SES
Sidney Elementary School
Newsletter
“Be active with good character”
Responsibility-Respect-Trustworthiness-
Fairness-Caring
Reflections from Mr. Green
Spring time is almost here and hopefully warm
weather will be right around the corner. The stu-
dents have continued to do a great job at SES! The
staff and students have been focused on the charac-
ter traits of trustworthiness and are moving on to
fairness for March and April. Our third, fourth and
fifth grade students completed the NYS math test
during the first week of March. The students gave
their best effort and I am extremely proud of them!
We have very exciting events and programs com-
ing to SES over the course of the next few months.
On March 23rd the rainforest program will do two
day time performances along with an evening pro-
gram. The Catskill Valley Wind Ensemble will
perform on April 3rd and Chocolate Wars will
make an appearance on April 28th. As always, I
appreciate the positive home-school connection
that we have built!
Early Kindergarten
February might have been a cold and dreary month,
but it was a healthy month in Early Kindergarten!
First we learned how to keep ourselves healthy by
exercising every day and making good food
choices. We now know that some foods are GO
Foods which we can eat almost anytime, some are
SLOW Foods which we can eat sometimes, and
some are WHOA Foods which we should eat only
once in a while. Our motto is “We Go for Go
Foods!” Next we learned to keep our teeth healthy
and happy, we need to brush twice a day, floss, see
our dentist and stay away from sugary foods. Then
two great presidents helped us keep our minds
healthy. George Washington, father of our country,
taught us to always tell the truth while Honest Abe
Lincoln showed us that honesty is always the best
policy. We loved making stove pipe hats with
beards. Everyone thought we were miniature presi-
dents! Now that March is here we are having fun
using our magnets and simple machines. And last,
but not least, we are doing a great job learning the
letters of the alphabet and counting to ten.
15 Pearl Street East
Sidney NY 13838
February - March 2009
SES to Hold Open Kindergarten Registration
Registration for all Sidney Central School District
students eligible to enter kindergarten in September
2009 will be held the weeks of Monday, March 16
through Friday, March 20 and Monday, March 23
through Friday, March 27 from 9:00 to 2:00 p.m.
The registration will take place in the district Regis-
trar’s office located in the Middle School. Parents
will need to present their child’s
birth certificate, immunization
records and proof of residency
as well as fill out paperwork
during registration. They will
also have an opportunity to sign
their child up for a kindergarten
screening.
To be eligible for kindergarten, a
child must be five years old on
or before December 1, 2009. A
child who turns six years old any time during the
school year must attend school at the start of Sep-
tember 2009.
It is important that all district kindergarten entrants
for the September 2009 school year register at this
time. If you have any questions about registration,
please call Jill Brazee or Mary Miley at 563-2135
extension 4200 or 4202.
SES Taking Names for Universal Pre-K Slots
Sidney Elementary School is now taking names of
children for their Universal Pre-Kindergarten pro-
gram in the fall. Children that reside in the Sidney
Central School District and who will be four years
old before December 1, 2009 are eligible. The class
will be determined by a lottery drawing at a later
date. Please call Jill Brazee or Mary Miley in the
main office at 563-2135 extension 4200 or 4202 to
add your child’s name to the Universal Pre-K list.

Universal Pre-K
The UPK Class has completed a unit on winter.
During this unit we experimented with ice cubes
melting and freezing. The students made great sci-
entists. We read The Hat and The Mitten and made
a wintery hat to wear and a mitten with all the ani-
mals from the
story. The stu-
dents did a nice
job recreating the
story using ani-
mals they colored.
Last week we met
in the evening to
work on a quilt we
are making for Ms. Jenkins. Nine families came to
the quilting party. We will be putting the quilt to-
gether and presenting it soon to Ms. Jenkins. In the
month of March, we will be learning about spring
weather. We will be starting a mobile of all the
types of spring weather. We are also learning to
say / sing the alphabet, recognize letters and num-
bers, and we have been practicing writing our name.
Most of all we are looking forward to seeing the
signs of spring!
Kindergarten
February was a very busy month in kindergarten!
We celebrated the 100th day of school. The kin-
dergarten students made a 100 inch snake, crowns,
necklaces and counted out 100 pieces of various
snacks. The children spent the day counting by
ones, fives and tens. The SES PTO donated 100
books to the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten
children. Thank you so much again for your gener-
osity!
During the month of March we will continue to
learn new sight words and letters. The children are
making great progress with their 100 Book Chal-
lenge steps toward 400. Thank you again for tak-
ing the time to read with your child at home every
night. The family projects have been very creative
and we appreciate the time spent on completing
them. We look forward to meeting with you on
March 20 or March 27 at parent-teacher confer-
ences to discuss your child’s progress!
Page 2
First Grade
The first grade has enjoyed learning about dental
health, the groundhog seeing his shadow, Presi-
dent’s Day and of course sharing our Valentines.
We ended February celebrating the 100th day of
school! We can not believe we have been in school
100 days already. We celebrated by doing activities
that have 100 involved with them.
We are moving right into
March by learning about
night and the solar system.
This is going to be so in-
teresting to learn about!
The middle of March will
bring us to weather and St.
Patrick’s day. To continue
with learning about “go foods”, we will end March
by talking about nutrition and how to nurture our
healthy hearts. We are looking forward to the flow-
ers blooming and the sun shining!
Second Grade
During the month of February, the
children learned about Washington
and Lincoln. One interesting fact was
that George Washington’s teeth were
made out of ivory and gold. This led
to discussions about healthy dental
habits to honor dental health month.
The children have been working on
learning how to add and subtract dou-
ble digit numbers with regrouping. We encourage
the students to think like mathematicians when solv-
ing word problems. They have learned key words
to help them to decode the problems.
In March, the second graders will begin an exciting
science unit on interactions. This will involve a va-
riety of hands-on activities for the children to do.
We continue to strive for our goal of 400 steps by
the end of May in the 100 Book Challenge reading
program. Please make sure your child is bringing
boots to school daily as the playground is very
muddy. We look forward to meeting with you dur-
ing parent/teacher conferences this month.
 Page 3

