The Pulse of the Pride

Lyme School Friends,

Happy November! It is hard to believe we are saying that since yesterday was so warm outside.

The school is bustling with all kinds of activities and our students continue to be engaged in their classrooms.

We had a great spirit week this past week where many participated. It was a nice transition from October into November.

We have had some crazy weather swings lately. Please make sure your children are prepared for whatever weather we are having.

Please do not forget that school is closed for a teacher in service day on November 5th and also closed for the Veterans Day holiday on November 11th.

Have a fantastic weekend and enjoy the Pulse of the Pride! The next newsletter will hit your inbox on November 22nd. As always, please reach out if I can be of assistance.

Regards,

John P. D'Entremont, Principal

Dates:

November 5, 2024 - Election Day/No School

November 7, 2024 - Picture Retake Day

November 7, 2024 - 5th Grade Hood Images Program

November 11, 2024 - Veterans Day/No School

November 22, 2024 - First Trimester Ends

November 27-29, 2024 - School Closed

In the last few weeks, Mrs. Stanton, Mrs. Thayer, and Dr. D'Entremont collaborated on the rollout of a SALT Team. SALT right now stands for Student Advisory Leadership Team - SALT.

All middle schoolers were invited to submit an application to join this leadership team. Afterwards, teachers collaborated in selecting two students from each advisory to serve as leaders. The goal of the SALT team is three-fold. First, it is an opportunity for middle schoolers to develop leadership skills. Second, it is a place for middle school leaders to help their school develop new things and provide feedback. Third, it creates opportunity for older students to lead peers in organized events that bring both the lower school and middle school students together.

So far, the leadership team has met a few times over lunch and is working towards running an activity that brings lower school students together with middle school students for a fun activity. The hope is that this activity will springboard groups into the winter solstice celebration which is a lower school/middle school event a bit later this winter.

Dear Lyme Neighbors,

Starting this past summer, the Lyme School began a major capital project which will improve the health, safety, and environment of the school for our children. With the support of Lyme voters, the school will remove lead on the Plain School exterior and asbestos in the Laura Barnes School. In addition, the project will include ADA-compliant bathrooms, heating and ventilation upgrades to ensure healthy air circulation, and safety enhancements. While this project creates clear improvements to both student and teacher wellbeing, it is also a significant investment for Lyme’s taxpayers.

Lyme has historically created strong public/private partnerships to help fund large capital projects like these, and we are looking to our community to do the same with this project. We invite you to join us by making a tax-deductible gift today! Your gift will help unlock a matching grant from the Lyme Foundation of up to $25,225.

Your support will help fund the overall project, starting with covering the costs of upgrading siding on the upper stories of the Plain School to a composite shake, which mimics the current intricate pattern on the school’s exterior. By raising funds for this aesthetic portion of the project, the Lyme School has committed to creating a siding pattern that maintains the historic feel of the exterior without increasing costs to taxpayers.

Every dollar raised helps lower the amount of the annual school budget needed to fund building-related expenses and helps decrease the overall project cost to taxpayers.

Please join us in supporting this important project by mailing your contribution to:

The Lyme School

Attn: Lyme School Project '24-'25

PO Box 117

Lyme, NH 03768

Checks can be made out to the Lyme School. Please include "Lyme School Project '24-'25" in the memo line. Be sure to include your name and mailing address so we may send you an acknowledgement and receipt.

Thank you!

Elizabeth Glenshaw, Kristin Roth & Stacey Summerfield

on behalf of the Lyme School

We would like to thank everyone who participated in the pumpkin book character show. We had many fantastic creations that we enjoyed in the lobby for the last few weeks. Well done everyone!

Thanks, Mrs. Wilcox!

At Parent Open House, students and parents were encouraged to use their estimating skills to guess about frogs and sticks in the jars.. We had 54 participants, but two students showed their careful estimating skills. Second grader, Zaky Kobylarz, estimated 172 frogs in the jar. The actual count was 180 frogs. Nice work Zaky! Third grader, Maddie Luurtsema, estimated 150 sticks in the jar. The actual count was 150 sticks. Nice work, Maddie!

