Happy Thanksgiving!

As we approach the end of November and the Thanksgiving holiday, I cannot help but think about the many reasons I have for being thankful. 

It has been wonderful to see all the parents visiting the school for parent and teacher conferences. Every opportunity we have to build a home and school connection is one for which we are all grateful.

As principal, I am certainly thankful for 
• the support parents have given to the school and the district. Each day you send us children who are well rested and ready to learn.

• the many parents who volunteer at school, or help through the PTA. 

• our students who represent Stonehedge as young children preparing to be upstanding citizens. Children who respect themselves and each other.

• the teachers and staff at Stonehedge who give their all to create to a warm, welcoming, and productive learning environment.  

Please enjoy the photos provided below of students partaking in Thanksgiving activities. I wish you all a safe, relaxing and wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Mrs. Keevil 

Students in Mrs. Donahue's class enjoy a feast while wearing some pretty turkey-rific hats!

Native American and Pilgrim hats helped to dress up Mrs. Leonardis' students.

Students throughout the school acknowledged what they were thankful for.

Mrs. Shepard's class got ready for some Stone Snack, a take-off of the popular book, Stone Soup.

This is one smart turkey--color coding math problems!

Students in second grade and kindergarten sent in paper turkeys disguised in a variety of costumes to hide from hungry diners.

Mrs. Gauzza's class wishes everyone a happy Thanksgiving. 

Stonehedge Blue is Thankful !

Just a reminder to please vote today!

Stonehedge Pays Tribute to Veterans

On Friday, November 8, Stonehedge students paid tribute to our local veterans and active duty service men and women with a special ceremony that featured the fifth grade choir singing a selection of patriotic songs.  A special flag that had flown in Afghanistan was presented to the school on behalf of Sandy Sanderson. Sandy's daughter Nicole is a student here in Mrs.Leonardis' kindergarten class. Students in the primary grades worked together to write poster-sized letters to the veterans. The posters were hung throughout the library.

First Family Game Night Held 

Our first PTA Family Game Night of the year for grades kindergarten and first was held last week. With close to 200 people in attendance, it was a fun-filled night. A great selection of books were given out to our young participants.

Turkey Trot Raises Nearly $3,000 for Charity

All students bundled up and braved the chilly weather for the 12th Annual Turkey Trot held on November 4. In addition to teaching lessons to the students on thankfulness and becoming physically fit, the event raised $2,917.65 for Sophie's Giving Tree, a charitable organization created in the memory of Stonehedge student Sophie Kawejsza.

HEDGE Awards Recognize Students

November, the month of Thanksgiving, is a time for thankfulness, when we focus our thoughts on the many reasons for being thankful. Thank you to Mrs. Carrington and Mrs. Prosser's students for presenting at the assembly. As adults, we know how important it is to be grateful for the things that we have and the special people in our lives. The bulletin board display in the front hallway is full of things our second graders are thankful for. Be sure to check it out!

Congratulations to our Hedge Award recipients for the month of October. Thank you to these students for showing respect to others!

First Grade HEDGE Award Winners:

Grace Abert, RJ Bartholomew, Lianna Basila, Noah Bell, Kiera Braun, Gianna Caraccio, Iliana Dafoe, Gwen DeMass, Erik Dombroske, Inna Guleva, Sidney Hamilton, Gabriella Hinman, Riley Kittle, Ben Korzeniewski, Thomas Levison, Isabella Makarchuk, William Meade, Cathleen O'Keefe, Jacob Orozco, Alexa Pallone, Connor Parker, Zophia Parker, Dontae Powell, Angelo Vrabel

Second Grade HEDGE Award Winners:

Amaiya Abear, Luay Abraham, Savannah Clark, Peyton Cooper, Brianna Hebert, Kaitlyn Hoy, Rose Latessa, Austin Michalkow, Abigail Moore, Alison Offutt, Scout Oudemool, Joseph Paoli, Claire Petty, Lauren Petty, Benjamin Pietrafesa, Gavin Provo, Ali Robertson, Allison Shortslef, Ty Thomas, Robert Tucciarone, Osvaldo Valenzuela, Nicole Vasilev

A reminder:
Report cards go home this Friday, Nov. 15. This will be a good time to talk with students about their progress and set academic goals for the next marking period. Parent - teacher conferences are scheduled for Nov. 25-26. This will be a half day for students with a dismissal time of 11:30 a.m. on both days. We look at conferences as an opportunity to discuss your child's overall development and to foster a positive home/school partnership. We focus on collaboration all in an effort to ultimately affect student progress. If you are not scheduled for a conference, please contact your child's teacher to secure a time.

