The Pulse of the Pride

Lyme School Friends,

Another great week in the books! It has been an exciting couple of weeks as the weather has certainly turned. It is always fantastic to see the joy on student faces with the first sight of flakes no matter how few. In Mr. Dayno's classroom this past week the explanation of snow versus flurries versus a few flakes was quite lively.

We have conferences coming up soon as well as the close of the first trimester. More information is in Mrs. Foxall's section of the Pulse.

We turn next week to Thanksgiving with school closed on the 23rd, 24th and 25th. We are grateful for our students and are pleased with their progress so far this year. It can be hard for students at this time of year with the weather turning, the choppiness of the year between Thanksgiving and December break, and then the long run to February. A great strategy to help your child during this time of year is keeping bed and wake up times routine and consistent.

We hope you enjoy this edition of the Pulse! Our next issue will hit your inbox on December 2nd.

Grateful for our students and staff each day!

Best,

John P. D'Entremont, Principal

11/18 - First Trimester Ends

11/23, 11/24 & 11/25 - No School

11/25 - Playground Closed for Tree Pruning

Students may enter school at 7:45. Please do not drop off prior to 7:45. Thank You!

If you have a sick kiddo or vacation plans, please email the office and/or nurse in addition to their teacher. Thank You!

We are trying to keep the gym floor in great shape and need your help. Students must have a pair of clean sneakers at school to participate.

It is also the time of year for snow gear. Please ensure your students are prepared for the ever changing weather. We have a very limited supply of winter clothing to offer your child should they forget something.

Please see Mrs. Foxall's section below for information on Parent/Teacher Conferences the week of December 5th - 9th.

Please note the playground will be closed on November 25th while school is closed in order to do some tree maintenance. Thank you for avoiding the playground on this date!

We just wanted to send a note out about school closings/delays due to inclement weather.

We will coordinate with the highway department and other area schools in the evening/morning depending on the situation and we will make a decision by 5:30AM at the latest. The primary factor in making a decision is student and staff safety and we must consider road conditions, pedestrian movement, and building accessibility.

Due to weather, school could be either closed or delayed two hours. In either instance, we will send notification through Blackboard Connect via phone/text as well as an email to all staff and families.

We understand that these decisions are challenging and we appreciate your support and understanding in keeping everyone safe and allowing those who maintain the roads the time and space to do so.

If ordering school photos, the deadline is December 4th. https://caniaphotography.gotphoto.com/login

Dear Lyme School Families, Friends, and Staff,

As the holiday season approaches, we recognize that there are needs within our community. Last year, a food drive was held to benefit the Upper Valley Haven, our local food shelter. This year, we would like to expand our giving efforts to include a winter coat drive in addition to a food drive.

Beginning the week of November 7 and lasting through December 21, members from our middle school advisories will be in the main lobby from 7:45-8:00 am collecting winter coats of all sizes and food. There will be bins marked for each set of items. Food and coats will be delivered to the LISTEN Center and The Haven on December 21.

We are asking for the following food donations:

Rice

Pasta

Sauce

Canned vegetables

Condiments (ketchup, mustard, salad dressing, salt, pepper, etc)

Stuffing

Cranberry sauce and other canned fruits

Boxed muffin, cupcake, and cake mixes

Peanut butter

We also encourage gently used coats and jackets that are free of rips and tears.

We hope that you will join in, contribute, and provide the best gift to those in need: giving.

Thank you very much for being a part of our school's effort to help our fellow community members.

~Middle School Advisories

Are you missing something? Check out the following pictures. Anything identified is in the Lost & Found looking for its owner!

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

Matthew Greenway RN BSN: alternating Weds and coverage as needed

Celeste McCool RN BSN: alternating Weds and coverage as needed

Cold and flu season has arrived.

In addition to getting your Influenza vaccination, these are actions we can do to stay healthy and strengthen our immune systems during the winter months.

Wash hands frequently with soap and water.

Clean/disinfect commonly used surfaces.

Avoid touching our eyes, nose and mouth.

Keep a good bedtime routine and get plenty of sleep.

Be physically active every day.