Third Grade Fifth Grade

Third grade has been focusing on preparation for the In reading class student are finishing up their novels
New York State math tests. Now that they are over, with a theme of Black History. They will be com-
we can continue on with the memorization of our pleting a writing project on freedom.
multiplication facts. As Fifth graders are learning about “Mystery Matter” in
we start to wrap up our their science inquiry classroom. They will be per-
Native American unit, we forming various tests on know substances to com-
are reviewing our key vo- pare to an unknown substance so they can identify
cabulary such as culture, it. Our fifth graders spent a day in Schenectady at
traditions, resources, etc. Proctor’s Theater on march 4. They participated in
As always, support at an interactive CSI presentation. This performance
home with the 100 Book was a perfect fit to the science unit they have begun.
Challenge program is
greatly appreciated. We We have survived the NYS Math test that was given
are looking forward to the first week in march.
meeting with you at parent D.A.R.E. is coming to a close. Students have
-teacher conferences the afternoons of March 20 or learned much about the dangers of drugs, alcohol,
March 27. Our next large units of study will be and tobacco. They have also learned ways to stay
fairy tales and the solar system. healthy. D.A.R.E. graduation will be Tuesday,
March 24 from 8:30 - 10:00 a.m. in the High School
auditorium.
Fourth Grade
While Mrs. Barnes was home recuperating from her
Our fourth grade students have been working ex- surgery, she kept in contact with her class through a
tremely hard preparing for the NYS math test. We webcam. Students presented their biography reports
are very proud of their efforts and congratulate them to her through the webcam. Mrs. Barnes was also
on a job well done. The last NYS test will be the able to just “call in” and see and speak to the stu-
science exam in April. Our students have just com- dents throughout the day.
pleted their unit on Colo-
nial America in New York From March 16 through May 8, Ms. Strub, a student
where they made quilt teacher from SUNY Oneonta will be working with
blocks, candles, bonnets Mrs. Barnes’ class.
and tricorne hats.
Upcoming Events
In science, our students are
beginning a major unit on current and static electric- Friday, March 20 & Friday, March 27
ity where they will make a complete circuit four dif- 11:00 a.m. Students dismissed for half day parent-
ferent ways with one light bulb, one battery and one teacher conferences
piece of copper wire. Students are also starting a Tuesday, April 7
unit on identifying and using 7:00 p.m. K-12 Select Art
parts of speech and quotation Exhibit
marks in language arts. Finally, HS community room
our Cool Characters continue to
Friday, April 10 - Friday, April 17
be excellent examples of our
five pillars of character educa- No School — Spring Recess
tion for the entire elementary Monday, April 20
school! 6:30 p.m. SES PTO meeting
SES LMC

Music
New York State United Teachers asked music edu-
cators to submit student compositions to be used as
hold music for callers at NYSUT headquarters.
Songs had to be completely original, four minutes
or less, and could feature either individual or group
performances. A variety of music was received by
NYSUT including instrumentals, vocals and rock
bands.
SES fifth grader, Will Schwartz, will have one of
his original student compositions featured by NY-
SUT. His piece, “Dragon of the Full Moon” was
somewhat an experimentation in sound. “I liked
how it sounded as I was putting it together. I
thought it would be a good thing in a song to have
the main melody come back. So I wrote it that
way” he stated. Will had fun creating the piece and
has followed up with a second composition titled,
“B.C.”. You can hear Will’s composition by visit-
ing www.NYSUT.org and click on “student
songs”.
Will Schwartz
(right) with
the French
horn.
Keep the Main Office Informed
Please remember to keep the main office informed
of any new home phone numbers, new work num-
bers, new cell phone numbers or changes in ad-
dress. It is imperative that we have this informa-
tion when an emergency arises with your child.
Thank you!
Page 4
Art
SES art students have brand new easels to enjoy this
year, thanks to the generosity of the SES PTO and
the efforts of High School students in Mr. Waltz’s
Basic Agri-Science classes. The art room only had
five easels at the start of the school year, and was
granted enough funds to buy five additional new
easels. Art teacher, Ms. Neal contacted Mr. Waltz
at the high school with the idea for possibly using it
as a project in one of his classes, and the suggestion
became a reality. Mr. Waltz’s students applied de-
sign techniques, mathematics, shop safety and
woodworking skills taught in the basic Agri-Science
class to their easel pro-
jects which gave them an
opportunity to apply aca-
demics to a real life
situation. The students
in Mr. Waltz’s class
really enjoyed the project
and they were glad that
their work will benefit current and future elementary
art students. The best part is that they were able to
build twice as many easels than could have been
purchased for the money.
Mrs. Fisher’s fourth grade class had the opportunity
to express their creative talents in both art and po-
etry writing. Each wrote a cinquain about winter or
snow. A cinquain (pronounced sin-kain) from cinq,
the French word for five, is a five line form of writ-
ing. At the same time, the class worked with Ms.
Neal in art class creating watercolor illustrations for
their cinquains. They learned to use the salt tech-
nique to create the illusion of snow or frost in their
designs. The students enjoyed both exercises and
the results were wonderful!
Taylor Barnes
(left) used the
salt technique to
create the illu-
sion of snow in
her illustration.