Putnam Valley Elementary School

Dear PVES Families,

As we say good-bye to the cold month of January, we mark the midpoint of this 2021-22 school year. Elementary Report Cards were made available online for viewing on PowerSchool this past Friday. Hard copies of Report Cards will be mailed to your homes this week. As always, if you have any concerns or questions regarding your child’s progress, please email your child’s teacher(s) directly. Regular communication between home and school is essential to your child’s growth and learning.

As we begin the third quarter of the school year, now is an optimal time to sit down with your child and review learning goals, strong homework and study routines, and daily schedules (reading, bedtime, etc.). This is a perfect time to discuss areas of great success, along with areas that need attention. You might want to review or design a plan to help your child learn and review math facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) each day, with small goals set for each week. I also encourage you to enjoy the library books together that the students are taking home, along with the classroom reading that the students bring home in their backpacks. As students become empowered with their own learning, they show more investment in their progress, and they become motivated to learn, question, and grow. It is such an exciting time!

We are quickly approaching our season of Kindergarten Registration! You and your neighbors are reminded that if you have a child who will be 5 years old by 12/1/22, they should call the school at 845-528-8092 to set up a registration appointment. Kindergarten Registration will begin in February, with our Kindergarten Screening taking place later in the spring. We are eager to welcome our newest class of young learners!

Congratulations to our Fourth-Grade classes on their amazing concert this past Thursday. This was a wonderful event that took place at the high school, and it was our first in-person performance in two years! Thank you to Mrs. Bennett and Mrs. Calhoun for their work with the fourth-grade Band and Chorus students. Our talented students made us so very proud!

We have some exciting “theme dress days” coming up in our happy PVES learning community, so please mark your calendars! On Tuesday, February 1st, all staff and students are invited to wear the color red to help us celebrate the Chinese New Year! (Our K-2 Mandarin language students are completing special projects for that day!) Friday, February 11th will be Sports Jersey Day, in honor of the Super Bowl! Everyone is invited to wear pink, red, or white on Valentine’s Day, February 14th. And, to have some fun with the upcoming 2/22/22 date, we will invite students to wear Tie Dye, TuTu’s or Top Hats on Friday, February 18th! We will also participate in some extra math/number activities on that date as well! There is lots of fun and learning to be had, all while celebrating our wonderful school culture!

Schools will be closed for our February break between 2/21 and 2/25. Schools will reopen on Monday, February 28th.

Have a great week ahead. Temperatures will rise, and we will have a strong start to the second half of the school year!

Thank you for your continued partnership!

Sincerely,
Dr. Margaret Podesta
Principal