Bellringer Newsletter
September 18, 2023
Principal's Message
Good morning. Students and staff have settled in to the start of school and EHHS continues to be an active place. Fall sports are underway, and clubs and activities are in full swing. Please continue to check the Important Dates and Reminders section of the Bellringer Newsletter for a schedule of upcoming events. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at everner@easthamptonct.org.
Important Dates and Reminders
- September 18---22---Start With Hello Week
- September 21--Washington D.C Parent Meeting---5:30
- September 28--Mid--Point--1st Quarter
- October 2--5--Senior Class Trip to Washington D.C
- October 6--Professional Development--No School
- October--9--Columbus Day--No School
- October 11--PSAT Testing (Grades 9, 10, and, 11)
- October 11--Senior Class---College Visitation Day
- October 16--Breast Cancer Awareness-Manis for a Cure and Dig Pink Game
- October 31--End of 1st Quarter
- November 7---No School---Election Day/Professional Development
- November 10--No School--Veteran's Day
- November 15 + 16--Early Dismissal--Parent Teacher Conferences
- November 22--Early Dismissal
- November 23--26--Thanksgiving Recess
Start With Hello Week
Social isolation is the overwhelming feeling of being left out, lonely or treated like you are invisible. Young people who are isolated can become victims of bullying, violence and depression. As a result, many further pull away from society, struggle with learning and social development, or choose to hurt themselves or others.
We can change this!
Start With Hello Week is this September 18 – 22, 2023 at EHHS and nationwide. Start With Hello brings attention to the growing epidemic of social isolation and empowers young people to create a culture of inclusion and connectedness within their school, youth organization, and community.
Start With Hello Week is organized by Sandy Hook Promise, a national nonprofit organization based in Newtown, Connecticut. Sandy Hook Promise is led by several family members whose loved ones were killed in the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that claimed the lives of 20 first-graders and 6 educators. They are focused on preventing gun violence (and other forms of violence and victimization) by educating and mobilizing youth and adults on mental health and wellness programs that identify, intervene and help at-risk individuals.
EHHS After School LMC
Athletic Department Updates
Varsity Boys Soccer defeated Hale-Ray 8-0, Valley Regional 8-0 and Lyme-Old Lyme 9-0. They are scheduled to play Westbrook on Tuesday at 6:00 pm at home and at The Morgan School on Friday. Their current record is 3-0.
Junior Varsity Boys Soccer defeated Hale-Ray 8-0. They are scheduled to play Saturday at home vs The Morgan School. Their current record is 1-0.
Varsity Girls Soccer defeated North Branford 6-1 and Valley Regional 3-1, they were defeated by Lyme-Old Lyme 2-0. They are scheduled to play at Westbrook on Monday and at home vs The Morgan School on Thursday and at New London on Saturday. Their current record is 2-1.
Varsity Boys Cross Country ran at the Stratton Brook Invitational and the Portland Invitational and is scheduled to run at Coginchaug on Wednesday.
Varsity Girls Cross Country ran at the Stratton Brook Invitational and the Portland Invitational and is scheduled to run at Coginchaug on Wednesday.
Varsity Volleyball defeated Valley Regional 3-2, Coginchaug 3-0 and The Morgan School 3-0 and was defeated by Hale-Ray 1-3. They are scheduled to play at Portland on Monday, at Cromwell on Wednesday and at home on Friday vs HK. Their current record is 3-1.
Junior Varsity Volleyball defeated Coginchaug 2-1 and The Morgan School 2-0 and was defeated by Valley Regional 0-2 and Hale-Ray 0-2. They are scheduled to play at Portland on Monday and at home vs HK on Friday. Their current season record is 2-2.
Varsity Football defeated Windsor Locks/Suffield/Granby 37-2, their game vs Cromwell/Portland was suspended and will be made up at a later date. They are scheduled to play at HK on Friday. Their current season record is 1-0.
Junior Varsity Football has not yet played. They are scheduled to play at Windsor Locks/Suffield/Granby on Monday.
All athletic schedules, directions and results may be found at CIACSPORTS.com.
EHHS Cheer Fundraiser
School Counseling News
Individual Senior Planning Meetings:
Seniors were sent a link to their school counselor's Senior Planning Meeting calendar. Students are asked to sign up for an individual Senior Planning Meeting during a study hall. If that is not possible, students should sign up during a class they are doing well in, and can afford to miss. School counselors can help students with their post-high school plans, whether their plan includes college, trade school, military or employment. Parents are encouraged to attend this meeting with their student.
