Cheetah Pride Press

Families,

Next week is Teacher Appreciation week, and Memorial School is FULL of amazing educators! Please take a moment to thank our teachers for making a difference in the lives of our students every day. Our teachers believe in the potential of every student, and are devoted to fostering a love of learning in their classrooms and beyond! They are a gift to our entire school community, and I couldn’t be more proud to work and learn alongside of them..

Have a wonderful weekend,

Joey & Andrea

Today is School Lunch Hero Day, and Memorial School has the best lunch heroes around! Thank you to our cafeteria staff for not only serving up delicious lunches (and breakfasts), but for being caring adults who look out for our students every day. We appreciate you!!

Wednesday, May 1st was National ACES Day, and every Memorial School student participated. During this scheduled event, each grade level took laps around the building in unison with students across the country.

After a thorough study of dinosaurs, our Smart Start students celebrated all they’ve learned by sharing their knowledge with special guests, and creating a dinosaur museum in our school lobby.

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.

Congratulations to Mrs. Sturmer! Mrs. Stutmer is an Instructional Para Educator in our building. Mrs. Sturmer is always willing to help out and she does it with a smile. She makes learning fun for all of her students.

This month will be exciting as we continue our tradition of May Mathematicians. Each week during announcements, math riddles will be read aloud. Students will have the opportunity to solve the problem in their classroom and then enter it into a bucket in the lobby for a chance to win a prize. On Fridays throughout the month of May, the entire school will participate in an estimation activity. An estimation jar filled with a math manipulative will be placed in the lobby and students estimation skills will be put to the test! Check out some of the puzzles below to get your mathematician ready for May.

This time of the year has been a very busy time for all grade levels at Memorial School! The East Hampton Public Schools just finished hosting our annual K-12 art show a few weeks ago, and we are now finalizing our projects and winding down to the last units for the school year. Students have come so far, and have created such amazing works of art, working hard to care about themselves, others, and things during each and every art class! As an art teacher, I couldn’t be more proud of our students and their amazing progress!

Congratulations to the Artists of Month!!

The following students will be given their awards next week and will have their photos hanging in the art room on the Artist of the Month Wall through the month of May! I am so proud of all their hard work and dedication to their artwork, and for consistently demonstrating “Cheetah Pride” during each art class!

PreK: Quincy Butler

K: Emersyn St. George and Callan Flynn

1: Harper Buck and Alexander Glidden

2: Hallie Simon and Ariana Sypek-Jiminez

3: Charlotte Neubig and Odin Kroeber

Below are the art room expectations for the past month during art class:

Prek students have been learning about the order of the rainbow, and learning how to mix the primary colors to complete our rainbow, creating orange, green, and purple! We then became inspired by the colors of spring, observing our beautiful cherry blossom tree, located right outside the art room! We went underneath it to notice how the flowers cover the tree, and how the branches droop down around us. We then used oil pastel and paint to create our very own cherry blossom trees, just like the artist Vincent Van Gogh did!

In Mrs. Gibsons preschool “Smart Start” class, the students learned about Dinosaurs, and fossils, and then voted to create a STEGOSAURUS for art class. We then built our very own “Class” dinosaur sculpture during art class, and it is HUGE! We first learned about different bones a paleontologist might find while digging for dinosaur fossils, and looked at a real photo of a Stegosaurus fossil that was discovered so we could learn more. We then created a skull, neck bone, back bone, ribs, plates, legs, hips, feet, and tail bones out of foamboard. We used TEAMWORK to make the different parts of our dinosaur! Once we drew all the bones, Mrs. Gibson and Mrs. Vining cut them out so that we could arrange them how we wanted, and glued them together. When all the parts were connected and popped up into standing position, we now have a HUGE dinosaur fossil sculpture, and it is AMAZING! Our stegosaurus will be on display for a few weeks in the main lobby!

Kindergarten students have been practicing painting with advanced painting skills, including care of a paintbrush, clean color mixing with intention to make new colors, and applying an appropriate amount of paint on a paintbrush. We have spent that time practicing those skills in order to learn the secondary and neutral colors, and to create our very own color wheel. We have discussed how color is SCIENCE as well as ART! We took a prism outside to see if light really had all the colors of a rainbow in that light, and sure enough, we discovered that it WAS there, hiding inside of light. We then created our very own color wheel, in order to learn how to use that specific tool for intentional and independent color mixing during art class! We are now creating our final painting to represent ABSTRACT art, learning about artist Piet Mondrian and his amazing straight lines and colors! We are so excited to be creating art that doesn’t represent anything real, and are stretching our imaginations and artistic abilities to create something brand new, exciting, and ABSTRACT! We will finish our abstract paintings in the next few weeks!