Enjoy some additional pictures from our Veterans Day Tribute, Turkey Trot, and Game Night. 

Veterans read through thank you letters written by students.

Principal Keevil calls BINGO.

Physical education teacher Steve Shoults runs with students during the Turkey Trot.

Celebrating Fire Prevention Month and Halloween

Fairmount Fire Department Visits School

“Why does your truck have three hoses?”

“If there’s a fire, what about my x-box?”

“What if we can’t find a way out and there’s a fire?”

These were just some of the many questions that K-2 students asked fire fighters from the Fairmount Fire Department during an interactive fire safety assembly. Students learned about protective gear that is worn and tools used when fighting a fire. They were taught safety procedures to follow at home and reviewed procedures here at school.

Classroom teachers worked age-appropriate fire prevention lessons and videos into their curriculum and students had the chance to climb aboard a real fire truck. To watch the videos that the children saw, click links below:

Sparky Says: Join My Fire Safety Club Video
Children's Fire Safety Tips
Sesame Street and the FDNY: Fire at Hooper's Store 
Caillou Caillou The Firefighter

We would like to thank physical education teacher Margaret Barbuto for coordinating the Fire Prevention activities.Thank you to the following firefighters for spending the day keeping children at Stonehedge safe:  

Captain Matt Schultz

Lieutenant Jake Carlson

Lieutenant David Mazzoni

Fire Fighters – Chris Baker, Josh Fleury (a former Stonehedge student!), Dan Kogel, Ron McAllroy, Hunter Rogers, Matt Tynan, Chris Unz   

Update on Halloween Parade

Halloween is almost here, and once again it is time for our annual Halloween Parade. This year our Halloween Parade will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 31. Our youngest children will lead the parade followed by each successive grade. We hope you will be able to join us by lining the parade route. The children love to see you there! No need to sign-in for parade viewing.  For parents who signed up to help at the party, the classroom teacher will notify you of the time of the party.

PARP Guest Readers Spend Time in Classrooms

More than 50 guest speakers will visit Stonehedge during the month of October and read to students as a popular part of the PTA's PARP program. Some pictures from our guest readers follow:

Above, Brian Kesel, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, serves as a guest reader for PARP in Mrs. Donahue's kindergarten class.

 

High School Principal Dr. Barry Copeland read to students in Karen Schweitzer's second grade class.

Students in Colleen Lauricella's first grade class posed with school nurse Stephanie Skardinski after she read to them.

Former Stonehedge principal Marilyn Stone read to students in Kristen Malbone's kindergarten classroom.

 Students in Patty Munley's first grade class found some great spots to read during class.

Board of Education member Vladimiro Hart-Zavoli read to students in Regan Shepard's kindergarten class.

Enjoy your weekend and some additional pictures from our Fire Prevention assemblies.
Mrs. Keevil

Dressed in full gear, fire fighters crawled through the room to show students what to expect during a fire. 

Students demonstrated how to Stop! Drop! and ROLL!

Stonehedge Blue Falls into Action

The school year is well underway and we have been very busy at Stonehedge. Below you will find information about things that have happened so far, and great things to come in the month of October.

"Fall in Love with Reading Together" during October with PARP

Fall in Love with Reading Together is our theme for PARP this year and evidence of reading together can be seen throughout the building. Guest Readers have shared their favorite stories with Stonehedge children emphasizing the importance of developing a love of reading. 

We thank Dr. Brown, Mr. Paczkowski, and many others who have contributed to our PARP program. PARP (Parents as Reading Partners) is a PTA program that asks parents to make a commitment to read with their children at least 15 minutes daily.(Pictured above, Dr. Brown reads to students during his visit Mrs. Bailey's second grade classroom.He was one of many individuals who were invited to serve as a guest reader during the month of October.)  

Reading at home with your child is the number one predictor of later reading success. Please be sure to reference the PARP calendar (available here) so your family can share in the exciting events planned throughout the month. Families read together during a well-attended library night held this week, as pictured at right.

Students were eager to discover where the leaf they created ended up in the colorful display set up in each lobby.  


 
Middle school students were guest readers in Mrs. Malbone's kindergarten class.

iPads Arrive in Kindergarten Classrooms

To support our full day kindergarten program, teachers are welcoming iPads into their classrooms. Pictured at right students are learning how to use them and making great use of several different educational apps.(Kindergarten students work with their teacher Mrs. Leondaris (left) and SYSOP Nori Gartner-Baca (right) on the new iPads.

