Bellringer Newsletter

Good morning. Today marks the start of the 2nd academic quarter of the school year and report cards will be sent out at the end of the week. As a reminder, there is no school at EHHS tomorrow due to Election Day. Please be on the lookout for information regarding our upcoming Parent Teacher Conferences in November. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at everner@easthamptonct.org.

• November 5---No School--Election Day/Professional Development
• November 11--No School--Veterans Day
• November 13+14--Early Dismissal--Parent Teacher Conferences
• November 13--EHHS Evening Parent Teacher Conferences
• November 19--8th Grade Parents Evening--Class of 2029--6:00
• November 20--DECA Bingo Night
• November 21--EHHS Fall Concert
• November 25---EHHS Fall Sports Awards Banquet
• November 26--Senior Class Dinner--Glastonbury Hills Country Club
• November 27--Early Dismissal--Thanksgiving Break
• November 28---December 1--No School Thanksgiving Break
• December 20--Early Dismissal--EHHS
• December 21---January 1--Winter Recess
• January 2---Classes Resume

This past Saturday, 118 members of the community took a plunge into Lake Pocotopaug as part of the 15-year tradition which raises money for the East Hampton Food and Fuel Bank. Of those that plunged, 49 were students from EHHS. The students fundraised through various clubs in the school and helped the community raise collectively over $35,000 this year. It is not too late to donate to the cause, please visit https://form.jotform.com/242576159019159 to contribute to this community act of compassion. Thank you for you support!

2024 Awards!

The Littlest Gobber- Lea Sears, 2

The Most Overcooked Turkey- Lynn Miller, 76

Top Individual Fundraiser- Peter Evans

Top 18U Fundriaser- Lilah Butson

Top Team Fundraiser- The Crean Machine

Most Spirited Team- Team Gobble Gobble

Most Spirited 18U- Sara Evans

Most Spirited Adult- Duo! Maria Tralongo and Margaret Wilcox

On Thursday, October 24th, the East Hampton High School Spanish Club sponsored a Latin American Chopped cooking competition. Julianna Korczak, the chair of this event, demonstrated exemplary leadership to make this activity possible. Four teams of chefs from all grade levels had to use their creativity to prepare a Latin American meal in under 35 minutes using authentic Latin American ingredients such as sofrito, yuca, masarepa, adobo, platanos, and tomatillos. Each team presented their dishes to a panel of Bellringer foodies—Dr. VanTasel, Señora Somers, and Señor Demick—and enjoyed receiving feedback from the judges on their culinary creations. The senior team, made up of Jacob LaPolt, Chris Ruggiero, Colin Kosek, and Aidan Trombino took first place with their “pollo en salsita” dish. All of the other participating chefs - Madelyn Wilk, Samantha Traino, Amelia Wiesner, Ryan Lopes, Sebastian Woodson, Rhonan Burke, Michael Farrell, Grady Johnson, Brett Gustavson, Cayden Schoonerman, and Sean Hargreaves demonstrated excellent teamwork and enthusiasm in the kitchen. The Spanish Club would like to thank Will Faber for his spirited commentary and hilarious rhymes throughout the event, all of the Spanish club members who donated the ingredients, and, of course, the spectators who came to the event to support the chefs. A special thanks goes out to Dr. VanTasel who helped the teams wash dishes after the show.

Dear Families,

We are pleased to let you know about a valuable program taking place in your child’s school this year. Over two decades of research has helped us understand the important role social and emotional skills play in each child’s success in school, in the community, and, eventually, in higher education and the workplace. Skills such as demonstrating self-control, persisting at challenging tasks, making good decisions, and working well in groups are all necessary to being successful students and adults. To support our students in developing these skills that will help them become successful and responsible adults, we will be implementing a life skills program throughout the school district.

As part of this program, our teachers will be using a tool called the DESSA. This tool asks trained teachers to assess how often a student has demonstrated specific life skills in the past month. The DESSA is sponsored by the Connecticut State Department of Education and is completed three times a year by a teacher who works with your student on a regular basis.

Sample DESSA questions include:

· How often did the child keep trying when unsuccessful?

· How often did the child offer to help somebody?

· How often did the child get things done in a timely fashion?

· How often did the child work well in groups?

Based on this rating students may be identified as in need of instruction, demonstrating typical competencies or having certain strengths by competency. This information would be used to design learning opportunities to support or further skill development. If a student is in need of instruction, the teacher would also be asked to complete a longer survey for additional detail.

