Canterbury Elementary School

On October 4, all third and fourth graders from both Belmont Elementary School and Canterbury Elementary School made a much-anticipated trip to the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord to hear author Kate DiCamillo speak. This event was part of the first-ever NH Book Festival. CES students had a wonderful time, asked thought-provoking questions, and represented our school and district with fantastic behavior at the event. Thank you to Mrs. Desborough for coordinating this opportunity for our learners!

The Lion's Club will be performing vision screening for students on Monday, 11/04/24. This is a free resource. Please sign and return the written consent form by Friday, 11/01/24 in order to have your student participate.

The Lakes Region Santa Fund has a limited supply of new winter coats (all grades), snow pants (5th grade and younger) and boots (5th grade and younger) for children in need. If you are a Canterbury or Belmont resident and would like to request this assistance for your child, please contact Karen Decker-Gendron, the CES School Nurse, at kdecker-gendron@sau80.org or Jeannine Myers, the CES School Counselor, at jmyers@sau80.org. Winter gear will be distributed from 10/15-11/13. This resource is only available while supplies last, so please do not hesitate if you would like to make a request.

Living in New Hampshire requires adaptability to frequent weather changes. We will go outside for recess every day that we can.

Watch/Listen to local weather reports and help your child dress according to our guidelines (see attached letter). It is recommended that you post these in a visible place at home!

Thank you for your support as we work to ensure a safe, fun recess time for all students!

November 4: Lion's Club Vision Screening

November 5: NO SCHOOL - Teacher Workshop Day/Voting Day

November 5 and 6: Parent-Teacher Conferences

November 8: Veterans Assembly

November 11: NO SCHOOL - Veteran's Day

November 12: School Board Meeting (BES) - 6:00 PM

November 13: Picture Retake Day

November 14: PTO Meeting - 6 PM

November 21: Senior Citizen Luncheon

November 26: School Board Meeting (BES) - 6:00 PM

November 27-29: NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving Break

The CES PTO hosted the Playground Party and the Fall Festival in October. Thank you to all that attended, and to all of the wonderful volunteers that made the events possible! The PTO also extends our gratitude to key members that volunteered at the Deerfield Fair ice cream booth. Across September and October events, we have already secured funding for needed school items as well as the fun addition of a school mascot outfit. Keep an eye out in the coming months for some surprise appearances!

This month we are back to work planning the next big events…the December Holiday Fair and Christmas Tree Sales. These two events are integral to our funding efforts throughout the year for activities like Nature’s Classroom, field day Kona Ice, and bussing for the end of year field trip. We also have some additional funding goals we are working towards to keep building new experiences for our kids and supporting club and school needs. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for announcements and flyers about the Holiday Fair and Christmas Tree Sales. There are already a number of valuable raffle items you won’t want to miss! Christmas Tree Sales will take place on Saturday and Sunday mornings in town center from November 30th-December 22nd (while supplies last). Trees will cost $60 each and can be purchased with cash, check, or Venmo.

The CES Student Council recently conducted the annual school-wide stamp contest. Over 20 students took part. Congratulations to our winners, Annabelle (grade 1), Romy (grade 2), and Rowan (grade 3). The school-wide post office is now open! Students are able to use "stamps" made out of their designs to send and receive letters. Happy writing, everyone!

Morning drop off begins each day at 8:10 AM. A staff member will be waiting at the fence to greet each student, and additional staff will be present on the playground and in the cafeteria to supervise students at play and at breakfast. Please do not drop your student off until the staff members are in place. Thanks!

After the buses have departed in the afternoon, those in private vehicles may enter the school driveway and proceed to the playground entrance for car rider pick up. A staff member will escort each child safely to their ride. If folks arrive too early, the cars get backed up into the road. Please adhere to a 3:20 arrival time in order to mitigate this issue.

It is also essential that private vehicles do not drive around other vehicles (whether they are school buses or other private vehicles) while students are loading or unloading. Please wait until the vehicle in front of you begins to move.

Thank you for your help in ensuring that our routines are efficient and safe.

Regular attendance at school is critical for a student's success. The interactive nature of lessons at school today make it challenging to provide students with the same learning experiences when they return from an absence.

If a student reaches 10 half days (or 5 full days) of unexcused absences in a school year, the State of NH considers that student habitually truant. Our protocols require that we follow a process with families to ensure that the importance of attendance is understood and that unexcused absences are to be avoided.

Below I have attached a PDF of our attendance policy, as well as RSA 193:1 (Duty of a Parent - Compulsory Attendance) and RSA 189:35-a (Truancy defined).

Absences are excused in the event of sickness, a death in the family, or medical appointments. Other absences are considered unexcused and should be avoided.

Please note: SRSD School Board Policy JH states that for absences other than illness, parents must provide a written notice to the principal 10 days prior to the absence: the reason for the absence and how long the student will be absent.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Thank you for partnering with CES to support the success of all students.

CES students enjoyed their visit the Canterbury Fire Department in recognition of Fire Prevention Week on October 16. Thank you as always to the FD for the fantastic presentation and hospitality. It was a great collaboration between the school and our local fire department!

We are looking forward to holding our traditional Senior Citizen Thanksgiving Luncheon again this year at CES. The luncheon, including a full turkey dinner and dessert, will be served by members of our Student Council. Entertainment will be provided by our younger learners. The luncheon will be held on Thursday November 21st at noon in the CES Library. Please RSVP by Tuesday November 19th by calling 603-783-9944. This event is open to all senior citizens of Canterbury.