Cheetah Pride Press!

Dear Families,

This week was full of Read Across America festivities, and the week ahead will be just as busy! Progress reports will be sent home in backpacks on Tuesday, and we are looking forward to welcoming you into Memorial School for family conferences on Wednesday and Thursday. We are so proud of our learners’ growth, and we can’t wait to share it with you! As a reminder, we will be operating on an early release schedule both days. Dismissal will begin at 1:10. The book fair will be open during conferences, and you are welcome to shop while you’re here. On Friday, there will be no school for students, as it is a professional learning day for staff.

Classroom Tidbits:

Preschool- writers worked on forming the letter "R, " specifically how to form it and write it. They completed R books, drew R pictures, and glued rice down into their portfolios.

Kindergarten-- writers are creating All About Books that give readers more information.

Grade 1- writers continued to plan and write chapters in their non-fiction books.

Grade 2- . writers drafted their first lab reports about experiments they might do in the future.

Grade 3- writers finalized their persuasive letters. Hopefully you have been given these letters and, if the children did their jobs, you are welcoming new pets into your home, planning vacations, purchasing new video games and responding to many other requests that were made.

With appreciation for your partnership,

Joey & Andrea

Happy Volunteer Appreciation Day! This group of volunteers, along with MANY others, do so much for Memorial School. We showered our volunteers with student created cards, breakfast, and a small token of our appreciation! Thank you! Thank you! You are so appreciated!

CONGRATULATIONS TO 3rd GRADER, ELLA PLOSZAY. I HAVE SELECTED HER FOR THE “CONNECTICUT ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOLS VISUAL ARTIST RECOGNITION AWARD” Ella will be celebrated, along with a musical artist during the next Board of Education meeting! We are so proud of your accomplishments, creativity, hard work, and citizenship, Ella!!!

Congratulations To the Artist of the Months for January & February

JANUARY

EMILY JOHNSON

NELSON SEAMAN

JACOBY HINDS

NATALIE KELLOGG

ALEXANDRA SMITH

FEBRUARY

REYGAN DRZATA

MARK HASLAM

LYDIA REIS

IVY CASELLI

SAVANNAH RUSSO

(these recipients have not all been photographed yet)

Here are the classroom expectations from the past few weeks in the art room

PREK “Smart Start” students collaborated in teams, along with Mrs. Gibson and Mrs. Vining, to make life sized Emperor Penguins during their “Arctic Celebration”! We installed them as a “Penguin Encounter” outside of the main entrance at Memorial School, and included many facts that we found interesting, all about Emperor Penguins! “Please, do NOT feed the penguins!”

PRESCHOOL AND KINDERGARTEN:

PREK and Kindergarten students completed their glazing of their clay “snowmen”! They loved seeing the sequence of creating art with CLAY!

First, next, then and finally!!!! First, they used soft clay to build their sculptures. Next, they dried and fired. Then we glazed them, and they were fired again. Finally we GET TO TAKE THEM HOME!!!

FIRST GRADE:

First Grade students created beautiful wintery paintings, inspired by the book, “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats, and then added marker detail to their dried paintings. Their snowy day artworks were so detailed and creative, really making us appreciate how fun a snow day can be!

Then students in 1st grade began their new unit, CLAY ANIMAL SCULPTURES! We began this unit with RESEARCH! The first grade teachers and I are collaborating to research the animal of each student’s choice. We have discovered a WIDE variety of animals while doing our research and can’t wait to learn more about them. We compiled a list, and researched images of each animal in order to learn the artistic details of each animal. What shape are they? Are they long, short, round, pointy, etc? Do they have tails? Wings? Etc. Then they sketched their animals from multiple angles. We have just began the process of learning how to build them with clay. We can’t wait to share more about our progress in the next Cheetah Pride Press!

SECOND GRADE:

Second graders have been working extremely hard on completing their mosaic designs. We learned about the Byzantine Lion Mosaic, and how there are clay mosaics all along the hallways of Memorial School! We did an amazing job piecing together our tiles, and problem solving how to fill them in! This took a lot of time and perseverance! I a

Third graders have finished their construction of their ABSTRACT name designs. Their works of art are so interesting, three dimensional, and COLORFUL! We worked so hard to transform the 2D letters of our names into 3D abstract art! We planned different ways to change flat paper into 3D paper: fold, twist, bend, tab, slot, overlap, pleat, and curl were a few strategies that really helped us as we constructed all of our letters!

We have also moved into a new art unit, CLAY COIL POTS!!! 3rd Grade students have begun by experimenting with forming clay into various coil shapes. We will culminate this unit by constructing a FUNCTIONAL or DECORATIVE COIL POT, entirely made of clay!!! We are beyond excited!!