Thanks, Mrs. Cook!

Here is our November menu.

In the past few months, cases of Mycoplasma Pneumoniae ("walking pneumonia") have increased in our area and across the country. The recent rise in infections in school aged children is consistent with pre-Covid levels.

Symptoms include:

• Headache
• Fatigue
• Sore throat
• Fever
• Cough

Cases are typically diagnosed after illness has persisted for longer periods than the common cold.

Find more information in this article featuring Dr. Elizabeth Talbot, Professor of Medicine, Infectious Disease and International Health at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine Walking Pneumonia Mycoplasma Pneumoniae Cases on the Rise.

General information about the nurse's office can be found in the older news section below.

Lyme students completed their first Track My Progress (TMP) assessment of the year last month. TMP is a Math and Reading assessment taken online three times a year—in October, January, and April—to help us monitor student growth.

Each TMP assessment is quick, taking about 25 minutes per subject. TMP data provides teachers with insights into individual and class progress, helping them identify students who may need additional support or extra challenges. This data, along with state test scores and other teacher assessments, informs our instructional strategies and grouping decisions to best meet students' needs.

TMP also helps teachers gauge student progress on Common Core standards in Math and Reading and identify those at risk of falling behind.

On November 5th, our teachers and assistants have a full schedule for in-service day! Lower school teachers will attend a workshop on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) with the New Hampshire Energy Education Program. This workshop focuses on a shift toward more student-driven, inquiry-based science instruction.

Other teachers will work on integrating units across subjects, co-teaching models in special education, assessments in Spanish, drama production planning, and more.

Thank you to the PTO for generously providing breakfast and lunch treats for our hardworking staff!

Last week all K-5 classes visited Converse Free Library for book checkouts. Fourth and fifth graders practiced looking up a book on the online catalog, identifying the call number, and locating the book on the shelf in the library. The K-3 classes read another Ladybug Book Award nominee, Once Upon a Book by Grace Lin. They all had an opportunity to learn how to draw the Jade Rabbit or Moon Rabbit by watching a video of Grace Lin explaining the character and how to draw it.

This week students wrote thank you notes to Gail Gibbons, an informational picture book author who lives locally and donated many new and updated editions of her incredible books to our collection. Students perused many of her books before and after writing and drawing. Many students placed Gail's books on hold, so you may be seeing them come home in the coming weeks. Thank you, Gail!!

Reminders & upcoming events from CFL:

Nov. 1 - Blisters for Books pledge sheets and funds DUE. Thank you!

Nov. 12 - After School movie 3-5pm

Dec. 10 - After School movie 3-5pm

Hello Lyme Families!

Hope you all had a wonderfully fun and spooky Halloween last evening!

Just wanted to share a reminder about the LYME PTO Virtual Giving Tree:

Last week, an email was sent out to families about requesting items for the PTO Virtual Giving Tree. If your family would like some support this season, please email me rstanton@lymeschool.org 2-4 items for each of your students. Future and former students can surely be included. As requested, please provide Amazon links or specific descriptions for the gifts you are requesting no later than Wednesday November 13th. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. Please know that I am the only one who will see requests. Once we have requests, we will share the sign up process for the Lyme community. Thank you for participating!

• November 7th - Thursday - 5:45pm - St. Johnsbury Academy Open House - Meet our Faculty, Staff, and the Administrative Team -Learn about Academic Programs, talk to coaches and club advisors, and enjoy refreshments made by culinary students. Click HERE to register
  
  

• November 14 - Thursday - Taste of Thetford Academy - TA VISIT DAY - FOR STUDENTS ONLY This is an opportunity for 8th graders to tour the campus and get more information about TA schedule, classes, clubs, sports, and extracurricular activities. Students can order a complimentary lunch from the TA Cafe or bring a lunch from home. Transportation will be provided. Permission Forms will be distributed closer to the date. Here is an electronic version

• JUST ADDED! November 20th - Wednesday - 6-8pm pm - St. Johnsbury Info Night @ Stella’s Restaurant- Come join us for a cozy evening right at Lyme’s favorite kitchen! Current and former students and families will be there to answer any questions along with the administrative and admissions team -Learn about Academic Programs, Athletics, Extracurriculars, and boarding life. Food and drinks will be provided. All interested are welcome to attend! Registration link coming soon!
  