The purpose of the DESSA is to identify which life skills your child has already learned and what skills they might still need to develop. Once our teachers identify the skills their students still need to learn, they will teach those skills using the Second Step curriculum (MS) our advisory lessons (HS). Our goal is to ensure that your child is continuously developing the skills they need for lifelong success.

While the DESSA is just one component of our program this year, we want to make sure that you are informed of our use of this instructional tool. We believe that the information gathered from the DESSA will be beneficial to your child’s overall success both inside and outside of the classroom.

To view additional information about the DESSA, the privacy policy, or the parent portal, visit https://info.apertureed.com/parent-portal.

If you would like your child to OPT-OUT of this assessment, please contact me at everner@easthamptonct.org to discuss your concerns.

The EHHS PTO Election Day Bake Sale is coming!

This much-loved event is a big fundraiser for the PTO with proceeds going to support senior scholarships and mini grants at EHHS. We need your help to ensure its success!

Please consider baking or purchasing goodies and packaging them in “grab and go” units in baggies or plastic wrap: cookies or brownies (include several in each baggie), individual muffins or several mini muffins, slices of quick breads, donuts or donut holes, Rice Krispie Treats, etc. We suggest no cupcakes or frosted items please as they’re difficult to package and sell cleanly.

We also welcome entire plates of cookies/brownies, Rice Krispie treats, etc., multipacks of muffins or donuts, whole loaves of quick breads and whole pies or cakes - all have been extremely popular at past sales!

Please send your donations to the school office with your student on Monday, November 4th marked "PTO Bake Sale" or drop off yourself in the school office. Please make sure that all items are packaged for sale in plastic wrap or baggies, etc. Include a note to let us know what the item is and if it contains nuts of any kind. Gluten-free items are appreciated as well.

If you don’t have time to bake but still want to support the PTO, we gratefully welcome monetary donations. Cash or checks made out to EHHS PTO can be brought or mailed to school anytime. You can also Venmo a gift donation to @Ruth-Lintz

If you have any questions or need to drop items off either earlier than the date above or at the bake sale itself (preferably before 9am), please email us at ptoehhs@gmail.com or call/text chairperson

Ruth Lintz at 860-416-9034.

Thank you for your support!

The EHHS PTO is holding its next meeting of the school year this week on Thursday, November 21st, at 5:30pm in the EHHS library.

Please join us as we plan events to help support our students.

Students in the UConn/ECE Class visited the Neag School of Education Day.This trip was designed to introduce students to Husky Life and the application process into the Neag School of

Education at UConn.

Allison McGuigan

Allison is the of Student of the Month due to her remarkable commitment to personal growth and her positive impact on the school community during her senior year. Her dedication to theatre reflects her seriousness and passion, as she immerses herself fully in her role in the school play. As the newly appointed co-president of Unified Sports, she not only helps organize events but also fosters an inclusive environment where all students feel welcome and valued. Despite facing challenges throughout high school, Allison exemplifies perseverance, showing that hard work and resilience lead to meaningful progress. Her recent acceptance into the automatic admissions program at Mitchell College is a testament to her academic dedication. Moreover, she is actively stepping outside her social comfort zones, embodying the spirit of growth and inspiring those around her. Allison's journey and achievements make her a truly deserving candidate for this recognition.

Samantha Pugo

Sam has been an integral part of the art club for the past two years and has independently spearheaded some initial activities for the beginning of this school year for a strong start. These activities include the Involvement Fair, new member recruitment and introductory slideshow, and community outreach to coordinate art events/fundraisers in the wider town community.

Sam has also planned face painting activities for student council’s spirit week and is working to organize an “Empty Bowls” fundraiser event for the East Hampton Food Bank. Way to go Sam!

Charlotte Cascio

Charlotte organized a Professional Development webinar for staff professional development to bring awareness to students with special education needs and anxiety. She did fundraising to pay for presenter Johnathan Mooney, and has used the fundraising money to purchase a book written by the presenter for each teacher. Thank you Charlotte for your efforts.

Fall sports competition has started. If you have any questions regarding athletics, please contact Mr. Russell at srussell@easthamptonct.org or through ParentSquare.

Winter Sports Registration is now open to families. High School Winter Athletics closes on November 27th. The lini is below:

https://www.arbitersports.com/

All athletic schedules, directions and results may be found at ciac.fpsports.org.

In an effort to ease the financial burden that comes with the application process, the following Connecticut Universities are providing fee waivers for students who apply on the designated day(s).

