Happy New Year at Gurney Elementary School! First, on behalf of Mrs. Ceci and the Gurney Office Staff, I want to send out a giant THANK YOU to all of the families that dropped off sweet treats or gifts for us in December! Your kindness and generosity truly warmed our hearts and we are grateful. We would also like to express our heartfelt gratitude to our PTO for their generous gift cards, given to the entire staff. And, Congratulations to Mrs. Croglio and all of our 2nd and 3rd graders for a very successful Holiday Show in the CFHS Performing Arts Center! What a beautiful way to kick off everyone's winter vacation! We also learned before the break that congratulations are due for Mrs. Jones and Ms. Todaro who both passed the recertification process to remain Nationally Board Certified Teachers!
As our winter break comes to a close, we all need to start easing back into a more structured day to make the transition back to school as smooth and successful as possible. You can help at home by starting with school night bedtimes prior to January 6th. Adding some scheduled activities into your days and even setting 2025 goals related to school with your child will help. Ask your child to remind you of school expectations, pack up their own backpack, check that they have the Big 5 ready to go, and so on. Here are some additional resources to support you and your child’s transition back to school after this winter vacation: LINK LINK LINK
This is my final principal section of the Gurney School newsletter. As I stated back in December, working with all of you, the families at Gurney Elementary School, has been an honor and a privilege. I will forever be grateful for my years as principal of Gurney Elementary School.
Wishing you all a very happy and healthy 2025 at Gurney School!
AM Drop Off: 8:25 - 8:35 PM Pick Up: 3:25 - 3:35
January 2 3
January 6 School Resumes
January 13 16 SPIRIT WEEK
Mustache Monday / sport your favorite look
Team Day Tuesday / wear favorite team attire
Workout Wednesday / wear workout type clothing
Spirit Day Thursday / wear orange and black
January 17 NO SCHOOL Staff Professional Development Day
January 18 Gurney Day at the Girls Basketball Game
CFHS Gymnasium / 2:15 pm
January 20 NO SCHOOL Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Congratulations to the following students for showing exemplary Tiger PRIDE. Each student receives a “Good News” postcard in the mail from Dr. Jones.
Kindergarten
Kate Brown
Mia Gagliardi
Caleb Gust
Nora Havasi
Quinn Thomas
Izzy Wallenhorst
Silas Zimmerman
First Grade
Samantha Donovan
Shep Jewell
Matthew Kvatchrelishvili
Xander Laneve
Maren Marong
Cannon Parkhurst
Alex Vazquez
Second Grade
Brooke Andreas
Dakota Craig
Maddox Estes
Blyth Freeman
Molly Godenschwager
Chip Henry
Sadie Hilston
Graham Macy
Third Grade
Maddy Benzel
Penny Cirino
Ella Hively
Brooks Latore
McKenna O’Neil
Emily Sharkey
Grrrrrrrreat News From Gurney Elementary ...
The Gurney Clinic is in need of gently used/new clothing to replace wet clothing from the playground, etc. Items include socks as well as boys bottoms, and (new) underwear, sizes 4-6. Thank you in advance.
IMPORTANT FROM THE CLINIC
Students should not be sent in with cough drops as they are considered a medication and need to be kept in the clinic. Since they are considered a medication, a physician's order is needed for us to administer cough drops. Thank you for understanding.
Recess Clothing Guidelines
Wind Chill/Temperature
65 degrees and UP
Clothing Guidelines
Shorts, skirts, short-sleeves
60 - 65 degrees Long sleeves, sweatshirt, jacket
40 - 59 degrees Pants, jacket
30 - 39 degrees
29 degrees & below
Coat, hat & gloves required
Big 5 if snow
Coat, hat and gloves required
Big 5 if snow
Boots are REQUIRED when there is snow on the playground!
Counselor’s Corner
Mr. Tschappat
Third grade students listened as I read "Go Left" by Marc Colagiovanni. We reviewed a problem scale and discussed specific situations and what size problems those situations would be. I read "Old Joe and the Carpenter; An Appalachian Tale of Building Bridges" by Pleasant DeSpain to second grade classes. We talked about friendships and how our emotions impact relationships with friends. In January, we will begin a unit about taking responsibility for personal choices
I read "Having Empathy" by Penelope Nelson to first grade students. In both first grade and kindergarten, we discussed what empathy is, including examples of when the children have shown empathy. Kindergarten students listened as I read "A Sick Day for Amos McGee" by Philip C. Stead. First graders identified "warm words" while kindergartners started working on their feelings puppets.
