Here’s the place to discuss school issues like tax increases, school security and everything else.
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School Counseling Survey
The Aurora School Counseling Department is presently reviewing the K-12 program. Information is being gathered regarding needed services. Please take a few minutes to complete an online survey. Your input is valuable.
To take a survey, click here and enter the appropriate PIN.
* Miller and Craddock Parents: MCESPAR
* Leighton Parents: LESPAR
* Harmon Parents: HMSPAR
* High School Parents: AHSPAR
mlnl2-1-07.pdf
“>Miller & Craddock Newsletter Download it as a PDF
Upcoming Partners for Full Potential Topics
Thursday, March 8th
“Educational Testing in Today’s Schools”
Featuring Dr. Cathy Telzrow, licensed psychologist and coordinator of the school psychology program at Kent State University.
Thursday, April 26th
“Planning for a Spectacular Summer & Transition Strategies for Next Year’s Classroom”
Presented by educational consultants Katie Wetherbee and Leslie Moore of HOPE Mentoring
We look forward to seeing you March 8th and April 26th at 7 pm Howard Hanna Meeting Room, 195 Barrington Town Square, Aurora.
Free, adults only please. For more information contact us at aurorapffp@yahoo.com, 330-995-4440
What are the pre-school options in Aurora?
Preschools?
There are some listed on the links page
Aurora Co-op. Young Explorers, Aurora Daycare, in addition i think there is a program at the Lutheran church.
I am partial to the Co-op since all three of my kids went there, and i like to be involved and help at clas one a month
My husband and I researched preschools for our older son when we moved to Aurora. We looked at Hope, Young Explorers, My First School, Aurora’s Children’s Day Care Young Friends of Streetsboro and Aurora Co-op.
We personally chose the Aurora Co-op after researching the NAEYC accreditation rating of this school, http://www.rightchoiceforkids.org/ along with our visit to the various locations and the welcoming feel of the teachers at the Aurora Co-op. We can’t say enough about the teachers and the program – our younger son has attended two years and will start his third year in the 4’s program this Fall. You can visit them on the web at http://www.auroraco-op.com for additional information. I’d also suggest researching about parent involvement in a classroom and the benefits for the children.
PARENT MEETING
Open to the community!
Free event for parents- Dinner & Babysitting provided
April 26th @ 7 – 8:30*pm
342 S. Chillicothe Road, Aurora
(Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish Center)
*Last ½ hour – co-op members “year in reviewâ€
Please RSVP by Friday, April 20th
330.562.7377
(Dinner & babysitting reservations required)
Guest Speakers :
Dr. Elizabeth A. Finley-Belgrad-
(Infant, Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist)
Marcie Laubaucher-
(Speech & language pathologist)
Alisha Deininger-
(Occupational therapist)
Topics:
Children’s individual temperaments
Strategies to avoid behavioral problems
Suggestions on how to optimize children’s learning and development
SPONSORED BY AURORA CO-OP PRESCHOOL, DOCS FOR TOTS & OHIO ASSOCIATION FOR THE EDUCATION OF YOUNG CHILDREN
HALLOWEEN TREATS TO SUPPORT OUR SCHOOLS!
Halloween will soon be here. For those of you who do not have any children attending school, this is an ideal time for you to help support our schools - at no cost to you!
Many of the schools in the Aurora School District collect items for their “CA$H FOR TRASH” collection programs. These are items that would usually be thrown in the trash but are valuable to our schools.
The following is a list of items that are collected at our schools:
• Box Tops for Education (found on a variety of General Mills products)
• Campbell’s Labels for Education (found on a variety of Campbell’s products)
• Tyson Project A labels (found on some Tyson frozen food products)
What can you do to help? Please start saving the items listed above and on Halloween, offer them to your Trick or Treaters - in addition to their normal treats, of course! Many schools have contests to see which student s and/or class brings in the most “trash.” The children will be happy to have your “trash” to bring to school.
Once Halloween is over, please continue to collect valuable “trash” throughout the year. There are collection boxes located at Heinen’s, the Aurora Library and Lakeview Chapel or given to any Miller, Craddock or Leighton student. If we all work together, we can earn some extra money for the schools. Remember, it all adds up!
In the words of Tom McCall, “Heroes are not giant statues framed against a red sky. They are people who say: ‘This is my community, and it’s my responsibility to make it better.”
Thank you in advance for supporting our schools!
on the pre-school question: does anyone know of a good, reliable in home provider for after school and “snow day” care in the Aurora School district?
I already posted this on cleveland.com, but just discovered this website for Aurora.
So what I want to know is how much money does Scholastic give to our schools to allow them the access to our children during their school day? On two occassions this week my child was taken from her classroom to review books and purchase them (if her mommy would have given her a check- which was the point of the guilt trip inducing “wish list”). What is the monetary value to Scholarstic to interupt my child’s academic learning time? I understand that the PTO benefits from this sale, but really….do we need small children being marketed to all week? By the way- it worked. I had to go to the book fair after work to purchase a book for my doe eyed child who gave me the “all my classmates got to buy books during school today look.
In response to the concern on the Scholastic Book Fair at Craddock…
PTO DOES NOT benefit from the sale. All proceeds benefit Craddock School Library. The proceeds are used to purchase books. No school time was lost - this was conducted during their normal library time. Many of the books are very outdated or worn out and this is the opportunity for the library to refresh their books and selections for the students. Please contact one of the members of the PTO executive board to discuss your concerns.
I loved that they allowed my child to make a wish list - which gave me the opportunity to review the list and have a discussion about what he could and could not purchase.
