Cheetah Pride Press

Families,

It was such a pleasure to see you all in the building this week. I hope you found your student’s conference(s) to be productive and informative. We are in awe of how much our learners have already grown this year!

As Thanksgiving draws near, we have been reflecting on all that we’re thankful for; and our Memorial School family is at the top of the list! Thank you for sending us your amazing children each day, and thank you for trusting us to partner with you as we foster our learners’ cognitive, emotional, and behavioral growth. We both feel so lucky to lead such a wonderful school community. Taking Care of Others is what we do best, and we couldn’t be more proud of our students and staff.

The week ahead will be a short one, with an early dismissal on Wednesday, November 27th for the holiday break. We hope you’ll take time over the Thanksgiving break to relax and enjoy time with your families. When we return from the holiday recess, December will be upon us! There will be no Cheetah Pride Press next week. Our next edition will be published on Friday, December 6th.

Have a wonderful holiday,

Joey & Andrea

Grade one has created a gratitude forest in the grade 1 hallway. They have been adding trees and leaves throughout the month. Students and staff are invited to write on a leaf and share the name of someone or something they are grateful for. We are loving watching the forest grow!

Preschool learned the letter "H" this week. They had Hermit crabs visit their classroom.

118 bars of soap have been collected. The preschoolers already met their goal of collecting 100 bars of soap.

This month's goal was to keep a safe body on the bus, at afternoon adventures, parent pick up and on the vans. Students who earned this month's incentive earned extra recess at Seamster Park.

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.

Mrs. Senerchia is a first grade teacher at Memorial School. She is always willing to help her colleagues, students and families. She held lead extra activities for staff and is part of the PBIS team.

November has brought fun and exciting experiences with new materials during art classes for all grade levels. Here are some of the different art works we have created over the past few weeks:

Preschool and Kindergarten students have learned the process of WEAVING, and how to recognize and create AB patterns in their weaving. We first observed real weaving with items in our world like knitted hats (yarn type weaving), baskets that are woven with wood, and grass, and even looked closely at our own clothes that were woven together with tiny string. We then watched a video about a Native American woman named Honwynum, who weaves traditional baskets in Arizona, in the way of the Hopi Tribe. (video link here: https://youtu.be/HbBl1d0isgQ?si=0bohCZ4HKp_nVgpZ )

After we finished weaving our “loom” made of paper, we rounded it and bent our paper weaving into a three dimensional form, a “cone”, to create a very special basket called a “cornucopia” or “horn of plenty”. This particular basket is used today to store food and continues to be a symbol of abundance, first created and used by the Ancient Greeks.

We then created our own “food” out of paper, and will be hosting our very own FEAST during art classes next week! We will of course be using our IMAGINATIONS to have our feast, while we also practice our very best table manners and how to share our amazing “food”. And our cornucopias will be the perfect place for all of our food to go!

First Graders have been hard at work learning about the process of creating COLLAGE! To get inspired, we read the story “Tar Beach” by artist, author, and illustrator, Faith Ringgold. She is a famous African American artist who creates amazing quilts, using pieces of fabric and paint. “Tar Beach” takes place in New York City while the George Washington Bridge was being built. We learned what types of buildings are in a city, and what sights we may see. We looked at famous paintings of cityscapes, and then learned strategies to trim and cut for our collages. We needed many geometric shapes, like rectangles, squares, trapezoids, triangles, and more! We practiced using our glue bottles carefully in order to put the least amount of glue possible and maintain clean and neatly constructed collages. “A little dot is “a lot”!” and “A little line is fine!” are the two ways we apply glue in the art room! Students completed their City Collages with the use of metallic sharpies, in order to give their cities a bit of glamour and sparkle!

Second Graders completed their Forest watercolor paintings, and worked hard to master the use of watercolor brushes to “wash” the paper with paint. They are such beautiful, magical paintings! Then the students imagined an animal that was in their forest. They created a paper towel tube animal to come from their forest using a variety of materials. We learned that forests can have different types of real and imaginary animals. Depending on the forest, we may encounter surprising creatures!

We then began a new work of art, and are focusing on what an art “style” is, and how the Surrealist artists had a unique approach to their art. We learned that Surrealism is all about dreams and taking real things but placing them in unrealistic settings, or ways. We looked at works of art by artists Rene Magritte, and Salvador Dali in order to notice the dream-like qualities of their work, and what “real” things are changed into an unrealistic setting/situation/background. We further discussed and sketched dreams of our own; actual dreams from sleep, or daydreams from when we are awake can be very visual and interesting to try and draw or represent in a work of art. We will be continuing to learn about the famous Surrealist artists from history, and will be creating a work of art using our very own dreams!

