huth road happenings

Message from the President

Huth Road Happenings

Huth Road Elementary School Principal Mrs Kerri Nowak Grand Island New York 14072 Phone 773-8850 1773 Huth Road Fax 773-8984

PTA Newsletter - October 2016

PTA Vision

ldquoMaking every childs

potential a reality by

establishing the NYS

PTA as the premier

organization for parent

involvement and advo-

cacy for childrenrdquo

PTA Mission

ldquoPTA is a powerful

voice for all children a

relevant resource for

families and communi-

ties and a strong advo-

cate for the education

and well-being of eve-

ry childrdquo

Huth Road PTA Officers 20162017 President Bonnie Nevans 1st Vice Presidents Sarah Wheeler Amy McMann 2nd Vice Presidents Jill Redfern Jennifer Corbett Treasurer Janet Tyski Recording Secretary Aliza Seibert Corresponding Secrsquoy Jill Pickering Council Delegates Holly Fratello Erin Pankow

Editor Alice Gerard walkingtouristgmailcom

Hello fellow Huth Road Parents I canrsquot even believe that we are almost a quarter of the way through the school year already I absolutely love this time of year ndash cool crisp temps apple picking and pumpkin everything football foliage ndash fall is a season of change We are in a new season of Huth Road PTA as well This year thanks to the amazing efforts and leadership of our outgoing president Jennifer Walowitz Huth

has been named a National PTA School of Excellence National PTA School of Excellence is a recognition program that supports and celebrates partnerships be-tween PTAs and schools to enrich the educational expe-rience and overall well-being of all students The part-nership that our PTA has with Mrs Nowak and all of the teachers and faculty at Huth is truly unique Honest-ly it is the reason that I got involved in the first place My goal as presi-dent this year is to make all Huth parents

aware of exactly what the PTA does I think

most people have a somewhat outdated perception of what PTA is ndash I know that I certainly did It wasnrsquot until I attended a few meetings that I began to understand that the PTA is really responsible for some of the best parts of your childrenrsquos elemen-tary school experience Most of the enrichment activities school programs and events are funded by the PTA Field trip costs are supplemented through educational grants from the PTA to make them more affordable Think about this for a mi-nute ndash a Huth Road without PTA would be a Huth Road without a Bazaar (a tradition) book fairs Family Game Night school wide assemblies grade specific programs and field trips ldquoPick a Reading Partnerrdquo and author visits and so MUCH MORE So this year I would encourage you to join the PTA Attend even just one meet-ing to get a better idea of what the PTA does ndash you wonrsquot be disappointed I am so excited for what the 2016-17 school year will bring for our kiddos and YOU can be a part of it Bonnie Nevans Huth Road PTA President

Member ball machine

Second grade welcome

From the Principalrsquos Desk Hello Huth Families

Our school year has gotten off to a great start Our children have made lots of new friends and classrooms are beginning to function like successful teams Irsquove challenged the children to try to learn ldquohardrdquo things this year and Irsquove been checking on them in classrooms to make sure theyrsquore doing their best to learn and grow aca-demically and socially As I mentioned at Open House if we truly believe each of our children can

achieve at high levels they will We know that our children are much more than test scores Still assessment measures such as STAR (online assessment) to deter-mine achievement levels provide us with an easy way to determine if our efforts are working STAR measurements are monitored by our Shared Decision Making Team (SDM) throughout the year Our SDM has 14 members including representatives from all constituent areas We are pleased that Mrs Jessica Roach is our parent repre-sentative If you would like to join Mrs Roach on our team we are still looking for another parent to participate Please reach out to me if you would like more information on this leadership opportunity

