Bellringer Newsletter

It was great to see so many families at our Fall Parent Teacher Conferences this past week as we are happy to partner with our families to insure our students success at EHHS. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at everner@easthamptonct.org.

• 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
• January 20--Martin Luther King Day Holiday--No School
• January 23, 24, 27, and 28--EHHS Mid-Year Exams
• January 29--2nd Semester/3rd Quarter Begins
• February 14--No School---Professional Development
• February--17+18--February Recess--No School
• March 7---No School---Professional Development

Students from geometry and sophomore classes visited the library last week to participate in BreakoutEDU games. Working together, students solved thematic clues for math topics (Mrs. Banack’s geometry classes) and To Kill a Mockingbird (Mrs. Riggio’s English classes). The correct answers reveal the codes necessary to unlock the locks; once students solve all the clues correctly, they “break in” to the box. Senior Ashley Cost helped design the geometry Breakout as part of her independent study class.

Recently, 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 Fundraiser- 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

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.

East Hampton High School is excited to have Electric Boat support our students by offering a presentation on Friday, December 13th during X-Block. Students who are thinking about pursuing a career in skilled trades or manufacturing are encouraged to attend this information session. Students who are interested should see Mrs. Richards or their school counselor to be added to the attendance list.

East Hampton High School's partnership with CT State - Middlesex allows junior and senior students with a GPA of 2.5 or higher to take one to two courses per semester tuition free! Students interested in this opportunity are allowed to take any course at CT State - Middlesex, provided they meet the course pre-requisite.

Students interested in taking a course through the High School Partnership Program must reach out to their school counselor by Friday, December 6th. If they meet the 2.5 GPA requirement, they will be asked to view the "Dual Enrollment: High School Partnership Program Information Session" PowerPoint, and their name will be given to Middlesex recruiting staff. Students will then receive an email with application instructions.

Students interested in changing a semester 2 class must do so no later than December 2nd. 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”.

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