Each year, our Eli Terry staff sets goals, both individually and as a team, to help strengthen our school community and students' educational experience.

Based on our Spring 2023 Parent Feedback Survey data, one of the big goals that we'll be partnering on, is ensuring consistent school to home communication focused on how parents/families can help support and extend their child's learning at home.

As a school we'll be utilizing a variety of strategies from classroom to classroom, so be on the lookout for communications that provide you a glimpse of your child's strengths, goals, areas for growth, and most importantly, strategies and/or activities for supporting these areas at home.

We encourage you to:

• Review the work that comes home in your child's backpack. Teachers may share samples of student writing/math "milestone tasks"/reading jots with scored components of the rubric/learning progression.
• Check your Seesaw app on a regular basis. Teachers may digitally share student work, along with audio or written feedback that gives insight into the successes and challenges.
• Make attending parent-teacher conferences a priority. While information shared at conferences shouldn't be new, it's an opportunity to talk more in-depth about your child's unique learning journey and areas that could use additional practice.
• Review classroom/grade-level newsletters for information about what students are learning and specific ideas for supporting the focus at home.
• Reach out, throughout the year, if you have specific questions about your child's progress or are interested in ways you can support your child's learning goals at home.

One example of our staff's intentional work toward this goal, is the newsletter our Grade 4 team sends home each month. They recently revised it to include a specific "Support This At Home" section for each content area and we've highlighted it below!

"No school can work well for children if parents and teachers do not work in partnership on behalf of the children's best interests."

Our collection runs through November 1st!

The Student Ambassadors set a goal for 700 pairs of pajamas! Can our Eli Terry community help us reach/exceed this goal and make their first foray into service learning a HUGE success?

Consider enlisting the help of aunts, uncles, grandparents, and friends. That’s how Oliver started…he even approached complete strangers in the store!

Our school community is looking for some extra eyes/ears/hands to help ensure our students have the most positive experience, during their favorite time of day....LUNCH!

As a lunch volunteer, you would:

• Build positive relationships with our K-5 students

• Help students access their lunch (lots of opening items with the littles!)

• Reinforce our PAWS expectations for the Cafeteria (voice level, routines, behavior, etc.)

• Assist with cleaning tables between lunch waves

This could be a great opportunity for moms, dads, grandparents, or any other adult member of our families! Any individual who wants to volunteer would just need to complete the district volunteer registration form.

See the Sign-up Genius below to sign up to volunteer during a slot (or many slots!) And don't hesitate to reach out with any questions!

It is time to prepare for our Veterans Day Assembly on November 10th, 2023!!

To help honor our veterans, we are collecting pictures of veterans from, or related to Eli Terry Families for a Veterans Day slideshow.

If you would like to send in a picture of a veteran in your family, please complete this Google Form and upload your picture. The DEADLINE for picture submission is NOVEMBER 3rd.

You may submit more than one person, but please complete a separate form for each individual.

If you have any questions about the slideshow or any trouble completing the Google Form, please email Ms. Leach (sleach@swindsor.k12.ct.us) - Music Teacher and Veterans Day Committee.

Mrs. St. Amour's Grade 2 students engage in an end-of-day "Community Circle". They are prompted to reflect upon and share either something that went well, something they could work on, or something they are looking forward.

A crucial component to successful implementation of any social and emotional learning approach is seamless integration into everyday practices. Research shows that students will benefit most fully from RULER when emotional intelligence is woven into the fabric of how schools and classrooms function. Every interaction with and between students is a chance to demonstrate, model, practice, and nurture the skills of emotional intelligence.

One routine that our classrooms use to embed RULER into the infrastructure of their climate, is the core routine of “Community Circle”. This routine was explicitly introduced in September, but has quickly become a part of the daily fabric of our community!

What is it?

A way that members of a community participate in a conversation, where everyone takes turns talking and listening. It can be used to facilitate conflict resolution, help students check-in on the Mood Meter or with the Charter, or engage in discussion around topics in the academic curriculum.

What does a “Community Circle” look like? Sound like? Feel like?

• Looks like: sitting in a circle without any “gaps”, seeing everyone’s face, making eye contact, quiet bodies, and everyone (adults included!) sitting together

• Sounds like: taking turns, one person person speaking at a time, listening to the speaker, and having the right to pass or participate

• Feels like: predictable/routine, safe, and a family

What makes a “Community Circle” unique?

• Words and feelings shared in the circle, stay in the circle!

• The circle is not a conversation where you respond to another person’s idea – rather a chance for everyone to share their ideas. You can use a silent “me too” signal.

This routine, along with a few others we’ll highlight in the months ahead, was designed to reinforce the principles of emotional intelligence and provide opportunities to practice, develop, and sustain the RULER skills.

We encourage you to integrate this core routine into your home and family’s daily practices. Below we’ve included some great prompts to begin your own “Community Circle” conversations!

Our Grade 5 Student Ambassadors had a planning session to prepare for our collection to support Oliver's Pajama Project!

Our first winners of "Craft or Concoct with Mrs. Hammer" enjoyed getting to "paint" their own Eli Terry themed sugar cookies!

Eli Terry's fall spirit wear sale is here!

This is the PERECT opportunity to get those Eli Terry shirts, hats and jackets, especially since every Tuesday is Terrier Tuesday (Eli Terry Spirit Day).

If your child needs a new shirt or just wants some variety we have you covered with many shirt options. The sale starts TODAY and continues until November 3rd. Please see the flyer below and click directly on it to place your order!

Purchased merchandise will be delivered to your student’s classroom the week of December 27th.

If you have any questions please reach out to the PTO via email (sweliterrypto@gmail.com) or our Facebook page.

In an earlier communication we shared written directions for reporting your child's absence in the Power School - Parent Portal. In case you were looking for another way to access the information, here's a short video!

• PTO Information Night for New Families - Tuesday, October 24th, 7-8PM (see flyer above!)
• PTO "Trunk or Treat" - Friday, October 27th, 6:45-8:30 (registration required...see flyer above!)
• NO SCHOOL - Election Day - Tuesday, November 7th
• Veterans Day Assembly - Friday, November 10th, 9-10AM
• PTO Virtual Paint Night - Tuesday, November 14th, 6:30-7:30PM (registration required!)
• PTO Meeting - VIRTUAL - Wednesday, November 15th, 7-8PM

Remember...any of the above events can be quickly added to your own Google Calendar just by clicking the blue hyperlink!

Some of the best tweaks to our weekly newsletter come from your feedback!

I recently had a parent ask if there was a way to make our calendar invites sync with Apple iCal. While I didn't know the quick answer, this parent did a little "research" and found a great work around!

She graciously created the "cheat sheet" linked below if you're interested in this capability.

Thank you Sarah Caron for helping make our newsletter even more accessible and user-friendly!

Throughout the year, you may miss something and want to easily access a previous week's newsletter. Thanks to YOUR feedback, we've made that easy. You'll be able to just click the links below! We've included the last few weeks of newsletters here:

October 13th, 2023

October 6th, 2023

September 29th, 2023

September 22nd, 2023

PTO October Newsletter

If you would like access to ALL previous newsletters you can find them here!