Upper Nyack Elementary School SCOOP

I will send a reminder again, but please mark your calendar for our IN PERSON BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT at Upper Nyack Elementary on Thursday, September 29 at 7-8:30pm.

The basic plan is as follows:

7:00-7:25pm
-Grades K-2 go directly to the classrooms to meet the teacher
-Grades 3-5 go to the All Purpose Room (Cafeteria) to meet with Mr. Dreves and support staff

7:25-7:30pm - Transition time - Grades 3-5 transition first and K-2 families follow after an announcement

7:30 - 7:55pm
-Grades 3-5 go the classrooms to meet the teachers
-Grades K-2 go to the All Purpose Room to meet with Mr. Dreves and support staff

7:55-8:00pm - Most families will likely be finished at 7:55pm and will head home at this time.

8:00-8:15pm -

If you have additional children in other grades and were not able to make both sessions, or if you'd like to meet a special area teacher, teachers will be available in their rooms.

Start with hello week raises awareness about social isolation and educates students and the community on how to prevent it by reaching out to others who may feel left out, lonely or invisible. Our goal is that all students in Nyack feel a sense of belonging and celebrate spreading kindness to all.

Monday:

Say Hello to somebody in our school community and introduce yourself

Wear yellow or green (The colors of inclusion)

Task for the day Start with Hello name tags – students/staff will be given a name tag in

their classroom to wear all day.

Tuesday:

Wear an article of clothing displaying a positive message or represents something important to you.

Task for the day Random act of kindness: We are encouraging staff and students to go out of their way to do something nice for someone else.

Wednesday:

Wear rainbow colors.

Task for the day: Spread kindness: Write a kind note or draw a picture for someone in our school.

Thursday:

Kindness always wins! Cardigan Day. Wear a cardigan/sweater to remember Mr. Rogers (Mr. Friend & Neighbor) (Daniel Tiger)

Task for the day: Sit with someone new at lunch or play with someone new at recess.

Friday:

Task for the day: Nyack spirit: Wear school colors(Red and Black) to show we support each other in this great community!

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE FLYER FOR START WITH HELLO WEEK

Please be advised that the scheduled PTA and IDEA Committee meeting scheduled for 9/14 was postponed until next week, September 21st at 7 PM (PTA) and 8pm (IDEA). The meeting will be held in the new Global Learning Commons (library).

Mr. Dreves is hosting virtual parent coffee sessions on the third Friday of each month from 9:30-10am. There is no set agenda, and parents are welcome to come and discuss what's on their minds.

The first Parent Coffee will be held this Friday morning at 9:30am.

CLICK HERE FOR THE SCHEDULE AND LINK.

Upper Nyack will be having a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the community on October 1 from 11am to 5pm on the front lawn of our school!! CLICK HERE FOR THE FLYER. All families are welcome!!

As many of you have heard, we have a time capsule to mark this historic event. We will be holding a time capsule ceremony on October 1 at 11:45am. Some projects that you may see your children completing in the coming weeks may include:

• Letters to future selves

• Photo collages of life today / Polaroid pictures

• Researching fashion, technology, education, politics, energy, etc.

• Drawings of life in 2022 or as it’s imagined in 2035

• Art projects, music recordings, etc.

• Gathering small artifacts that represent life today or that may be nonexistent in the future - Old cell phone, small toys that represents a current fad

• Predictions for the future (think Nostradamus)

• Newspaper/magazine clippings that document life today

• Designing the perfect Upper Nyack Community for 2035.

• My Story Project - narrative of students' lives

• Bucket List - all the things we want to accomplish before 2035

• Secret messages to the future with a way to crack the code.

• Advice to the future

• Who, Where, what will you be in 50 years?

• Parents writing letters to their children to be opened in 2035

• Packaging/wrappers from beloved foods, items from today

• A family tree / Family photos

• A List of prices

• Recipes, coins, greeting cards, ticket stub, sports item

• A collection of advertisements - cars, toy catalog, etc.

• List of favorites

• Letter to your best friend to be mailed when the capsule is opened.

• Family questionnaire with answers

• Describe a perfect day in the life of a UNES student

• Playlist of songs

• Memory book

• Legends, myths or local stories from the area

Teachers will be leading these projects with kids but parents and families are welcome to participate too!! Speak to your child about things you may want to complete as a family. Each class has a large ziplock bag (about 4 times the size of gallon ziplocks that many of us have in our households). If you have a cool idea and your family wants to participate, please be in touch with your child's classroom teacher.

