The Pulse of the Pride

Lyme School Friends,

Welcome to the month of December!

It is always great to see some snowflakes and the smiles they bring to the faces of children. There has been much happening in our school and we are back into the routine since our break for Thanksgiving.

It is also great to see the staff rally after school one day to spend some time together. Organized by a staff committee, staff members participated in a corn hole tournament. The team of Ms. Clough and Ms. Cushman took home the trophy!

We are working on getting Report Cards out to you. There have been some hiccups and we are working through them. Just so you are aware, we are in the process of transitioning our Student Information System of PowerSchool to a different system called ALMA. Our hope is to have this system in place some time this spring and to make continued improvements in this area as we roll into the next school year fully using ALMA. Thank you for your patience.

Conferences begin on December 5th. You heard directly from your lower school teacher with a sign-up process. Middle school teachers (5th grade up) conference schedules are available here for parents to sign-up. We look forward to seeing you and please remember that virtual is an option if you like.

Next week, we have minimal days Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. These days are designed so that there is time for conferences and dismissal is at 1:30 PM. Thursday will be our normal dismissal time of 2 PM.

Please also remember on the 22nd of December, we have a 1 PM dismissal. This is an unusual dismissal time, so please plan accordingly. We do have lunch at school on this day.

Our next Pulse will hit your inbox on Friday, December 16th!

Until Then,

John P. D'Entremont, Principal

12/5 - 12/9 - Minimal Days for Conferences

12/22 - 1PM Dismissal

12/23/22 - 1/2/23 - School Closed

1/3 - School Back in Session after Break

Students may enter school at 7:45. Please do not drop off prior to 7:45. Thank You!

We have opened a Lyme School Apparel Store with a variety of apparel and accessories all customizable with a variety of school logos. The Lyme School PTO will earn 12% of all sales. Thank you for supporting our school and go Lions! #LYMESCHOOLROCKS

If you have a sick kiddo or vacation plans, please email the office and/or nurse in addition to their teacher. Thank You!

We are trying to keep the gym floor in great shape and need your help. Students must have a pair of clean sneakers at school to participate.

It is also the time of year for snow gear. Please ensure your students are prepared for the ever changing weather. We have a very limited supply of winter clothing to offer your child should they forget something.

We just wanted to send a note out about school closings/delays due to inclement weather.

We will coordinate with the highway department and other area schools in the evening/morning depending on the situation and we will make a decision by 5:30AM at the latest. The primary factor in making a decision is student and staff safety and we must consider road conditions, pedestrian movement, and building accessibility.

Due to weather, school could be either closed or delayed two hours. In either instance, we will send notification through Blackboard Connect via phone/text as well as an email to all staff and families.

We understand that these decisions are challenging and we appreciate your support and understanding in keeping everyone safe and allowing those who maintain the roads the time and space to do so.

See this link for the final opportunity to purchase photos: https://caniaphotography.gotphoto.com/login

Dear Lyme School Families, Friends, and Staff,

As the holiday season approaches, we recognize that there are needs within our community. Last year, a food drive was held to benefit the Upper Valley Haven, our local food shelter. This year, we would like to expand our giving efforts to include a winter coat drive in addition to a food drive.

Beginning the week of November 7 and lasting through December 21, members from our middle school advisories will be in the main lobby from 7:45-8:00 am collecting winter coats of all sizes and food. There will be bins marked for each set of items. Food and coats will be delivered to the LISTEN Center and The Haven on December 21.

We are asking for the following food donations:

Rice

Pasta

Sauce

Canned vegetables

Condiments (ketchup, mustard, salad dressing, salt, pepper, etc)

Stuffing

Cranberry sauce and other canned fruits

Boxed muffin, cupcake, and cake mixes

Peanut butter

We also encourage gently used coats and jackets that are free of rips and tears.

We hope that you will join in, contribute, and provide the best gift to those in need: giving.

Thank you very much for being a part of our school's effort to help our fellow community members.

~Middle School Advisories

Kati Miller RN BSN: Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri

Matthew Greenway RN BSN: alternating Weds and coverage as needed

Celeste McCool RN BSN: alternating Weds and coverage as needed

We have been experiencing some elevated sickness among the staff and students.

Please remember to:

• Wash hands frequently with soap and water.
• Clean/disinfect commonly used surfaces.
• Avoid touching our eyes, nose and mouth.
• Keep a good bedtime routine and get plenty of sleep.
• Be physically active every day.
• Spend time outdoors every day.
• Find ways to manage your stress that work for you.
• Drink plenty of fluids (water).
• Eat nutritious foods at every meal.