Workshop Wednesday: "The College Essay"
This week, Workshop Wednesday will focus on the college essay. Students can sign up via the Class of 2024 School Counseling Google Classroom and then request a Smart Pass during X-Block on Wednesday. Seniors who are not currently enrolled in the Class of 2024 School Counseling Google Classroom can join by using the code wl5u4ve
Upcoming College Visits: Week of September 18, 2023
Students who are interested in visiting with one of the colleges listed below must sign up at least 24 hours in advance by log into their Naviance account and look under the "What's New" section on the right side of the page. There they will find a "register" button. Students who need assistance signing up should go to the guidance office and speak with Mrs. Bullett.
- Colby-Sawyer College: Tuesday, Sept. 19th @ 7:45am
- University of Vermont: Tuesday, Sept. 19th @ 8:31am
- Stony Brook University: Tuesday, Sept. 19th @ 10:02am
- Seton Hall University: Tuesday, Sept. 19th @ 12:27pm
- Wheaton College: Tuesday, Sept. 19th @ 1:23pm
- Central CT State University: Wednesday, Sept. 20th @ 8:31am
- Saint Anselm College: Wednesday, Sept. 20th @ 12:27pm
- Clarkson University: Wednesday, Sept. 20th @ 1:23pm
- University of Maine - Farmington: Thursday, Sept. 21st @ 8:31am
- Merrimack College: Thursday, Sept. 21st @ 12:27pm
- Boston College: Thursday, Sept. 21st @ 1:23pm
- University of Southern Maine: Friday, Sept. 22nd @ 8:30am
- University of Mass- Dartmouth: Friday, Sept. 22nd @ 10:02am
EHHS PTO News
Welcome to a new school year at EHHS! Please join us at the first EHHS PTO / Principal’s Advisory Meeting of the year to say hello and learn more about how you can help.
Wednesday, September 27th at 5:30pm in the EHHS library
We will discuss plans for the Election Day Bake Sale, November teacher conference dinner, graduation lawn signs and ideas for fundraisers. We are seeking committee co-chairs to work with a PTO Board member on both the Election Day Bake Sale and graduation lawn sign projects. Come learn the ropes as we plan these annual events!
The funds we raise as a PTO support senior scholarships, advisory activities, teacher / staff appreciation meals, field trips and teacher mini grants.
We look forward to seeing you!
EHHS PTO
Project Graduation
EHHS Project Graduation, what we do and who we are.
Thanks
Cyndi Buchan
Chair, EHHS Project Graduation
EHH S Yearbook Information
Yearbooks are now available for purchase at www.jostens.com. Ordering your yearbook now ensures a copy is reserved for your child. Please visit the website to preorder!
School Picture Day for grades 9-11 is September 20th. Ordering information will be going home soon or you can save money by ordering in advance at www.legacystudios.com. Our school code is: 3631F24
Senior portraits are still happening through September and October. If you haven't been photographed yet, please call the company to make an appointment; we're running out of time!
Please don't hesitate to reach out to either company or to Mrs. Flannery cflannery@easthamptonct.org if you have any questions.
Profile of the Graduate Digital Portfolios
The Profile of the Graduate Portfolio process has begun for the classes of 2025, 2026, and, 2027. Students are developing a Google Site that they will use over the course of their high school career to provide students an opportunity to demonstrate their growth and development of the five attributes in the East Hampton Public Schools: compassion, innovation, perseverance, collaboration, and active learning. This portfolio will display various achievements, projects, and activities over the course of the high school experience that will show attainment of skills, broadening of horizons, and pursuit of passions. Students will reflect on experiences, strengths, and abilities to confidently approach challenges. During XBlock students used a template developed by the Portfolio Committee, wrote a brief autobiography and are crafting their paragraphs explaining their understanding of the core values. By the end of the school year, students will have written about each of the values and uploaded examples of their work. Ultimately, this work will become part of their Senior Capstone beginning with the Class of 2025.
SBHC----School Based Health Care at EHHS
The East Hampton Public Schools is proud to introduce School Based Health Centers in each of our schools. Soon, enrolled students will be able to receive behavioral health services during the school day. The School-Based Health Care (SBHC) staff are licensed health care providers, who are able to deliver behavioral health services to students during the school day. They work in conjunction with the student’s primary care providers to support their social, emotional, and behavioral health care needs. SBHC is proud to serve over 17,000 students throughout Connecticut.