Please see the letter below from our guidance counselor about the guidance program at UNES.

Dear Nyack families,

We hope you and your family had a fun and relaxing summer vacation! We are very excited to start this new school year! As you know, each elementary school has a full time school counselor.

Our role as elementary school counselors is to provide each child with social emotional skills that will not only be beneficial for their education but throughout their life journey. Social emotional lessons are crucial in order for all students to thrive in relationships, academics, and personally.

All Nyack elementary students will receive SEL lessons twice a month in their classrooms. Your child will learn a variety of skills and topics through our SEL curriculum called SECOND STEP such as;

Kindness and acceptance

Bullying

Problem Solving

Empathy/Compassion

Conflict Resolution

Confidence

Respecting Differences

Calming strategies and emotion management

We will also be using mindfulness to teach students emotional awareness and to set the tone for a calming and peaceful learning environment. We want all students to feel empowered and to know everyone is an important member of this great Nyack community.

More information can be found on our Elementary School Counseling Website

Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions or concerns regarding your child. We look forward to developing a positive relationship with you and your child.

Sincerely,

Jon Hogg-Valley Cottage Elementary School Counselor -Jhogg2@nyackschools.org (845) 353-7289

Marina Gomez-Liberty Elementary School Counselor - Mgomez@nyackschools.org (845) 353-7259

Andrea Perez-Upper Nyack Elementary School Counselor - Aperez@nyackschools.org (845) 353-7279

Monday, October 3 is STOMP OUT BULLYING DAY. Please have children wear BLUE to school as a show of unity against bullying.

Picture Day is Coming! Flyers are being sent home soon.

For online ordering - CLICK HERE.

Then enter Picture Day ID - EVTQH7NGC

Attendance: Please call Linda Dellolio, the attendance secretary, at 845-353-7261 (PRIOR to 9:15AM) to notify us of your child's absence or tardiness. Kindly leave your child's full name, grade and teacher and the reason for their absence or tardiness. If you do not have time to call, you could email the main office secretaries at ldellolio@nyackschools.org or acontreras@nyackschools.org.

Please note there is no need to leave an absence message with Nurse Laura Weigel; however, should you need to speak with Nurse Laura about your child's absence or illness, please inform the attendance secretary and she will notify Nurse Laura to return your call.

Change in dismissal/early dismissal: In the past we requested hand-written notes (to the classroom teacher) outlining dismissal changes or early dismissal information; however, there have been instances where the classroom teacher was absent and the dismissal change WAS NOT passed along to the main office PRIOR to dismissal time.

To avoid this, we are now requesting all early dismissal and end of school day dismissal changes be telephoned into the main office (845-353-7261/7260; PRIOR TO 1:00 PM) or sent to the main office secretaries via email at ldellolio@nyackschools.org or acontreras@nyackschools.org.

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE SEPTEMBER BREAKFAST AND LUNCH MENU

Breakfast/Lunch: Breakfast will be available for students each morning in the all purpose room; the cost will be $1.00. Students in the early morning program will be provided breakfast and students who are not in the program will be given early access to the cafeteria through the main entrance to start eating breakfast at 8:40am.

Lunch is available each day for students and the cost will be $2.35; students have an option of a hot meal or a cold meal. Meal accounts can be prepaid weekly or monthly for your convenience through MyPaymentsPlus.com (online payment plan). If you qualify for free or reduced lunch, application forms were included in the district calendar and are available on our website. You must complete these forms and submit them to the main office for processing in order to qualify for free or reduced lunch/breakfast.

• Monday, September 19 - Friday, September 23 - START WITH HELLO WEEK

• Monday, September 26th and Tuesday, September 27th schools are closed in observance of Rosh Hashanah.

• Thursday September 29th is Back to School Night for Upper Nyack Elementary School.

• Saturday, October 1 is the Upper Nyack 150th Anniversary Celebration on the front lawn of UNES!!

• Monday, October 3 - Stomp out Bullying Day - Wear Blue

• FRIDAY, October 7 - Picture Day

Building bridges for today's students to cross into tomorrow's world with equity, innovation and optimism.

Email: cdreves@nyackschools.org
Website: https://un.nyackschools.org/
Location: 336 North Broadway, Upper Nyack, NY, USA
Phone: 845-353-7260
Twitter: @NyackPrincipal