1st grade students completed their abstract hanging relief sculptures and were ready to build more sculptures with CLAY! We are exploring how to combine parts (we say “scratch it, and attach it!”) of clay that we formed into a ball, coil, pinch pot, or slab, in order to create DINOSAURS!!! Some students are creating sculptures of real dinosaur species, and others are making up their own “newly discovered” dinosaur! We have had so much fun creating dinosaurs with their own special details and style, and will be painting them with glaze after they get fired in the kiln! While we wait for the sculptures to be ready, we are also creating our very own dino puppets and 3D diorama backgrounds to present our very own mini puppet show! We are having so much fun learning about and creating dinosaurs, and we LOVED getting to play in the dirt (clay)!

2nd grade students have been learning technical skills with the use of a fettling knife. This type of clay tool is a dull knife that is designed to cut clean shapes out of flat clay, called SLABS. We are also creating template designs with those cut pieces of clay, in order to build 3D forms like rectangular prisms, triangular prisms, cylinders, trapezoidal prisms, and more. Learning how those forms are constructed, and how many sides they would need makes for a great interdisciplinary math connection with art-making. Once students had their template all cut out, they began constructing a vessel made entirely by hand. Some students will design their vessel to be sculptural with details, and others will add functional details such as a handle, lid, spout, or foot. All of our vessels will be waterproof, food safe, and meant to hold something! It will be a few more weeks before we glaze, but we are super excited to also add color and complete our ceramic vessels to bring home by the end of the school year!

3rd graders are at the end of their choice art projects, and we are spending time making sure we have completed all 6 art subjects. There are only 6 more art classes left, and we are making a point to double check our progress this week. Checking in with each other, and with our own progress is a great way to make our final plans and achieve our year long goals of making a portrait, still life, abstract, landscape, design, and animal work of art. Feel free to further discuss this progress at home with our child. Lets help encourage them to focus on what is left for them to reach their artistic goals with full potential!

As we move into the final stretch of the 2023-24 school year, we invite you to share your feedback and reflections with us. While we are proud of the work we do, we are always looking to improve and implement best practices that will meet the needs of every learner at Memorial School. Please use this link to provide your feedback about your child(ren)'s experience: Parent Feedback Survey

Dear Families of Memorial Elementary Students,

This is an important update! We are asking for your assistance in helping keep our school healthy and safe. We have been experiencing a surge in stomach bug, coughing, strep throat, pink eye and fevers as well as several flu and covid cases. If your child tests positive for covid or any illness, please inform the nurse office asap as we track all contagious illnesses and send notes home to families if there are 2 or more cases in a class. ​*Positive covid cases may now return to normal activities as long as it has been 24 hours fever free without medication and improvement in symptoms. It is also encouraged to wear a mask while at school. *

We have also recently had several food items brought in to share in classrooms. Please be aware that non food treats are encouraged. If food items are brought into school for sharing, it needs to be store bought, prepackaged and made in a nut free facility and the school nurse must be notified at least 24 hours in advance.

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 and remember the 24 hour rule:

• Covid, flu or strep diagnosis. 24 hour fever free without medication and on antibiotics for 24 hours for strep infections.

• Fever (100.4 degrees or higher. 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.

Please also make sure to have a spare change of seasonally appropriate clothing for your child to keep in their cubbies!!

Remember to notify the nurse's office if your child has been diagnosed with any illness (or injury). The nurse tracks illnesses and will send a note home to the class if there are 2 or more cases in the classroom. If your child has an injury that has activity restrictions, please share with the nurse's office so we are aware and can notify appropriate staff members. We want to keep our students healthy and safe and your cooperation is needed to do so. We appreciate your assistance.

Kindly,

The Health Office Team,

Nurse Katie and Miss Michelle

Please contact your child’s pediatrician first.

5/6- BOE Meeting at 6:30pm

5/8- Nurse Appreication Day

5/6-5/10- National Teacher Appreication Week

5/13, 15, & 17th - Kindergarten Screenings

5/13-5/17 East Hampton Police Department Week

5/15 - Parent Feedback Survey Closes

5/17- Grade 3 Dance at 6:00pm

5/20-PTO Meeting 5:30pm at Memorial

5/20- Instrument Petting Zoo for Grade 3 Students

5/20 BOE Meeting at 6:30pm

5/22- Author Visit- Daryl Cobb

5/24- School Cafeteria and Custodian Appreication Day

5/24- Get Outside and Play Day

5/24- Early Dismissal

5/27- Memorial Day = No School

5/29- Writing Celebration Open House

5/31- Wear Your Cheetah Gear and PBIS Assembly

The Hartford Yard Goats have announced their annual Reading Challenge! If students read five books outside of the curriculum they will receive tickets to a Yard Goats game in August. Parents need to sign their student up by May 6. Here is the link to register: Hartford Yard Goats Reading Challenge

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!

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