• Southern Connecticut State University: November 1st - November 15th
• Central Connecticut State University: Month of November
• Western Connecticut State University: Month of November

Students should reach out to their school counselor, or plan to attend the upcoming Workshop Wednesday on October 30th during X-Block, if they have any questions or need assistance.

The State Education Resource Center of Connecticut (SERC) is hosting a free webinar on Thursday, November 7th from 5:00pm - 6:00pm titled "Protecting Our Youth: A Community Approach to Suicide Prevention" with a panel of experts from The Department of Children and Families (DCF) and The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS). Families interested in this webinar should use the registration link below.

• Register: https://serc.info/vhcpart3

Colleges visits continue into November! This is a great opportunity for students to meet with the representative that may be reading their specific application if they choose to apply to that university or college.

To sign up for a visit, students must log into their Naviance account, click "Colleges" at the top and then click "College Visits" to the left. College and university visits will be listed in order of date and time. Students must click "Register" located to the right of the college name to be added to the list. Students who register for a visit will be sent a SmartPass for the day and time of the visit.

Upcoming Visits:

• Savannah College of Art and Design: Wednesday, November 6th @ 10:02am
• University of New Haven: Wednesday, November 6th @ 1:23pm
• Bryan University: Thursday, November 7th @ 12:27pm
• CT State Community College - All Campuses: Tuesday, November 12th @ 10:02am
• Johnson & Wales University - Providence: Wednesday, November 13th @ 9:06am
• Seton Hall University: Wednesday, November 13th @ 12:27pm
• Husson University: Wednesday, November 13th @ 1:23pm
• Albertus Magnus College: Thursday, November 14th @ 1:23m
• University of Hartford: Friday, November 15th @ 12:27pm
• Plymouth State University: Thursday, November 21st @ 1:23pm

Students interested in changing a semester 2 class must do so no later than December 1st. Due to the late Thanksgiving Break, it is recommended students seeking to change their semester 2 schedule talk to their school counselor by Monday, November 25th.

Bellringer Sideline Store. The store is available 24/7 and ships directly to you.

Please see the link below to grab your Bellringer gear.

https://sideline.bsnsports.com/schools/connecticut/easthampton/east-hampton-high-school

School Nutrition Announcements:

If you have any questions about meals in our cafeterias or MealMagic, please reach out to Kate at kcaselli@easthamptonct.org.

The Profile of the Graduate Portfolio process has begun for the classes of 2025, 2026, and, 2027. Students are developing a Google Site that they will use over the course of their high school career to provide students an opportunity to demonstrate their growth and development of the five attributes in the East Hampton Public Schools: compassion, innovation, perseverance, collaboration, and active learning. This portfolio will display various achievements, projects, and activities over the course of the high school experience that will show attainment of skills, broadening of horizons, and pursuit of passions. Students will reflect on experiences, strengths, and abilities to confidently approach challenges. During XBlock students used a template developed by the Portfolio Committee, wrote a brief autobiography and are crafting their paragraphs explaining their understanding of the core values. By the end of the school year, students will have written about each of the values and uploaded examples of their work. Ultimately, this work will become part of their Senior Capstone beginning with the Class of 2025.

We are proud to continue to partner with School Based Health in order to provide direct counseling or therapy services within the school. Our School Based Health Center Counselor here at East Hampton High School is:

Barbara L. Liguori, LPC
(Bi-lingual – Brazilian/Portuguese)
Regional Director-Behavioral Health
Phone: 860-365-4030
Zoom # 475-215-0577 text/call
www.chc1.com
www.sbhc1.com

Her hours are Monday through Friday 7:30 am to 2:15 pm. For Scheduling and enrollment please contact SBHC1 Community Health Center, Inc.475-231-6978 and https://www.sbhc1.com/enroll/ or visit the website https://www.sbhc1.com/ for more information.

Increasing and Improving Access to Care for Connecticut’s Kids!

During student drop-off in the moring and pick-up in the afternoon, please refrain from using the Bus Lane. At these times (7:00--7:25 and 2:00--2:25) cars are not allowed in the Bus Lane as vehicles block the busses and present a safety hazard to students. Thank you in advance for your cooperation in keeping our students safe.

Please review the EHHS Attendance Policy and Student Handbook as they contain important information.

Per the East Hampton Board of Education’s Attendance Policy and Connecticut statute, parents and guardians may only approve the first 9 absences of the school year with a parent note. Absences 10 and above can only be excused with further documentation and under specific circumstances.

