Mr. Leida’s Page

Dear Pleasantville Families,

It certainly has been a fun and exciting year at Pleasantville with some wonderful activities and events. I’m really proud of how much the children have grown during the year and wish you a safe and relaxing summer break. It has been great working with all of you and I look forward to another year starting in August as I will miss the kids greatly.

During the summer, please be sure to have your child read every day/night for at least 30 minutes. They can read with you or to you or by themselves as long as they are reading. Research suggests that if a child makes reading a ‘habit’, then he or she will be much more successful in school.

I’d like to thank all of the parents who have volunteered throughout the year at Pleasantville including our PTA Officers: Coleen Palmer, Cheryl Moustaffa, Kim Jones, and Nicole Green. Without their leadership and your help, we would not have had many of the outstanding events including Art/Movie Night and the Pleasantville Spring Fair. I hope that we can keep these traditions alive here at Pleasantville. I’d also like to recognize Ms. Maybroda who has served as Pleasantville’s unofficial ‘copy’ mom and helped so many staff on a daily basis.  

We have two teachers who are retiring at the end of the school year; Mrs. Willard (Kindergarten) and Ms. Barnes (2nd grade). They have been educators for many years at Pleasantville and have had a tremendous impact on many, many students. I wish them the best of luck in the next phase of their lives.

I’d like to wish the 5th graders the best of luck as they venture off to middle school. I am sure that we have helped to prepare them for the future and know that you will continue on to achieve special things in life. I look forward to hearing about their accomplishments in the coming years.

On behalf of the Pleasantville staff, I would like to thank you for another wonderful year working with your children. It has been my pleasure to be charged with this responsibility and I appreciate your continued support. Enjoy your summer and look for our ‘Welcome Back’ note in early August!

Sincerely,

Peter J. Leida-Principal

Resources for Parents: If you are interested in learning more about reading and helping your child to improve his/her reading ability, visit these sites. They provide parents and educators with current research and strategies for teaching reading and early literacy skills. 

Reading is Fundamental

Reading Rockets

The Florida Center for Reading Research

The Parent Institute

National Reading Panel

Internet for Classrooms

Safe Sites For Children: Make reading fun! Encourage your child to visit these safe websites either at home or at the library. They will develop their reading skills using a variety of engaging activities and games. Have them show you the sites and what they are doing. Pleasantville students should be familiar with several of these sites as they have used them in the classroom.

Fun Brain

PBS Kids

Starfall-(Great site for pre-school/kindergarten/early elementary)

Primary Games

Read, Write, Think

Funschool

Kids Click-(Search engine for kids developed by librarians)

Scholastic-(Allows children to play games and read some of their favorite books.)

Game Goo

Readquarium