The Weekly Update #4

Hello Families,

It appears that winter has finally arrived, maybe not with snow but with cold! We try to go outside every day. However, the “feels like” temperature must be 10 degrees before we go out. Please make sure that your child has their winter coat, hat and hand covers. If the younger students wish to play on the snow, they must have boots and snow pants. If you need assistance with the winter clothing, please call or email a member of the administration.

Thank you for remembering to call the attendance line when your child will not be at school or will be coming in late. We must account for all students; thus, these calls are very important.

Enjoy the newsletter!

Robin, Nicole, Veronica

Thank you for helping us at carpool time! We appreciate your adherence to the traffic pattern. Here is a reminder of what we need to do to keep everyone safe. During carpool arrival and dismissal, please stay in the lanes as shown below. Please do not drive through parked cars in the center lane. This will help to ensure the safety of pedestrians and parked vehicles. Please do not park in the driving lanes. If you want to walk your child to the drop off area, you must park in a parking spot in the lot. Thank you!

Dear HDES families,

Hi, my name is Emily Dean, and I am the new nurse at the elementary school. I have gotten to meet and speak with some of you already and have been starting to get to know the wonderful students at our school. Some may recognize me, as I worked with other nurses in the health office from 2019-2022, and have children ages 10, 17,19, and 21 that have all attended HDES. I consider it my job to support the community of HDES in maintaining health and wellness to achieve their educational goals at school. As I get settled into this role, the best way to help me support your kiddos in the health office is to log into the SNAP Parent Portal and update your permissions. Below are some ways that we can use the SNAP Portal to work together to give the best care possible to your children at school

• You can give permission so that I can treat your child for any minor illness or injury that arises here at school.

• You can give permission for us to call for emergency transport for your child in the unlikely event of an emergency while they are at school.

• You can upload documentation related to doctor’s appointments, immunizations, medications, and any other health conditions. This helps us have the information at our fingertips in real time as we are seeing your child, and also helps prevent paper documents getting lost between home and school! A lot of these documents we are required to have by the Department of Education, and this can also save us all from time spent on the phone or going back and forth via email.

• You can give permission for us to give certain over-the-counter medications to help support your student staying in school with minor illness or injury. We are required to have written permission to use even neosporin or hydrocortisone cream. When you opt-in to these medications, it also gives you the ability to see in the Portal in real time when we are using them.

I am excited to spend the rest of this year learning and growing with the staff, students, and families of HDES and helping to achieve our health and wellness goals. Please always feel welcome to reach out with any questions or concerns. Especially if you have difficulty with or questions about using the SNAP Portal.

In good health,

Emily Dean, RN (she/her)

HDES Health office

edean@hdsd.org

603-464-1311

Prior to break, 2nd grade students learned about folktales, fables, and legends from around the world. They created crafts that represented the countries traditions they learned about. They also learned about celebrations through nonfiction text as well.

The students traveled from classroom to classroom to learn about:

- Chinese New Year

-The tradition of Christmas crackers in England

-The legend of La Befana in Italy

-The tradition of putting out clogs from the Netherlands

-How to play the dreidel game for Hanukkah representing Israel

-The legend of Baboushka from Russia

-The legend of the poinsettia from Mexico

-Diwali celebrations in India

As an extension of the unit students also learned about the legend of the first panettoni and the littlest camel. Several folktales were analyzed and the central messages were found.

We would like to thank our parent volunteer, Mrs. Morris, for her help with this unit!

We began using money to practice our math & read The Night Tree as a lead into making pinecone birdfeeders.

We began using money to practice our math & read The Night Tree as a lead into making pinecone birdfeeders.

As we learned about opposites, happy and sad, up and down, we had a lot of fun! We conducted the Great Laundry Basket Experiment, is it easier to push or pull while singing Row Row Row Your Boat!

They also had a high frequency word "snowball fight?"

The National Honor Society came down to read us a book and create puppets to retell the story!

The HDES Winter Music Concert is right around the corner. This is a required performance for all 4th & 5th Grade band students, however, it is NOT mandatory for 3rd Grade students but strongly encouraged. Everyone has worked very hard and deserves the opportunity to perform for an audience. Hope to see you there!

This month Miss Rockwell and Miss Juliano have been going into classrooms sharing the excitement of writing letters! Students have begun writing letters and drawing pictures to pen pals across grade levels. The kids are so excited to send and receive letters through our school mail system. Here are two happy mail carriers, from Mrs. Whipps's kindergarten class, who helped deliver letters this week! Thank you Annie Hand and Bastien Walker. Your manners were awesome!

Mrs. Brett found this information about the origin of colors fascinating and would like to share it with the HDES community. Here are pictures that the students drew of Mrs.Brett. It's always interesting to see oneself represented through the eyes of one's students!

The 5th grade continues to claim the title of Estimation Winner!

Congratulations to the Mathematicians of the month!

K: Ben S, Samara S

1st: Ella M, Evelynne T

2nd Elliot H, Cassidie M

3rd: Kaiden B, Arthur M

4th: Cyanne O, Mikail F

5th: Shae T.

First grade is shaping up their geometry skills! Students explored both 2D and 3D shapes through many hands on activities!

The students learning about the SU map and atlas.

In the library, students have been learning about belonging and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Here, a 3rd grade student has written a response to The Little Wood Duck by Brian Wildsmith. Through the book, we learn not to judge others. This topic is part of our preparation for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Mrs. Gillett's class has successfully completed their leadership enrichment class with Mrs. Savoy and Ms. Juliano. Some of the tasks that students helped with included working with kindergarteners, delivering school mail, collecting recycling from classrooms, changing the sign out front, and helping teachers around the building. Great job Mrs. Gillett's class!

1/17 - Early release - 1PM

1/20 - No school

1/23 - FEAN 5:30-6:30

1/28 - 5th grade field trip 9:00-12:30

2/4 - NDES District Deliberative Session 7PM - Middle School gym

2/17-2/21 - CARES winter carnival

2/19 and 2/20 - 5th grade KROKA trips (2 classes/day)

2/20 - Winter Band concert 6:00PM

2/24-2/28 - No School - Winter vacation