Thursday, December 20, 2012

December Message


Season’s Greetings,
With the holiday season upon us, I hope that you are able to balance all of the demands on your time and energy. Stonehedge has been buzzing with activities. Our PTA and faculty have implemented and sponsored many events for our school community.


Math Nights: The three Family Math Nights, which included dinner for the family, were very well attended. We had over 125 participants each evening. I owe a gigantic debt of gratitude to our PTA, teachers, food service, and mostly our students and parents for making all three nights a smashing success. We were fortunate to have a few students from West Genesee Middle & High School volunteer their time to help at our math nights as well. We hope to work with students from our high school more in the coming months.

Book Fair: We also greatly appreciate your support of the PTA sponsored book fair! You may be able to purchase books at a more convenient time or at a slightly lower cost than at our book fair, but when you support the book fair, you are supporting our children. Thank you.

Stonehedge Stands Up: Our Shared Decision Committee has adopted a slogan of Stonehedge Stands Up, to enhance our Olweus Anti-Bullying program. Thanks to our PTA, we were able to purchase wristbands for all of our students as a sign of our commitment and unity against bullying. More information about our anti-bullying efforts will be coming home after the holidays.

Cookies for Samaritan Center: Our fifth grade students took time to bake over 2,000 cookies for the Samaritan Center. They didn’t stray from their studies while working to help others; they used their reading, math, problem solving and cooperation skills to get the job done. Thanks to our parent volunteers and PTA for providing the support and funding that we needed to make this worthwhile act of giving happen. To view a brief video of this event click here.

Winter Concert: Earlier this week, our students enjoyed the 4th and 5th grade Winter Concert. Students heard selections from the orchestra conducted by Mrs. Cheney and the 4th and 5th grade chorus directed by Mrs. DeMartini. The performance was spectacular! Some parents and grandparents joined us for the concert during the day and we had a nice turnout at the evening performance, which took place at the high school on Monday night. If you missed the concert, or would just like to see it again, it can be viewed at
http://livesportsvideo.com/. You can register via the Fine Arts link on our district web page.

Well-Being of Students: The well-being of our students is always our first priority. Although it has been unseasonably warm, it is a good time to remind everyone to make sure that the children wear appropriate winter apparel to school. There are times in the day, such as recess and dismissal, when students will be out in the weather.

We know that one of the most important ways in which we can help our children do better in their classrooms is to ensure they have the nutrition necessary for the healthy growth of their minds and bodies. West Genesee Food Service provides breakfast and lunch in our school every day. We encourage all students to take advantage of our food service program. We are aware that colder weather brings higher heating bills and other expenses that can put a real strain on family budgets. Your children may qualify for free or reduced price meals. To qualify, you need to fill out an application. A free and reduced price school meals application can be down loaded from our district web-site or we will be happy to send one to you.

Drop Off: If your children walk to school or are dropped off, please do not have them here before 9:00 a.m. If a child arrives early, there is no supervision available outdoors or inside before school, unless they are enrolled in BASCOL. Please adhere to building rules and dismissal procedures. If there are any transportation/dismissal changes we must have them in writing.

On behalf of Stonehedge Elementary, I want to thank you for supporting our school and for supporting your child’s learning at home. The time you take to read with your child, to review math facts, and to stay on top of daily assignments and long-term projects is huge! Know that your hard work and commitment will have positive results.

With wishes for a joy filled break and holiday.

Brent Suddaby,
Principal Stonehedge Gold


Tuesday, October 9, 2012

October Message



September: The first month of school went extremely well at Stonehedge Elementary.  Along with everything that our teachers put in place during the month of September, they have completed fall bench mark assessments for all of the children. Although, we expect some summer regression, it is clear that many of our students read a good deal over the summer and this gave them a real head-start on the 2012-2013 school year. If your child is reluctant reader, please help us give him/her extra encouragement and incentives to read for pleasure each day.  Just a few additional minutes of daily reading will yield invaluable benefits for your child.  

October: As we welcome October, our students have settled into their new classes. I see students acting responsibly and treating others kindly every day. Now that the children are feeling very comfortable at school, it’s a good time to remind them to be safe, to treat others respectfully and to act responsibly, especially in less structured places like in the cafeteria, on the playground, and on the school bus.We greatly appreciate families who reinforce expectation of good school behavior at home. A few words about school expectation from Mom or Dad can demonstrate a positive home-school partnership and will remind your child that you care about him/her even when he/she is away from you.

