The Panther Post

Good afternoon,

We hope all our Panthers had a great transition back to school! We loved getting back into a routine and having our students within the building. If there are any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to your child's Team Leader or guidance counselor who can assist. Emily and I are always available if you would like to connect as well.

We hope to see all of you at our EHMS Open House that will take place on Wednesday September 13th at 6:30.

Have a wonderful long weekend!

Christina & Emily

Fri., Sept. 1st: No School

Mon., Sep. 4th: No School

Wed., Sep. 9th: Quebec Informational Meeting for 7th & 8th Grade French Students (more information shared below)

Wed., Sep. 13th: EHMS Open House @ 6:30

Picture Day - October 12th - more information will be shared in the upcoming weeks!

Each month Team Leaders will share an update on current happenings throughout the team. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to your child's Team Leader. Contact information is within each newsletter. Please enjoy our "Meet the Teachers" addition for each grade level team! Click on a grade level to view!

We also have a welcome from our Unified Arts team. The Unified Arts team consists of our specials, P.E., T.I. and World Language teachers.

Enjoy!

A big thank you to our EHMS PTO and parent volunteers who helped decorate our building for the first day of school. Thank you for contributing to help make the first day great for our students!

To ensure safety for both staff and students, linked is a description of our arrival and dismissal procedures. We ask that you please read the attachment carefully.

If there are any questions or concerns regarding your child's bus, please call our office so we can assist you.

You can also find information on bus routes at our East Hampton Public Schools website following this link.

Join us for an EHMS Family Night Out at Dunkin' Donuts Park on 9/8/23! Get your tickets now!! See our Parentsquare message for more details and how to purchase tickets.

A NEW SCHOOL YEAR IS STARTING AND

THE EAST HAMPTON MIDDLE SCHOOL PTO

SPIRITWEAR FUNDRAISER IS BACK!

Check out our online shop for tons of logo options and garment styles

Store link: https://1stplace.sale/17567

THE DETAILS:

• FROM NOW THROUGH THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21st, the entire site is 30% off - no code needed
• Free shipping on orders over $75

Full details appear in our August 22nd ParentSquare message. If you have any questions, please contact the PTO at ptoehms@gmail.com

EAST HAMPTON MS ATHLETIC SCHEDULE

SEPT 4 - SEPT 8 (subject to change)

MONDAY, SEPT 4

No School

TUESDAY, SEPT 5

Cross Country 2:35 until 4 pm

Boys Soccer 2:35 until 4:30 pm

Girls Soccer 2:35 until 4:30 pm

Player/Parent and Coaches Meeting via google meets. A link will be sent out over the weekend.

Cross Country 5 pm

Girls Soccer 5:30 pm

Boys Soccer 6 pm

WEDNESAY, SEPT 6

Cross Country 2:35 until 4 pm

Boys Soccer 2:35 until 4:30 pm

Girls Soccer 2:35 until 4:30 pm

THURSDAY, SEPT 7

Cross Country 2:35 until 4 pm

Boys Soccer 2:35 until 4:30 pm

Girls Soccer 2:35 until 4:30 pm

FRIDAY, SEPT 8

Cross Country 2:35 until 4 pm

Boys Soccer 2:35 until 4:30 pm

Girls Soccer 2:35 until 4:30 pm

Pantherfest, Friday, Sept 22 - More information will be shared with families in the coming weeks!

This week, all students visited the Library Media Center (LMC) to check out their first book of the school year! Students looked through a wide variety of books, including realistic fiction, graphic novels, informational texts, and more. All EHMS students are expected to read 30 minutes each night at home. ELA teachers will be introducing their reading logs to students and information to you will be sent on Parentsquare. Happy reading, EHMS!

The Math Department is very excited to welcome your children back to class and we are looking forward to a great school year ahead. This week all math classes focused on building a math community in each of their classrooms. Our goal in math this year is to foster a sense of community that allows students to express their mathematical ideas. Students will work together to create norms and cultivate a shared understanding on communicating their thinking to peers and teachers by using their math vocabulary. Featured this week are pictures from our 6th grade classrooms. You will see students in the pictures below engaging in the 100 task and playing the game 13.

Students, in all grade levels, have been working hard to get their locker combinations down. We know the lockers can be tricky at times and we are here to help. Posted around the building are signs to help students remember in what direction to turn the locks. Students can continue practicing as needed. Have your child reach out to their homeroom teacher for any help!

