Friday Update 3/10/2023

Top O' the mornin' to our Siwanoy Families,

Why do we wear green on St. Patrick's Day? The tradition is tied to folklore that says wearing green makes you invisible to leprechauns, which like to pinch anyone they can see. Let's all dodge those leprechauns and wear green on Friday March 17th. Thank you, once again, to our amazing PTA, Fabiana Fusco, Rachel Gould, Joanne Ferrara and Danielle Ganpat for our festively fabulous "Lucky Charm" bulletin boards.

Daylight savings time

Don't forget to set your clocks ahead this weekend.

Siwanoy Upstander Gallery Walk

On March 15th, we will be hosting a gallery walk that will depict art from quotes of historical and present upstanders from around the world. Students will choose a quote and make a piece of art that describes what the quote means to them. This gallery of artwork will be displayed throughout the halls for all to enjoy. Parents/family members will have the opportunity to walk the halls (not classrooms) to enjoy artwork from all grades. To make this work in terms of space and time, please see below for your grade levels' "viewing time". For space and organizational purposes, please be sure to stick to your time. Thank you and I hope you enjoy your time at the event! Again, there will not be any interaction with students. Parents that attend will be walking the halls enjoying the artwork as if they were in a museum or gallery.

K-2 - 8:30-9:00

3-5 - 9:15-9:45

No school on Thursday, March 16th for Parent/Teacher conferences

Please be reminded that we do not have school on Thursday, March 16th. This is a day for parent/teacher conferences.

Word of the Month - Integrity

The word of the month is Integrity. Having integrity means knowing the difference between right and wrong and choosing to do the right thing, even when it is hard. This also means being honest, avoiding gossip, and being an upstander. (Pictured students in Ms. Hefter's 2nd grade class doing some research experiments with their goggles. Safety first!)

Parent Teacher Conferences/ Report cards

Report Cards- Our second trimester ended on March 8th. Parents will be able to access their child’s report card via our parent portal after 3:00 pm on March 14th. To access the report card in Infinite Campus, please follow this link to access our parent guide. If you do not know your login credentials or need to reset your password, please create a ticket in the service desk: https://lhric.service-now.com/student

Conferences- Parent/Teacher conferences are scheduled for the evening of March 15th and during the day on March 16th. (Unless otherwise notified) Please note that parents will have a choice of whether to attend the conference in-person or virtually. Teachers have already sent out their schedules. If you have not been able to make an appointment, please reach out to your child's teacher directly.

If you would like to schedule a time to meet with your child's specials' teacher, please see the contact information below.

Mr. Maley - P.E - kmaley@pelhamschools.org

Ms. Taveras - Art - etaveras@pelhamschools.org

Mr. Vamos - Music - rvamos@pelhamschools.org

Ms. Pignataro - FLES - lpignataro@pelhamschools.org grades 3 and 5

Ms. Lavin - FLES - clavin@pelhamschools.org grades 2 and 4

Ms. Ferris - SEL - lferris@pelhamschools.org

Ms. Sullivan - Library - asullivan@pelhamschools.org

Music Updates from Mr. Vamos

If you are planning on participating in the NYSSMA PIANO festival, which will be taking place on June 9th and 10th at Yorktown High School, please fill out this Google Form and send in a 22$ check made out to The Pelham School District no later than April 10th. This is a hard deadline! If this is something your child is interested in they should talk to their piano teacher first so that they can choose the best repertoire and level. Feel free to email Mr. Vamos if you have any questions. He can be reached at rvamos@pelhamschools.org.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSffpUc3wWliXV1qg7KibX_Dh3AZ5tBFS1uRo6BZjCCXjLBopA/viewform?usp=sf_link

Mr. Vamos in a musical!

Please see the link below for information about our very own Mr. Vamos participating in a musical at Concordia College on March 11th, at 11am. We are very proud of him!

Mr. Vamos at Concordia

District Survey

District Communications Survey

The District is partnering with the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) to conduct an audit of school and District communications. If you have not already done so, please take a few minutes to complete this anonymous communications survey. 

The survey, which will be open through March 13, is an integral part of the audit process and seeks to assess the communications preferences, perceptions and ideas of all stakeholders, including parents/guardians, staff and community members who no longer have children in our schools. The survey is available in both English and Spanish. Please take the survey now!

Playground update

We went over a couple of designs and I will make a decision based off of the feedback from the PTA as well as our teachers. We are very excited!

CultureFest Planning Committee

We are looking for volunteers to join the 2023 CultureFest planning committee! We had our first CultureFest last June and it was a smashing success! We are hoping that we can build on last years momentum to make this year's event even better. CultureFest is an event of food, dance, music and art that celebrates the rich tapestry of families and cultures that make up our Siwanoy community. If you would like to help plan in any way (big or small), please reach out to siwanoydiversity@gmail.com. (CultureFest Date: Thursday, May 4 from 5pm-7pm. More details to come!)

Building Bridges program starts May 8th

Please see the link below about additional information on Building Bridges and on how to get involved.

Building Bridges Program

Gentle reminder

Please remember to drive safely through our little village, especially in our school zones and when parking, please be mindful of our neighbors driveways. We really appreciate your help with this.

Upcoming dates:

3/13 - Day 1

3/14 - Day 2

3/15 - Day 3 Gallery walk/Parent-Teacher conferences in the evening

3/16 - NO SCHOOL TODAY/Parent-Teacher conferences

3/17 - Day 4 St. Patrick's Day - Wear green!

Twinning is winning! We have more in common than we think....

Farid Johnson

Principal, Siwanoy School