The Husky Iditarod
October 2025

Official Newsletter of the Aurora Husky Pups
"Meeting the Challenge, Exceeding Expectations"

www.aurorahuskies.org
Facebook: Aurora Elementary School

Principal: Mark Standage
Assistant Principal: Desiree' Teahon

It seems that the first quarter has flown by quickly, as there are about 2 weeks left! Earlier in the quarter, all students completed the first round of the Acadience Reading Assessment. This assessment is conducted in a one-on-one setting and provides us with a clear picture of the reading skills your child possesses. In addition, all students have completed the MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) assessment, with Kindergarten through 2nd grade taking the math assessment and 3rd through 5th grade taking math and reading. We look forward to sharing your child’s results with you at Parent-Teacher Conferences on Thursday, October 23rd.

October 5th through the 10th is Fire Prevention Week. The theme this year is “Charge into Fire Safety: Lithium-Ion Batteries in your Home”. We are fortunate to have members of the Aurora Volunteer Fire Department talk with our students during fire safety week. The following are some good reminders that will likely be discussed as we focus on fire safety this month.

*Create a home escape plan that will work for everyone in your household.

*Make sure it meets the needs of all your family members, including those with sensory or physical disabilities.

*Smoke alarms should be installed inside every bedroom, outside each separate sleeping area, and on every level of your home. Smoke alarms should be interconnected so that when one sounds, all of them sound.

*When possible, make sure your plan allows for at least two ways out of every room. Check to ensure all windows and doors are easy to access and open.

*Agree on an outside meeting place, a safe distance from your home, to use in the event of a house fire.

*Put your escape plan into action by conducting home fire drills at least twice a year with everyone in the household. Alternate between daytime and nighttime drills. For simplicity, you can do these drills at the same time you change the batteries in your smoke alarms.

Fire drills are conducted on a regular basis at the school as we want to make sure everyone knows the procedure to exit the building quickly and safely in the event of a fire.

We look forward to seeing you at Parent-Teacher Conferences and sharing the progress your child is making!

Mark Standage
Principal

Parent-Teacher Conferences: Parent-Teacher conferences are scheduled for Thursday, October 23.

1. Conferences will be held from 10:30 a.m.- 2:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m.

2. Only one conference time will be scheduled for each child.

3. Each conference is scheduled for a 15-minute time span.

Aurora Elementary Physical Education provides each child with a wide variety of physical, mental, and emotional experiences. These experiences will teach each child how to value physical activity for health, enjoyment, challenge, self-expression, and social interaction. The goal of Aurora Elementary PE program is to develop students' movement skills so that each child feels comfortable participating in all movement activities.

The elementary students have been very busy focusing on team building and fitness testing activities. The Kindergartners have been developing their locomotor movements that include running, jogging, jumping, skipping, and galloping. The 1st and 2nd grade students have been refining their locomotor movements as well as learning proper techniques for a variety of skills such as throwing, dribbling, and kicking. These skills are incorporated into many different activities. The 5th grade students have been busy working on proper techniques for a wide variety of skills.  The students have been able to incorporate these skills into many different offensive and defensive games.  Students are also learning about endurance, strength, and flexibility. We also completed our 5th grade field day. The students enjoyed competing, teamwork, and lots of physical activity! 

The health and fitness of your child is our priority! All students have been learning about heart rate and the importance of daily exercise. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @AuroraElemPE to see the fun activities we participate in daily!

October 6
1st Grade to Pumpkin Patch

October 10
Homecoming

October 13
4th Grade Music Program
6:30 PM - Middle School Theater

5th Grade Music Program
7:30 PM - Middle School Theater

October 15
End of 1st Quarter - Regular Dismissal Time

October 19-23
Scholastic Book Fair

October 23
NO SCHOOL
Parent Teacher Conferences

October 24
NO SCHOOL - FALL BREAK

October 27
NO SCHOOL
Professional In-Service

The Scholastic Book Fair, sponsored by the Aurora Parent-Teacher Board, will take place October 19-23 at the elementary school. The Book Fair will be open on Sunday afternoon as well as each day after school and all day during Parent-Teacher Conferences. A flyer will be sent home at a later date with additional information.

The year is flying by in fourth grade and hats off to our students for an amazing first month! Many of you have realized, fourth grade is a BIG transitional year! They’ve adjusted well to the use of planners and the ASA program. It has allowed the students to become more organized. We ask that all parents continue to send water bottles (only water, please) with lids that stay on securely. Your help is much appreciated. 

Students use the Chromebooks for a variety of activities. Google Classroom, Docs, Slides, and Google Sites provide opportunities for students to share and collaborate with the teachers and peers. We rely on the students having headphones/ear buds, as we often use online resources to enhance their learning. 

Students are enjoying our novel study of “Because of Winn-Dixie.” Please encourage your child to read each night. We are diving deeply into phonics and morphology to help students better understand how and where words originate.

We have a lot of exciting learning opportunities coming up for our students: 

• dissecting owl pellets in Science

• gingerbread houses around Christmas time

• traveling along the Oregon Trail in Social Studies

• field trip to the State Capitol in the Spring

Thank you for all of your support so far this year! Let’s continue making it the best year ever!

Sincerely - Fourth Grade Teachers

Ms. Bachman, Mrs. Gustafson, Ms. Mullarkey, and Mrs. Saddler