Putnam Valley Elementary School

Dear PVES Families,

Happy spring break! We have all put so much effort into such a challenging but successful school year, and I know we are all looking forward to a fun and relaxing week before we give more great effort into the final quarter.  Spring break begins on Monday, March 29th, and continues until Monday, April 5th.  We look forward to welcoming back all of our students (at home and in school) on Tuesday, April 6th.

We have a good number of remote students returning to in-school learning on April 6th.  We look forward to welcoming them all into the building!  If your student is coming to the school building for the first time this school year, please reach out to Donna Sillery in our main office to confirm transportation plans for each day.  Mrs. Sillery’s email is dsillery@pvcsd.org.  We will need to know if you are dropping off and picking up your child each day, or if he or she will be taking the bus.  If you are unsure of bus times, please call the main office or email Mr. Koenig in Transportation at mkoenig@pvcsd.org.  Student drop-off in the morning is between 9:05 and 9:15 AM, and pick-up in the afternoon is from 2:35 to 2:45 PM, in the front of the building.  Student names should be placed in the windshield of the car at these times. All school materials and laptops should be returned to school on that Tuesday morning.

We are happy to report that after spring break, the classes will be able to use the playground equipment as one of the recess rotations. One class at a time will use the playground, and it will be cleaned on a regular basis.  Students will also soon have access to shared recess toys that will be used by only their own class, with students using hand sanitizer before and after recess.  We are excited to be able to take these small steps toward more normal and engaging recess times, and we appreciate your support every step of the way.

Our third and fourth graders will be taking practice State Tests (as a warm-up) for ELA on Thursday, April 8th.  These practice tests will take only 1-2 hours in the morning, and students will be encouraged to do their very best, without any unnecessary stress.  We are so proud of the learning that continues to take place in our building.  State Test dates for ELA and Math will be posted on our calendar for our 3rd an 4th grade students.

We are happy to officially welcome Miss Anna Skirianos as our Technology teacher for the remainder of the year.  Miss Skirianos knows many of our students already from her experience substitute teaching in our building, and she loves to incorporate many aspects of technology into her innovative lessons.  Thank you for your support!

Please be on the lookout for the upcoming sign-ups for Parent/Teacher conferences on Friday, April 16th.  All of our classroom and department area teachers are aiming to meet virtually with as many parents as possible that afternoon, with students dismissing at 12:00 noon that day.  In order to allow more time for collecting benchmark assessment data, our brief written Progress Reports for the third quarter will now be distributed during the first week of May.  We look forward to these upcoming meetings regarding your child’s progress this year.

Have a wonderful week ahead and a pleasant holiday season.  The month of April is sure to be a busy one, and our elementary students will continue to bloom in the spring!

Warmly
Dr. Margaret Podesta
Principal