Cheetah Pride Press

Families,

It’s so hard to believe that there is only one more week of school until students and staff will get a well-deserved break. I know our classrooms will be buzzing with excitement next week; and I’m sure your students are feeling the energy of the holiday season at home, as well.

The PTO sponsored Holiday Shop that was cancelled due to last week’s storm has been rescheduled for Tuesday evening, December 17th.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Joey & Andrea

After reading about why scientists explore the sea, Mrs. Haydu’s learners created this beautiful mural!

As part of their study of Life Long Ago, each grade 2 class took a trip to the Mark Twain House. They learned about the Guilded Age, and what life was like for those living during that period of our history.

As a culmination of all of the hard work that’s gone into our students’ acquisition of letter names and sounds, Mrs. Pezzi’s, Lapierre’s, and Snyder’s classes put on their annual ABC Fashion Show. Their excited families were invited to the Memorial School cafetorium to watch their learners proudly showcase their handmade ABC fashions! The other three classes, (Clark, Sullivan, and Hoffman), will perform next week.

Meet Regan

Her teacher is Mrs. Hennessey.

She is special because she has 4 dogs.

Dogs are her favorite thing.

She wanted to be on cheetah council because she loves helping.

She loves math best about school.

Memorial Models are chosen weekly by their teacher. These students have excelled all week in taking care of themselves, others, and things. The recipients will dine at a VIP table during lunch every Friday!

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.

The Connecticut Association of Schools (CAS) will be hosting their ANNUAL ELEMENTARY CELEBRATION OF THE ARTS on Monday, February 3 at the Aqua Turf Club; and two of our cheetahs will be recognized! Teddy Bish and Regan Sheehan were selected by Mrs. Maldonado and Mrs. Vining, respectively, for their excellence in music and art education. Congratulations, Teddy and Reagan!

What fun! On Tuesday, November 26th, a group of Kindergarten and 1st grade students came to the art room for a special “Cheetah Pride” reward to make 3D Turkey Centerpieces with Mrs. Vining. Here is a photo of the students with their beautiful work!

Hi everybody,

In December we will be moving on to one of our more popular units, ball skills with our hands and basketball skills!

The baskets are adjustable so we can set them at the appropriate height(s) for each grade and class, and we also have 8 mini baskets that we set up throughout the gym for 14 total baskets for the children to try and practice shooting at.

PreK -Gr.1:

After our warm ups and running, we focus on ball skills using our hands, dribbling, bouncing and catching, tossing and catching, passing, and shooting. Always working on proper form and technique, we have many challenges and skill games that we do with the children that will challenge their proficiency and improvement as the classes go by. Each class we add a new skill or challenge to past skills learned and start to combine different skills. The children work very hard on their shooting and there are always several baskets that they can use that will work for them to be successful and have fun!

Gr.2 -Gr.3:

After our warm ups and running, we focus on dribbling while moving at various speeds and directions while under control of our ball and our bodies, eyes up, fingerprints when dribbling, changing direction, changing the height of our dribbling, dribbling between our legs and behind our backs, always stressing and working on proper form and technique. We started shooting practice right from class one, working mostly on jump shots and layups and dribbling to get to different spots to take various shots. Each class we introduce a new skill and challenge, and progress up to various shooting games and finish up our unit with the “Shooting Club” the week we return from our Winter Holiday vacation.

We hope you get opportunities to be together as a family and go outside and enjoy all that the winter season has to offer!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Coach Ruel

Coach Boscarino

Hello Memorial Families! It has been an exciting month of learning in the music room. Read on below to find out what we’ve been up to.

Preschool: Students enjoyed moving to music using scarves and stuffies! They also practiced singing hello in various ways and listened to a singing story called “Jennie Jenkins”!

Kindergarten: Students have made great progress making a “perfect match” when singing after the teacher! They began to explore the musical opposites loud and soft, while experiencing movement and singing. They are expected to identify the musical opposites fast vs. slow and loud vs. soft when listening or singing!

First Grade: Students continued to practice making a “perfect match” when singing. They also learned the names of two rhythms: quarter note (“Ta”) and eighth notes (“Ti Ti”). They have practiced reading and writing these new rhythms on worksheets and in games. They are now expected to read and write “ta” and “ti-ti” in patterns and songs!

Second Grade: This month, students focused on their new two-beat rhythm, the half note. They practiced this rhythm throughout the month and are now expected to identify and read patterns using the half note. They enjoyed playing games like “Poison Pattern” and “Post Office” to sharpen their rhythm reading skills.

Third Grade: This month was all about music literacy skills to prepare students for their recorder unit! We practiced reading rhythms in a different way by counting with numbers, even playing a fun game called “Rhythm Football”! We also \worked to identify notes on the treble clef staff using letter names. We especially focused on B, A, and G, the first three notes they’ll learn on recorder. Throughout the week, third graders started to play recorders in music class. They’ll take them home in a couple of weeks!

Please check out the music room website for more information about the music program. Feel free to reach out at any time by emailing smaldonado@easthamptonct.org.

Mrs. Maldonado

Nurse Notes

We have lots of illnesses going around Memorial school right now. Here are some guidelines that are helpful for families:

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 (100.4 degrees or higher. May only 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 (may return to school after 24 hours since last episode)

• 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

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. Please send in a copy of the doctor’s clearance, as needed. Thank you in advance for helping to make this year at school as healthy as possible.

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, lice, pneumonia, covid, etc.) as the nurse office tracks illnesses and sends notification letters home if there are 2 or more cases in a specific classroom. Please be specific with any of the symptoms your child is experiencing.

• 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

17th- Holiday Shop

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