Storyteller Keith Munslow Entertains During Character Education Assembly

Our Character Education Kick-off assembly is always something special and this year was no different! Mr. Keith Munslow, a storyteller, artist, and musician performed for all students last week. It was a highly interactive performance enjoyed by all. Thank you to Mr. Suddaby for arranging this assembly for all children district-wide. Mrs. Elmer, our ADAPEP councilor took this opportunity to explain our Stonehedge Stands Up initiative. She encouraged everyone to work together to create an environment where students and staff take care of one another.  

SAVE THE DATE
The 12th Annual Turkey Trot will be held on Friday, Nov. 1. The Turkey Trot is a fun run/walk where children, by grade level, "trot" on a course in Stonehedge's front parking lot. On the day of the Turkey Trot, we encourage you to join your child during their schedule time to walk, jog, or run.  

This year's Turkey Trot will be held in memory of Sophie Kawejsza and money will be raised for Sophie's Giving Tree. A schedule for the day and more information about Sophie's Giving Tree will be coming home soon. 

Students in Mrs. Schweitzer’s second grade class planted flowers in Sophie’s Garden earlier this month. Thank you to the Kawejsza family for tenderly caring for the garden all spring and summer and then giving the second grade students the opportunity to fill the garden with mums from an array of autumn colors. Please take notice of the garden as you enter Stonehedge as it is truly beautiful! 

R-E-S-E-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me…

This month’s character education trait is RESPECT. Thank you to Mrs. Bailey and Miss Dusart’s classes for sharing their examples of how they think we should respect ourselves and each other. Students watched a catchy video clip that you can view by clicking here if you would like for further discussion at home. 

Students Recognized with HEDGE Awards

Students were recognized with HEDGE Awards for last month’s character trait of Responsibility. Congratulations to our HEDGE recipients pictured below! At left, are first grade honorees.

Principal Keevil congratulates 2nd grade HEDGE award recipients pictured at right.

 
Students in Miss Dusart's and Mrs. Bailey's classes spoke about respect and are pictured at left.

A complete list of October's HEDGE recipients is below:

Grade 1

Luke Alfieri, Angie Allen, Tucker Bealer, Anna Biggs, Garrett Bleskoski, Gracie Burns, Ty Buza, Samantha Casson, Devin Dantuano, Laura Davis, Audrey Diddle, Norah Emery, Zachary Hann, Carly Mathewson, Jack Neves, Ryan O'Hern, Calina Olson, Rowan Prior, Christopher Ramones, Devin Shepard, Jonathan Shoults, Ryan Tabaczyk, Isabella Vallely, Zakaria Zagha

Grade 2

Bella Abear, Autumn Ambrusko, Lauren Battaglia, Caden Brosh, Wyatt Corbin, Noah Cosamano, David Desko, Bridget Dunham, Jillian Halko, Maura Hennessey, Teshale Kelly, Karolina Lata, Nicole Mavente, Ella McIntyre, Gary McLane, Kelly McManus, Frank Nazarkiewicz, Camille Ogden, Kyaira Orozco, David Petercsak, Landyn Shaw, Hannah Sparks, Quentin Wallis

Congratulations to the Stonehedge PTA
Our PTA celebrated its 50th anniversary during a celebration held Thursday evening. Representatives from both NYS PTA and Central Region PTA congratulated Stonehedge PTA and presented a framed certificate. The West Genesee District Council presented plaques to the organization in honor of the anniversary. 

Since 1963, the group has been an active part of the Stonehedge community. Dedicated volunteers have worked countless hours to help bring programs and activities to the school that enhance and enrich the school experience for every child.

Dr. Brown and Board of Education President Deb Simon also attended the celebration. At the beginning of the meeting, Dr. Brown spoke for a few minutes about the upcoming Capital Project. To learn more, please click here. Remember to vote on Tuesday, November 12 from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the West Genesee High School Auditorium Lobby.

Family Fun Night

This Friday, October 18, our PTA will sponsor Family Fun Night.  The event takes place from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.  Come as a family and enjoy story time, face painting, music and dancing, bingo, pizza, and much more.

Important Halloween Parade Update
Due to the new dismissal time for middle school students, our Halloween Parade will be held at 10:30 a.m. It begins with our K-2 students; followed directly by our grade 3-5 students. Hope to see you all there! There is NO need to sign in for parade viewing. In the event of inclement weather, an SNN notification will be sent. Let's just hope for a sunny day! 

Final thoughts:
October 14, No School: Observance of Columbus Day
October 15, Fire Safety Awareness Day
October 18, Family Fun Night
October 25, Half-Day for students, 11:30 a.m. dismissal time
October 31, Halloween Parade, time TBA
November 1, Turkey Trot
November 12, Referendum Vote, West Genesee High School Auditorium Lobby

Have a great long weekend!
Mrs. Keevil