In September students took the STAR assessment Averaging our studentsrsquo scores 407 percent of them tested in the proficiency range for English and language arts Teachers then evaluated the scores to set a target for the end of the year Averaging the teacher-created targets we set an aggressive school target of 56 percent by the end of the year That means we hope to raise our studentsrsquo overall achieve-ment rate by 15 percent These measures are much like the growth charts used in a doctorrsquos office A child measuring in the 50th percentile for height and weight is expected to remain in the 50th percentile as he or she grows Put another way a child of average height and weight typically remains at an aver-age height and weight as he or she grows up When we evaluate a STAR measurement and set a higher target than the initial measurement we are essentially saying that we want our children to grow more than is expected according to the STAR measurement tool Achieving a 15 percent growth rate is difficult and we may not achieve this very high target but we aimed high last year and our efforts resulted in a large increase for our students in grades 3 4 and 5 on the NYSED ELA assessments Indeed our scores rose to 58 percent proficiency from 43 percent just one year before Although it is a different measurement tool STAR allows us to monitor our studentsrsquo achievement levels as the year progresses so we can determine if our improvement strategies are work-ing Our improvement strategies include Aligning our ELA instructional expectations and materials across grade levels This work is being done by teachers after school Creating opportunities for teachers to discuss student achievement on classroom assessments and deter-mining interventions These meetings which are called DDI meetings are also held after school by teachers in grade level groups Using Close Reading techniques in all content areas Close Reading is a strategy used by students of all ability levels to deeply understand an authorrsquos message Providing teachers and administrators with high quality professional development Professional develop-ment is provided by the school and district in a variety of ways Thank you for all you do to support your childrenrsquos growth and development and thank you for part-nering with us to believe in them Each is a gift to this world and together we can empower them with the tools that they need to make a difference in the lives of others As always donrsquot hesitate to reach out to me with questions or comments Your feedback is wanted and appreciated Kerri Nowak

Huth Road Happenings 2

3 Huth Road Happenings

Bring your family to Huth Road for

FAMILY GAME NIGHT

Friday November 4

600 to 800 PM

NATIONAL PTA SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE

Join us in the auditorium for our banner presentation

FAMILY FUN

Try your luck at board games in the cafeteria

Get moving with relay races in the gym

Find books to read together at the Scholastic Book Fair

Munch on snacks in the cafeteria

Find sweet treats at the Relay for Life baked sale

Visit the PTA Table to become a member

WANT TO VOLUNTEER TO HELP

Please see page 9 for details

H U T H R O A D H A P P E N I N G S Huth Road Happenings 4

Huth Road PTA Our Journey to Becoming a National PTA By Jennifer Walowitz

Last month National PTA recognized Huth Road Elementary as a 2016-2018 National PTA School of Ex-

cellence Our road to excellence began back in June 2014 I attended the Niagara Region PTA Spring Confer-

ence and guest speaker Patty Frazier talked about the importance of family engagement She introduced me to

the six PTA National Standards for Family-School Partnerships

Standard 1 Welcoming All Families into the School Community

Standard 2 Communicating Effectively

Standard 3 Supporting Student Success

Standard 4 Speaking Up for Every Child

Standard 5 Sharing Power

Standard 6 Collaborating with Community

I was really interested and took the ideas back to our school In the fall we

registered Huth Road in the School of Excellence program and started to learn

more about the process We were also working on several PTA activities

Since we didnrsquot have a team in place to focus on the School of Excellence we

decided to wait another year

Over the summer I met Tiffany Kwas at NYS PTA Summer Leadership Con-

ference She led Eden Central PTA through the program and they were award-

ed the National PTAs 2014 Phoebe Apperson Hearst Outstanding Family-

School Partnership Award as well as the National PTA School of Excellence

recognition It was helpful to talk to Tiffany and ask her questions Cindy Ames then-Niagara Region direc-

tor also encouraged us to apply

By September 2015 we were ready to hit the ground running National PTA had many resources to guide us

though the process We began by inviting the Huth Road community to take a family survey provided by Na-

tional PTA Based on the feedback we decided to focus on family engagement in education by improving

communication We electronically submitted our results to National PTA and received a Roadmap to Excel-

lence based on our goal for the year

It was time to put our plan into action We decided to keep it simple so we could keep momentum going all

year While parents are familiar with school highlights and classroom news they donrsquot get the full picture of

everything that happens at Huth Road Huth Road PTA decided to use photographs to bring the school day to

life for parents Our goal was to make families feel welcomed and connected to all the great things happening

at Huth Road

In January 2016 we launched weekly Huth Road Highlights to tell parents about school and PTA news The highlights included information about class projects school events extracurricular activities enrichment pro-grams field trips and celebrations We used social media to reach families Pictures were posted on the Huth Road PTA Facebook page Our weekly highlights gave a description of each activity with links to correspond-ing pictures or forms Continued on page 7