  

• December 4 - Wednesday - Hanover High School Visit Day - FOR STUDENTS ONLY. This is an opportunity for 8th graders to tour the building and get more information about HHS schedule, classes, clubs, sports, and extracurricular activities. A bus will be provided by Lyme School to and from. Students will need to BRING A BAGGED LUNCH for the day. Permission forms will be distributed closer to the date. Here is an electronic version
  Registration LINK through HHS - need to sign up as well.

• December 12th - Thursday - 4:30-6pm - Parent Information Session - HHS 9th grade counselors will host an informational evening that will include a tour of HHS, a student panel, and a conversation about life at HHS. Please use this LINK to sign up.

• February 4th - Tuesday - 5:30-6:30pm - HHS Curriculum Night - Department coordinators will present an overview of the 9th grade curriculum.tment coordinators will present an overview of the 9th grade curriculum.
  

Our middle school musical was announced today! May 2nd and 3rd our 6th, 7th, and 8th graders will be performing Disney's Newsies Jr.! More general info and audition materials will come out in January!

Lower School Fall Celebrations

These last few weeks in the lower school have focused on the natural world and imaginary creatures.

In Kindergarten, K kids unleashed (briefly) some color monster puppets in the Art room. They had big colorful feelings. This week we created collage houses at night with glow in the dark stars.

First grade had a pumpkin phase. We talked about how to draw a realistic pumpkin, and suddenly they found 4 million ways to create pumpkins (watercolor, large banner size, drawing….). They can really catch an idea and go for it! This week, we are working on clay slab owls.

Second grade introduced some face pots to the world. (I hope they all made it home safely!). This week we learned about the artist Jean Michel Basquiat by reading the story Radiant Child. We are on a sloppy (“but somehow still beautiful”) mixed-media adventure with collage and paint.

Third grade artists assembled their Kandinsky color puzzles using their top-notch color wheel knowledge and are on to mixing their colors to create Fall leaves.

Fourth grade learned about Alebrijes and we are creating some “monster taxidermy” with aluminum foil, toilet paper, papier mache and ping pong balls.

Fifth grade continued along the food theme from our Hood Museum visit and created clay pie boxes. I asked them to think about special traditional desserts that their families might have.

Seen in the Art Room:

Fourth and fifth graders have been learning about geography in Spanish. They reviewed the continents, the names of the oceans and have started learning about the 21 Spanish-speaking countries of the world. During this unit, we also talked about countries students would like to visit. We looked specifically at Mexico and how chocolate originated there and was important in Aztec culture. For a fun connection to music, we did various listening activities to hear the many countries mentioned in the song La Gozadera by Gente de Zona and Marc Anthony. Listen here if you'd like!

This week, students in K-5 had a "spooktacular“ time playing some of our favorite October games. From “ghosts in the graveyard” to “ghostbusters”, students did not lack for fitness and fun!

If you need a fun place to be in October, “who you gonna call?”

The fifth grade was recently visited by Emily from WISE of the Upper Valley. Emily led the class through a lesson of the senses, as she discussed that the most important relationship we have is with ourselves and how important it is to be in touch with what we like and appreciate and what we don’t.

The kids took part in an activity that allowed them to explore different scents and tactile objects. The purpose of this exercise was to show us that we are all different and that it is important to know what appeals to us now and explore what appeals to us as we grow and learn more about ourselves .

We are always thankful when our community resources extend themselves to our school to help enhance our lessons . We look forward to more visits from WISE in the future!

Happy Friday, Lyme School Families!

We hope everyone had a fantastically boo-tiful Halloween! It was a blast seeing all the creative costumes and friendly faces around the Common last night. Nothing like a good candy-fueled evening to bring our community together!