Spend time outdoors every day.

Find ways to manage your stress that work for you.

Drink plenty of fluids (water).

Eat nutritious foods at every meal.

Hello Lyme Families!

Just a note to let you know what has been going on in Stanton Time recently - check out K-5 Units!

• Kindergarten: Expected/Unexpected Behaviors - Red Thoughts and Green Thoughts.

• 1st Grade: Size of the Problem - What’s the size of my problem and how do I keep it small? (Wrapping up this unit this week) We are about to start our SUPERFLEX (Flexible Thinking) unit.

• 2nd Grade: Lyme School Value - RESPONSIBILITY! Who and What am I in charge of?

• 3rd Grade: Compassion Project - What is Compassion and how do I show it? What is Empathy and how does it lead to Compassion?

• 4th Grade: Communication Styles - Passive, Aggressive, Assertive: How do I communicate my rights/wants/needs effectively?

• 5th Grade: Common Sense Media Curriculum

• 7th Grade: Adolescent Health - The Adolescent Brain! Our journey begins Monday!

I also want to put a plug in for The Giving Tree this year - if you are making a request for gifts this holiday season, please email me rstanton@lymeschool.org with your children’s ages and 2-3 items or links to put on the request list - children can still include students who are not yet at the Lyme School or who have graduated. This will be anonymous as always.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving break with their families!

Best,

Mrs. Stanton

Lunch and snack groups are short term interventions that consist of small groups of students from the same grade level. The goal is to help students connect with peers while working on specific social-emotional skills.

In the lower school, skills are related to being a good friend and classmate, sharing ideas, sharing space, waiting for a turn, winning/losing, dealing with mistakes, being flexible, dealing with disappointment, and other topics that may come up.

In middle school, the skills are related to social awareness, relationship skills, responsible decision-making skills, conflict resolution, goal setting, growth mindset, and other topics that may come up.

We know that kids learn best through hands-on experiences; role playing situations (actual/created), playing games, creating art and stories, and having conversations are some ways we target and practice those skills.

Lunch and snack groups are formed by teacher referrals, parent referrals, and student requests. After the interventions, kids use their skills during the school day. If more time to practice is needed, then a scheduled time is provided to work with the student. Teachers or Ms. Connie will reach out to parents about this support, if needed. As always, never hesitate to reach out if you have concerns about your student(s).

On Thursday and Friday this week, five staff members attended VTFest in Killington, VT for professional development from Vita-Learn, focused on digital learning and supporting students to be successful as engaged learners. We are attending sessions which focus on digital/technology infused teaching practices, coding and robotics, and cybersecurity. (I will send a picture from today.)

*NEW* books: Middle schooler students have a slew of new young adult (YA) books to choose from in the Commons, just in time for break!

Please review the attached: Scratch parent opt-out letter

It’s time for parent-teacher conferences soon! Our Trimester 1 ends November 18 and teachers will be preparing report cards to be sent home on December 2. We are hosting parent conferences during the week of December 5-9. Lower school teachers are sending out a sign-up form for their parent-teacher conference slots.

Middle school teachers conference schedules are available here for parents to sign up. Please let the teacher(s) know if you would like your conference to be in person as we will assume it is virtual if we don’t hear otherwise.

Conferences are a great time for parents and teachers to get on the same page. This online resource from Care.com sums it up well: “The ultimate goal for both parents and teachers should be to get a well-rounded understanding of what is happening with the child in their day-to-day life because it informs how they end up performing academically”. The link above provides some questions parents can ask at a conference to get the most out of this valuable conversation.

We will be hosting our spring parent-teacher conferences between March 20-24 after Trimester 2 report cards.

Just this week, a few colleagues went to the Vermont Fest conference. It is a two-day conference which included multiple strands including a focus on digital/technology infused teaching practices, coding and robotics, and cybersecurity.

For an amazing performance! The group performed three songs for the school: Sweet Child O Mine by Guns N' Rose, Island in the Sun by Weezer and Drops of Jupiter by Train. They did a spectacular job with rounds of applause and approval from their schoolmates! We are very proud of them!

