismissal at 11:30 a.m.
Thursday, June 22 is the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL, a half-day with dismissal at 11:30 a.m.

~ Lori

Believe it or not, it's almost the end of the year!

Even though the weather is not acting like it, June has come and brought many end-of-year activities and excitement.

Lots of Fun End of the Year Activities Planned

In celebration of another amazing school year, there are a lot of fun special activities coming up for all of our students. Each grade level celebrates in its own way.  Grade level picnics and parties help wind down the year and allow students to reflect upon all their hard work!

You should expect your child's report card to come home with them on June 22, the last day of school. You will find out your child's teacher for the upcoming school year through a letter in the mail in mid-August. 

Get Ready! The Water Carnival is Monday and Tuesday

Slipping and sliding at last year's water carnival.

 As you already know, the schedule for our water carnival is as follows:

Tuesday, June 13 

Grade 1, from 9:30 - 10:45 a.m.

Grade 2, from 11:45 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Grade K 1:30 - 2:45 p.m.

In case of inclement weather, the rain date will be Wednesday, June 14.

We suggest your child wear his/her swimsuit to school and bring a change of clothes. Boys will wear their swimming trunks and a t-shirt during all activities. Girls should also plan on wearing shorts and a t-shirt over their swimsuits as well. Students may wear sandals or water shoes. BRING A TOWEL!!Your child may want to bring sunscreen and a water bottle.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call us at 487-4633 or x 4631. 

WE STILL NEED VOLUNTEERS! Please email Loryn Petrik at  lorynpetrik@gmail.com if you'd like to join the fun!

Celebrating Our Special Olympians 

We are so proud of our athletes! Many of our students recently took part in the Special Olympics held at the Cicero-North Syracuse High School. Students competed in a variety of track and field events and returned with several ribbons for their accomplishments.

As part of what's become an incredibly moving tradition, the staff and students of Stonehedge lined our sidewalk and hallways with handmade signs to welcome our athletes as they returned from their day of competing. The cheers and support rallied the competitors as they paraded through the school.

April (and May and June) Showers Hopefully Bring Flowers

Our kindergarten friends have been studying the plant lifecyle. They recently planted some seeds and are eagerly awaiting their first sprouts. 

 

Important Dates:

Tuesday, June 13 Water Carnival for grades K-2

Wednesday, June 14 RAIN DATE for Water Carnival grades K-2

Monday, June 19 is a full day of school with lunch served. 

Tuesday, June 20  is a full day of school with lunch served.

Wednesday, June 21 is a half-day with dismissal at 11:30 a.m.

Thursday, June 22 LAST DAY OF SCHOOL --half-day with dismissal at 11:30 a.m. 

~Lori

Introducing our Buddy Bench

Won’t You Come and Play with Me?

Today, Mrs. Mathewson and Mrs. Touron’s second-grade classes took the lead at our Character Education assembly. The topic of discussion was about a new arrival to our playground. It’s a very special bench called the Wildcat Buddy Bench, with a very important purpose.

What is a Buddy Bench?  A Buddy Bench is a special place on the playground where children can sit to find a friend to play with during recess. Students will sit on the bench signaling that they would like a friend to invite them to play.  Children on the playground will take notice when another child is sitting on the Buddy Bench and invite them to join them at play. Once a child is invited to play, they must say, yes!

Teachers will encourage students who may be a bit anxious about playtime to follow these three steps before going outside to the playground:

1. Plan before you play. What might you want to do and what friends would you like to play with?
2. Take a seat on the Buddy Bench if your plan did not work out. Wait for someone to invite you to play.
3. Say yes!  Accept the invitation.

Ask your child about the Wildcat Buddy Bench. Children are naturally very accepting individuals; please stress the fact that everyone matters, and inviting someone to play is a wonderful way of showing this!

Also, a big thank you to Mrs. Barbuto, Mr. Gangemi, Mr. Mercado, and the 5th Grade Jump Rope Club. These children performed at our assembly today and impressed us all with their fitness, tricks, perseverance, and teamwork. Thank you for sharing your talents with us!

Congratulations to our HEDGE Award Winners

The following students were recognized today for their citizenship! Their hard work is noticed and appreciated!