Student Drop-Off and Pick-Up
Attendance Updates
Please review the EHHS Attendance Policy and Student Handbook as they contain important information.
Per the East Hampton Board of Education’s Attendance Policy and Connecticut statute, parents and guardians may only approve the first 9 absences of the school year with a parent note. Absences 10 and above can only be excused with further documentation and under specific circumstances.
In addition, if a student has four unexcused absences in one month or 10 unexcused absences in a year they are classified as truant. If a child misses 18 or more days in a school year – excused or unexcused absences – the student is classified as chronically absent.
Access to the East Hampton attendance policy is available HERE
It is also necessary for a student to be present at least half of the school day for the student to be recorded as present. When a student arrives after the mid-day point or leaves before it, the day cannot be counted for that student. Building principals will share the specific times in their communications with families.
A student is considered to be “in attendance” if present at his/her assigned school, or an activity.
sponsored by the school (e.g., field trip), for at least half of the regular school day.
At East Hampton High School, half of the regular school day arrives at 10:55 a.m. This means that if a student arrives after 10:55, even with a note, the student will be marked Tardy Absent. If a student dismisses prior to 10:55 and does not return to school, the student will be marked Early Dismissal Absent. Please contact the school with any questions regarding our attendance policies.
To increase the ease of reporting an absence and documenting parent approval of the absence for a student’s first 9 absences, the East Hampton Public Schools has created email addresses that parents can use to contact their student’s school and report an absence. Effectively immediately, the following email addresses can be used by parents to report and document their approval of an absence:
EHHS_Attendance@easthamptonct.org
If you have successfully emailed the school, you will receive an autoreply that notifies you that the absence communication has been received and recorded. This process is effective for your student’s first 9 absences. After your student has more than 9 absences, additional documentation or communication will be required to excuse the absence. Please use the email to continue to notify the school that your child will not attend. You may call your child’s school at any time to report an absence, as well.
TIP LINE
EHHS Bellringer Spirit Wear
We are excited to launch our new Bellringer Sideline Store! The store is available 24/7 and ships directly to you!!!
Please see the link below to grab your Bellringer gear
https://sideline.bsnsports.com/schools/connecticut/easthampton/east-hampton-high-school
Student Attendance and Dismissal Reminders
Students who are being dismissed due to illness, MUST FIRST see the School Nurse. Additionally, we ask that parents familiarize themselves with our attendance policy which is in the EHHS Student Handbook. Some of the main policies/procedures that we are mut be followed are listed below:
- EARLY DISMISSALS: A written request (no phone calls) from a parent or guardian must be presented to the main office before school begins so student may obtain an early dismissal slip. Students will wait in the main office for their parent/guardian to call the office and we will send your child out to meet you after they sign-out.
- NURSE DISMISSALS: In case of illness during school, dismissal will be arranged through the school nurse, or in her absence, through the office. Students feeling ill should report directly to the nurse's office. Students should not be texting or calling home when not feeling well.
Please note that having a parent’s written request before the start of the day allows the students name to appear on the Daily Attendance sheet so their teachers will be aware that they may not be in class on that day. This also eliminates the office staff from calling in and disrupting a classroom to dismiss the student. We do realize that there may be occasions when you may need to unexpectedly pick your child up early. In those cases we will call the student down when the parent/guardian arrives to the school.
Students that are dismissed from school will not be allowed to return without appropriate documentation from their visit/provider. In the event that doucmentation is not available, a parent will be required to sign their student into the main office upon return.
Safety and Security Enhancements
- Dropping off on items--the table to drop off items for students has been moved inside the first set of doors. Parents will be able to drop items of for students, but will no longer be admitted to the main lobby.
- Appointments--for security reasons, parents and visitors who are requesting to meet with a teacher or administration should call in advance to ensure that the requested party is available to meet rather than show up unannounced.