Practicing the tuba at band rehearsal

Calendar of Eventsmdash


E-news is here Sign Up Today

E-news allows Grand Island parents students facul-tystaff amp community members to sign up to receive e-mails ampor text messages on school related infor-mation With e-news you automatically receive news of interest to you at your selected e-mail ad-dress or cell phone E-news is an opt-in service You tailor the service to meet your needs by selecting only the categories of information that are of interest to you

To Sign Up Visit wwwk12ginetorg Click the GICSD e-news button at the bottom right Complete the form and choose your subscription

options Enter the security number shown and press ldquoSign Me Uprdquo

November 1 Dr Graham available (all day) (conference room) 3 8th grade band assembly (1015) 4 Family Game Night (6 pm) 7 Parent Teacher Conferences (6 pm) Various days NYSAA Science amp Social Studies testing 8 NO SCHOOL (parent-teacher conferences) (all day) 10 School picture retakes (all day) (auditorium) 11 NO SCHOOL (veterans day) 18 Viking Values Lunch (11 ammdash1pm) 22 Quarter 1 report cards go home 23-25 NO SCHOOL (Thanksgiving recess) December Various days NYSAA Science amp Social Studies testing 1 Huth Road Choral Assembly (10 am) 1 Choral Concert (7 pm) 7 Third grade choral concert (115 pm) 16 Vikings Values Lunch ( 11 ammdash1 pm) 22 Schoolwide holiday assembly 23-Jan 2 NO SCHOOL (winter recess) January 3 School resumes (welcome back)

Ahoy Mateys The Book Fair is Coming the Book Fair is Coming Please mark your calendars for our first Scholastic Book Fair of the year This yearrsquos theme is Bookaneer Book Fair Where Books are the Treasure WHEN Wednesday Nov 2 930 am - 230 pm Class visits during school volunteers needed Thursday Nov 3 930 am - 230 pm Class visits during school volunteers needed Friday Nov 4 930 am - 230 pm Class visits during school volunteers needed Family Game Night 6 ndash 8 pm volunteers needed WHERE Huth Road Auditor ium Come see what awesome titles are available during Family Game Night Shop with your child and even have an opportunity to purchase a book from your Classroom Wish List specifically chosen books by each teacher that they would like to have in the classroom library for all to enjoy You may also purchase books from the comfort of your own home if you cannot make it to our Book Fair The online fair is open from October 23rd- November 5th httpwwwscholasticcombfhuthroad1 If you have any free time to volunteer to help at our Book Fair please contact Heather Landroche at 716-536-0560 or hmlandrocheroadrunnercom We need YOUR help to make our Book Fair a success More information will be coming home soon

Bookaneer Book Fair

Book Fair 2015


Heather Boivin began working at the Huth Road Elementary School

library as a senior library clerk this August She previously worked in the Kenmore-Tonawanda School District Ms Boivin ldquogreets every child with a warm welcome said Librarian Freda Orosz She makes the library a welcoming environment Every child feels like shersquos help-ing just them She does all of the decorations and helps keep the library attractive and welcoming Heather quickly adapted (to this library) She comes in with a smile even when she isnrsquot feeling goodrdquo Ms Boivin said ldquoI love working with children I like to get the right book in their hands I absolutely love being here The children are so respectful The staff

has been so welcoming I am working with librarian Freda Orosz She has a lot of energy and so do I We have a lot of the same ideas on things Each day we do a lot of laughing and we get a ton of work donerdquo When Ms Boivin isnrsquot working she is busy with her two children Her daughter Katelyn is 16 and is a competitive cheerleader Her son Adam is 12 He likes baseball and anything school-related ldquoHe is my little bookwormrdquo And because Ms Boivin loves books she recommends one of her favorites Wonder by RJ Palacio ldquoThere is a saying in the book lsquoWhen choosing between being RIGHT and being KINDchoose KINDrsquo Isnt that just the best Such a character builder and a real brain thinkerrdquo

