Pleasant Hill Family News

As a reminder, there will be no school next Wednesday through Friday, November 27-29, in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. We wish you and yours a wonderful holiday!

Jenn

Jennifer Humphrey, Principal

Pleasant Hill School

jhumphrey@scarboroughschools.org

This month, all classes will participate in Lesson 4 of the Safer, Smarter Kids curriculum with our school counselor, Mrs. Szeman. Safer Smarter Kids is an abuse prevention education curriculum designed for PreK and elementary-aged children. The education program uses developmentally appropriate information to arm children with the tools and language they need to better protect themselves from abuse. Lessons taught help us to meet our state requirements for abuse prevention education.

Kindergarteners and 1st graders will learn about personal space and safe and unsafe touches.

2nd graders will learn about body boundaries, personal privacy, and safe use of cell phone cameras.

Students will participate in more lessons in the coming months. For more information visit https://safersmarterkids.org/ or reach out to Mrs. Szeman at mszeman@scarboroughschools.org.

The temperatures have been very variable lately and our playground is very shady.

Please make sure your children have jackets and hats and mittens so they are prepared for any weather.

Should your family need assistance obtaining winter gear, please reach out to our school counselor, Molly Szeman at mszeman@scarboroughschools.org.

Thank you!

Meg Blakemore is in her second year in the Scarborough Schools where she is serving as the K-5 Resource Librarian, overseeing the programs in our four elementary schools.

Notes from the K-2 Libraries

Our goal in the primary libraries is for kids to grow into readers. Here’s what you can do do to help:

• When your child brings home their red library bag, ask to see their books.

• Ask: “Why did you choose this book?”

• Share what you like to read or the types of stories you like.

• Ask your student what book the class read during library time. Invite them to retell it to you.

These questions will help kids start to think about who they are as a reader.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact your school’s library teacher or Meg Blakemore, K-2 Resource Librarian (mblakemore@scaroboroughschools.org).

Mrs. Swinburne, Mrs. Staples, Mrs. Pinkham, Mrs. Richardson, and Mrs. Chadbourne

Fun Fact: All members of the Student Support Team went to college in New England.

Our community has seen a sharp increase in pediatric pneumonia cases within the past few months. Here is information from the CDC on the surge of Mycoplasma Pneumoniae. Community outbreaks typically occur every 3-5 years...

CDC information on M. Pneumoniae Surge

Symptoms of M. Pneumoniae

CNN Article on MP Surge

Per the CDC, M. pneumoniae infections are generally mild and mostly present as a chest cold but some may present with pneumonia. Symptom onset is typically gradual and can include fever, headache, sore throat and a slowly worsening cough. Most recover without treatment, but some need antibiotics to feel better.

Strategies that prevent respiratory viruses, such as handwashing and covering coughs and sneezes, also prevent these bacteria from spreading.

Be Well!

Dorice Groshon, PH Nurse

The clinic is running very low on spare clothes, especially pants for both boys and girls/unisex. Sizes 5-8 are most needed. If you have clothes your children have outgrown, we would appreciate them. Thanks to your generous donations at the beginning of the year, we are all set with underwear.

by working hard to be SAFE, KIND, and FOCUSED....and by being wonderful helpers. Below are a few opportunities to help out in our community:

As the weather gets cooler, and the holidays are upon us, let’s team up to support our community! The Food is being gratefully accepted to benefit the Scarborough Food Pantry in November and December. To provide some variety with our donation, we ask grade levels to focus on the following items, but nothing will be turned away, as the folks at the pantry have indicated they currently “need everything.”

Kindergarten- potatoes and gravy

First Grade- cranberry and carrots

Second Grade-stuffing and peas

Staff-fresh, whole squash or bags of apples

We'll collect food in the box in our lobby through December 13th.

In the coming weeks, students will have the opportunity to be Pleasant Hill Helpers by:

• gathering items from the class to bring to the donation boxes in the lobby

• drawing a picture of their own favorite food to be added to the donation box

• helping to count items donated (there will not be a competition of who collected the most…this is just for counting practice and helping out!)

• assisting with a morning announcement about how many items we’ve collected together as a school.

Thank you for your support!

