Message from Dr. Penke
Message from Dr. Penke
We had an awesome first week of school at Aldrich! It is always exciting to see our students. I love this time of year!
School Statistics: I thought I would share some statistics about Aldrich Elementary. We have a grand total of 434 students in grades K-5. We have 218 boys and 216 girls. Our Aldrich school community includes people with a variety of backgrounds and experiences. Sharing of ourselves enriches us all. We look forward to working with you and your children.
New Staff: I want to introduce new Aldrich staff members to you.
Mrs. Summer Hospodka, Kindergarten
Mrs. Jill Bright, Kindergarten
Senorita Vanessa Chavez Jurado, Spanish
Ms. Jaci Henderson, Speech Language Pathologist
Mrs. Jean Tooher, School Psychologist
We are excited to have them join our Aldrich All-Star family!
Morning Arrival:
Supervision begins at 8:15am so please do not drop your child off before then. All children will enter at 8:15am and any children who wish to eat breakfast will go straight to the cafeteria for their grab and go breakfast. Please say good-bye to your child at the curb when you drop them off as parents are not allowed to walk students to the classroom.
Dismissal:
Please arrive promptly at 3:30pm to pick up your student. Please put the yellow sign with your last name and grade on your dashboard so we know which child to load in the car. If you are driving along the curb for pickup, please stay in your car and we will help the children get loaded. Please be on time and we promise we will attempt to keep the traffic line moving quickly!
Lunch Money and Prices:
School meals are parent-pay and regular pricing for the 2023/2024 school year. The breakfast price is $1.60, lunch price is $3.15, and milk only is $0.55.
If your child qualifies for Free or Reduced lunch, your family needs to submit an application. Please click here to be directed to the application.
Lunch Visitors/Volunteers:
Just a reminder that we are not allowing any lunch visitors or volunteers until after Labor Day. Thank you for your patience!
Curriculum Night:
We will have our in-person Curriculum Night on Tuesday, August 29th. We look forward to sharing our curriculum information with you in your child’s classroom that evening. More details will follow about exact times soon.
Animals on the Premise:
Please do not bring any animals/pets on the premises. We want to make sure that everyone is safe, and we have many allergies that can be compromised.
Front Doors: All of the doors are locked at all times. Please come to the front door and push the circle button to obtain access into school. Please make sure your child is prepared in the morning, so we can cut down on interruptions during our learning time.
Safety Drills: During the first few weeks of school, we practice our safety drills. Our safety system is called the Standard Response Protocol which is what first responders use as well. The safety drills are called Hold, Secure, Lockdown, Shelter, and Evacuate.
Thank you for sharing your children with us and for supporting us this school year.
Dr. Penke
Welcome back All Star families!
I look forward to a wonderful year together! PTO registration is officially open for registration through the following link. This is also where you will select your Olympic Day t-shirt size for your student so please be sure to register to ensure we have your student’s Olympic shirt size in time to order.
*Please also see the RunPTO signup instructions attachment included in our newsletter that provide step by step instructions on how to register.
Wondering why you should you register to be a PTO member?
Registering for the PTO allows school families access to the online student directory, the ability to volunteer at the school/school events plus contribute our teachers and students through the $15 membership fee. Please see the following attachments included in the newsletter:
5 Reasons to Get Involved in the PTO
Where Does Your PTO Registration Money Go?
PTO Volunteer Committee Descriptions
Aldrich school calendar with all our 2023-2024 PTO and school events dates
These documents will provide more information on how your $15 PTO membership fee contributes to Aldrich, what being a PTO member does for the school and a detailed description of all the various committees you can volunteer to be a part of throughout the school year.
Quickly approaching dates to add to your calendar:
1st day of school Thursday August 10th
1st PTO Meeting Tuesday August 22nd @ 8:30 am both in person in the Art room at the school and through Zoom
Aldrich Carnival Friday August 25th *This is our biggest fundraiser of the year, please help us make it successful by volunteering and/or considering a sponsorship. It’s such a great way to meet other Aldrich families, students and have fun with the kids. The link to volunteer is here: https://m.signupgenius.com/?fbclid=IwAR3kyn61qSgkqO1o6zaqLnRthFTaCGry00t0j9aYlk_4ju-HpYpUt4B2dVM#!/showSignUp/60b0549a4aa23a1fd0-2023
Walking club registration is open now through August 25th. Walking club will begin Wednesday September 6th.
