MHS/WES Newsletter

All throughout this week, MHS/WES students have participated in the national program, "Start with Hello."

Start with Hello week was developed by Sandy Hook Promise, a non-profit organization founded and led by several family members whose loved ones were lost during the mass shooting at Sandy Hook School. The organization is focused on preventing violence BEFORE it happens by educating and mobilizing parents, schools and communities on mental health and wellness programs.

Start with hello week aims to reduce social isolation and bullying while promoting social inclusion, connectedness, and a culture of caring. It does this by teaching students the skills they need to identify social isolation at school or in the community and how to intervene in order to ensure everyone feels connected and included.

Start with Hello week will kick off our commitment to increasing school connectedness and further developing our culture of caring and kindness at Meetinghouse School and Westminster Elementary School. In addition to the activities listed below, students, staff and families are encouraged to build a culture of caring in school, our community and at home by welcoming discussions, icebreakers and activities that promote social inclusion and connectedness.

Each morning our 5th Grade Kindness Representatives have lead the school in our Kindness Pledge and announce the activities of the day.

Kindness Pledge:

I Pledge to be: Kind! Inclusive! Stand up for those who need my Help! And to Make a Difference whenever I can, wherever I can, Because I Can!

Monday 9/19 - Promise to Start with Hello

Activity: Hello Gram - Students and staff are encouraged to complete a Hello Gram for someone at school.

Tuesday 9/20 - Promise to be Kind

Activity: Kindness Scavenger Hunt - Each student is encouraged to complete the Kindness scavenger hunt throughout the week.

Bonus Activity: Color our School Kind! - Sidewalk chalk will be provided at recess for students and staff to color our school with kind words and pictures.

Wednesday 9/21 - Promise to Reach out and Help

Activity: Helping Hands - Students and staff are encouraged to reach out and help at least 2 people throughout the day.

Bonus Activity: Share how you helped someone else with your classroom and family.

Thursday 9/22 - Promise to Embrace Diversity

Diversity Read Along: Listen to a special read along exploring cultural differences that can also be the similarities.

Activity: Diversity Wheels - Students and staff are encouraged to learn about the different cultures within their classroom then design pinwheels to represent what you have discovered (colors, pictures, words etc.).

Bonus Activity: Share with others what they have learned about diversity.

Friday 9/23 - Promise to Connect

Wear Green Day: (Sandy Hook Promise’s color) to further promote awareness and call attention to Start with Hello week and its dedication to create a culture of inclusion and connectedness.

Mix it up Lunch: Students and staff are encouraged to sit with someone new at lunch

Activity: Kindness Coins - Students and staff are encouraged to connect to those in our community this weekend with Kindness Coins. Kindness coins can be given to your neighbor, shopkeeper, post office worker, policeman, firefighter, librarian, grandparents. Students and staff are encouraged to share who they gave their kindness coin to and why, with their class.

A special thank you goes out to our School Adjustment Counselors, Jennifer Samuels and Lindsay Milne, for organizing this amazing week for our children.

September 28: Noon Dismissal, Professional Development

September 29: MHS Open House 6:00-7:00 PM

October 10: No School, Columbus Day

October 12: MHS/WES Walk to School Day

November 8: No School, Parent Teacher Conferences

Thursday, September 29th

CKLA, Wit and Wisdom Curriculum Information Session

5:30 PM - MHS Cafeteria

English Language Arts (ELA) Curriculum Information Session with the district’s new Literacy Coach and Coordinator of Elementary Curriculum, Robin Pratt.

MHS OPEN HOUSE

6:00-7:00 PM

The whole family is invited to visit Meetinghouse School. Tour the school, visit your child’s classroom and connect with your child’s teachers. Come anytime between 6:00-7:00 p.m.

We are so happy to welcome students back, and we hope that it was a wonderful and relaxing summer! It has been a successful start to the year, especially now that life is seemingly “back to normal”. We have been spending some extra time setting up classroom expectations and creating a classroom community.

This week, we are participating in various activities based on “Start with Hello”, which is a mission to reach out and show kindness to others. You will see a yellow paper come home that encourages students to show kindness at home and in the community.

Academically, we are beginning our BRIDGES math unit focusing on multiplication strategies, factors and multiples. It is so important for students to memorize their fast facts. Please work with them at home to practice skip-counting multiples, and memorizing fast facts. In ELA, we are practicing our reading comprehension strategies and writing a concrete paragraph with specific details. In science, we have started a plant and animal structures unit. Students have visited the newly created science garden, chosen their plants, and started collecting data.

Cell Phones/Smart Watches - Student Handbook

We recognize that parents provide their children with cell phones and smart watches for safety reasons. Therefore, we understand that students may occasionally bring these devices to school.

• Cell phones must remain turned off and stowed away in your child’s bag during the school day, this includes the bus.

• Smart watches must have text and call settings turned off during school hours.

Students are not to call, text, or message their family members or peers during the school day. If students need to reach a family member, they can use one of the phones in the main office. Students may also not photograph or take videos of any staff members or other students in and outside of the building or on the bus. You can help us enforce this policy by not texting your children and calling/answering their calls during the school day.

If a student should bring any electronic device, cell phone, or multi-media device etc. to school, MHS/WES is not responsible for any lost or stolen items.

Cell phones and smartwatches that are being used to make calls, text (family or peers) or play games during the day will be confiscated. Parents will be asked to pick up the device from school.

Please reach out to administration if you have any questions.

Full lunch = Free

Just Milk = .50 cents

Free Lunches:

According to government regulations, free lunches must include:

• 3 out of 5 items at breakfast 1 has to be a fruit or a vegetable (lunch components meat/meat alternate, grain, vegetable, fruit, milk)

• 3 out of 4 items at breakfast 1 has to be a fruit or juice (muffins and breakfast sandwiches count as two items)

Just Milk:

If your child is just buying milk and nothing else, the cost is .50 cents.