In addition, if a student has four unexcused absences in one month or 10 unexcused absences in a year they are classified as truant. If a child misses 18 or more days in a school year – excused or unexcused absences – the student is classified as chronically absent.

Access to the East Hampton attendance policy is available HERE

It is also necessary for a student to be present at least half of the school day for the student to be recorded as present. When a student arrives after the mid-day point or leaves before it, the day cannot be counted for that student. Building principals will share the specific times in their communications with families.

A student is considered to be “in attendance” if present at his/her assigned school, or an activity.

sponsored by the school (e.g., field trip), for at least half of the regular school day.

At East Hampton High School, half of the regular school day arrives at 10:55 a.m. This means that if a student arrives after 10:55, even with a note, the student will be marked Tardy Absent. If a student dismisses prior to 10:55 and does not return to school, the student will be marked Early Dismissal Absent. Please contact the school with any questions regarding our attendance policies.

To increase the ease of reporting an absence and documenting parent approval of the absence for a student’s first 9 absences, the East Hampton Public Schools has created email addresses that parents can use to contact their student’s school and report an absence. Effectively immediately, the following email addresses can be used by parents to report and document their approval of an absence:

EHHS_Attendance@easthamptonct.org

If you have successfully emailed the school, you will receive an autoreply that notifies you that the absence communication has been received and recorded. This process is effective for your student’s first 9 absences. After your student has more than 9 absences, additional documentation or communication will be required to excuse the absence. Please use the email to continue to notify the school that your child will not attend. You may call your child’s school at any time to report an absence, as well.

School Meals are a great value to our students! Prepayment is expected for all cafeteria purchases.

Families eligible for free and reduced meals may qualify by completing an application online on Easthampton.familyportal.cloud or by paper application here: Application for Free and Reduced School Meals(also available in the school’s Main Office). Families with children enrolled in HUSKY or Temporary Family Assistance programs will have their status transmitted directly by the State of Connecticut to the District.

To deposit funds on your child’s account, please visit Easthampton.familyportal.cloud . Our Cafeterias also accept checks made payable to “East Hampton Cafeteria Fund”.

In September, students can enjoy fresh apples from Beckett Farms of South Glastonbury and carrots from Cold Spring Farm of Colchester. Keep an eye out for upcoming celebrations!

If you have questions, please contact Director of Nutrition Services, Kate Caselli at kcaselli@easthamptonct.org or 860.316.7324.

As a reminder to members of our school community, Board Policy #5145.122 allows the schools to work with the East Hampton Police Department to protect the health and safety of students and staff by conducting sweeps of school property by trained sniffing dogs. Please review the policy and procedures below. Our goal is to ensure that the East Hampton Schools are free of illegal substances. Annually, we provide notice of this policy to our school community. Should a sweep be conducted, parents and the Board of Education will be notified upon completion.

Use of Dogs to Sweep School Property

The Board permits the administration to invite law enforcement agencies to sweep school property with dogs trained for the purpose of detecting the presence of illegal substances, when necessary to protect the health and safety of students, employees or property or to detect the presence of illegal substances or contraband, including alcohol and/or drugs. The use of trained canine sniffing dogs and their associated law enforcement personnel is for the purpose of “alerting” on property only, and is subject to the following:

1. Parents and students shall be notified of this policy through its inclusion in the student/ parent handbook and the Superintendent and Principal or their designees, shall explain the policies and procedures followed in sweeps and searches to students and staff on an annual basis. Once notification has been given to parents and students through the handbook and assembly respectively, the school district will have met its obligation to advertise the sweep and search policy and associated procedure. Additional notices need not be given and actual times or dates of planned sweeps need not be released in advance.

2. The Superintendent or designee shall authorize the sweep. Immediately prior to the sweep, an announcement will be made for students and staff to ‘stay put’ in their classrooms while the sweep is taking place. Representatives from school administration shall accompany dogs and handlers while on school premises.

3. The Board shall be informed by the Superintendent of Schools that a sweep has taken place.

4. Parents shall be informed through the school’s mass communication system by the Superintendent of Schools that a sweep has taken place.

5. All school property which students have access to during the day, such as lockers, classrooms, parking areas and storage areas may be swept.

6. Individuals shall not be subjected to a search by dogs.

a. Dogs shall not be used in rooms occupied by persons except for demonstration purposes. The handler and representative from school administration will always be present with the dogs

b. When used for demonstration purposes, the dog may not sniff any student and/or staff.