The East Hampton Public Schools is deeply committed to providing our students with the best education possible in order for each student to be fully prepared for every level of schooling and ultimately for college and/or career. As we provide that high quality education, it is essential that our parents have information regarding educational programming. In the 2022-2023 school year, we anticipate a change to our core math resource at the K-5 level.

The last time the East Hampton Public Schools conducted a review of its core math resource was the 2015-2016 school year. At that time, our core math resource GO Math! was selected for implementation in our elementary classrooms. Your learner has worked with this program since they started school. The GO Math! Program, however, is being reissued by its publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The next version of the program is called Into Math. The transition of an elementary math program in our school district is something we consider very important and worthy of rigorous review. Rather than simply accept a revised version of the product, the East Hampton Public Schools is taking this opportunity to conduct a pilot of math materials.

It is critical that we pilot math materials in our classrooms in order to review the curriculum resources carefully, provide our own teachers the opportunity to assess the tool, and to observe our students’ comfort with the program design. Our pilot programs include Into Math, Bridges in Mathematics, and Illustrative Mathematics. Ultimately, our teachers provide instruction aligned to the Connecticut Core Standards in Mathematics as adopted by the State Board of Education. These resources are a tool to assist them in that process. Each child’s mathematics instruction is aligned to their grade level standards which is consistent across the grade level.

As we research math programming for the East Hampton Public Schools we will focus on instructional materials that meet the needs of our students and that represent best practices in mathematics instruction. We will analyze student performance data, teacher observations, and feedback from students to inform our decision-making process.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact me to discuss them.

We will be having an in-person art show at East Hampton High School on Wednesday, March 30th, from 5:30-7:00pm

Over the next couple of weeks, you will receive a ParentSquare message from me if your child’s artwork has been selected to be put on display. Please note that due to space limitations, not all students will have a work of art in this art show.

All are welcome and invited to attend,view and celebrate the amazing student artworks from our whole district, K-12!

We hope to see you there!

Sincerely, Mrs. Vining:)

Do you have a vehicle or work for a company that has a cool truck or car?

Would you be willing to volunteer at Touch a Truck at Memorial school from 10am-1pm on March 27th?

If so please contact Stacey Gibson at sgibson@easthamptonct.org

We would love the support of the community for this event.

TOUCH-A-TRUCK will be for the whole community of East Hampton to have a hands-on interactive experience with a variety of vehicles parked in Memorial school’s parking lot.

Donations to attend support PreK experiences at Memorial school.

2022-2023 Kindergarten Registration packets will be available at the Memorial School foyer and at the East Hampton Public Library starting Tuesday March 1st.

To secure a screening appointment for your child, we ask that you please return all completed registration paperwork to the Memorial School Office or drop box in the foyer by Thursday, March 31st.

Kindergarten screening will be held 9am -2pm on May 9th, 10th and 11th.

Dear parents/guardians,

If your child is experiencing any of the following symptoms, please keep them home for at least 24 hours (without use of pain relieving medication) before returning to school:

fever (temperature of 100.4 or higher)

sore throat

diarrhea

vomiting/nausea

uncontrolled cough

loss of taste or smell

poor appetite/lethargy

pink eye

Also, Please bring in a spare change of clothing (shirt, pants and underwear) for your child to keep at school in the case of an accident or a spill. We have a very limited selection of bottoms in the nurse office. If anyone has gently used boys sweatpants or girls leggings size 6 and up to donate to the nurse office that would be greatly appreciated.

Please reach out with any questions or concerns!

Thank you,

Nurse Katie and Miss Michelle

School Nurse

Memorial Elementary School

20 Smith Street

East Hampton, CT 06424

Phone 860-365-4020 / Fax 860-365-4024

kwilliams@easthamptonct.org / https://www.easthamptonps.org/o/memorial-school

Pease review Mr. Smith's communication HERE

Next week, teachers will be discussing the upcoming changes to our mask policy with students. These discussions will focus on how each family’s situation and needs differ. Students will be reminded that no one’s choice to mask or unmask will be judged; and there will be no tolerance for criticizing anyone’s personal choice.

3/4-3/10- Book Fair

3/7-3/11 National School Breakfast week

3/9- Half Day & Conferences

3/10- Half Day & Night Conference until 7:00pm

3/11- No School Professional Development Day For Staff

3/13- Daylight Savings Time

3/14- BOE Meeting at 6:30pm

3/21- World Down Syndrome Day

3/25- Early Release Day for Professional Development

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.

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: 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