- Effective immediately, there is an anonymous tip line to enhance a safe environment in our schools. Students, parents, and community members have access to the front page of the website to report self-concerns, mental health concerns of a friend, or concerns of violence. https://www.easthamptonps.org/
Board of Education Statement on School Safety
The East Hampton Board of Education is committed to a safe and secure learning environment that honors and celebrates the diversity of our students, our community, and our nation. The Board of Education in partnership with the school community will not tolerate any threat of violence in the schools or any hate speech that targets any race, religion, sexual orientation, or disability. Each student is held to the highest standards of responsible decision making within a culture that is expected to foster compassion, caring, and empathy.
Reminder of policy regarding the use of Police Dogs
As a reminder to members of our school community, Board Policy #5145.122 allows the schools to work with the East Hampton Police Department to protect the health and safety of students and staff by conducting sweeps of school property by trained sniffing dogs. Please review the policy and procedures below. Our goal is to ensure that the East Hampton Schools are free of illegal substances. Annually, we provide notice of this policy to our school community. Should a sweep be conducted, parents and the Board of Education will be notified upon completion.
Use of Dogs to Sweep School Property
The Board permits the administration to invite law enforcement agencies to sweep school property with dogs trained for the purpose of detecting the presence of illegal substances, when necessary to protect the health and safety of students, employees or property or to detect the presence of illegal substances or contraband, including alcohol and/or drugs. The use of trained canine sniffing dogs and their associated law enforcement personnel is for the purpose of “alerting” on property only, and is subject to the following:
1. Parents and students shall be notified of this policy through its inclusion in the student/ parent handbook and the Superintendent and Principal or their designees, shall explain the policies and procedures followed in sweeps and searches to students and staff on an annual basis. Once notification has been given to parents and students through the handbook and assembly respectively, the school district will have met its obligation to advertise the sweep and search policy and associated procedure. Additional notices need not be given and actual times or dates of planned sweeps need not be released in advance.
2. The Superintendent or designee shall authorize the sweep. Immediately prior to the sweep, an announcement will be made for students and staff to ‘stay put’ in their classrooms while the sweep is taking place. Representatives from school administration shall accompany dogs and handlers while on school premises.
3. The Board shall be informed by the Superintendent of Schools that a sweep has taken place.
4. Parents shall be informed through the school’s mass communication system by the Superintendent of Schools that a sweep has taken place.
5. All school property which students have access to during the day, such as lockers, classrooms, parking areas and storage areas may be swept.
6. Individuals shall not be subjected to a search by dogs.
a. Dogs shall not be used in rooms occupied by persons except for demonstration purposes. The handler and representative from school administration will always be present with the dogs
b. When used for demonstration purposes, the dog may not sniff any student and/or staff.
7. Only the dog’s official handler will determine what constitutes an alert by the dog. If the dog alerts on a particular item or place, that locker or vehicle will be identified for later search. Upon completion of the sweep, the school administration will then search the identified property in the presence of a witness.
8. Searches that disclose evidence of misconduct shall result in disciplinary consequences in accordance with Board policy and may also result in referral to law enforcement agencies.
Legal Reference: Connecticut General Statutes
Policy adopted: March 15, 2016
New Jersey v T.L.O., 53 U.S.L.W. 4083 (1985)
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement of the East Hampton Public Schools
The school community of East Hampton is committed to the mission of honoring and celebrating the diversity of our students, our community, and our nation. We strive to guide our students to conscious, deliberate, individual and collective actions that cultivate the respect of all races, religions, and social backgrounds. Our school community endeavors to produce graduates who are equipped with a greater understanding of the concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Nondiscrimination Statement of the East Hampton Public Schools
The East Hampton Board of Education, in compliance with federal and state law, affirms its policy of equal educational opportunity for all students and equal employment opportunity for all persons. It is the policy of the District to promote nondiscrimination and an environment free of harassment regardless of an individual’s race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, ancestry, disability (including but not limited to, intellectual disability, past or present history of mental disorder, physical disability, or learning disability), genetic information, marital status, or age or because of the race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, ancestry, disability, genetic information, marital status, or age of any persons with whom the individual associates. The District shall provide to all students without discrimination, course offerings, counseling, assistance, employment, athletics, and extracurricular activities. The District shall provide equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The District shall make reasonable accommodations for identified physical and mental impairments that constitute disabilities, consistent with federal and state statutes and regulations.
East Hampton High School
Email: everner@easthamptonct.org
Website: www.easthamptonps.org
Location: 15 North Maple Street, East Hampton, CT, USA
Phone: 860-365-4030
Twitter: @EH_CTPrincipal