Both our food drive and Toys for Tots were a success! The generosity of Chagrin families is always amazing. We donated many boxes of food and other items to Bainbridge Area Food for friends and the two large Toys for Tots boxes were overflowing with new toys. Thank you for your kindness and generosity!
Mental
New Year’s Resolutions and Camp Information
Happy New Year! As you’re thinking ahead to what this year may hold, consider bringing your children into this conversation. Resolutions can be very impactful for some families. Other families can have difficulty making them stick. The important part of the conversation is helping your children identify goals and problem solve ways to achieve those goals. For example, if they would like to ask for less assistance during homework, help them think about how they could achieve this. Do they need to prepare for homework differently? Or, maybe they need different tools or resources. Allow them to develop their goals and strategies, and try to provide guidance by asking questions of the steps they’ll need to take. They’ll be more motivated to take ownership of these goals if they feel they have independence around it! You may find this article (LINKED HERE) from HealthyChildren.org helpful as well!
Also, with the cold and snow, I know summer seems as though it will never get here, but I’m writing this quick reminder about summer camps. Many summer camps will be opening their enrollment registration in the next few weeks and this is my effort to help you to remember to look into any of those camps you’ve been thinking about. If it fits your family’s needs, you may want to look into Camp Lionheart (LINKED HERE“Camp Lionheart is a free, week-long, overnight grief camp for children and teens in the State of Ohio ages 7-17 who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling, or primary caregiver. Camp Lionheart is a free, week-long, overnight grief camp for children and teens in the State of Ohio ages 7-17 who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling, or primary caregiver.”)
Should you have any questions or would like information on additional resources, please feel free to reach out! I can be contacted via phone at (440)247-5500 x4162 and email at Jessica.Fosnaugh@Chagrinschools.org
Jessica Fosnaugh, CF Student Wellness Coach,
Email Extension Twitter
rachel.jones@chagrinschools.org x4101
@DrJ_cfprincipal Principal brittany.ceci@chagrinschools.org x4013 @MrsCeciCF Assistant Principal
PRESCHOOL
carli.forte@chagrinschools.org
x4145 annalisa.polizzi@chagrinschools.org x4166 marianne.canter@chagrinschools.org x4124
@GurneyPreschool vanessa.mattson@chagrinschools.org x4163 @msmattsonsclass noelle.scheuer@chagrinschools.org x4165
KINDERGARTEN
rachel.gebler@chagrinschools.org
x4117
@MrsGeblersClass rachel.jackman@chagrinschools.org x4132 nicole.kennedy@chagrinschools.org x4126 mallory.mazzola@chagrinschools.org x4126 kelly.purcell@chagrinschools.org x4120 claire.trump@chagrinschools.org x4138 shelly.zdolshek@chagrinschools.org x4110 @shellyzdolshek
FIRST GRADE stephanie.casper@chagrinschools.org x4165 stephanie.malley@chagrinschools.org x4148 @stephaniemalley vicky.pelsozy@chagrinschools.org x4151 @Mrspelsozy rena.polien@chagrinschools.org x4189 @MrsPoliensClass claudia.thompson@chagrinschools.org x4153 @MrsThompsonCF justin.wise@chagrinschools.org x4155 @wiseclassroom
SECOND GRADE
lisa.dugach@chagrinschools.org x4143 @MrsDugachClass ellen.jones@chagrinschools.org x4125 @ejonesgurney ann.kehrier@chagrinschools.org x4149 @MrsKehrier jillian.langer@chagrinschools.org x4127 @mrslangersclass ben.rose@chagrinschools.org x4143 @BenRoseTeacher sarah.ross@chagrinschools.org x4187 @MrsRossCF THIRD GRADE
kelly.andreas@chagrinschools.org x4139 @MrsKAndreas amy.belew@chagrinschools.org x4143 larissa.balachick@chagrinschools.org x4141 brad.jones@chagrinschools.org x4137 @mrjonescfgurney brian.ritz@chagrinschools.org x4128 @RitzClassroom lisa.todaro@chagrinschools.org x4142 @TodaroClass
ENCORE
justin.cannon@chagrinschools.org x4109 @GurneyPE patrice.croglio@chagrinschools.org x4135 @GurneyMusic mary.czerr@chagrinschools.org x4129 christopher.englehart@chagrinschools.org x4140 @GurneySpanish sally.gallik@chagrinschools.org x4159 @GurneySTEM laine.vincent@chagrinschools.org x4133 @GurneyArt
molly.edwards@chagrinschools.org x4015
School Psychologist dale.tschappat@chagrinschools.org x4112
School Guidance Counselor Gurney Clinic x4105