A huge thank you to everyone who’s signed up to bring something for the Teacher/Staff Appreciation Luncheon (for the Teacher/Staff In-Service Day) on Election Day, November 5th!

Details:

• Early drop-off of non-perishable items: Monday, November 4th in the Main Office.
• All other items for lunch: Tuesday, November 5th by 11:00 am in the cafeteria.
• Dishware pick-up: end of the day or the following school day in the Teacher/Staff Room.
• Please label all dishware and include a small sign with the name of the dish and the ingredients. Thank you for your contribution!

As we gear up for Election Day, we encourage everyone to take the time to exercise your right to vote. It’s a powerful way to shape the future of our community, both in and outside of our school.

And speaking of shaping the future… ever thought about joining the PTO? We’d love to have more amazing parents like you on our team! It’s a fantastic way to support our dedicated teachers and staff, fund exciting programs like the Artist-in-Residence, and sponsor extra field trips for our students.

We meet quarterly on these Mondays @ 7:30 pm both via Google Meets and In-Person:

• November 18th
• February 10th
• May 12th
• 
  

If you’re curious about joining or just want to see what we’re all about, reach out anytime at pto@lymeschool.org. We’d love to connect!

Have a wonderful weekend, and thank you again for your continued support and involvement. Our community shines because of families like yours!

Cheers,

Fauve Dela Cruz (she, her, hers)

Chair

Lyme School PTO

pto@lymeschool.org

THE LYME SCHOOL PTO MISSION STATEMENT:

To support the school community through engaged involvement and raise funds for programs that enrich the student experience in a way that remains fun and sustainable for all involved

lymeschool.org/page/lyme-school-pto

We do collect photos for our newsletter as well as the yearbook. If you have a photo from a school event such as the first day of school, please feel free to send to aperry@lymeschool.org or jdentremont@lymeschool.org. We have a place to store these electronically for those that work on these important celebrations! Thank You!

Our School District is hoping to continue to improve our communication with the community. I

want to take a few minutes today to update you on the work of the Strategic Planning

Committee.

The school board contracted with the New Hampshire School Boards Association to provide a

consultant to lead us through this important process. The board met with our consultant,

Kathleen Cuddy-Egbert, for the first time at the Board Retreat on August 20 th. A plan was

developed to move the process forward, and to identify important stakeholders for inclusion.

The goal is to have the broadest possible community involvement through forums, meetings,

surveys and conversations, ensuring a Plan that will reflect the values and wishes of Lyme

residents.

On September 24th the committee met for an organizational meeting at the SAU office. The

purpose was to get organized, discuss roles, the process, meeting norms and the “Why” of

having a Strategic Plan and its importance as a guiding document for decision making. A

meeting schedule has been developed. Our next meeting is on Oct 8th at 4 o’clock at the SAU

office. We hope to keep the public informed of our progress as we go. I will continue to write

summaries of our work as it happens. We do expect to have several community forums and

opportunities for every voice to he heard.

The Strategic Planning Committee is composed of the following people: Jonathan Voegele, Judy

Brotman, Owen Wohlforth, Jennifer Wilcox, Tori Thayer, Elizabeth Glenshaw John D'Entremont,

Geoff Tomlinson, Frank Perotti and our facilitator, Kathy Cuddy-Egbert. We believe this is good

balance of community, school board and educators. Community members are always welcome

at our meetings, and we look forward to a very dynamic, inclusive and transparent process.

and product.

Respectfully,

Frank S. Perotti Jr., Ed.D.

Strategic Plan Committee Meeting Minutes can be found here.

Lyme School Community,

Welcome returning and new students and families to the 2024-2025 school year. Please

refer to the following information from the Nursing Health Office.

Additional School Nurse information can be found on the Lyme School website under

the Student Support tab.

Staffing:

The Nurse's office is staffed Monday-Friday by a Registered Nurse. Please email

nurse@lymeschool.org and/or call the Main Office 795-2125 if your child is absent from

school due to illness or injury.

Duties include Nursing care, Health Screening, Medication administration, First

Aid, Emergency care, Individualized Health Planning, Health Education, and

collaborative work with families, teachers, special education services, our

guidance counselor and behavioral coach.

