Vol. 14 No. 3 January 2013

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Dear Parents and Guardians, Happy New Year! I hope you found the holidays to be restful and time to spend with your family and friends. January proves to be a busy month at Citta. As is our tradition, this month is when we celebrate the arts. Our annual winter choral and band/orchestra concerts provide an opportunity for our fifth grade students to demonstrate their musical talents. Parents, friends and family members come out to support our students at an evening show. The arts are an integral aspect of our daily curriculum and appreciation for them is exemplified during this month. Please remember that we will be in school on January 21 as a make-up day from Hurricane Sandy. Our celebration of Dr. King will be built into the curriculum throughout the month and in various ways. Please join us for our PTO meeting on January 9th to meet other parents and volunteer for school-based activities. Your assistance is always appreciated. Most of all, I wish you the best and a New Year filled with health and happiness. Sincerely, Sincerely, Gregory J. Guito

Principal

PTO Giving Tree Each year the P.T.O. sponsors an event that allows our students to share community spirit through donations of hats, mittens and scarves. All donations are forwarded to Providence House. A special thank you goes to all those who made contributions.

Dates to Remember

Jan. 1 ...SCHOOL CLOSED Jan. 8 ...Int. North Concert at Citta Jan. 9 ...Super “Citta”zen Luncheon ...PTO Meeting 7:30 p.m. Jan. 15 ...Winter Chorus 10:15 a.m. Gr. K-2; 2 p.m. Gr. 3,4,5,KPM; 7 p.m. Parents Jan. 24 ...Band Concert 10:15 a.m. Gr. K-2; 2 p.m. Gr. 3,4,5,KPM; 7 p.m. Parents

Happy New Year! January is a time for goal setting. One worthy resolution is getting, and staying, more organized. With various school subjects being taught, this work habit will help children better juggle those academic demands, diminish frustration, and facilitate success for 2013! Start by encouraging your child to empty his/her backpack and homework folder every day. Put important papers in one spot, go over them together, then sign/return any necessary items. Getting a planner might help. Listing assignments and activities, then reviewing and checking off completed items, will help give a sense of accomplishment. We have planners in the main office if your child is in need of one. An incentive chart with the goal stated might be a fun way to measure achievement. Posting the chart in a prominent place, then awarding a star for each day the goal is achieved will further encourage success and confidence! Remember to be patient with yourself and your child. It takes time to get accustomed to new routines, but it is time well spent! A friendly reminder: Winter is upon us! Please make sure your child dresses for this weather and wears a winter coat to school every day. Don’t forget the hat and gloves!

Sincerely, Ms. Nikole Cegerenko Supervisor of Instruction

Congratulations to the following students for being selected for the month of November to have lunch with the principal, Mr. Guito. They were chosen for showing good character traits.

Mattingly Stankowitz Anthony Adesso Angela Pontipiedra Jack Marro Steven Abapo Alfredo Ramos-Diego John Cicala Gavin Wagner Francesca Cecchini Daisean Evans Michael Jakubiw Nicholas Sharkey Julietta Onofrietti Jazmin Ramos

Matthew Sabo Jackson Meyer Ava Cahill Justin Heaton Lindsay Carr Hailey Copley Joseph Lembo Jordan Truex Patricia Durkin Korrine DiBuono Alexis Benvenuto Cody Johnston Gavin McTaggart

From the Supervisor...

S tudents at Citta collected school supplies such as backpacks, notebooks, pencils and crayons for schools that were affected by Hurricane Sandy. Students are pictured with the backpacks that were c o l l e c t e d . T h e b a c k p a c k s w e r e delivered to Silver Bay School. A big thank you to all who donated items.

In December first grade students presented a Gingerbread Show for their parents.

Second grade students in Mrs. Seiler’s class created gingerbread houses in December. These stu-dents show off their creations.

Ms. Connelly’s class “buddies up” with Ms. Capoano's class to do little projects. For the fall they did a pumpkin experiment where they got to do things such as feel the inside of a pumpkin, measure its height and circumference, estimate and count the seeds. Students are pictured above with their kindergarten buddies.

Written by Kaylynn Gerrity and Jackson Meyer Every day you go to school, something interesting happens. In December our class celebrated International Day. Where are you from? Italy, Ireland, Germany? Well, wherever you’re from you would have adored sitting in on International Day in room E-4 with Ms. Connelly’s class. All the students in our class were given the assignment to tell a little bit about part of their heritage. It was an amazing way to learn about the world and other people’s phenomenal cultures. Each of us brought in a food sample from our many different backgrounds. We all had to stand up in front of the class and share information about our heritage. Then we had a taste of many different kinds of food. All of the foods and projects were unique and special. We personally liked Jackson’s rowladen, German wraps that he made one by one. We made posters and wrote essays about our heritage and some students even wore outfits from the country they chose to research. Some children also brought artifacts. For example students brought in dolls, family crests, steins and other memorabilia. We think the posters and writing were the most impressive aspect of the whole International Day. International Day turned out to be so much fun. We learned many interesting things about each other. We are all very different in many ways, but that’s what makes each of us so special!

Students participated in a Polar Express day filled with activities and treats culminating with the movie Polar Express.

Fifth grade students in Mrs. Connor’s, Mrs. Friedman’s and Mrs. Sullivan’s classes also participated in an international day in December. These students are trying a drink from the Mayan culture.