What’s the Buzz at Cider Mill School (Family Update for 11/12/23)
We wish health and prosperity for all of our families celebrating Diwali over the next few days! Parent - teacher conferences begin this Thursday, November 16th. Schools will run on an early-release schedule (12pm dismissal) on Thursday, Friday, Monday and Tuesday. We will break for Thanksgiving Wednesday, November 22nd and return to school Monday the 27th. Next week we will celebrate the concept of gratitude and appreciate our community - both at school and home. This past Friday, we celebrated Veteran’s Day and our students expressed their gratitude for all of the Veterans who have sacrificed so much for our country - see a snippet on this News Channel 12 broadcast.
It’s important to remain focused on gratitude when our world is full of conflict and turmoil that can be scary and confusing for our children. One way to support your children is to have conversations at home about how important it is to spread kindness and to discuss how language and words matter. No matter how hard we try to protect our children, they see/hear snippets from social media and/or the news. Many times, they do not fully understand what they’ve seen or heard and can repeat things that are harmful to others in our school community. Here are a few resources to consider as you engage in conversations with your children at home - Impact Over Intent (ADL), How to Talk About the Israel - Hamas War with Children (Parents), How to Combat Hate (Forbes). Thank you for your partnership as we navigate these challenging times and work together to cultivate a community filled with gratitude, compassion and kindness. As always, reach out to falconej@wiltonps.org if you have any questions.
Diwali Food Drive
Music Department Update
Wilton Police Department Update/Request
Fun Fall Events
Bus Safety
Updates from Student Leadership & Helping Hands
Fire Prevention Assembly
PJ Day for Children’s Cancer - 12/22/23
Up-coming Dates
Diwali Food Drive: This weekend begins a special celebration in India called Diwali, or the Festival of Lights. To help spread light and goodness, Cider Mill School will hold a food drive to support the Wilton Food Pantry. During the week of 11/13-11/17 the school will collect non-perishable items. We are excited to "give" to others during this special time! Students on our student leadership team and in our Helping Hands club will deliver the items we collect to the food pantry with Dr. Falone on Friday. Thank you so much for all of your support! There will be a collection box in each house and the main lobby.
Music Department Update: Our music department has SO much to share! Please see this newsletter to see what’s been going on and to put the concert dates on your calendar!
Wilton Police Update/Request: The Wilton PD requested that all schools remind our families to drive carefully on school grounds. Recently, there has been an uptick in speeding throughout the parking lots and dropoff/pickup areas. As such, please help us keep everyone safe by being mindful and by slowing down. Thank you!
Fun Fall Events: October and November brought about some fun community events for our school! some wonderful events for our school!. Our PTA’s yearly Walk-a-thon event raised our school $13,355! Thank you to all of our families who contributed to our major fundraiser of the school year! Tammy Thornton worked with our Green Team clubs to host another successful Zero Waste Week - upcycle door decorating contests were fun for all! We loved the community support we received for our Start with Hello program - we have seen a large increase of children greeting each other and the adults as we walk about the building. Additionally, talk to your children about how they can get a Buzzby Award! Stay tuned for the new mural that will be displayed on the front bulletin boards for students, teachers and classrooms that have already earned an award!
Bus Safety: For obvious safety reasons, it is very important that we all help our children follow the rules on the bus. Recently, we have had an increase of office bus referrals due to misbehaviors on the bus. Our teachers and administration have reviewed the importance of the 3Rs on the bus but, if your child(ren) rides the bus, please review:
There is no food allowed on the bus and seat belts are suggested (although not required by State law). We do suggest you speak to your children if that is important to you since the bus company will not enforce this expectation. If children do not follow these expectations, potential suspension from the bus is possible.
Student Leadership and Helping Hands Updates:
Our student Leadership team has begun for this school year! At our first meeting, student leaders learned about teamwork and what it means to work as a team on a project. We discussed the importance of working together and that as student leaders we are all working together for our school community. Student leaders brainstormed concerns that they have within our school and then discussed these concerns with their classmates. At our last meeting student leaders shared some concerns that their classmates had and we came up with a list of our concerns. At our next meeting we will vote on our number one concern and come up with some ideas for a project that as a team we can work on together to address our concern. Student leaders also worked on hanging our beautiful Veterans Day stars for our upcoming assembly!
Helping Hands is in need of additional members! We meet on Monday afternoons from 2:30-3:30. If you would like to register your child, please contact the front office. The purpose and mission of Helping Hands is to support the Cider Mill community, as well as our local community. Recently, students worked on cards welcoming new staff to our school. Helping Hands is also organizing a food drive to assist the Wilton Food Pantry. Donations of non-perishable items will be accepted beginning Monday, November 13th through Friday, November 17th. Items can be placed in the donation boxes at the front office. Additionally, Helping Hands is supporting a Toy Drive that will benefit families working with the Center for Empowerment and Education. Unwrapped toys will be collected from November 28th through December 8th.
Fire Prevention Assembly: We are pleased that we were able to reinstate this important experience for our 3rd grade. On October 26th, the Wilton Fire Department came to discuss this important topic with our students. Parents can review the coloring books the fire fighters gave the students for talking points at home. One important thing to do is to meet as a family to make sure your child(ren) knows a meeting place outside of the home in case there is a fire.
PJ Day for Kids (Support Kids with Cancer) - 12/22/23: We have organized our Cider Mill School team and hope to raise money for this important cause. Students and families are encouraged to donate $1 (or more!) to wear their PJs (and a crazy hat!) to school on Friday, December 22nd. Our PTA will also treat our students to some hot cocoa and peppermint sticks. Please go to this link to donate.
Up-coming Dates:
November 14 ~ Nod Hill; 5th grade field trip to Audubon/Webb Center (rescheduled from October 20)
November 16-20 ~ Book Fair
November 16-21 ~ Conferences Shortened Day (12:00 pm Dismissal)
November 22-24 ~ District Closed/No School ~ Thanksgiving
November 28 ~ Cannondale 3rd grade field trip to New Pond
November 29 ~ Belden Hill 3rd grade field trip to New Pond
November 30 ~ Kent 3rd grade field trip to New Pond
December 1 ~ Nod Hill 3rd grade field trip to New Pond
December 12-15 ~ Winter Map testing
December 18 & 19 ~ Winter Map makeup
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December 22 ~ Shortened Day (12:00 pm Dismissal)
December 25-January 1 ~ No School, Holiday Recess
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