Kati Miller RN BSN: Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri

Matthew Greenway RN BSN: Wednesday/as needed coverage

Celeste McCool RN BSN: Wednesday/as needed coverage

Medication Administration:

If your child requires emergency medications (epipen, inhaler, etc.) to be kept securely

in the Nurse's office, please contact nurse@lymeschool.org to set up a time to deliver

the medication along with an updated allergy or asthma action plan from your child's

Healthcare Provider.

Returning students need an updated allergy or asthma action plan at the start of each

school year.

For daily medication administration, please complete and return the forms below with

your child's Healthcare provider.

All medications need to be dropped off before the first day of school.

Authorization for RX Medication Administration

Medication or Procedure Order Form

Student Influenza Vaccine Clinic:

The Flu Clinic for students will be held this year at Lyme School on October 22 2024

during the school day. Registration forms will be provided as we get closer to this date.

COVID-19 Information:

Please review the provided link regarding COVID-19 recommendations from the Center

for Disease Control (CDC) if your child is experiencing respiratory illness symptoms or

has tested positive for COVID-19.

CDC Guidelines

The Lyme School Nurse's office is here to support you and your child and to promote

healthy outcomes for students and staff.

Please contact me with any questions or concerns you or your student may have

regarding the upcoming school year.

We look forward to a new school year and appreciate your cooperation.

Kati Miller RN BSN

Lyme School

As of March, 1 2024 The Center for Disease Control and Prevention updated guidance to provide "practical recommendations and information to help people lower risk from a range of common respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19, flu and RSV."

We follow these guidelines. Please review the following links from the CDC for more information and reach out to me with any questions/concerns.

Thank you for your efforts in keeping our Lyme School students, staff, and families healthy.

Preventing Spread of Respiratory Viruses When You’re Sick

Testing and Respiratory Viruses

Masks and Respiratory Viruses Prevention

If you are having trouble logging into ALMA, please reach out to Amanda Perry.

Please complete the required forms for 2024-2025 in ALMA for all returning students. You will see this on the main page when you log-in to ALMA under your student(s) name.

In ALMA, you will find your child's teacher(s) and schedule, a way to message teachers directly, and paperwork that needs to be completed for this school year.

The Lyme School Apparel Store has a variety of apparel and accessories all customizable with a variety of school logos. The Lyme School PTO earns 12% of all sales. Thank you for supporting our school and go Lions! #LYMESCHOOLROCKS

Hello Upper Valley Skiers! Are you already thinking about the upcoming ski season? We’re excited to announce the ultimate winter gear extravaganza – The Ford Sayre Ski Sale! It’s not just a sale; it’s a celebration of all things snowy and a chance to score some fantastic gear while supporting a great cause.

Event Details and Descriptions:

Ski SWAP (Saturday, November 2nd, 11 am to 1:30 pm): Get ready for some ski equipment bartering magic! Join the community and wheel and deal to your heart's content in the parking lot at Frances C. Richmond Middle School. Don't forget to list your items on our spreadsheet ahead of time to make those trades as smooth as possible!

Ski SALE (Sunday, November 3rd, noon – 2:30 pm): Dive into a treasure trove of snowsports consignment items and new gear from great local and regional vendors inside the gymnasium. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting your winter adventures, we have something for everyone.

Consignments & Donations: Got gear that's itching for a new home? Bring your gently used equipment and apparel on Saturday from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm. We'll turn your stuff into funds for Ford Sayre scholarships.

We’re excited for you to join us at the Ford Sayre Ski Sale, where your participation directly supports the Ford K. Sayre Memorial Ski Council’s programs that benefit 500+ local children annually.

For more information, visit the Ford Sayre website: www.fordsayre.org/skisale

OUR VALUES

● Fairness ● Acceptance of Others ● Integrity ● Responsibility

● Perseverance ● Individuality ● Compassion ● Courage

John P. D'Entremont, Principal

Elise Foxall, Academic Director

Geoff Tomlinson, Student Services Director