Cheetah Pride Press

Families,

This quote by MLK, Jr. beautifully aligns to Memorial’s #1 school rule – Take Care of Others. While enjoying this holiday weekend, please take a moment to reflect with your learner on how we can take care of others in our day to day lives. One simple act of kindness can have a ripple effect that goes on to impact many others for days to come.

Thank you for your partnership!

Joey & Andrea

The Memorial School bulletin boards are filled with student work showcasing all the things our learners are WONDERING about.

They earned extra recess at the Seamster Park

This week we recognize Iris Gonzalez. She is a member of our cafeteria staff. She goes above and beyond to help all students to feel comfortable in the cafeteria. Thank you for all that you do at Memorial School!

Congratulations to the East Hampton Public Schools Employees of the the month, Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Lemire. The nursing office at Memorial is very busy this time of year! Katie and Michelle handle each day with a smile.

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.

This is Madelyn

Her teacher is Mrs. Haydu.
She is special because she loves animals.

One of her favorite things is she loves Starbucks.

She wants to be on cheetah council because she loves the meetings.

She loves school because she loves her teacher.

Hello Memorial Families! It has been such a joy to see and hear all of my wonderful Memorial Cheetahs again after maternity leave! All of the hugs and smiles have made it a bit easier to leave my daughter and come to work each day. In music this month, we are working on catching up with one another and reviewing things learned with the music subs.

Classroom Expectations:

Preschool: Students enjoyed exploring with jingle bells. We discovered that different sets of bells made louder or softer sounds, depending on the size and number of bells! We enjoyed playing jingle bell freeze dance, singing a song about a jingle mouse and a jingle dinosaur, and of course singing “Jingle Bells” while shaking bell sets!

Kindergarten: Students spent this month reinforcing skills they had learned so far such as steady beat and describing or performing music that was fast, slow, loud, or soft. Some classes took turns being soldiers and dancers as they moved to “March” from Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite”.

First Grade: Students learned about rhythms this month. They performed the quarter note (“ta”) and eighth notes (“ti-ti”). When they see it, they know that there will be one beat of silence in the music! Before vacation, some first graders had fun moving to the song “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson, taking turns being the horse that pulls classmates in an imaginary sleigh! Other classes took turns being soldiers and dancers as they moved to “March” from Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite”.

Second Grade: This month, students continued to practice their new rhythm (the half note) by reading and writing. Recently, they tried a challenge where they worked as a team to build rhythm patterns out of their bodies, rather than just writing them on paper. For some winter fun, many classes used teamwork to play colorful tuned tubes called Boomwhackers while following a play-along video to play winter songs! We also played Freeze Dance using jingle bells!

Third Grade: Third graders have been reviewing concepts they’ll need for starting the recorder unit! They have demonstrated their expertise and understanding of note names on the treble clef staff and have been practicing using counting to read rhythms. Beginning next week, many classes will finally start to play the recorder! When your student brings it home, please review the recorder handbook to learn about the recorder program and expectations.

Please check out the music room website for more information about the music program. Feel free to reach out at any time by emailing smaldonado@easthamptonct.org.

Mrs. Maldonado

Each year the East Hampton Public Schools administers the i-Ready Diagnostic in Reading and Math in the fall, winter, and spring for grades 1-3 to monitor student growth and performance. The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions to suit your child’s needs. Each item a student receives is based on their answer to the previous question. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier ones. The purpose of this is not to give your child a score or grade but to determine how to best support their learning. These results are reviewed as one data point amongst other assessments, observations and data regarding student performance. The assessment is integrated into your child’s day as part of their academic learning and is paced to ensure that they work on the assessment in small chunks of time. The implementation of this assessment is completed in accordance with Connecticut State Department of Education guidelines. Our mid-year I-Ready assessments will begin on January 9th.

The i-Ready Diagnostic will provide results that help our team identify your child’s strengths and determine next steps for instruction. All students in grades 1-5 will have access to i-Ready Instruction upon completion of the Diagnostic. i-Ready Instruction provides students with lessons based on their individual strengths and areas for growth. These lessons are interactive and provide strategic supports to keep your child engaged as they learn.

What can I do to help?

To help prepare your child for the i-Ready Diagnostic, encourage them to:

• Get a good night’s sleep and eat a full breakfast the day of the assessment.
• Try their best on each question and try not to rush.
• Try not to worry about questions they do not know—remind them that it is expected they will only get about half of the questions correct.
• Be respectful of other students who take longer to finish.

Reflexmath.com is now reflex.explorelearning.com! Connection links and icons from our district devices have been updated to the new website, but please make note of this if your mathematician accesses Reflex or FRAX from a personal device at home.

Happy New Year! Did you resolve to be more on top of your and your child’s health this year? Here’s an easy solution: Sign your child up for School-Based Health Care. Your child’s school works with Community Health Center, Inc.’s School-Based Health Care program to provide health services to your child during the school day. This means they won’t miss as much class and you don’t need to miss work to support their health care needs. Learn more about the services offered at your child’s school and enroll today at SBHC1.com!

1/15- MLK Jr. Day No School

1/22- Magical Monday

1/22- PTO 5:30pm at Memorial

1/22- BOE Meeting 6:30pm

1/23- Grade 3 Halfway Day

1/26- Cheetah Pride Assembly- Wear Your Cheetah Gear

2/6- Tentative 100th Day of School.

These items are waiting to be claimed at the Memorial School Lost and Found. Come and get them!

In celebration of the 100th day of school in early February, grade one students will be collecting the following items for the local food bank. We are hoping to collect 100 items of each! (Please do not send in canned vegetables as the food bank has an abundance of this items and limited storage space).

• Tuna
• Baked beans
• Oatmeal
• Coffee & Tea
• Peanut butter & Jelly
• Pasta & Pasta sauce
• Instance rice & Instant potatoes
• Mac and Cheese
• Soup & Canned meals (ex: Chef-boyardee)
• Snacks

We realize our goal is lofty, but the need in our community is great. If you are able to make a donation, please send it in BEFORE February 1st. Thank you for supporting our loving community here in East Hampton!

Grade One Teachers

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

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