Message from the Principal

Dear Zoller Families,

The 2023-24 school year is off to a great start. Zoller is buzzing with energy. Instruction is going strong in every Zoller classroom. The students are ready for a year of learning, building friendships, and having fun.

Last year we adopted our new English Language Arts Curriculum Wit and Wisdom. This program uses exceptional texts to help students build the skills and knowledge they need to be successful readers, exceptional writers and effective communicators.

This year we are adopting a new Social Studies Curriculum from McGraw Hill that we will be implementing in KN-5th grade classrooms. High quality instruction continues to be the district’s priority for the 2023-2024 school year.

Zoller is participating in an important district initiative–Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). Please take the time to read through the family introduction letter form our PBIS team that is at the end of this newsletter. Along with the three PBIS agreements of “Be Safe, Be Responsible, and Be Respectful”, the Zoller community is going to focus on agreement “Be Kind.” This work will be led by our student Kindness Committee.

Please download the Schenectady mobile app. The instructions are at the bottom of this page. Classroom teachers will be sending home instructions on how to use the app to receive classroom notifications and to be able to communicate directly with your student's teacher.

This is going to be a great year for the Zoller community 

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me or another member of the Zoller team. We are here for you. 

Sincerely,

Mr. O’Connor 

From the Garden

Zoller Garden is looking great for the new school year thanks to all the volunteers who kept it watered during those few hot days when it didn't rain - make sure you check out the beautiful sunflowers when you are here! Our apple orchard is producing apples, so fall is in the air, but summer was a busy time here. We held the First Annual Pickle Party -  a fun event where families could bring their own jars and learn how to do a quick pickle with Farm to School Manager Mrs. Henriksen. Kids and caregivers made cucumber and carrot pickles with a brine that included dill and garlic from our school garden.  Our garden murals, designed by Zoller students & painted by CREATE Community Studios were completed & look amazing! A big volunteer event happened on August 31st, with 50 first-year students from Union College working on our Monarch Butterfly Garden with local Eagle Scout and Schenectady HS student Jack Tobey. They also weeded our edible garden and apple orchard, and helped to assemble more garden beds for our Intensive Life Skills and preK & Kindergarten classrooms. We can't wait to get the garden club going this fall, and hope to include more students. If you are interested in assisting in the club or the school garden, please reach out to Mrs. Henriksen at henriksenr@schenectadyschools.org. Many thanks to the Smith, Vigliotti, DeFiore, Clifford, Stankus, Einhorn, Reyes, Eason and Winkler families for their volunteer hours this summer in the garden. There will be a fall work day so stay tuned if you want to get your hands in the dirt here!

Congratulations to Zoller student Derek Adams!

Congratulations to Derek Adams, a 9-year old student at Zoller Elementary School was recognized as the fastest 9-year-old in the USA after winning the gold medal in the 200m at the AA Junior Olympics in August. Today was officially proclaimed "Derek Adams Day" in the City. A proclamation was presented by Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy at the Zoller PBIS kickoff.

MOBILE APP SUPPORT Click here to watch a short video on how to set your school and language preferences on our mobile app: hhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saNC9ek2Lqg