If your child is experiencing symptoms, please test for COVID. If a person is not positive but has symptoms, we request a mask. We want to keep everyone healthy and all of us adhering to these simple guidelines will help. Thanks so much.

Reptile Rendezvous with VINS @ Lyme School Gymnasium

Dec 7 @ 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm

From Miss Judy:

A conference-week treat! Children and their families are invited to join VINS for this fun, live-animal-ambassador event in the Lyme School gymnasium.

“This program explores the characteristics of our scaly friends: the reptiles! Meet reptile ambassadors up close and learn about the adaptations of these beautiful creatures to their habitats here in New England. Touchable artifacts and hands-on materials complete the experience as we uncover the ecological roles and tremendous importance of these organisms.” -VINS Outreach Programs

To register (so we have an idea of how many to expect and instructions for after the program), please fill out this Google Form.

We use performance level scores (1-4) in grades K-8 and some traditional percentage scores in grades 5-8, depending on the skill and subject.

On the report card, each subject has learning standards (or important skills) listed. For example, a 6th grade report card lists 5 major standards under Math: Numbers and Operations, Ratios, Proportions and Functions, Expression and Equations, Reasoning and Communication, and Geometry, Statistics, and Probability. Instead of just reporting out one grade for an entire subject, teachers can inform students and parents of the progress being made on each specific standard (or skill) for the course.

Our performance level scores (1-4) are based on the performance expectations for each standard at each grade level. These are broad categories that show where students are in their learning and mastery of the major skills.

A “4” indicates the student has advanced understanding and exceeds grade level expectations. This student applies learning and concepts in new and varied ways, challenges him or herself to think deeply to make connections, and demonstrates this advanced knowledge at school.

A “3” indicates the student has proficient understanding and meets grade level expectations. We want all of our students to reach a level “3.” A student receiving a “3” is right on track with our academic expectations. A “3” is something to be celebrated!

A “2” indicates the student has basic understanding and is partially proficient at meeting grade level expectations. A student receiving a “2” understands the basic concept or skill, but has not yet reached the proficient level. A “2” should indicate that the student’s performance varies in consistency with regard to accuracy, quality, and level of support.

A “1” indicates the student has minimal understanding and does not meet grade-level expectations. Performance is inconsistent even with guidance and support. Students receiving “1” will need additional support and/or interventions to learn the material and progress toward meeting standard.

In the middle school, we still report out performance in terms of percent on some of our standards. Usually, we use percentage grades when when the skill is easily quantified in a traditionally scored manner. Vocabulary and Geography knowledge in Humanities, and many of our Math skills are reported out in percentage grades. These are skills that are easily scored as percentage correct/incorrect on assessments.

Writing, analysis in reading, speaking and listening in Spanish are examples of skills that involve many other subskills. These are best reported out in performance level scores (1-4) as we look more holistically at progress in these areas.

All teachers (including our specials teachers) report out on HOMEs. These are our Habits of Mind and Effort and generally fall under Respect, Responsibility, and Perseverance. Teachers can select the HOMEs categories they would like to highlight in their individual reports. The ratings for HOMEs are BEG: beginning, APP: approaching, MEE: Meeting, and EXC: exceeding.

If you have questions about your child’s report card, feel free to bring the report to your parent-teacher conference and ask specific questions to help you better understand the report card and your child’s progress.

It’s time for parent-teacher conferences soon! Our Trimester 1 ends November 18 and teachers will be preparing report cards to be sent home on December 2. We are hosting parent conferences during the week of December 5-9. Lower school teachers are sending out a sign-up form for their parent-teacher conference slots.

Middle school teachers conference schedules are available here for parents to sign up. Please let the teacher(s) know if you would like your conference to be in person as we will assume it is virtual if we don’t hear otherwise.

Conferences are a great time for parents and teachers to get on the same page. This online resource from Care.com sums it up well: “The ultimate goal for both parents and teachers should be to get a well-rounded understanding of what is happening with the child in their day-to-day life because it informs how they end up performing academically”. The link above provides some questions parents can ask at a conference to get the most out of this valuable conversation.

We will be hosting our spring parent-teacher conferences between March 20-24 after Trimester 2 report cards.

Many of the elementary school classes are using Boomwhackers to put all the hard work they've done on rhythm to good use! Depending on the grade, students are composing, reading, and playing along to familiar songs using these fun instruments!