Jimmy Aragona, Addy Blair, Laila Burgin, Dakota Brown, Nolan Carvel, Maggie Cohen, Addison Czarny, Arseniy Demkiv, Amelia DiMeis, Katie Domin, Andrew Dotzler, Maria Froio, Natalie Gilbert, Max Glazier, Jaelyn Jackson, Arianna Janes, Robert Kreis, Reis LaMontagne, Meghan Lawrence, Rachel Miner, James O'Keefe, Vincent Ruggeri, Aiden Schreyer, Addison Thayer, Natalie Thompson, Aaliyah Zachery, Noah Zimmerman

Olivia Bartholomew, Tyler Bullock, Dominic Cheney, Noah Closson, Justyn DuBose, Joseph Farella, Stewart Ferguson, Timothy Groth, Deen Hamdan, Scott Hayes, Kristian Jackson,

Raegan Kitterle, Andrew Kostiv, Victoria Lattimore, Jayden Maeweathers, Shawn McCarty, Gabriella Morrell, Ava Noce, Max Nolan, Anthony Pallone, Kashif Peterson, Aaden Rech, Kaytlynn Rivers, Sam Rotblat, Selena Salman, Leah Sayre, Mason Sealey, Isabella Suto, Luke Younis

Please come join us for our last PTA meeting of the year on  Monday, May 15, 2017 at 6:30 p.m. in the Library. We will be installing our new officers for the 2017-2018 school year and discussing the water carnival. We look forward to seeing everyone and sharing what's happening for the rest of the school year!  

Spring Open House was a Big Success!

Thank you to everyone who came out with their children to Stonehedge's Open House this week. We know it is a very busy time of year, The evening drew a great crowd as families visited with teachers, viewed student artwork, and even strolled through the science fair for older students.  

Upcoming Events:

Monday, May 15: PTA Meeting, 6:30 p.m. library

Tuesday, May 16: 6 a.m. - 9 p.m. Budget Vote, West Genesee High School

Monday, May 29: Memorial Day, No School

Spring Has Finally Sprung!

Spring has finally sprung and the last of the snow melted. With it comes more outdoor play, use of the outdoor classroom, and physical education classes moving outside. 

The emergence of buds and warmer temperatures usually coincides with the ending of our third marking period and the beginning of our fourth and final marking period for the school year. Today students will bring home their third report card. It’s the perfect time to review student progress and set new goals to be accomplished before the end of the school year! There is still plenty of time to achieve academic growth so keep working! As always, if you have any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher.

Next year at the elementary level, all schools will be using a new standards based grading and reporting process. Our report cards will have a whole new look.  Information regarding our new report cards will be communicated at the end of this school year and again in the fall.

These smiling kindergarten bunnies can't wait for Spring Break!

Stonehedge Goes BLUE 4 KIDS

This week you may have noticed pinwheels in front Stonehedge as well as buildings throughout the district in recognition of National Child Abuse Prevention month. As Dr. Brown mentioned in his blog, "We have partnered with the McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Centers "Go Blue 4 Kids" campaign. Students raised money for the pinwheels and the money they have donated to the advocacy center will be used right here in central New York for victims of child sexual and physical abuse." 

Remember,  there is no school tomorrow, Friday, April 14.  This is the start of our spring break week, so enjoy your time with your children!  School resumes on Monday, April 24.

Important Dates

Thursday, April 13 – Report Cards are distributed

Friday, April 14 – No school

Week of April 17-21 – Spring Break

Tuesday, April 25 – PTA meets at 6:30 p.m. at West Genesee High School, followed by Superintendent’s budget presentation at 7:00

Thursday, April 27 –National “Poem in my Pocket” Day! Bring your favorite poem to school. 6:30 p.m. Open Mic Night Poetry-palooza - Gold Cafeteria

~Lori

Two Great Upcoming Events

Does your child worry? Please join us for an evening with Dr. Aaron Gleason, Ph.D., clinical psychologist. Dr. Gleason will talk with parents about why children worry and what can be done about it. You must register for the event by April 5 by calling East Hill Elementary School at (315) 487-4648. Babysitting is available. 

And, you won't want to miss our second annual

April 6, 6 p.m. WGHS LOWER GYM

Cheer along K-5 staff as they play basketball for a great cause: our Stonehedge PTA!

• $1 donation at the door and all proceeds from concession sales will benefit Stonehedge PTA.
• Witness the amazing coaching skills of  Dr. Brown & Mrs.Conboy.
• Watch along with game refs Mrs. Keevil and Mr. Suddaby.
• New This Year: Raffle Baskets! $1 a ticket, $5 for 6 tickets, $10 for 13 tickets. Basket themes include: "SU", " Summer Fun", "Movie Night In", and "Taste of Camillus", and more.
• You won’t want to miss the chorus singing the national anthem or Jump Rope Club’s performance during half-time! 
• Please note that children must be accompanied by an adult. Babysitting is not provided.

Hope to see you there!

Lori