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OHES Paw Prints

Principal's Fall Update

OHESPaw PrintsPrincipal's Fall Update

{The OHES principals kept up their tradition of Halloween costumes that represent picture book characters!}


Hello wonderful OHES community! I hope this letter finds you all well and gearing up for a special holiday season!


Despite the somewhat-chaotic schedule that November throws our way each year, students and staff here at Orchard Hill are engaging in meaningful instructional opportunities while making sure to focus on some additonal timely activities.


As November is Native American History Month, all of our OHES Cubs are learning about indigenous people and their contributions to our culture. Additionally, we had many classrooms choose creative ways to learn about the election process earlier this month, as students voted on everything from school spirit opportunities to who made the wackiest monster! (See pic above) Students at the ECC recently wrapped up an awesome Fall Fest and a few classes are now working on making and testing predictions.


Both myself and Mrs. Caudill will be staying local for Thanksgiving, visiting with family and friends, and of course, eating our fair share. (Mr. Van Hise’s favorite Thanksgiving food: Pumpkin Pie- Mrs. Caudill’s: Sweet potatoes)


We all know what a busy time of year this can be, so we appreciate you reading on to learn more about important information and updates from around the halls of OHES.


Mr. Van Hise

OHES "Cubs Cave" Up & Running!

Many of our classes have begun to visit our new “Cubs Cave” playground in the back of our school. The Cubs Cave is designed for students to engage in creative and exploratory play. A HUGE thank you to the PTA for their financial support in helping the Cave come to life!

Please click here for some more info on what is becoming known as “The Cave.”

Student ID Update

All OHES students will receive new student IDs in the near future, with updated pictures from this year’s school picture taken last month. Please stay tuned for further information on the distribution of the new IDs.


Please keep in mind that the lanyard provided by the school is a “break-away" lanyard, meaning that if pulled, it does release at the clasp. Should you choose to provide your child with their own lanyard, please make sure it is of this variety as well.


Thank you.

Curriculum Update

Language Arts

It’s a busy time of year for our Orchard Hill readers and writers! To learn more about grade level curriculum in all subject areas, click here to access the MTSD public curriculum documents.


Kindergarten readers are currently immersed in the world of emergent storybooks, which include classics you may be familiar with, such as The Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Little Red Hen, The Three Little Pigs, Caps for Sale, Harry the Dirty Dog, The Carrot Seed and Corduroy. If you get a chance to visit the library, consider checking out a few of these books and having your Kindergartener practice retelling or acting out the story! (We would not expect Kindergarteners to be able to read these books conventionally just yet!)


First grade readers are learning how to get to know characters by performing their books, noticing what characters do, say, think and feel, retelling the stories they read and reading with fluency. If you’re headed to the library, check out the Elephant and Piggie series by Mo Willems. This series provides great opportunities to practice this work at home!


Finally, second grade readers are busy becoming experts in nonfiction reading and informational writing. They are working on noticing text features and putting together information as they read, using new vocabulary words to grow their knowledge on a topic and begin to compare and contrast texts on the same topic. They are then putting these skills into practice as information writers, writing about their own expert topics. Consider visiting the library to check out nonfiction books, and ask your child to tell you all they’ve learned about nonfiction text features!


Math

In kindergarten and first grade, we have uncovered how numbers are all around us, building upon patterns of numbers. In Kindergarten we are working with numbers beyond 5 and in first grade we have worked with numbers beyond 10. We have practiced emerging addition and subtraction strategies while working with dominoes and will use these strategies with more formalized addition and subtraction throughout the year.


In second grade, we have developed addition strategies to make tricky facts find their place in students’ memory. We have made connections to building larger numbers through the story Jack and the Beanstalk, and relating our work to place value.


For everyone at home, keep pointing out the math all around you. You can do this on trips by counting exits, baking and counting supplies, or simply playing games together. Taking time to talk about the math you are using makes significant connections for students with their math learning. For more ideas on incorporating math at home, visit the free Math at Home site.

CHOP Pajama Day on its way.....

Orchard Hill will be celebrating the annual Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Pajama Day Fundraiser on Friday, December 6th. In large part to your generosity, OHES was the recipient of last year's CHOP Impact Award! Please consider donating this year, and as always, we appreciate your consideration!

Exciting News: OHES Partners with Literati for the 2024/25 Book Fair!

We’re pleased to announce that the MES PTA is partnering with Literati for this year’s book fair, running from March 10-17. Our online shop is now open, so you can start exploring Literati’s wide selection of books, educational games, and monthly book box subscriptions—perfect for holiday gifts!


When you shop through our school’s unique link, OHES will earn 10% of all online purchases, which will go toward new books and materials for our school library and classrooms. To make shopping even easier, we’ll be sending home Literati’s Holiday Catalog with your student(s) next week. Get a head start on your holiday shopping while supporting OHES!


Happy Holidays, and happy shopping!

Health Office Update

Happy Thanksgiving Orchard Hill Families!


I hope everyone is getting ready to enjoy a great holiday!


As a reminder from the health office regarding illness, please keep in mind the following:


  1. Good handwashing is critical to staying healthy, make sure and emphasize the importance of washing hands before and after meals as well as after contact with high touch surfaces.

  2. If your child has anything other than a regular cold, please keep him or her home and consult with your child’s healthcare provider.

  3. If your child has a fever, he or she MUST stay home. They may not return to school until they have been fever free for over 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medicines.

  4. Students with vomiting or diarrhea should not come to school until symptoms have completely resolved. This may require that students remain at home an extra day to ensure the symptoms have gone away. If students return after having vomiting or diarrhea and continue to have symptoms at school they will be sent home.


We understand that as the holidays approach the students are eager to be in school for special activities and celebrations; however, students who are not well enough to be in school cannot come in just for the special event and then leave.


If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at rhanna@mtsd.us or at 609-466-7605 ext. 1600.

Other Important Dates to Remember

Wednesday, November 27th: Early Dismissal

Friday, December 6th: CHOP Fundraiser Celebration & Pajama Day!

Friday, December 20th: Early Dismissal

Follow Us on Instagram!

Follow us on Instagram!

There are many exciting things happening everyday at OHES. We will share these special events and learning activities that happen on Instagram. Please follow us for updates @monty_ohes.

Dan Van Hise
Dan is using Smore to create beautiful newsletters