Introducing new Huth Road staff members By Alice Gerard (newsletter editor)

Karen Koslowski began teaching second grade at Huth

Road Elementary School in September This is her eighteenth year of teaching Prior to coming to Huth Road Elementary School she taught at the elementary and middle school levels in Lancaster and at Veronica Connor Middle School ldquoBeing a teacher is just who I amrdquo ldquoMy first degree is in fine arts I graduated from Niagara University as a vocal performance major and performed at Artpark and did Buffalo theater but I had horrible nerves So I got into di-recting childrenrsquos theater And I realized how much I loved working with kids They were open to experiencing new forms of theater and they loved playing the games and learning so much It made me ap-preciate the arts that much more Then I went back to school to be-

come a teacher ldquoI love coming to work every day no matter how tired I am or how much work we have to get done The kids make every day seem like an adventure because you never know what to expect I hope to create inde-pendent thinkers For me as a teacher itrsquos the journey thatrsquos the actual learning To get the students to feel comfortable with the idea that it takes time and it takes mistakes and it takes that motivation and persever-ance and knowing that not everyonersquos path is going to be the same The journey that you take to get to that product is your learning path ldquoIn second grade across the district we have a one-on-one iPad classroom So the students have access to their own iPad while at school The kids work on reading comprehension math facts grammar and spelling They do fifteen minutes of keyboarding a day It is very individualized instruction It allows the students to feel success no matter what level they perform at ldquoI have 20 students in my classroom and I have the opportunity every day to have one-on-one con-versation with every one of themrdquo A favorite quotation ldquoMistakes are proof that you are tryingrdquo Mrs Koslowski has two daughters Ella 12 and Lily 11 They are both students in Veronica Connor Middle School

Our Journey to becoming a school of excellence continued from page 4


Highlights were e-mailed to PTA members and shared with the Huth Road community through e-news Through our regular communication we established Huth Road PTA as a reliable go-to source of school news We made several videos to tell families about Huth Road PTA Our themed membership trailer invited everyone to join ldquoThe Super Huthersrdquo ldquoThe ABCs of Huth Road PTArdquo took people on an alphabetical journey through everything our PTA does At the end of the year we thanked our volunteers in ldquoHuth Road PTA - A Journey of Funrdquo In May we asked families to complete another survey and submitted the results in our final application It included an es-say that explained the progress we made toward bridging the communication gap between our school and families

At the end of Au-gust we were excited to learn that Huth Road Elementary is a 2016-2018 National PTA School of Excellence Wersquore looking forward to celebrating at Family Game Night with the presentation of our National PTA School of Excellence banner Then families can play board games in the cafeteria get mov-ing with relay races in the gym and visit the book fair in the auditori-um This Huth Road tradition strengthens our school-family partner-ship as parents and children come together for fun quality time So itrsquos the perfect event to celebrate our work on family engagement Huth Road PTA is proud of our progress and committed to continue on the path to strong-er family engagement This year we will focus on sharing power by communicating news

from Huth Roadrsquos Shared Decision Making Team Our new president Bonnie Nevans wants to help parents understand what PTA does for their children She put together a ldquoPTA for Dummiesrdquo flyer and we created a new video ldquoThe 5 Ws of Huth Road PTArdquo to tell who we are what we do and why we do it As families learn more about Huth Road PTA we look forward to welcoming them and inviting them to be a part of the fun

