Elementary Special Olympics
On Friday, May 24, the very first West Genesee Inaugural Elementary Olympics for special education students took place at the high school. Students took part in several track events, including the 50m, 100m, and 200m, and field events, including the shot put, standing long jump, softball throw, and hurdles. Fifty-nine West Genesee Elementary students (from East Hill, Onondaga Road, Split Rock, and Stonehedge Elementary Schools) participated this year. The enthusiasm of the high school students was evident as they cheered on athletes, revved up the spectators, and danced along to the music.  It was a very special event for all!

Continuing the yearly tradition, the staff and students of Stonehedge lined our sidewalk and hallways with handmade signs, high fives, and a lot of cheers, to welcome our athletes as they returned from their day of competing.

Second-grade field trip to Corduroy
The Stonehedge PTA sponsored a trip to LeMoyne College for students to attend a live performance of Corduroy. The story was written by Don Freeman many, many years ago but remains a favorite with teachers and children alike. Have you ever dreamed of being locked in a department store at night? The endearing story of Corduroy, that wonderful little bear,  paints a picture of the adventures that might unfold (for a teddy bear at least) in such a situation. Be sure to ask your second-grade student what happens in the story.

Kindergarten Readiness Session #2
We had a wonderful turn out for our first Welcome to Kindergarten get together. Our next session is scheduled for Tuesday, June 4, 6:00-6:45. For this opportunity, children will stay with classroom teachers while parents meet with Mrs. Sheehan (school counselor), and Mrs. Dunham (Speech and Language Specialist), and me. We will provide an overview of the transition to kindergarten. Doors will open at 6:00 and the parent presentation will begin at 6:10 in the Blue Cafeteria.

Important Dates
May 31 - Kindergarten field trip to Corduroy

June 4 - Kindergarten Readiness Night - 6:00 - 6:45

June 5 - Board of Education Meeting - 7:00 - WG High School Library

June 11 - Water Carnival K-2

~Lori

Budget Vote Today!

This is just a reminder that today is School Budget Vote Day. Voting will take place at WG High School. Polls will be open until 9:00 p.m. tonight.

Important Dates
May 22 - Kindergarten Readiness Session 1, 6:00 - 6:30,  Kindergarten Classrooms
May 22 - Board of Education Meeting, HS, 7:00
May 23 - Kaleidoscope, Civic Center, 7:30
May 24 - West Genesee Special Olympics, HS, 10:00
May 27 - Memorial Day, No School

Have a wonderful day!
Lori

Open House

We hope to see you at our Spring Open House on Thursday, May 9th from 6:15 - 7:15 p.m.  Our students and teachers look forward to this fun event every year.  The Spring Open House is a great opportunity to showcase some of the amazing learning and artwork that your children have done this year at Stonehedge!  Artwork will be on display around the hallways as well as in an area outside of the Library.

For the past few events, we have staggered start times to ease overall congestion as well as address the parking situation. This approach has been well-received and will be used for our Spring Open House. The times are as follows:

• Kindergarten & Grade 1 - 6:15 - 6:35
• Grades 2 & 3 - 6:35 - 6:55
• Grades 4 & 5 - 6:55 - 7:15

Please know that if you can not attend during your scheduled time,  families may attend any session. Because we are staggering the start times, we will not be using shuttle buses.

The PTA is sponsoring a few fundraising events for this day.  A Bottle Return Donation Truck will be in front of the middle school during open house with all proceeds going to the PTA.  Also, stop over to Sweet Frog in Township 5 between the times of 4-9 p.m. and mention Stonehedge PTA. They will donate 20% of your total to the PTA. A detailed flyer will be coming home soon!

Kindergarten Readiness
Do you have an incoming Kindergartener or know someone who does? Our Get Ready for Kindergarten sessions are intended to make the transition to kindergarten a pleasant experience.  Parents and children will meet kindergarten teachers and many other staff members who will be working with families in kindergarten and beyond.  Children will be offered 4 different sessions in which they will participate in fun activities focusing on kindergarten readiness skills, meet the teachers, and meet other children who will be entering Kindergarten in the fall. The first session is scheduled for Wednesday, May 22, 6:00 - 6:30 p.m. and the second session is Tuesday, June 4, 6:00 - 6:45 p.m. We are asking families to RSVP for the first two sessions by May 15 by calling the main office at 315-487-4633. Please make sure you have registered your incoming kindergartener at the District Office so that you will receive our mailing detailing Get Ready for Kindergarten.

Second Graders Visit The Zoo!

First Graders Visit Hospital Land!

Important Dates
May 8 - Board of Education Meeting - 7:00 - High School Library

May 9 - Open House - 6:15-7:15

May 20 - PTA Meeting - 6:30 - Stonehedge Library

May 21 - School Budget Vote

Have a wonderful week!

~Lori

Spring is in the Air

I hope everyone enjoyed Spring Break last week. It was fun to be a part of the excitement children were feeling as shared their travel plans and family get-togethers. It is amazing how quickly things have turned green and flowers have bloomed. Let’s hope this is the beginning of some amazing weather and lots of time spent outside. Please be sure that children have sneakers each day so that they can enjoy outdoor play. Sandals especially can be dangerous when playing in the wood chip areas.

P2
The upcoming character strength this week is  Appreciation of Beauty & Excellence. This strength can take many forms and will be fun for the children to explore. It encourages us to notice and value the world’s beauty and the excellence of people’s skills. When you take notice, you don’t take things for granted. So if your child asks you to stop and smell the roses, they are demonstrating an appreciation of beauty. Earth Day is this week and is a perfect opportunity to encourage children to do their part in picking up and sprucing up the neighborhood in an effort to showcase the beauty around us.