Upcoming Events: Some information that was sent home earlier is worth repeating: 

  • October 9, November 19, and November 20 are half-days for students.  We will be dismissing at 11:30 a.m. each of those days.  Our administrators and teachers will be in workshop-meetings during the afternoon of October 9 and
  • Parent conferences are scheduled for November 19 and 20. Please contact your child’s teacher if you have not yet scheduled a conference.

Food Service Program: Our school lunch menus have changed this year as a result of new federal regulations. Still, the West Genesee food service staff provides healthy, tasty, and convenient meals for our students at a great price. The full student price is only $2.00 for lunch and a complete breakfast is $1.50. I have bought myself a school lunch nearly every day and can attest that they are delicious and filling. I stopped in for breakfast one day last week and was joined by over one hundred happy students who chose to get off the bus a bit early and enjoy breakfast at school with their friends. I encourage more parents to take advantage of the school food service.   

Communications: With school-home communication being an important ingredient to student success, I’m also encouraging folks to visit our website often and sign up for School News Notifier (SNN). I hope that these friendly reminders are helpful and that you know how much your support of our school is appreciated.


Very truly yours,


Brent Suddaby
Gold Team
Principal
Stonehedge Elementary



Monday, September 10, 2012

Opening Week



We had a wonderful opening week at Stonehedge Elementary. Our students came to school each day ready to learn with smiling faces and good manners. 

Our teachers and faculty put a lot of time and work into preparing for the week and the school year. Our custodial staff did a terrific job getting the building in excellent shape, and the transportation department efficiently coordinated bus runs so all of our students arrived safely and on time. I want to thank everyone at school and all of our parents for making the first days of school so successful. We are off to a great start to make 2012-2013 one of the best school years ever for our students.   

We welcomed many new students and their families to our school this year. We also have several new staff members and some faculty in new positions. Karen McMahon and Allen Lauricella have started the year with us in third grade. Sue Erhard and Lisa McCarthy both substituted at Stonehedge last year and are back with us teaching in fifth grade. Cindy Smith, who taught at East Hill last year, has also joined our fifth grade teaching team. 

Kelli Barbuto and Karey Drake are now part of our team of instructional specialists. We have two special education teachers who are new to Stonehedge, Jessica Harrison and Michele Storms.  Marcia DeMartini will be teaching music classes and Derek Campbell will be teaching physical education. We have two new school nurses, Shawna Inman-Praxl and Stephanie Skardinski. Kathleen Elmer is our new ADAPEP counselor and we will have Eileen Conboy and Pam Tracy working together in the Gold Office. We have three new teaching assistants, Melissa Commesso, Sandy DeCarr and Melissa Mangovski and a new cafeteria aide, Mary LaFave. We are very happy to have them all at Stonehedge Elementary.

I enjoyed meeting many parents last week, and I look forward to meeting more at our Open House on Wednesday, September 12.  A schedule of classroom presentation times was sent home with students on Friday. 

At our Open House parents and guardians will have the opportunity to hear from the teachers about curriculum, classroom expectations, and opportunities to partner with the school. We will also be showing an informational DVD about OLWEUS (pronounced all-vay-us) in the school library. Olweus is the research-based anti-bullying program that our district has adopted. I welcome feedback about the open house and our programs. 

Please remember that our PTA Welcome Back Meeting is schedule for Tuesday, September 25 at 6:30 p.m. and school pictures will be taken Wednesday – Friday, October 10-12.  

-Brent

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Welcome to Stonehedge Gold...

Dear Stonehedge Parents and Families,

I am very happy to introduce myself as the new Stonehedge Elementary School Gold Team Principal.  It is sincerely an honor to become a member of this great school community.  I know that the West Genesee Central School District has a rich history of academic and cultural excellence that is the result of a collegial partnership between the school staff and parents.  As principal, I will work hard to continue this tradition and I will stay focused on “improving, every day”.  

My three top priorities are to, help our students increase their academic achievement, maintain a safe, orderly & fun school environment, and build an even greater sense of community in our school.  I take the West Genesee Central School District mission, to partner with the community, "to ensure that each student attains the  knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary,  not only for lifelong learning,  but also for becoming a cooperative,  self-directed, productive, caring citizen," very seriously and will do all that I can to support it.

My official start date at Stonehedge is August 8th.  I’ll be finishing up at Tully Elementary School, where I am the K-6 Principal, through July.  I already receive my e-mails from Stonehedge (bsuddaby@westgenesee.org) and I can get phone messages from the Gold Team office (487-4631).  Please feel free to contact me at anytime.  I am looking forward to meeting the staff, parents, and especially students at Stonehedge Elementary. 

Brent Suddaby
Stonehedge Gold Principal