Thanks to everyone who has contributed paper recycling to the Abitibi bins in the Sycamore School District!  In the past, the green and yellow dumpsters earned funds for our schools as well as raised awareness about recycling.  Unfortunately, Abitibi is no longer providing this free service, and now the district is utilizing the dumpsters to enhance their co-mingled recycling program.  The students are doing a tremendous job of identifying recycling opportunities within the buildings which is leading to the bins being full much more quickly!  Fortunately for our district residents, there are other many other public recycling drop-off sites located throughout our community:

Blue Ash

·  Blue Ash Municipal & Safety Center, 4343 Cooper Road, 45242

·  UC Blue Ash College, 9555 Plainfield Road, 45236

·  Blue Ash Sports Center, 11540 Grooms Road, 45242

·  Blue Ash Public Library, 4911 Cooper Rd, 45242 (also accessible from Hunt Road)

Kenwood

·  Sycamore Township Maintenance Bldg., 8540 Kenwood Rd, 45236

Montgomery

·  Montgomery Public Works Dept., 7315 Cornell Road, 45242

Symmes Township

·  Township Administration Office, 9323 Union Cemetery Road, 45140

·  Hopewell Meadows Park, 9131 Hopewell Road, 45242

·  Camp Dennison Nature Trail, Munson Ave & Campbell St, 45111

Visit Rumpke Recycling Locator for more recycling centers.  For more information on recycling in the county and your neighborhood, please see Hamilton County Recycling and Solid Waste District, Rumpke, Blue Ash, Montgomery, and Symmes Township websites.

Thank you to the many, many volunteers that made COSI such an exciting day for our students.  Mr. Phou, for being so flexible and sharing the gym with us!  He  did a great job as MC in dismissing the assembly, Mr. Bishop and Mr Greer for the set-up, all the teachers and staff, all the high school students, the great parent volunteers, PTO and especially to Mrs. Megan Boni for scheduling and making this event happen for our kids!

The kids enjoyed the hands on activities and all the volunteers were so wonderful in helping keep the kids engaged.  Wonderful questions and engaging comments helped our students learn about current conditions in a fun and exciting way.

Thank you all again for your time and energy!  We couldn't have pulled this off without your help!

There were several comments from teachers and staff applauding your enthusiasm and time and engaging teaching.  The day went smoothly and we were able to capture some great images for our yearbook!

What a great day today to be a kid at Symmes Elementary!

Operation Give Back’s Community Holiday Store

OPENING SOON

When: *Friday, December 12th, 2014 3:00PM – 8:00PM

Saturday, December 13th, 2014 12:00PM – 3:00PM

 *FRIDAY ONLY ZIP CODES: 45215, 45140, 45236, 45241,

 45242, 45243, 45249 & 45246

Where: 10616 Millington Court, Blue Ash, OH 45242

Pre-Registration is REQUIRED.

You can register starting Nov. 5th

I.D. is REQUIRED FOR SHOPPING.

Please call (513)  489-2023 or (513)  489-0141 between

11:00AM - 6:00PM Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

(We reserve the right to refuse services to anyone)

The upcoming Symmes Cultural Celebration is January 23rd and needs YOU and your talents in making this evening a success.  We extend this invitation to each and every family to showcase your culture –Fun fact: Did you know that Symmes has 23 countries and every region of the United States represented in our school? Click here to learn more and "RSVP now": http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0e48acab2aa3f49-symmes

Nature Trail Work Day Pictures!

Some pictures from our parade!

Our goal is to gather data on technology access and skills, and on our school’s technology environment, in order to understand the connection between technology use and student achievement.  From parents, we hope to learn more about our students’ school and home technology use for learning. We will be using the results of the survey to guide our professional development and technology vision for your building.

Each survey has a unique URL per building and each group of users (parents, students, staff). The survey is approximately 10-15 minutes and is anonymous.

The SY 3rd/4th Grade Student Technology Survey can be taken at www.BByt.es/JBBVL

The SY Parent Technology Survey can be taken at www.BByt.es/JBBVP

Our fourth grade Girls on the Run team does a service project each year.  This year they have chosen to donate items to Operation Shoebox, which is a non-profit organization that assembles care packages for military men and women serving our country overseas. Items will be collected through Nov. 11th.  Boxes for collection will be in the main hallways, so children can drop off the items on their way to class in the mornings.

Students are also welcome to write notes to the troops that will be included in the care packages and/or provide a pre-addressed postcard to the school with a note asking the service member to please let them know if they received the package.  We do not need a stamp on the post card - service members can mail them for free back to the states.

Suggested items to donate are:

• Candy (heat resistant/individually wrapped - NO chocolate)
• Fruit Breezes (throat drops)
• instant oatmeal
• instant coffee
• powdered drink mixes
• Gatorade
• tea mixes
• coffee creamer
• ramen noodles
• beef jerky

Plan now to pick up your cookies

Monday, November 10

3:15-6:30pm

In the Cafeteria

If you sold cookie dough/pizza/pastries you MUST pick up at this time and plan to deliver as soon as possible. Product must remain frozen.

If you have any questions please contact Ashley, ashleyw333@hotmail.com or 513-478-9108

Please consider donating clean costumes to Symmes Elementary. Mrs. Ferron, our school nurse will store costumes so that we have them for next year as we always have a few children in need of costumes. All sizes welcomed. Thank you!

ANNOUNCEMENT OF SCHOOL WIDE TESTING FOR GRADES 2 AND 4

All 2^nd and 4^th graders will take the Cognitive Ability Test (CogAT) the week of December 8, 2014. For those students in 1^st and 3^rd grade, you may request that your child participate in this round of testing. This is in accordance with HB 282, which requires that school districts provide multiple opportunities for testing to identify students as gifted. PLEASE NOTE THAT SCORES ON FIRST GRADE TESTS WILL NOT BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION FOR PULL-OUT GIFTED SERVICES.

If you would like to have your grade 1 and/or grade 3 child(ren) participate in the December administration of the CogAT, please contact Mrs. Shawn Rosekrans, in writing. You may make this request via email or kidmail.  This request can be emailed to Mrs. Rosekrans at rosekranss@sycamoreschools.org  No requests will be accepted after Monday, December 1, 2014.  Please mention the teacher and grade level in your request. It would be helpful to copy your request to your child’s teacher, as well.

Please note that your child will be tested sometime during the aforementioned week. No specific date or time can be offered. Thank you for your understanding and patience.