Cheetah Pride Press

Families,

Today we held our first Cheetah Pride Assemblies. They were a huge success! Our resident Cheetah arrived during each assembly and joined the students for a dance party. Then we reviewed our school rules - Taking Care of Ourselves, Taking Care of Others, and Taking Care of Things. Please continue to review our three school rules at home, and don’t forget to review safe and appropriate school bus behaviors as well. Finally, we introduced the first Profile of The Graduate (POG) skill we’ll be focusing on this year. It’s TEAMWORK. Positive attitudes, a willingness to work together to solve problems, rooting for one another, and graciously accepting defeat are all components of teamwork that we’ll learn about throughout the month of October.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Joey & Andrea

Students enjoyed their first assembly. We reviewed bus and assembly expectations. We showcased our PBIS building-wide incentives. Staff modeled our first Minute to Win-it game of the year. Lastly, everyone was able to play "Freeze Dance" with out Memorial Cheetah!

The third grade Garden Club is up and running for the fall season. Students have been busy harvesting vegetables including, the largest cucumber we have ever seen, tomatoes, and even a few tomatillos. We also cleaned up the rotten vegetables and had a blast using the wheelbarrows to help us clean up.

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.

This week, two members of the Memorial School family were honored at the Board of Education meeting. Mrs. Nancy Nafis was named the 2024 Interventionist of The Year, and Ms. Mary Sawyer was named the 2024 Teacher of The Year. Congratulations to both of them! We are lucky to have such amazing educators on our team.

Mrs. Tammaro and Mrs. Riddell-Moore are instructional paraprofessionals in our reading and math support department. They are being recognized by the Kindergarten team for going above and beyond in the beginning of the year. They prepared and attached all the bus tags on each student's backpack in Kindergarten. We appreciate both of you and all of your hard work!

Each year the East Hampton Public Schools administers the i-Ready Diagnostic in Reading and Math in the fall, winter, and spring for grades 1-3 to monitor student growth and performance. The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions to suit your child’s needs. Each item a student receives is based on their answer to the previous question. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier ones. The purpose of this is not to give your child a score or grade but to determine how to best support their learning. These results are reviewed as one data point amongst other assessments, observations and data regarding student performance. The assessment is integrated into your child’s day as part of their academic learning and is paced to ensure that they work on the assessment in small chunks of time. This year, I-Ready assessments will begin the week of September 9th.

The i-Ready Diagnostic will provide results that help our team identify your child’s strengths and determine next steps for instruction. All students in grades 1-5 will have access to i-Ready Instruction upon completion of the Diagnostic. i-Ready Instruction provides students with lessons based on their individual strengths and areas for growth. These lessons are interactive and provide strategic supports to keep your child engaged as they learn. We will provide additional information about access to i-Ready Instruction and the frequency of use for that program once the Diagnostic is completed.

Welcome back! It is wonderful to see students back in the building and settling into their routines. We will be collecting summer reading logs and math packets until September 20th. Make sure to return yours to your classroom teacher in order to participate in our celebration. We will recognize those students on October 4 with some fun, friends and freeze pops!

Music classes are off to a great start at Memorial School! It has been exciting to see familiar faces and welcome new students to the music room! This year, we will continue to create, perform, and respond to music through the use of instruments, singing, and movement!

Classroom Expectations:

During the first couple of weeks, preschool and kindergarten students have been learning routines, practicing names, and using singing voices and dancing bodies! The focus has been on comfort with visiting the music room. First, second, and third graders have been reviewing routines and learning from the previous year, while playing fun music games together. In the music room, as is the case in all areas of our school, students are expected to take care of themselves, others, and things. They are starting to learn about their music class jobs which will help them to follow these expectations!

More Information:

By accessing the music room website, you can learn more about our music program at Memorial School! Preschool song lyrics and poems can be accessed there so that you can sing with your student! When we start our recorder unit, third graders will be able to find resources there as well. Be sure to check it out by clicking here!

Contact Me:

Please reach out with thoughts or questions on parentsquare or via email at smaldonado@easthamptonct.org. I would love to hear from you!

Mrs. Maldonado

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

13th- Cheetah PRIDE Assembly = Wear Your Cheetah Gear

16th- 20th Start With HELLO Week

17th Summer Fitness Celebration

18th- Open House for Grades K and 1 from 6:30-7:30

19th- Open House for Grades 2 and 3 from 6:30-7:30

20th- Summer Math and Reading Packets are due

23rd- BOE Meeting at 6:30pm

27th- Jog-A-Thon= Times TBD

OCTOBER

1st, 2nd, 3rd- Picture Day

4th- Summer Reading and Math Celebration

Next week during Start With HELLO Week, our students will engage in various activities and discussion centered around building connection, respecting and including others. Our goal is to create a warm and welcoming school environment where students feel valued, welcomed an included. By teaching students the impact a simple " HELLO" can have on someone's day we are building a more kind and compassionate school community.

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