The Panther Post

Good afternoon,

Thank you to all who came by during our student visits yesterday. We are excited to welcome all our Panthers to a new school year. Our staff at East Hampton Middle School have been hard at work this week preparing for the new school year and are ready to welcome our learners. There is lots of information within this post to ensure students and families are ready for their return! We hope you find the information helpful as you prepare.

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

Best,

Christina & Emily

Mon., Aug. 28th: First Day of School!

Mon., Aug 28th: Board of Education Meeting 6:30pm

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

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!

In the next edition of our post, we will introduce you to our Unified Arts Team! (our Specials and World Language Teachers)

Enjoy!

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.

Also, just a reminder to please make sure to check the demographics form that was sent out in the August 7th mailing. There you will find bus information for your child. As we are working with a new bus company this year, M&J, please make sure to review your child's bus information before the first day of school. If you have any questions or concerns, please call our main office or you can send an Parentsquare to Cyndi Buchan, our administrative assistant, who can help with any bussing questions.

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

Just a reminder, if you have not done so already, to complete the 23-24 Acceptable Use Form that could be found on the Parentsquare message sent on August 10th. We will be providing student chromebooks within the first week and we want to ensure all families have completed the form prior to students receiving their chromebooks.

Welcome to a new school year at EHMS! We invite you to join us at our first PTO meeting of the year next Wednesday, August 30th at 5:30pm in the EHMS office conference room. We will discuss plans for the first major event of the year - the Pantherfest cross-country and soccer invitational. This is the kickoff to the Fall sports season and a major fundraiser for our school through concession sales. Come join us to learn more about all we do at the EHMS PTO!

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

We are excited to begin our Fall seasons of Cross Country and Soccer! Below is the schedule for the first week of school.

Tuesday, August 29: First day of athletics

Cross Country 2:35 until 4:30 pm

Boys soccer 2:35 until 5 pm (Grades 8 and 7 only)

Girls soccer 2:35 until 5 pm (Grades 8, 7 and 6)

Wednesday, August 30:

Cross Country 2:35 until 4:30 pm

Boys soccer 2:35 until 5 pm (Grade 6 with possible invites from 7 and 8)

Girls soccer 2:35 until 5 pm (Grades 8, 7 and 6)

Thursday, August 31

Cross Country 2:35 until 4:30 pm

Boys soccer 2:35 until 5 pm (Grades 8, 7 and 6)

Girls soccer 2:35 until 5 pm (Grades 8, 7 and 6) ​*This tryout is subject to change.

Friday, Sept 1: No School

Monday, Sept 4: No School

Tuesday, Sept 5 (1st day of practices)

Cross Country 2:35 until 4:00 pm

Boys Soccer 2:35 until 4:30 pm

Girls Soccer 2:35 until 4:30 pm

Note: Parent/Player and Coaches meeting via google meets.

Cross Country at 5 pm.

Girls Soccer at 5:30 pm

Boys Soccer at 6 pm

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

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!

I am delighted to be back at EHMS, but this time as a teacher! Before I started teaching, I was a student in East Hampton Public Schools. Once I graduated from EHHS, I went on to Emmanuel College in Boston to study Secondary Education and English, while also playing soccer for the Saints. After my undergraduate degree, I went to the University of Saint Joseph to receive my master's degree in Special Education. When I am not teaching or taking classes, I love to explore new hiking trails in the state, take spin classes, and read any and all book recommendations. It is so exciting to be back in East Hampton, and I am thrilled for the year ahead. Go Panthers!

Hello! I am Kim Carlone and I am eager to start the next school year as an EHMS Panther! I have a Bachelor’s Degree from UConn in Human Development and Family Studies and a Master’s Degree from the University of Bridgeport in elementary education K-6 and am cross endorsed in Middle School Mathematics. I grew up in New Britain and currently live in Colchester with my spouse as two young children. This will be my sixteenth year teaching mathematics. I started my career in Waterbury as a sixth grade math teacher and then on to Franklin as their sole 6-8 math teacher. From there, I spent the last nine years in Salem as the 7/8 math and algebra teacher. Teaching and learning should be fun and exciting, but also provide experiences of good struggle and opportunity for perseverance. I believe that good rapport is the foundation to learning and making meaningful connections with our young adolescents. Middle school can be a scary new beginning for some students, but I hope to ease those fears as they start their journey through middle school.

When I am not teaching, I enjoy being with my family. Riley is 7 and Max is 5. We love to go camping, swim, and enjoy life!! We have three dogs, Roma, Mango, and Pretzel who always keep us entertained! I am super excited to meet all of the wonderful staff and students of EHMS!

My name is Kori Phillips. This will be my twenty-second year in East Hampton and twenty-eighth year as a Connecticut public school teacher. I am excited to return to EHMS after enjoying six years of teaching at Center School. Teaching reading skills is my passion, and finding the “just right” way to teach each student is my priority. In addition to teaching, I enjoy gardening, traveling, painting, drawing, and spending time with my family. I am part of a large blended family with six adult children and seven grandchildren. My Siberian husky and cat add to the fun and chaos. I am looking forward to a great school year at EHMS!

My name is Noah Galicia. I grew up in the little beach town of Morro Bay, California. Since then, I've traveled through Europe teaching English, then continuing my schooling at Richmond, the American University of London till 2018. Through a series of events in the past 3 years, we ended up living in Portland, Connecticut. Where my wife and I raise chickens and goats. We also grow vegetables to use throughout the year. For the past 5 years, I've been immersed in the world of Special Education, working in both California and Connecticut. Currently, I am coming from the ABA position at Center School to the STARS position at the Middle School. I am looking forward to the new program and a wonderful 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.

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