Last Saturday the Lyme Lions robotics team competed at the First Lego League regional qualifying tournament held at Hypertherm in Lebanon. They started the day strong, sitting atop the leaderboard after the first of three rounds of competition. While they dropped a few spots during the day, they were excited to finish high enough in the rankings to qualify for the state championships. I’m very proud of how this team pulled it all together during the final week of preparation (robot design and coding, innovation project and presentation, and modeling of FLL core values) and VERY grateful to the other coaches and parent volunteers, Yola Bujarski, James Ricker, Matt Huyck and Caleb Butler. The state championship will be held at Windham High School on Saturday, December 3rd.

Photos: (starting top left): Gr. 2 Sculptures, Gr. 1 Weaving, Gr. 1 Clay Owl, K Block City, Gr. 3 Weaving, Gr. 3 Clay Leaves, Gr. 5 Monster Taxidermy, Gr. 1 Clay Owl, Gr. 3 Clay Leaf

It has been a busy few weeks in the Art Studio! This week, K kids created the most intricate Block City yet, pioneering the use of masking tape to the block building process (astonishing! I love it.). In many of the grades, we have been exploring Clay and Weaving and learning about Indigenous Art during Native American Heritage Month. We have a wonderful resource for Native Art in our community, the Hood Museum of Art. I encourage families to check it out if you can!

Art reports will go out in a few weeks with report cards. I write a short narrative of topics discussed in Art class over the trimester and comment on what we call "Habits of Mind". I am busy organizing and getting Artwork ready to go home shortly, too! If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Ms. G

egirdwood@lymeschool.org

The primary grades have been working on their eye-hand coordination. Their classwork involved using a balloon, which is light and moves slowly to "pop" their balloon into their air and catch it with two hands. The skill cues of "eyes up, pop, catch" were introduced to help the children with their motor planning in order to be as successful.

Students began their work independently and then moved into the task of working with a partner. One partner would "pop" the balloon into the air while the other waited to catch it. These eye-hand coordination skills, along with motor planning are developmental skills that are important to help with skill development that is age appropriate and helps the brain transfer knowledge.

Congrats to the yellow team- our recent TTP champs who earned their trophy for ultimate frisbee.

Congratulations to the non- pinnie outdoor soccer team for claiming the championship victory in this week’s team tournament play PE elective.

PTO meetings continue to be open to the school community and take place the 2nd Tuesday of each month over Google Meets. Feel free to join anytime, all are welcome.

Would you rather hang out and grab dinner to bring home to the fam' instead of attending a meeting?

Parent's, Pizza & the PTO

Come grab your Tuesday Stella's Pizza Order with the PTO.

November 29th from 5 - 630pm

The PTO and Stella's are joining forces. Come grab Two for Tuesday, mingle with other Lyme School parents and raise a bit of money for the PTO! Although we love kiddos, this is intended to be a parent event where parents can place their pizza take-out order. 5-630pm, have a drink and connect with parents while you wait for your pizza order. Pizza and drinks are on you, but a portion of your order will be donated to the PTO. RSVP here . This is an indoor event.

Lyme School PTO Meeting Link:
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/hqd-ixad-cri
Or dial: ‪(US) +1 407-545-7995‬ PIN: ‪522 319 072‬#

The next Board meetings are Thursday, December 1st and 8th at 7 PM at the Lyme School.

ALL Together has Elementary and Middle/High School Parent Handbooks available free of charge.

These handbooks are a practical guide for parents, guardians, and others who interact with youth and addresses today's toughest issues.

The Elementary edition: "Raising kids isn’t easy, start the journey off on the right foot. Cell phones, social media, anxiety and even issues with alcohol and drugs are starting earlier than ever. Learn how to set boundaries and keep your child safe."

The Middle/High School edition: "This edition of our Parent Handbook addresses some of the toughest issues affecting today’s parents and their teens. This resource will raise awareness immediately and educate readers on the latest trends, misconceptions and warning signs associated with each issue. This handbook is being used to help prevent issues such as addiction, violence and suicide across the United States."

Please fill out this form if you are interested in a FREE handbook.

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