7. Only the dog’s official handler will determine what constitutes an alert by the dog. If the dog alerts on a particular item or place, that locker or vehicle will be identified for later search. Upon completion of the sweep, the school administration will then search the identified property in the presence of a witness.

8. Searches that disclose evidence of misconduct shall result in disciplinary consequences in accordance with Board policy and may also result in referral to law enforcement agencies.

Legal Reference: Connecticut General Statutes

Policy adopted: March 15, 2016

10-221 Boards of education to prescribe rules.

New Jersey v T.L.O., 53 U.S.L.W. 4083 (1985)

54-33n Search of school lockers and property

Students who are being dismissed due to illness, MUST FIRST see the School Nurse. Additionally, we ask that parents familiarize themselves with our attendance policy which is in the EHHS Student Handbook. Some of the main policies/procedures that we are mut be followed are listed below:

• EARLY DISMISSALS: A written request (no phone calls) from a parent or guardian must be presented to the main office before school begins so student may obtain an early dismissal slip. Students will wait in the main office for their parent/guardian to call the office and we will send your child out to meet you after they sign-out.
• NURSE DISMISSALS: In case of illness during school, dismissal will be arranged through the school nurse, or in her absence, through the office. Students feeling ill should report directly to the nurse's office. Students should not be texting or calling home when not feeling well.

Please note that having a parent’s written request before the start of the day allows the students name to appear on the Daily Attendance sheet so their teachers will be aware that they may not be in class on that day. This also eliminates the office staff from calling in and disrupting a classroom to dismiss the student. We do realize that there may be occasions when you may need to unexpectedly pick your child up early. In those cases we will call the student down when the parent/guardian arrives to the school.

Students that are dismissed from school will not be allowed to return without appropriate documentation from their visit/provider. In the event that doucmentation is not available, a parent will be required to sign their student into the main office upon return.

1. Dropping off on items--the table to drop off items for students has been moved inside the first set of doors. Parents will be able to drop items of for students, but will no longer be admitted to the main lobby.
2. Appointments--for security reasons, parents and visitors who are requesting to meet with a teacher or administration should call in advance to ensure that the requested party is available to meet rather than show up unannounced.
3. Effective immediately, there is an anonymous tip line to enhance a safe environment in our schools. Students, parents, and community members have access to the front page of the website to report self-concerns, mental health concerns of a friend, or concerns of violence. https://www.easthamptonps.org/

The East Hampton Board of Education is committed to a safe and secure learning environment that honors and celebrates the diversity of our students, our community, and our nation. The Board of Education in partnership with the school community will not tolerate any threat of violence in the schools or any hate speech that targets any race, religion, sexual orientation, or disability. Each student is held to the highest standards of responsible decision making within a culture that is expected to foster compassion, caring, and empathy.

Parents are asked to join our schools and speak to children about marijuana edibles. While legal for purchase by adults in CT, please note that the psychoactive ingredient, THC, is still considered a controlled substance in school.

We have had recent incidents at the High School of students consuming THC gummy candies - with and without knowing what they contain.

The school district treats consumption and distribution of a controlled substance very seriously. Students who ingest or bring gummies to school will face consequences up to and including 10-days of suspension. Those who distribute gummies on school grounds will face consequences up to and including expulsion from school.

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/teen/substance-abuse/Pages/Edible-Marijuana-Dangers.aspx

The school community of East Hampton is committed to the mission of honoring and celebrating the diversity of our students, our community, and our nation. We strive to guide our students to conscious, deliberate, individual and collective actions that cultivate the respect of all races, religions, and social backgrounds. Our school community endeavors to produce graduates who are equipped with a greater understanding of the concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The East Hampton Board of Education, in compliance with federal and state law, affirms its policy of equal educational opportunity for all students and equal employment opportunity for all persons. It is the policy of the District to promote nondiscrimination and an environment free of harassment regardless of an individual’s race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, ancestry, disability (including but not limited to, intellectual disability, past or present history of mental disorder, physical disability, or learning disability), genetic information, marital status, or age or because of the race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, ancestry, disability, genetic information, marital status, or age of any persons with whom the individual associates. The District shall provide to all students without discrimination, course offerings, counseling, assistance, employment, athletics, and extracurricular activities. The District shall provide equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The District shall make reasonable accommodations for identified physical and mental impairments that constitute disabilities, consistent with federal and state statutes and regulations.

Email: everner@easthamptonct.org
Website: www.easthamptonps.org
Location: 15 North Maple Street, East Hampton, CT, USA
Phone: 860-365-4030
Twitter: @EH_CTPrincipal