Sign ups for Early Act are beginning. As kindness cultivators, together we pick from a variety of potential community service projects and fundraisers throughout the year. EarlyAct develops leadership and compassion skills, opens up community service opportunities and allows us to see how important it is to give back to the community we live in. Apart from this, the EarlyAct Club increases our diversity awareness and acceptance. The EarlyAct Club is open to ALL STUDENTS grades 6-8. If your child is interested in joining EarlyAct or you would like more information, please see Mrs. Seeley's Welcome Letter.

Many students and families have been inquiring the start of our clubs and activities. As we get each club up and running, it will be shared with families in our Panther Posts and Parentsquares. Students also will receive sign up information for any club during our Good Morning EHMS morning announcements. We hope all our students will sign up to participate in one or more of our various activities this school year!

Bonjour!

There will be a meeting for all 7th and 8th grade French students and their parents who are interested in traveling to Quebec at the end of the school year (May 30th- June 2nd). The meeting will take place on Wednesday September 6th in two sessions: First session will be 5:30-6:15 pm and second session will be 6:15-7:00 pm. Please join us to get information on the trip, ask questions and start planning your academic year! If you are unable to attend, please reach out to me directly: kmichalak@easthamptonct.org.

Hopefully you have heard the news that breakfast is free for all students this year! The breakfast menu is shown below. Any student who wants breakfast can stop in the cafeteria in the morning and grab a meal to take with them to their classroom. No signup is required.

While breakfast is free each day this year, lunch is no longer free for all students. Any student who does not qualify for free or reduced school meals will have to pay for their lunch using their Meal Magic account. Students will be charged $3.75 for lunch. The state has provided funding so that any student who qualifies for reduced meals – normally a $0.40 charge for lunch – will now receive lunch for free. This means that any student who qualifies for free OR reduced meals will receive lunch at no charge. If you believe your family may qualify for free/reduced meals, please go to: https://www.easthamptonps.org/page/nutritional-services-and-school-lunch to fill out an application. Please contact jbove@easthamptonct.org with any questions.

In order to promote strong attendance habits and maximize learning, the East Hampton schools urge all parents to make sure that their children attend every day unless they are ill. Teachers work to pace instruction on a uniform schedule, so good attendance really matters in every child’s learning. As a result, parents should expect strong connection between success in school and good attendance. This year, as we continue with the second year of

new programming in grades K-5 math and implement new math programming in grades 6-7, please note that attendance matters!

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.

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 address for EHMS (EHMS_Attendance@easthamptonct.org) can be used by parents to report and document their approval of an absence. Below are links to each school's email address:

Note: Between the school name and the word Attendance is a underscore ( _ )

Memorial_Attendance@easthamptonct.org

Center_Attendance@easthamptonct.org

EHMS_Attendance@easthamptonct.org

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.

Happy Fall!! Just a few reminders as we start the new school year.

Please remember to send in water bottles with your students! Even though the weather will start to cool soon, hydration is important. And we do not have supply to hand out cups to students throughout the day.

Medications: Even if your student is planning on self-carrying their inhaler or EpiPen, please remember that they are required to submit a medication authorization form filled out by their doctor. Also, please be sure to drop off any medications that we need to have on hand if we have the medication authorization form allowing us to administer. We do need a new permission form every school year allowing permission for the nurse’s office to administer over-the-counter medications. If your child will need any acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or antacid throughout the year, please obtain a copy and return it as soon as possible.

If at any point you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me at khafele@easthamptonct.org or call the school office at 860-365-4060.

Thank you!

Mrs. Hafele

If your child is having any Chromebook or technology issues please click on the link below to do some troubleshooting: EHMS TroubleShooting Tips

If the troubleshooting doesn't work click on the link below to submit an IT work ticket:

Chromebook Trouble Ticket

Please encourage your child to take pride and care in their device. Below is a video to review the proper care of Chromebooks with your child.

This week, students received their chromebooks. We took a few moments to review the expected way students should care for their chromebooks. Below is the information we shared with students. Please encourage your child to take care of their chromebook throughout the year. If there are any issues that arise, students are to put in a help ticket (link is above) so IT can address the issue. If a student is unable to, their homeroom teacher can assist them. Below is also a video on "taking care of your chromebook". If your child has not received a chromebook, please reach out to your child's homeroom teacher or call the office for assistance. Most likely our records indicate that we still need to receive a signed copy of our Acceptable Use Form. Once completed either electronically or by hard copy, your child will receive their chromebook. The 23-24 Acceptable Use Form can be found on the Parentsquare message sent this summer. Thank you for your support!

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.

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.

Email: camaral@easthamptonct.org
Website: https://www.easthamptonps.org/o/ehms
Location: 19 Childs Road, East Hampton, CT, USA
Phone: (860) 365 4060