PTA REFLECTIONS PROGRAM

Does your child like to write Is she an aspiring artist Does he like to take pictures or make mov-ies Do you have a young dancer in the house Does your child love music Help them feed their passion by entering the PTA Reflections Program Watch this video to learn more httpsyoutube_8dpI20guJg

Band rehearsal Practicing the theme of ldquoJurassic Parkrdquo by John Williams

Girlsrsquo intramural sports After school students enjoy a few games of end zone football

Vikings Value luncheon October 21st



HELP PUT THE FUN IN FAMILY GAME NIGHT ndash

SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER We are looking for some adults to sell snacks run the games in the gym and

help with clean up lf yoursquore interested please fill out this slip and send it back

to school with your child For more information contact Emily Harrison at

eheh660aolcom Any help at all will be greatly appreciated

Cafeteria Help Sell chips and soda pop

First shift from 6-7 ___ Second shift 7-8 ___

Name___________________________________________________

Phone Number____________________________________________

Gym Help with running games Basketball Relay Cornhole Tic-Tac-Toe Con-

nect Four and Bowling

First shift 6-7 ___ Second shift 7-8 ___

Name___________________________________________________

Phone Number____________________________________________

Help setting uptearing down board Games in Cafeteria

Set up 515-545 ___ Clean up 8-830 ___

Name___________________________________________________

Phone Number____________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

Help Cleaning up from 8-830 _____

Name__________________________________________________

_ Phone Number____________________________________________

Why Join the Huth Road PTA

Huth Road 2016-2017 PTA Membership Form

Name(s) __________________________________ $500 per membership Phone __________________________________ $ _______ Total enclosed E-mail ______________________________________________________________ Child(ren)rsquos Name(s) ________________________Teacher(s)____________________________

Please return to school with your check payable to Huth Road PTA in an envelope marked ldquoPTA Membershiprdquo Questions Contact Sarah Wheeler at 9091993 or at swheeler50yahoocom

What is PTA Why join PTA The number one reason to join the Parent Teacher Association is to benefit your child In doing so you also help your school But there are many more PTA advantages

Get Connected Therersquos no better way to know whatrsquos happening in your school

Tap into a Network PTA functions are opportunities to meet other parents and teachers building rapport and

discussing issues that are on your mind You can share ideas concerns and experiences

Watch Yourself Grow By volunteering with your PTA you put your skills and hobbies to use for a noble causemdashyour child and all children in the community

Speak Up PTA can be a way for you to more effectively suggest change at your childrsquos school

Witness Improvement By getting involved yoursquoll be part of the solution helping make positive changes Local PTAs play an important role in fundraising to provide school improvements curriculum-based programs and social events

Be a Role Model By becoming a PTA member yoursquoll be showing your child the importance you place on education

Enjoy Substantial Benefits Individuals and local units can take advantage of a host of benefits from PTA membership including discounts and offers from member-benefits providers and sponsors magazine subscriptions leadership train-ing e-newsletters and much more

Upon receiving your card log in to activate it and receive a coupon for $10 off a $50 purchase at OfficeMax

Please support our PTA through your membership Clip and return this form to your studentrsquos classroom teacher

Come to Family Game Night If you want to sign up online to volunteer just go to httpwwwsignupgeniuscomgo10c084eada823a0fa7-family

Family Game Night 2015

From the Principalrsquos Desk Hello Huth Families

Our school year has gotten off to a great start Our children have made lots of new friends and classrooms are beginning to function like successful teams Irsquove challenged the children to try to learn ldquohardrdquo things this year and Irsquove been checking on them in classrooms to make sure theyrsquore doing their best to learn and grow aca-demically and socially As I mentioned at Open House if we truly believe each of our children can

achieve at high levels they will We know that our children are much more than test scores Still assessment measures such as STAR (online assessment) to deter-mine achievement levels provide us with an easy way to determine if our efforts are working STAR measurements are monitored by our Shared Decision Making Team (SDM) throughout the year Our SDM has 14 members including representatives from all constituent areas We are pleased that Mrs Jessica Roach is our parent repre-sentative If you would like to join Mrs Roach on our team we are still looking for another parent to participate Please reach out to me if you would like more information on this leadership opportunity

