Cheetah Pride Press!

Families,

We hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. We know that there are so many exciting events happening around the community! Unfortunately, the season’s festivities are often also accompanied by illness; and Memorial is feeling the effects of a variety of viruses. Please review the “Nurse’s News” section of this week’s Cheetah Pride Press for some important reminders. As we approach the winter break, it’s also a good time to review some of our safety and supervision protocols. See the “We Need Your Help!” section to ensure that our school community remains safe and calm.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Joey & Andrea

Morning Arrival is a very busy time at Memorial School. With so many vehicles coming and going, it is vital that these precautions be taken:

*The school day begins at 8:40. If you arrive with your student AFTER 8:40, you must park your vehicle and walk your student(s) into the building where they will be checked in and given a pass for class. Please DO NOT drop your student in the crosswalk and pull away from the parking lot after 8:40. There are no adults on duty at that time, as they have assumed their roles and responsibilities in their classrooms.

*If you choose to park and walk your student into the building PRIOR to 8:40, you must use the crosswalk. Please do not cross the bus lane between buses. It is very difficult for a bus driver to see individuals who are walking between buses. This is a significant safety issue.

Toys and Trading Cards: Please review the section of our 2023-24 Family Guidebook, titled “Personal Property and Toys:”

*The bringing of Toys and Devices to school by students is discouraged as a preventative measure to eliminate the disruption and distress that may occur as related to the use and/or loss of student’s personal property and toys. Personal property (including games, toys, trading cards) brought to school by students is done so at the student’s risk. Electronics including phones, music devices, and electronic games should not be utilized by students during the school day or on the school bus.

We appreciate your ongoing partnership!

Memorial Models are chosen weekly by their teacher. These students have excelled all week in taking care of themselves, others, and things. The recipients will dine at a VIP table during lunch every Friday!

A PAWsitive office referral is submitted when a staff member recognizes a student who is going above and beyond to exemplify one of our three school rules - taking care of others, taking care of self, & taking care of things.

Meet Izzy Connor

Her teacher is Mrs. Haydu.

She is special because she is different.

One of her favorite things are her friends.

She wanted to be on student council because she loves to help.

She loves school because she loves learning.

​

Ginny Quinn is this week's Order of The Cheetah recipient! She is the Occupational Therapist in our building. Ginny comes in everyday with a smile. She is willing to help any child or staff member. She helps to fosters collegiately in the building.

Please welcome our new Nutrition Director, Kate Caselli. Kate, a local resident with two students enrolled in our elementary schools, is excited to continue the progress in our school cafeterias. She brings experience from leading the nearby Regional Schools at RHAM and additional years in managing prestigious commercial restaurant operations. If you have any questions about meals in our cafeterias, please reach out to Kate at kcaselli@easthamptonct.org.

Important reminders:

School breakfast is a great way for students to start their school day and its FREE to everyone!

Please review your student(s)’s available balance for any lunch purchases at our secure “e-Funds for Schools” portal: https://payments.efundsforschools.com/v3/districts/56523 Funds should be added on an as needed basis to ensure the account balance covers all purchases.

Communications to families about your meal account come directly from the payment portal. Please be alert to these emails and remove from your “junk” status the following addresses:

easthampton@mealmagic.cloud

easthampton@Familyportal.cloud

The eight mathematical practices are standards we use to describe student behaviors, ensure an understanding of math, and focus on developing reasoning and building mathematical communication. As educators, we help students to develop these practices to become effective mathematicians. The eight mathematical practices are as follows:

• MP.1 Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
• MP.2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
• MP.3 Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
• MP.4 Model with mathematics.
• MP.5 Use appropriate tools strategically.
• MP.6 Attend to precision.
• MP.7 Look for and make use of structure.
• MP.8 Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

The Mathematical Practice Cards are a set of four two-sided cards that can be used as a quick reference when working with your mathematician at home. The front of the card introduces a Math Practice Standard in the form of a question and offers some tips for supporting mathematical thinking. The back of each card includes a set of questions that align with the standard. By asking one or two questions each time you work with your child at home, it helps build their confidence and encourages a habit of justifying their reasoning.

Hello Memorial Families! As a quick introduction, I’m Miss Kelpen, the current long-term music sub for the month of December! Below you’ll find what your students have been working on this month!

• PreK students have been enjoying playing and moving to music with scarves, sand blocks, and shakers. They’ve also been trying some pitch exploration with a slide whistle by copying the sound they hear. Our finger story this month has been “Two Little Blackbirds”. Check the music room website for lyrics!
• Kindergarten students have been hard at work practicing their musical opposites like loud and soft, as well as fast and slow, while experiencing movement and singing. Some favorite activities of the month have included conducting in front of their classmates to a song of their choosing, as well as playing and singing “Lucy Locket”.
• First Grade students continued to practice making a “perfect match” when singing.They are expected to demonstrate a steady beat while singing or listening to music at this point in the year. They also learned about the concept of rhythm and contrasted it with steady beat. They learned that tapping the rhythm of the song matches the words while tapping the beat makes hands tap at the same speed through the whole song. Favorite songs and games this month have been “I Sing, You Sing” and “Miss White”.
• Second Grade students have learned a new mystery rhythm that gets two beats, called a half note. They’ve also had plenty of practice repeating solfege patterns, like mi sol la, playing a game called “Poison Pattern”. A favorite activity of the month was Paper Plate Dancing to different songs, like the Can Can, Toreadors March, and Trepak from the Nutcracker, which enforced students’ ability to keep a steady beat to music.
• Third Grade students this month have had a lot of practice with reading and decoding rhythms from different chants and songs, with the favorite being a chant called “Bate Bate”. They have also been learning and practicing their note reading skills on the treble clef in preparation to start recorders in the new year. A favorite activity of the month was Paper Plate Dancing to different songs, like the Can Can, Toreadors March, and Trepak from the Nutcracker, which enforced students’ ability to keep a steady beat to music.
• Please check out the music room website for more information about the music program!