This month our theme is Music of the 80s! If you have a favorite artist or band from this decade, please feel free to submit it here!

SAVE THE DATE!! This year, the middle school will be presenting Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach JR. More information about the show will be presented to students later this month. For now, please put March 17th and 18th (Friday and Saturday) into your calendars for show dates!

The fifth graders have begun the process of learning how to belay on the vertical climbing wall. This rite of passage and course of study takes a tremendous amount of trust, responsibility, and focus.

Learning how to put on a harness independently is the first part, as this takes quite a bit of practice to ensure that straps are secured and the harness is tight. From there, clipping in, checking to be sure that the carabiners are locked, using the appropriate vocabulary, and then using the proper hand placements and belaying techniques are all things necessary for a successful relationship between a climber and a belayer.

Communication is essential and the team building skills that are incorporated all make this unit of study incredibly rewarding for both students and their teacher.

Trimester 1 is over and it is time for a new elective session (session 3). In Art, we have two new electives: Painting (even days) and Ceramics (odd days). We are reviewing studio routines and looking at some technical aspects of our materials (ie identifying states of clay, looking at color wheel relationships and creating scales). We will be meeting together until the end of January, or midway through the second trimester.

(Photo: Painting Elective, brush control exercises)

Second trimester started off great in the newest PE elective, Team Sport Play! Once again, many students signed up to be involved in a variety of different sport activities and be active! Unlike Team tournament Play, which took place during the first trimester, this elective offers a non competitive approach to playing a variety of sports.

First up was corn hole, a popular back yard game that involves underhand throwing skills as players attempt to toss a beanbag into a carved out hole in a playing box . This game is challenging and certainly not as easy as it may seem.

I am looking forward to more fun and games with this terrific group of skilled kids, as we venture into the sport arena . Stay tuned for more news!

Thank you to the Lyme School families who placed Stella's orders on Tuesday evening! The PTO is grateful for your participation and generosity. If you missed the event on Tuesday, stay tuned for more opportunities to gather in the future.

We hope you saw that the Lyme School store is open! A percentage of all orders placed in the store go directly to the PTO. Sport your lyme colors and support our school at the same time. Adult and Kid sizes available. Who Wore it Best competition date TBD.

Have you signed up to participate in next week's teacher appreciation lunch time treats? Find the Signup Genius list here.

Have an idea to bring to the PTO or just want to join in our monthly meeting? Meetings held on the 2nd Tuesday of every month, mostly virtually. Meeting link here. All are welcome.

Lyme School PTO Meeting Link:
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/hqd-ixad-cri
Or dial: ‪(US) +1 407-545-7995‬ PIN: ‪522 319 072‬#

The next Board meeting is Thursday, December 15th at 7 PM at the Lyme School.

Boy Scout Troop #273 of Lyme is looking for some fresh faces! If you are in 6th grade or higher, please consider joining us for a meeting to see what we're all about. Our next meeting is next Tuesday at the Lyme Congregational Church at 7pm. For more information, please contact Yolanda Bujarski - yolandabujarski@gmail.com

If you/your kiddo are interested in Cub Scouts and find willing leadership, that can also be put together here in Lyme. The Cub Scouting program is open to grades K-5. The older Boy Scouts can serve as mentors, but adult leaders are needed to run it. Please reach out if you have any questions or interest!

Interested...reach out to Damaris Tyler djeantyler@gmail.com.

ALL Together has Elementary and Middle/High School Parent Handbooks available free of charge.

These handbooks are a practical guide for parents, guardians, and others who interact with youth and addresses today's toughest issues.

The Elementary edition: "Raising kids isn’t easy, start the journey off on the right foot. Cell phones, social media, anxiety and even issues with alcohol and drugs are starting earlier than ever. Learn how to set boundaries and keep your child safe."

The Middle/High School edition: "This edition of our Parent Handbook addresses some of the toughest issues affecting today’s parents and their teens. This resource will raise awareness immediately and educate readers on the latest trends, misconceptions and warning signs associated with each issue. This handbook is being used to help prevent issues such as addiction, violence and suicide across the United States."

Please fill out this form if you are interested in a FREE handbook.

OUR VALUES

● Fairness ● Acceptance of Others ● Integrity ● Responsibility

● Perseverance ● Individuality ● Compassion ● Courage

John P. D'Entremont, Principal

Elise Foxall, Academic Director

Geoff Tomlinson, Student Services Director