Third grade students have continued to work hard on their Choice Art projects. We are currently discussing the idea behind taking risks in art, and how they strengthen us as artists, as well as boost our self confidence. We are learning that when we take a risk, we try something, and it may or may not always work out with our art projects, and that is ok! It gives us a chance to reflect on the choices we are making with different materials, and helps us to improve our artistic skills and problem solving abilities. We are currently celebrating those moments when students make decisions by taking a chance, a risk, and going for it! A large part of being a successful student is being able to persevere when we face challenges, and we are not short of those challenges in art class!

In third grade choice art classes, we also are beginning to think about our portfolios and what the collection of work we are beginning to gather that best represents us as risk takers, and as successful creative learners!

Art To Remember Order Deadline is extended for ALL students in ALL grades to Tuesday, 11/26/2024. All orders placed by this deadline will ensure delivery of all orders before the holidays. Use this link to order: https://arttoremember.com/school/EDX49T and thank you for supporting the art program at Memorial School!

Please help me in congratulating the October Artist of the Month for each grade level. The artist of the month award is given to two students from each grade who demonstrate consistent cheetah pride in the art room, and who work incredibly hard to make their best art!:

K- Troy Hubeny and Madison Davenport

1- Amilah Singh and Wally Bish

2- Ward Cutler and Ivka Indruh Manley

3- Regan Sheehan and Lincoln Parsons

Dear Families of Memorial Elementary Students,

We are asking for your assistance in helping keep our school healthy and safe. We have been experiencing an uptick in lots of coughing and stomach bug/vomiting. Please consider the following guidelines, provided by the school nurse, for sending students to school:

Consider keeping your child at home for an extra day of rest and observation if he or she has any of the following symptoms:

• Very stuffy or runny nose and/or cough

• Mild sore throat (no fever, no known exposure to strep)

• Mild headache and/or stomachache

• Fatigue

Definitely keep your child at home for treatment and observation if he or she has any of these symptoms:

• Fever (equal to or greater than 100.4 degrees. May return to school after 24 hours of no fever WITHOUT fever reducing medications)

• Vomiting (Even once. Must wait 24 hours after last vomit episode to return to school)

• Diarrhea (Must wait 24 hours after last episode to return to school)

• Chills

• General malaise or feelings of fatigue, discomfort, weakness, and/or muscle aches

• Frequent congested, wet, or croupy cough

• Lots of nasal congestion with frequent blowing of nose

• redness and discharge from one or both eyes

To help prevent the flu and other colds, please remind your child(ren) about good hygiene habits:

• Wash hands frequently

• Do not touch eyes, nose, or mouth

• Cover mouth and nose when sneezing/coughing and then wash hands

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick

Often when a child awakens with vague complaints (the way colds and flu begin) it is wise to observe your child at home for an hour or two before deciding whether or not to bring them to school. Your child should be physically able to participate in all school activities on returning to school. Keeping a sick child at home will minimize the spread of infections and viruses in the classroom. We use our nursing assessment and judgment when students come into the nurse office and make calls home as we deem necessary. Thank you in advance for helping to make this year at school as healthy as possible.

Please also update emergency contact information! In case of an emergency or in instances where your child needs to be dismissed from school, it is extremely important that we be able to reach someone on the contact list. We have also been having trouble with parent voicemail boxes that are full and we are unable to leave a message.

Kindly,

The Health Office Team,

Nurse Katie and Miss Michelle

kwilliams@easthamptonct.org, mlemire@easthamptonct.org

Your Health Office Team

Memorial Elementary

Phone 860-365-4020

Fax 860-365-4024

Don’t Miss Out! Now is the time to place your order for custom keepsake products featuring your child’s artwork. These items make great gifts for parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and any other important person in your child’s life.

The deadline to order is 11/22/2024 FOR PREK, Kindergarten, First Grade, and Third Grade students only. There will be a separate ordering window for second grade students, coming in the next week. Please keep an eye out for that special announcement or feel free to check back on the ordering website in a week to place orders for 2nd grade students, specifically.

Simply go to ArtToRemember.com to view your child's artwork, and to place your orde online. Paper order forms will be sent home in backpacks by Friday 11/15. Thank you for supporting our art program here at Memorial School!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Vining, Art Teacher, Memorial School

cvining@easthamptonct.org

November

25th- BOE Meeting @ 6:30pm

26th- Lion's Club Vision Screening

27th- Early Dismissal Thanksgiving Break

27th- Spirit Day- Flannel Day

28th and 29th No School

December

9th-BOE Meeting 6:30pm

13th- Pajama Day for CCMC and Cheetah Pride Assembly- Spirit Day: Wear Your Cheetah Gear

20th-Early Release Day

23rd-1st- Winter Recess

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