Miss Keplen

Third graders working on writing words with music notation on the treble clef staff.

Dear Families of Memorial Elementary Students,

This is an important update! We are asking for your assistance in helping keep our school healthy and safe. We have been experiencing a surge in stomach bug, coughing, strep throat, pink eye and fevers as well as several covid cases. If your child tests positive for covid or any illness, please inform the nurse office asap as we track all illnesses. Positive covid cases should stay home for 5 days and can return on day 6 as long as it has been 24 hour fever free without medication. It is also encouraged to wear a mask for days 6-10 while at school.

We have also recently had several food items brought in to share in classrooms. Please be aware that non food treats are encouraged. If food items are brought into school for sharing, it needs to be store bought, prepackaged and made in a nut free facility and the school nurse must be notified at least 24 hours in advance.

Please consider the following guidelines, provided by the school nurse, for sending students to school:

Consider keeping your child at home for an extra day of rest and observation if he or she has any of the following symptoms:

• Very stuffy or runny nose and/or cough
• Mild sore throat (no fever, no known exposure to strep)
• Mild headache and/or stomachache
• Fatigue

Definitely keep your child at home for treatment and observation if he or she has any of these symptoms and remember the 24 hour rule:

• Fever (greater than 100 degrees. May return to school after 24 hours of no fever WITHOUT fever reducing medications)
• Vomiting (Even once. Must wait 24 hours after last vomit episode to return to school)
• Diarrhea (Must wait 24 hours after last episode to return to school)
• Chills
• General malaise or feelings of fatigue, discomfort, weakness, and/or muscle aches
• Frequent congested, wet, or croupy cough
• Lots of nasal congestion with frequent blowing of nose
• redness and discharge from one or both eyes

To help prevent the flu and other colds, please remind your child(ren) about good hygiene habits:

• Wash hands frequently
• Do not touch eyes, nose, or mouth
• Cover mouth and nose when sneezing/coughing and then wash hands
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick

Often when a child awakens with vague complaints (the way colds and flu begin) it is wise to observe your child at home for an hour or two before deciding whether or not to bring them to school. Your child should be physically able to participate in all school activities on returning to school. Keeping a sick child at home will minimize the spread of infections and viruses in the classroom. We use our nursing assessment and judgment when students come into the nurse office and make calls home as we deem necessary. Thank you in advance for helping to make this year at school as healthy as possible.

*Please also update emergency contact information! In case of an emergency or in instances where your child needs to be dismissed from school, it is extremely important that we be able to reach someone on the contact list. We have also been having trouble with parent voicemail boxes that are full and we are unable to leave a message.

Please also make sure to have a spare change of seasonally appropriate clothing for your child to keep in their cubbies!!

Remember to notify the nurse's office if your child has been diagnosed with any illness (or injury). The nurse tracks illnesses and will send a note home to the class if there are 2 or more cases in the classroom. If your child has an injury that has activity restrictions, please share with the nurse's office so we are aware and can notify appropriate staff members. We want to keep our students healthy and safe and your cooperation is needed to do so. We appreciate your assistance.

Kindly,

The Health Office Team,

Nurse Katie and Miss Michelle

Please contact your child’s pediatrician first. If unable to be seen, here is a list of

local walk in/urgent care locations if unable to be seen by pediatrician:

CVS Minute Clinic, East Hampton 866-389-2727

ProHealth Extended Hours, Glastonbury 657-5940

Middlesex Health Urgent Care, Middletown 860-358-4170

Colchester Urgent Care 860-531-9749

12/22- TWAS The Night Before Winter Break Day and Early Dismissal

12/23-1/1- Winter Break

1/2- Return From Winter Break

1/4- World Braille Day- Wear Bright Colors!

1/8- BOE Meeting 6:30pm

The East Hampton Board of Education and the school community as a whole promote a secure and productive school climate, conducive to teaching and learning that is free from threat, harassment, and any type of bullying behavior. Therefore it shall be the policy of the Board that bullying and/or teen dating violence committed against a student by another student is prohibited. The Board believes that a school environment in which students feel safe, supported, engaged and helpfully challenged is optimal for learning and healthy development. The Board seeks an environment in which students and adults feel socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically safe; an environment that is free of harassment, intimidation, teen dating violence and bullying. Our website provides links to various policies and reporting forms including our Safe School Climate Plan. Hard copies are also available in our main office. If at any point you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to building administration for further assistance.

When considering the number of absences your student has accrued, keep in mind that a student must be present for 195 minutes in order for the day to count! When bringing your student in late, or signing them out early if they have not been in school for a 195 minutes the day will be recorded as an absence.

Memorial School Attendance email:

memorial_attendance@easthamptonct.org * there is an _ between memorial and attendance!

Students, parents, and community members have access to an anonymous tip line on the front page of the school district website to report self-concerns, mental health concerns of a friend, or concerns of violence. Simply click here or view on the website: https://www.easthamptonps.org/.

Email: jbauer@easthamptonct.org
Website: https://www.easthamptonps.org/o/memorial-school
Location: 20 Smith Street, East Hampton, CT, USA
Phone: 860-365-4020
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ehmemorialschool