Have a wonderful 1st week of school! It’s great to have everyone back!
Jacquelyn Alexander
PTO President
2023-2024 School Year
PTO Online Registration
PTO registration is now open! Please follow the links below to register! (We recommend reading the instructions prior to registering).
2023 Aldrich Carnival Information!
At Back to School Night you should have received a yellow car sign. If you choose to pick up your student in the front car line please make the yellow sign visible to staff so that we can get your child to you quickly. If you need additional car signs please email Ms. Allen at laallen@mpsomaha.org.
Walking Club
Walking Club will begin on Wednesday, September 6th. Please review the information below for students and parent volunteers. We are excited to welcome back some morning exercise to our daily routine
Students:
All students signed up for Walking Club will receive their lanyard at school on Friday, September 1st.
Walking club doors will open at 7:55am and close at 8:05am. Students must wear their lanyard to enter the school for walking club. Students will enter and place their backpack in the hallways near their grade level sign. Students will not go to the coat rooms or classrooms.
Students will line up with a partner and follow Mr. Mohning for a morning walk.
Students will receive a punch on their punch card each day they walk. They will earn prizes by turning their punch card in to Mr. Mohning each time the reach 25, 50, 75, 100, 125 and 150 miles.
Walking Club will conclude at 8:15. Students will enter the school through the recess door and pick up their backpack.
Behavior expectations for walking club: Students will actively participate in the walk, stay with the walking club group and keep their hands and feet to themselves. They will not attempt to go to the classroom early or go to the coat rooms before 8:15. Failure to these rules will result in removal from Walking Club. The club is operated on a three strike system. The third strike will result in removal for the remainder of the year.
Walking Club Registrations can be completed when you register for the PTO at below link. Walking Club Registration deadline is Friday, August 25.
https://www.runpto.com/u/aldrich_mps/
Volunteers:
Volunteers can enter the building just prior to 7:55 and sign in at the front office. They will then go to their volunteer assignment if helping with the front door or hallway. Please do not attempt to enter the building prior to 7:50.
Volunteers helping with the walk will be directed by Mr. Mohning and may wait near the front of the line and help punch tags as the students line up.
At the conclusion of walking club, volunteers need to enter the building to turn in their volunteer badge and exit through the front door. Volunteers are not able to visit classrooms or walk their child to class. Please respect this boundary so we can keep the walking club in place.
Interested volunteers can sign up on the link below! We appreciate any & all help.
Our picture day will be held on Tuesday, September 19th.
Pictures will be ordered online this year. There are special offers if you order BEFORE picture day! Please click on the link below to pre-order your school pictures.
Place your school picture day order now online! <CLICK HERE>
If the link above doesn’t work in your browser, please copy and paste this in your address bar:
https://modernimagesonline.com/ordering/access
PRE-ORDER NOW AND GET SPECIAL SAVINGS
Simple steps to ordering online:
PRE-ORDER NOW ONLINE
Step 1: Use the link above or go to modernimagesonline.com
Step 2: enter this code: 44B84H5E (CODE EXPIRES when pre-orders are printed)
THIS CODE ONLY WORKS FOR ALDRICH!
Step 3: Place your order. (Each student needs to have a separate order).
Step 4: Pay with credit card.
Step 5: Hassle Free picture day.
Step 6: Your pictures will be delivered to the school unless you choose to have them sent to your home.
lunch times
Kindergarten 11:20-11:40
First Grade 11:45-12:05
Second Grade 12:10-12:30
Third Grade 12:00-12:20
Fourth Grade 11:35-11:55
Fifth Grade 11:10-11:30
MPS Board Members
Dr. John Schwartz, Superintendent
Amanda McGill Johnson, President
Linda Poole, Vice President
Mike Kennedy, Secretary
Mike Pate, Treasurer
Stacy Jolley, Board Member
Lisa Schoenberger, Board Member