In September students took the STAR assessment Averaging our studentsrsquo scores 407 percent of them tested in the proficiency range for English and language arts Teachers then evaluated the scores to set a target for the end of the year Averaging the teacher-created targets we set an aggressive school target of 56 percent by the end of the year That means we hope to raise our studentsrsquo overall achieve-ment rate by 15 percent These measures are much like the growth charts used in a doctorrsquos office A child measuring in the 50th percentile for height and weight is expected to remain in the 50th percentile as he or she grows Put another way a child of average height and weight typically remains at an aver-age height and weight as he or she grows up When we evaluate a STAR measurement and set a higher target than the initial measurement we are essentially saying that we want our children to grow more than is expected according to the STAR measurement tool Achieving a 15 percent growth rate is difficult and we may not achieve this very high target but we aimed high last year and our efforts resulted in a large increase for our students in grades 3 4 and 5 on the NYSED ELA assessments Indeed our scores rose to 58 percent proficiency from 43 percent just one year before Although it is a different measurement tool STAR allows us to monitor our studentsrsquo achievement levels as the year progresses so we can determine if our improvement strategies are work-ing Our improvement strategies include Aligning our ELA instructional expectations and materials across grade levels This work is being done by teachers after school Creating opportunities for teachers to discuss student achievement on classroom assessments and deter-mining interventions These meetings which are called DDI meetings are also held after school by teachers in grade level groups Using Close Reading techniques in all content areas Close Reading is a strategy used by students of all ability levels to deeply understand an authorrsquos message Providing teachers and administrators with high quality professional development Professional develop-ment is provided by the school and district in a variety of ways Thank you for all you do to support your childrenrsquos growth and development and thank you for part-nering with us to believe in them Each is a gift to this world and together we can empower them with the tools that they need to make a difference in the lives of others As always donrsquot hesitate to reach out to me with questions or comments Your feedback is wanted and appreciated Kerri Nowak




FAMILY GAME NIGHT

Friday November 4

600 to 800 PM



FAMILY FUN









































at Huth Road











Bookaneer Book Fair

Book Fair 2015




























Name___________________________________________________

Phone Number____________________________________________




Name___________________________________________________

Phone Number____________________________________________


Set up 515-545 ___ Clean up 8-830 ___

Name___________________________________________________

Phone Number____________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________


Name__________________________________________________

_ Phone Number____________________________________________




















FAMILY GAME NIGHT

Friday November 4

600 to 800 PM



FAMILY FUN









































at Huth Road











Bookaneer Book Fair

Book Fair 2015




























Name___________________________________________________

Phone Number____________________________________________




Name___________________________________________________

Phone Number____________________________________________


Set up 515-545 ___ Clean up 8-830 ___

Name___________________________________________________

Phone Number____________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________


Name__________________________________________________

_ Phone Number____________________________________________


















































at Huth Road











Bookaneer Book Fair

Book Fair 2015




























Name___________________________________________________

Phone Number____________________________________________




Name___________________________________________________

Phone Number____________________________________________


Set up 515-545 ___ Clean up 8-830 ___

Name___________________________________________________

Phone Number____________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________


Name__________________________________________________

_ Phone Number____________________________________________


























Bookaneer Book Fair

Book Fair 2015




























Name___________________________________________________

Phone Number____________________________________________




Name___________________________________________________

Phone Number____________________________________________


Set up 515-545 ___ Clean up 8-830 ___

Name___________________________________________________

Phone Number____________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________


Name__________________________________________________

_ Phone Number____________________________________________













































Name___________________________________________________

Phone Number____________________________________________




Name___________________________________________________

Phone Number____________________________________________


Set up 515-545 ___ Clean up 8-830 ___

Name___________________________________________________

Phone Number____________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________


Name__________________________________________________

_ Phone Number____________________________________________


















huth road happenings

Documents