Cheetah Pride Press

Families,

As we move into the final weeks of October, I am amazed at how much our students have already grown and learned! We look forward to sharing our students’ successes at November conferences.

Next week is Bus Safety Week, and we will revisit bus expectations during our Morning Meetings. Today we had a visit from M & J bus staff who reinforced safe habits when riding on the school bus. Please review bus safety with your learners at home. We want our students to have a safe and pleasant ride to and from school each day.

Sincerely,

Joey and Andrea

On Wednesday, Grade 3 had a special assembly with members of the East Hampton Rotary Club. During this exciting visit, the Rotary Club gifted each of our third graders with personal dictionaries. This has become a much loved and long-standing tradition at Memorial. Thank you, EH Rotary!

On Tuesday, our Smart Start PreK class visited Scott’s Orchard in Glastonbury, where they rode a tractor, picked apples, navigated a hay maze, drank cider and visited with some goats. They all had a wonderful time.

Today we had a special visit from M & J bus staff. M & J brought two buses to Memorial, which students boarded, in order to practice appropriate traveling behaviors.

A PAWsitive office referral is submitted when a staff member recognizes a student who is going above and beyond to exemplify one of our three school rules - taking care of others, taking care of self, & taking care of things.

Congratulations to Lee Tuxbury, a paraprofessional in our building. Lee cares about all the students she works with. She is flexible and always willing to do what is needed to support all students.

“Each night in the United States, an estimated 600,000 people live on the streets. This October, we want 2 million people to show that even a small act of love, such as donating a pair of socks, can make a big difference in the lives of our neighbors who are homeless.” --www.happysocktober.com

All month long, through library class, 2nd grade students will be facilitating a sock drive, to donate to a local area shelter. Please consider donating new men’s, women’s, and children’s socks through November 1st. Students can drop donations off at the Memorial School lobby. Last year Memorial collected over 300 pairs, we hope to match or surpass that this year.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Flannery

Library Media Specialist

Scholars are settling into the routines of their school and classrooms. Kindergarten and first graders are building habits that strong readers and writers need. Kindergarten students are building their stamina to explore texts independently and with a partner. They will interact with different genres of books to learn about their world. First graders are working on their Small Moments unit in writing. The goal is to slow down their narrative to develop each part and bring those scenes to life with details. Second grade readers are well into their first reading unit, Second Grade Reading Growth Spurt. During this unit, students learned to take charge of their reading by using strategies to read unknown words, understand author’s craft, and build big ideas about the books they read. Third graders are learning about Building a Reading Life: Stamina, Fluency and Engagement. This unit supports students’ transition into third grade readers' workshop and helps students begin to take on determining the main idea, retelling, and summarizing what they have read. Students also worked on building stamina for reading, thinking, talking and writing about what they read.

Students have been working on writing personal narratives. They will begin to use strategies to revise and edit their pieces to support the publishing process. Published work may be written or typed and students often add illustrations to support the creation of their stories. You may even find some of their published pieces at our Writing Celebration at the end of the school year! If you have a child who wants to continue narrative writing at home, help get some ideas flowing by talking about fun fall activities they have recently done. Some ideas include:

• Going on a hike

• Carving a pumpkin

• Trick or Treating

• A sporting event they went to/participated in

• Apple/pumpkin picking

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]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]Easthampton.familyportal.cloud . Our Cafeterias also accept checks made payable to “East Hampton Cafeteria Fund”.

In September, students can enjoy fresh apples from Beckett Farms of South Glastonbury and carrots from Cold Spring Farm of Colchester. Keep an eye out for upcoming celebrations!

If you have questions, please contact Director of Nutrition Services, Kate Caselli at kcaselli@easthamptonct.org or 860.316.7324.

Please allow me to share a little bit about myself with you. I know that outside of the home, the school is one of the most influential environments for our children. As a mom who has two children in elementary school, I know how this time of year can be overwhelming. You want everything to go right and smoothly for your little one(s), but most of all you wish you could attend the first days with them. We, at Memorial, all agree that it’s supposed to be a happy and exciting time as the new school year is upon us. As the nurse, I hope to offer you and your child(ren) some comfort and reassurance while they are with us for our 2024-2025 school year!

On behalf of the Memorial School staff I want to extend a warm welcome to every parent and student! Feel free to contact me by phone or, better yet, email with your questions and concerns. My goal is to collaborate with you and help make this school year a healthy and enjoyable one. I would like to offer a little guidance from the health office. Below you will find some answers to frequently asked questions.