Students in Mrs. Erwin's class wearing their Earth Day crowns

PTA 

Please join us for tonight's PTA meeting which will be held at the West Genesee High School Library Classroom at 6:00. We encourage all in attendance to then attend the 2019-2020 budget presentation which begins at 7:00 in the LGI Room. All district PTA/PTO organizations will be in attendance. It is an opportunity to gain insight and ask questions pertaining to the budget. 

National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry month and at Stonehedge that means three things: fun with poems in the library, Poem in Your Pocket Day and Poetrypalooza. Poem in Your Pocket Day fell during the break this year, so Stonehedge will celebrate it on Thursday, April 25th. All students and staff are encouraged to carry a poem in their pocket and share it with as many people as possible during the day.

Later on the 25th, the Gold cafeteria will be transformed into a funky poetry café with a stage, sound system and real, live audience as we bring back Poetrypalooza after a one-year absence. We’ll start reading poems at 6:30 and go until everyone who wants to, has a chance to share. Staff, students, and family members are welcome to participate. If you do not want to read, you can be part of the audience, but we’ll have poem books on hand if you change your mind and decide to “dare to share”!

Important Dates
April 23 - PTA Meeting - 6:00 - WGHS Library Classroom
April 25 - Poem In Your Pocket Day
April 25 - PoetryPalooza - 6:30-7:30 - Gold Cafeteria

May 9 - Open House

Have a wonderful week!
~Lori

Love My School Day

Thursday is Love My School Day! Students should wear their Stonehedge or West Genesee gear on this day. To learn more about the history of this day, click here. Those of you following us on twitter will see tweets with the hashtag #LoveMySchoolDay. If you aren't yet following us on Twitter, please do! Our twitter handle is @stonehedgeblue. If your child's teacher is using social media to highlight their classroom you may see them use #LoveMySchoolDay on Thursday as well.

P2 Assembly
Last week the West Genesee High School Dance Ensemble 1 and Intermediate dance teams performed at our Positivity Project assembly.  Our students demonstrated this week’s character trait of “Being present and giving others my attention”. Our kindergarteners were even able to learn parts of a dance that went along with the book Wherever You Are: My Love Will Find You, by Nancy Tillman.

These next photos highlight the Dance Team's work with Kindergarten children. We definitely have some budding performers here at Stonehedge. 

Raptor Visitor Management System
Starting the Monday we return from April break, Stonehedge will officially be using the Raptor Visitor Management System which will aid in keeping our students and staff safe. You will receive a letter home with your child by the end of the week explaining how this system works. Visitors will need to provide identification upon entering the building. This can be a driver's license or a passport. If you do not have either of these forms of identification, two alternate IDs will be accepted, as long as one is a photo ID. Any visitor who plans to go anywhere other than the main office will receive an ID badge. Please read the letter carefully and reach out should you have any questions.


Spring Break
Reminder: school will not be in session next week April 15- April 19!

~Lori

A Bit of News…

It is with mixed emotions that I announce my retirement to be effective on June 30, 2019.  I have enjoyed every position that I have held at West Genesee; first as a teacher at Split Rock, later as a Lead Teacher for the district, and most recently, Principal of Stonehedge Blue.

It has been an honor and a pleasure to be a part of the West Genesee community. I am so very proud of my staff at Stonehedge and the continuous work they do to provide an excellent experience in which children grow both academically and personally.

It has been a privilege to work with the many wonderful children and families that comprise the Stonehedge Community. West Genesee is an awesome school district and I am so proud to have been a part of it!

P2 Strength
Positivity Project
This week's character strengths focus on fairness and humor. Fairness means you believe that all people have value. You approach situations with an unbiased mindset and treat everyone with respect. Cultivating the character strength of fairness helps people to become trustworthy friends, responsible citizens, and generally moral people.

Humor means that you like to laugh and bring smiles to other people. It is a sense of playfulness and lightness. A way of looking at and describing the world that brings laughter to people. A person with the strength of humor is skilled at seeing the funny side of things, bringing smiles and laughter to others, and identifying and communicating the absurdities in life. People with this strength don’t specifically need to be joke tellers, although many are. Humor can certainly brighten our day. Have a little fun and surprise your family with your sense of humor.

Grade 2 Kicks off Read Like a Rock Star Challenge
Next week, our library staff and grade two team will be kicking off our second annual Read Like a Rock Star Challenge. This event is an exciting way for us to stretch children’s experiences with different types of genres. One of the most exciting parts of this experience is when Mrs. Abbott introduces children to a plethora of chapter book series. Children will be encouraged to read as many books as possible and complete a Golden Ticket for each book read.  We will track how many books we read as a grade level and hope to beat last year’s total. We often find that kids fall in love with the main characters in a book and can’t wait to read the next book in the series. If you are planning to travel for Spring vacation please consider ways to incorporate reading into your travels.

Mrs. Touron's class show off their books!

What’s Happening in PE Class?
In PE class this week students are enjoying a variety of center activities that get the heart pumping while having fun with friends!  Enjoy some pictures of these activities from Miss Cinzenski ’s and Mrs. Barbuto’s first and second-grade classes.

Important Dates
April 4 - Gertrude Hawk Pick-up - 4:00-7:30 pm - Gold Lobby
April 5 - School Spirit Day
April 15-19 - Spring Recess - No school

~Lori