We had then decided to attend the family night and make the selection together. We had fun while there - they did a great job - I thought. I was thrilled to see his excitement about adding books to “his library” and knew by supporting the book fair - we would also contribute to Craddock library. We even did some birthday gift shopping while there! :)
RE: Book Fair
As in all school fund raisers the source always benefits or they would not be involved in fundraisers. However, all of the proceeds earned by the school go to new library materials for Craddock. Because of the Book Fair your child will have the opportunity to borrow updated books during their weekly scheduled library trip. You are under no obligation to attend any evening events after school. I do understand the idea of pressure to buy but there were books as low as $2.00 at the fair. You will find that fund raising is a must to support the supplementary needs in our schools. Because of fund raising by the PTO, our children attend field trips for little to no cost, our older children have been able to get cutting egde technology to keep them competitive. There is a new safe playground for the kids at Miller. You will be hard pressed to find a school district that doesn’t fund raise. Choose the ones you believe in and ignore the ones you don’t wish to participate in. By the way, we should really say thank you to all the mom’s who took their time to help with this great fundraiser. Can’t wait to see the great books my kids bring home at library because of it!!! I hope you will join the PTO. It is a great feeling to know you have helped improve the educational experience of our children!!! You are welcome and we need your help!!
Most of the people I know who have moved to Aurora within the last few years have cited the incredible school system as one of the top reasons. It really astonishes me that the small requests for help (rather than charity) are met with this kind resistance. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather buy a book or two for my kids (which we regularly buy anyway, btw) and have it benefit the school than 10 candy bars or some other thing that I would not regularly buy for my kids (OK, I buy them for myself…). Bottom line for me, what distinguishes Aurora schools from other, not-so-hot school districts in this area comes down to having parents that care enough about ensuring high quality education for their kids that they actively support the schools- with their time, their support in fund raisers and their active encouragement to the staff (especially the teachers… no, I’m not one). If you don’t care about helping to maintain the educational system, consider it an investment in your property values- school system is the most essential driver for property values (next to unscrupulous sub-prime lenders).
Hey i think zambonigirl was having bad day. I know that my kid came home with a $40 wish list. I wish i could have bought them all for her. But i’m glad she was excited about the night. I had a enjoyable time going to the school and seeing the artwork and we even snuck a quick visit to the classroom. Enjoy your kids, too soon they are teenagers!
Hi, I’m Rita Scott. I live in Aurora and am the founder of Young Explorers, and I can tell you a little about our preschool.
We are, to my knowledge, the biggest and most academically driven program in the city. Each year, we graduate about 40 children into kindergarten, and have 4 classes for 3 year olds, 4 classes for 4 year olds, and 1 class for pre-kindergarteners. Our preschool teachers all have 4-year college degrees in Early Education (which means preschool-3rd grade), and our ratios are between 9-14 students per teacher, depending on the program.
We use the Ohio Department of Education’s Standards for Preschool as the basis for our curriculum. This is a relatively new standard (about 3 years old), so not many schools have managed to adopt it yet.
On top of the academic content, we use the Montessori method of teaching, which is a world-renowned method based on respect for the child and the belief that all children learn at their own pace and in their own way (auditory, visual, etc). Our students are welcomed to the school each day, have a community time, and then go through the day’s lessons at their own pace. We try to not interupt them when they are concentrating and encourage open-ended outcomes (so all art does not look the same, for example). I love to hear about how well our grads do in kindergarten from their teachers there.
This all may sound kind of serious to some people, but I see happy kids when I visit their classes. Our parents seem to be college grads who expect their kids to be college grads some day and want to get them started on a good education early. We have half-day students and full-day students (with extended activies as an alternative to traditional child care).
Lastly, I just have to say that there is no such thing as a bad preschool in Aurora. We’re lucky - we have all sorts of programs and philosophies here.
Partners for Full Potential (PFFP) is an Aurora parents group ensuring that students with learning differences reach their full potential academically, socially and vocationally.
They will be hosting a Resource Night on Thursday, April 24th at 7pm at the Howard Hanna Community Room.
Gather info on your child’s specific needs, meet with fellow parents to share ideas and concerns - and learn that there are other parents who are going through or have gone through what you are. You are not alone! PFFP services all Aurora district students from preschool through high school. This event is free, open to all, snacks and beverages provided - adults only please.
For more information, please contact PFFP at aurorapffp@yahoo.com
Is it back to business as usual for the school board?
I’ve noticed that they no longer have audio podcasts of their meetings available. The openess was short lived.
For anyone who has a child that has very recently gone through Aurora public kindergarden: Can you please share with me your experiences. I am also, trying to get an idea of what books the teachers read to the students (ex. Junie b. jones, Magic Treehouse, Romona etc), what type of activities and learning methods are used. How do the teachers and the principal respond to parent interaction and questions/requests.
You can also email me at sarah AT perpetualmultimedia.com
Thank you,
Srhbug
I am rather disappointed in the recent change’s made to the Elementary Kids bus stops. Last year my child was picked up by our home, this year he is being made to walk a distance to the corner of our road. We live on a rural street, it is very unsafe for a small child to walk that far. When I spoke with the bus garage they were very uncooparative and they said that they will not change the stop. They have no consideration that I have 3 little one’s at home that I have to pack up everyday and hike or drive to the corner to make sure that my child gets on the bus safely. My question is why did vote for a levy that was suppose to make sure “cluster stops” would not occur? I don’t understand how they can make 7 year old walk 1/2 mile to a bus stop. Harmon and High school kids I can see walking, but not our little ones. Anyone in the same boat?