Communications

If a student is seen by the nurse or nursing assistant, they will receive a “Nurse’s Pass” ( or Pink Slip) with a brief review of their visit. However, Parents/Guardians will receive a phone call in the following circumstances:

• The student needs to be picked up from school

• Follow-up at home is required or recommended (ie doctor visit, continued observation at home, or the such)

• Any significant injury to the head, new marks on face

• Further communication is needed regarding student Health Office visit

Please note that the above criteria are made with Registered Nurse assessment, observation, and judgment. If a parent would like calls for any nurse visit or in specific situations, please communicate that to the Health Office specifically and your child’s chart will be updated.

We are Pro-Communication!!! ☺ If you have any concern please don’t hesitate to call or e-mail us, but email or Parent Square is best, and please include both Ms. Michelle and I on your outreaches. We want the best for your child(ren) and we want you to feel secure in their health and safety at school.

Medications

Every medication that is brought into school requires a “Medication Authorization” form to be signed by the student’s doctor and parent/guardian and the medication in original packaging with prescription label is to be brought in by a parent/guardian, not in the child’s backpack. No child may carry their own medications at the Elementary level. Please use a large ziplock bag for the medication plus the medication order, and label the bag with your child’s name before dropping off. Any controlled medications will need to be counted and signed off with the RN and parent so please allow for a few extra minutes at drop off.

Please note: COUGH DROPS count as medications and are not allowed in school. All over-the-counter medications also need a medication order from your provider.

Food

We have several students with severe food allergies, therefore we highly recommend non food items to share for birthday celebrations. We ask for at least 48 hours advance notice. A great resource for allergy free snacks is the Safe Snack guide at https://snacksafely.com/safe-snack-guide/. We appreciate your assistance in keeping our school safe.

Health Concerns:

• If your child has a new health concern which you would like to speak to the nurse about e-mail kwilliams@easthamptonct.org and mlemire@easthamptonct.org at any time. Please let us know if your child is diagnosed with any illness or injury (such as strep, flu, pink eye, fracture/broken bone, etc.) as the nurse office tracks illnesses and sends notification letters home if there are 2 or more cases in a specific classroom.

• If you have any specific concerns that arise during the school year (such as stitches, concussions, broken bones/fractures, etc) it is best that you send in a doctor’s note with dates, guidelines and restrictions, so we can all be on the same page and keep your child safe.

Respectfully,

Katie Williams, RN

and Ms. Michelle Lemire

kwilliams@easthamptonct.org, mlemire@easthamptonct.org

Your Health Office Team

Memorial Elementary

Phone 860-365-4020

Fax 860-365-4024

October

14th- Indigenous People Day- No School

16th PTO-Pie and Cookie Orders Close

21st- PTO Meeting at Center school 5:30pm

25th- Cheetah Pride Assembly- Wear Your Cheetah Gear!

30th- Picture Retakes

November

5th- No school Professional Learning Day

11th- No school Veteran Day

14th- PTO sponsored Dinner

20th & 21st- Early Dismissal Parent- Teacher Conferences

27th- Early Dismissal Thanksgiving Break

The East Hampton Board of Education and the school community as a whole promote a secure and productive school climate, conducive to teaching and learning that is free from threat, harassment, and any type of bullying behavior. Therefore it shall be the policy of the Board that bullying and/or teen dating violence committed against a student by another student is prohibited. The Board believes that a school environment in which students feel safe, supported, engaged and helpfully challenged is optimal for learning and healthy development. The Board seeks an environment in which students and adults feel socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically safe; an environment that is free of harassment, intimidation, teen dating violence and bullying. Our website provides links to various policies and reporting forms including our Safe School Climate Plan. Hard copies are also available in our main office. If at any point you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to building administration for further assistance.

When considering the number of absences your student has accrued, keep in mind that a student must be present for 195 minutes in order for the day to count! When bringing your student in late, or signing them out early if they have not been in school for a 195 minutes the day will be recorded as an absence.

Memorial School Attendance email:

memorial_attendance@easthamptonct.org * there is an _ between memorial and attendance!

Please Review This Important Information Below.

Students, parents, and community members have access to an anonymous tip line on the front page of the school district website to report self-concerns, mental health concerns of a friend, or concerns of violence. Simply click here or view on the website: https://www.easthamptonps.org/.

Email: jbauer@easthamptonct.org
Website: https://www.easthamptonps.org/o/memorial-school
Location: 20 Smith Street, East Hampton, CT, USA
Phone: 860-365-4020
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ehmemorialschool