Canterbury Elementary School

Last spring as 4th graders, this year's 5th graders planted pumpkin seeds at Apple Hill in Concord with the support of their teachers. Apple Hill was kind enough to take care of the crop for us until Harvest Time!

Mrs. Baldi, our 5th grade teacher, along with several CES 5th graders and their parents, harvested and sold the pumpkins. Pumpkins were sold at the CES Open House and at the last 2 outdoor farmers market nights in Canterbury.

Students raised over $1,000 from pumpkin sales to contribute toward the costs of their Nature's Classroom field trip in the spring. Way to go!

If you need COVID-19 test kits to test your symptomatic student(s), please reach out to the nurse. She has a supply of test kits available. Unfortunately, the test kits cannot be sent home with your student as they are a medical product, but they are available for pick-up.

If your student receives a clothing provision from the nurse, please launder the item and return it back to the school.

If your student is ill or out for other reasons, please call the school no later than 9:00 a.m. Please provide a note validating the absence upon return to school, whenever possible.

The Lakes Region Santa Fund Trust has a limited supply of new winter coats, snow pants and boots for elementary-age and younger children in need, and new winter coats for older children in need.

If you are a Canterbury resident and would like to request this assistance for your child, please contact Karen Decker-Gendron, the CES School Nurse, at kdecker-gendron@sau80.org or Jeannine Myers, the CES School Counselor, at jmyers@sau80.org. You may also call CES and ask for Mrs. Decker-Gendron or Mrs. Myers if you prefer.

Final distribution of winter gear will be November 17th. This resource is only available while supplies last, so please don't hesitate if you would like to make a request.

Living in New Hampshire requires adaptability to frequent weather changes. We will go outside for recess every day that we can.

Watch/Listen to local weather reports and help your child dress according to our guidelines (see attached letter). It is recommended that you post these in a visible place at home!

If your student is not dressed for the weather, they will report to the nurse’s office and make a phone call home during their recess time. Thank you for your support as we work to ensure a safe, fun recess time for all students!

November 6: Volleyball begins (3rd grade and up)

November 7: NO SCHOOL - Teacher Workshop Day

November 7 and 8: Parent-Teacher Conferences

November 8: Picture Retake Day

November 9: Veterans Assembly

November 14: Basketball begins (3rd grade and up)

November 9: PTO Meeting - 6 PM

November 10: NO SCHOOL - Veteran's Day

November 16: Senior Citizen Luncheon

November 22-24: NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving Break

December 2: PTO Kids Only Night

TIGER, a group from Plymouth State University, visited and performed at CES this month. TIGER stands for "Theater Integrated Guidance, Education and Responsibility" and is a professional educational theater company that weaves social emotional learning into a theatrical performance.

This year's performance was titled Choose Love. Using song, dance, and storytelling, TIGER encouraged students to show courage, gratitude, forgiveness, and compassion in action. As usual, this year's performance was fun and energetic. The Plymouth State students did a great job of presenting important topics in a memorable way for the CES learners, and the students were a terrific audience. Lexi and Timmy did a super job helping the performers at one point during the show, and Eli and Angus even interviewed them for the school newspaper!

Thank you, Mrs. Myers, for your efforts to bring this opportunity to our students!

The CES PTO meets the second Thursday of every month. Our next meeting is November 9 at 6 PM in the library at CES. Please come and join us as we plan upcoming events and fundraisers! If you have any questions, please email Emily Perlet, PTO Chair, at emilyperlet@gmail.com

In October, we will be raising money for the Junk 2 Funk Artist in Residence Program for the school. Our fundraisers this month include the annual “un-fundraiser.” We thank Danielle Krautman for leading this creative way to give back to our school community! PTO’s Erin Meeh worked hard on applying for a Tanger Grant, which we hope to receive again this year. This money will also be put toward the Artist in Residence Program. Thank you, Erin! We will also have a group of volunteers at the Canterbury Woods Halloween Night event. We will be helping to hand out candy and collecting donations. This event is on Friday, October 27 at 5:00 pm at the Canterbury Woods Golf Course. Come out and join the fun!

We have many events coming up for the community. In November, the PTO will sponsor a Change Challenge in the school, which will be a fun competition for the whole school! Children will have a chance to bring in their change to help us meet a school goal! There will be a special incentive if our school reaches our change goal, and the class that raises the most money will also get an extra incentive. More fun details will be coming home soon with your child!

PTO will also be hosting a Kids Only Fun Night, including dinner, crafts, activities, fun, and babysitting! This is a chance for parents to get a much deserved break! The Kids Only Night will be held at CES on December 2, from 4:00-7:00 pm. The cost for this fun event is a true bargain of $20 per child, with a cap of $50 per family. This event is for kids ages 5 years old and older. Please fill out the sign-up form attached and return to your child’s teacher by November 20.

PTO will be selling Christmas Trees again this year. Location, dates, prices and times will be coming out soon! We have our Holiday Family Fun Night coming in early December! We will have dinner, crafts, games and a holiday raffle. Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming notices! This is a classic PTO event that is always a lot of fun! We hope to see you there!

After the buses have departed, those in private vehicles may enter the school driveway and proceed to the playground entrance for car rider pick up. A staff member will escort each child safely to their ride. If folks arrive too early, the cars get backed up into the road. Please adhere to the 3:20 arrival time in order to mitigate this issue.

It is also essential that private vehicles do not drive around other vehicles (whether they are school buses or other private vehicles) while students are loading or unloading. Please wait until the vehicle in front of you begins to move.

Thank you for your help in ensuring that our routines are efficient and safe.

Regular attendance at school is critical for a student's success. The interactive nature of lessons at school today make it challenging to provide students with the same learning experiences when they return from an absence.

If a student reaches 10 half days (or 5 full days) of unexcused absences in a school year, the State of NH considers that student habitually truant. Our protocols require that we follow a process with families to ensure that the importance of attendance is understood and that unexcused absences are to be avoided.

Below I have attached a PDF of our attendance policy, as well as RSA 193:1 (Duty of a Parent - Compulsory Attendance) and RSA 189:35-a (Truancy defined).

Absences are excused in the event of sickness, a death in the family, or medical appointments. Other absences are considered unexcused and should be avoided.

Please note: SRSD School Board Policy JH states that for absences other than illness, parents must provide a written notice to the principal 10 days prior to the absence: the reason for the absence and how long the student will be absent.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Thank you for partnering with CES to support the success of all students.

CES students recently had the opportunity to visit the Canterbury Fire Department in recognition of Fire Prevention Week. Thank you to Captain Craig Simpson, Firefighter Cameron Burns, and Investigator Adam Fanjoy for the fantastic presentation and hospitality. The students also loved meeting the accelerant sniffing K9, Anthem. It was a great collaboration between the school and our local fire department!

We are looking forward to holding our traditional Senior Citizen Thanksgiving Luncheon again this year at CES. The luncheon, including a full turkey dinner and dessert, will be served by members of our Student Council. Entertainment will be provided by our younger learners. The luncheon will be held on Thursday November 16th at noon in the CES Library. Please RSVP by Tuesday November 14th by calling 603-783-9944. This event is open to all senior citizens of Canterbury.