Cheetah Pride Press

Families,

This week, in addition to recognizing Teacher Appreciation Week, we also celebrated our school nurses. Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Lemire keep our busy health office running smoothly and efficiently. They clean and cover boo boos, supply ice packs, administer medications, respond to emergencies, and provide TLC on a daily basis. And they do it all with a smile! We are so lucky to have them.

To all the mothers/caregivers in our community…. We hope you have a relaxing day on Sunday! May you feel cherished by those you love.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Joey & Andrea

Today in Garden Club, students had an opportunity to meet the chicks in Mrs. Gibsons room before heading outside to transplant kohlrabi, cucumbers and mesclun. We watered the plants and monitored their growth.

Kindergarteners explored their natural environment during their field trip to Bushy Hill Nature Center.

Smart Start incubated and hatched chicks over the last couple of weeks. It was so exciting to watch them emerge from their eggs.

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.

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.

Hi Cheetah families!

May is well under way in the Memorial School Library!

See below for grade level classroom expectations.

• PreK students are enjoying a variety of read alouds and songs with the themes of bugs, animals, and summer.

• Kindergarten has started their work around coding. We are learning to create basic sequences by using our beebobs, which are codable robots. Students are also enjoying listening to Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Voirst .

• First grade students are continuing to build their coding skills by using a program called Kodable. The students are showing a lot of perseverance when working through these algorithms. Students are also listening to fractured fairy tales and enjoying these twisted takes on the classic stories.

• Second graders are finishing up the chapter book, The Sword in the Tree and then will be ending the year with several STEM challenges.

• Third grade has abeen challenged to create something out of legos from their favorite fairy tale. Students have shown both imagination and perseverance with this challenge. In addition, 3rd grade has several class books started and hopefully we will be able to finish them before the end of the year!

May 24th is the last day that library books will be going home, which means

all books are due by May 31st .

After that time we will be sending overdue notices home in an attempt to get all books back. If you feel that you have received one in error just let us know, as our inventory is underway. It is a very busy time for us and we appreciate everyone’s best efforts in getting books located and returned.

For more information and updates, make sure to check out the library website at https://sites.google.com/site/centermemoriallibrary/ .

Questions, please contact Mrs. Flannery at rflannery@easthamptonct.org.

Mrs. Flannery and Mrs. Hill

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 Appreciation 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 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