This year at PH we will be exploring sculpture with all grades. As part of this sculpture project, I would like to create sculptures using recycled materials. One of the biggest materials for our school wide project are bottle caps. These bottlecaps can be any color or size. We can also use small to medium size plastic container lids - i.e. lids for yogurt, butter, hummus, etc. We are hoping to collect at least 4-5 trashbags full of bottle caps and lids by March. If you are able to send in some with your child, that would be greatly appreciated. I will be keeping a dropoff area in the art/music classroom. Please reach out to me personally with any questions. My email is jchaples@scarboroughschools.org.

Many thanks for supporting our students' creativity!

To promote safety and prevent congestion, please park only on the right hand side of the road when heading up the hill, leaving 30 feet from the stop sign. Thank you for your assisting, as we work to keep pedestrians safe.

NOW is the time to get volunteer trained! This is REQUIRED for anyone who wants to volunteer, chaperone a field trip, or visit your child's classroom.

Trainings will be held monthly, and you only need to be trained ONCE during your time here at Pleasant Hill School. If you are unsure if you have received training yet, you can always check with the front office at 207-730-5250. If it turns out you have already taken the training, we will send you the updated confidentiality link, which you are required to sign ANNUALLY.

UPCOMING TRAINING SESSIONS:

Monday, Dec. 2nd-12-12:20 pm

Training is 20 minutes in length.

Where: https://scarboroughschools.zoom.us/j/9577613642

No need to sign up, just hop on Zoom!

If interested, you may once again order 4 free COVID tests through USPS. Click this link for further information. https://special.usps.com/testkits

Important Dates

• January 13, 2025: PTA Meeting 7-8PM, Town Hall or virtually: *NEW* monthly meeting link

• Dec 6: Little Gym Fundraiser Night

• Jan 4: Maine Mariners Fundraiser Night

Teacher Feature

This week's teacher feature is Mrs. Jones at Pleasant Hill! Thank you for all you do! If you'd like to support Mrs. Jones' classroom please click here to find her amazon wish list!

FUNDRAISING EVENT WITH LITTLE GYM

December 6th: drop your kids off and go get some holiday shopping done! Each session is one hour and costs $25 per child. 50% of the proceeds will be donated to Scarborough PTA! To find out more and sign up click here!!!

Fundraising Event with Maine Mariners

Join Our Email List or sign up for a committee

PTA | Email Sign Up

For all communication regarding students, please contact the office via email -phoffice@scarboroughschools.org or by phone at 207-730-5250. Please include your child's teacher on the email if it is regarding a change in dismissal plans.

Absence Reporting:

We ask families to report their child's absence from school by calling the main office at 207-730-5250 or by email at phoffice@scarboroughschools.org. When leaving a message, we ask that you state the reason for the absence, otherwise, office staff will reach back out to you for that information.

Excusable reasons for an absence:

• illness
• appointment
• religious holiday
• family emergency
• planned absence

For Planned Absences (a day out of school which is not illness or medical appointment related), families should fill out the PH Planned Absence Form. To reduce lost instructional time, we ask families to do their best to coordinate vacations so they line up with our scheduled school vacation weeks.

For questions about attendance, please contact the main office at 207-730-5250 or email us at phoffice@scarboroughschools.org

Bus routes are available on the Scarborough School Website here. If you have any questions regarding your child's bus stop, please call the Transportation Department at (207) 730-4145, or email the Transportation Supervisor, Sarah Redmond, at sredmond@scarboroughschools.org.

Please click here to learn how to sign up for MY Rides K-12 which will allow you to follow your child's process along the bus route.

Please read this letter from the Nutrition Department regarding school lunch & breakfast. Students are able to access breakfast as soon as they arrive to school.

For breakfast meals in all of our schools, you can order online on the same day before 6:30 AM, while for lunch meals, you can order online on the same day before 7:30 AM. You can order meals for the day, or set up a weekly or monthly plan for meals to be provided to your children. The menus for all meals for a new month will be posted on the school’s website and on the Nutrislice app the last Monday at the end of the previous month.

School Menus Page

November 26 Fall Flannel Day! Students are invited to wear their cozy flannels or fall colors.

November 27-29 Thanksgiving Break

December 2 12:00 pm Volunteer Training. No need to sign up. Just join at:

https://scarboroughschools.zoom.us/j/9577613642

December 11 Early Release Day. Dismissal is at 1:45.

December 23-January 1, 2025 Holiday Break

Email: jhumphrey@scarboroughschools.org
Website: https://pleasanthill.scarboroughschools.org/
Location: 143 Highland Avenue, Scarborough, ME, USA
Phone: 207-730-5250