Bellringer Newsletter

Good morning. I hope everyone had a restful and relaxing vacation this past week. Please continue to check the Important Dates and Reminders section of the Bellringer Newsletter for a schedule of upcoming events. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at everner@easthamptonct.org.

Congratulations to the Class of 2024 Valedictorian, Salutatorian, and Class Essayist

Valedictorian – Lauren Johnson

Salutatorian – Riley Flatley

Class Essayist--Delaney Russell

This week marks the final stretch of the school year and we will begin the week with a Week of Kindness sponsored by the Lions Club and the East Hampton Board of Education. We have a week full of events centered around kindness towards others and the community.

The Week of Kindness will culminate with grade level assemblies run by Empower Leadership. Empower Leadership CT delivers uplifting adventures and team building experiences inspiring group cohesion and personal development. For more information, check out https://leadwithempower.com/ct/youth/

Join us in recognizing our military-connected children this April during the Month of the Military Child (MOMC). The life of a military kid is a blend of unique adventures and challenges. It’s important to keep in mind that they serve our country too, as part of a military family… not just in April, but all year long.

On Friday, wear purple to celebrate military kids! Purple references the joint environment of the military, encompassing all service branches, Active Duty, Reserve, National Guard, and Veterans. Purple combines each branch’s colors into one: the Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard all use shades of blue, the Army uses green, and the Marines use red. MOMC celebrates Purple Up this year on April 19th.

Graduation for the Class of 2024 will be held on Friday, June 14, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. with a Rain Date of Saturday, June 15, 2024 at 10:00 a.m.

Fall Sports for the 2024-25 School Year begin on August 19, 2024.

• April 18---21--Music Department Trip to Virginia Beach
  
• April 23--NGSS Testing---11th Grade Students
• April 25---NHS Induction Ceremony-5:30
• May 16--EHHS Academic Awards Ceremony--6:00
• May 18--EHHS Jr.--Sr. Prom--Farmington Club
• May 21--NHS Talent Show--6:30
• May 24--Early Dismissal--Professional Development
• May 27--Memorial Day--No School
• May 30--EHHS Spring Concert
• May 31--Senior Class Trip---Six Flags
• May 31--Sophomore Class Trip--Holiday Hill

Seniors, Abby Daley, and Riley Flatley ran the Red Cross Blood drive at EHHS. This allowed students and staff to donate blood, which benefits our community as a whole. They collected 20 pints of blood, had 40 people volunteer, raffled off prizes, and raised $180 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Societies.

Makayla Wolf is very passionate about her capstone project, which involved shadowing in her younger brother's kindergarten class and learning about how teachers help students who have ADHD. What a great way to show both active learning and compassion for helping others!

Varsity Baseball defeated Cromwell 14-3, was defeated by Morgan 2-8 and was defeated by H-K 2-8. They are scheduled to play on Tuesday at home vs Old Saybrook and at Portland on Thursday. Their current record is 1-3.

Junior Varsity Baseball defeated Morgan 12-9 and defeated H-K 16-3. They are scheduled to play at home on Friday vs Portland. Their current season record is 2-0.

Varsity Softball defeated Cromwell 12-5 and was defeated by HK 0-15. They are scheduled to play at home vs Morgan on Monday and at Portland on Wednesday. Their current season record is 1-2.

Varsity Golf has not played yet. They are scheduled to play at home vs Portland on Monday, at home vs Hale-Ray on Tuesday and at Windham on Wednesday. Their current season record is 0-0.

Varsity Boys Tennis did not play last week. They are scheduled to play at Valley Regional on Tuesday, at Cromwell on Wednesday and at Westbrook on Friday. Their current season record is 0-1.

Varsity Girls Tennis did not play last week. They are scheduled to play at Valley Regional on Tuesday, at Cromwell on Wednesday and at North Branford on Tuesday. Their current season record is 0-1.

Varsity Girls Lacrosse Co-op did not play last week. They are scheduled to play at home on

Monday vs Stonington, at home vs Montville on Thursday and at home vs NFA on Friday. Their current season record is 0-1.

Varsity Boys Track did not compete last week. They are scheduled to compete on Tuesday vs Cromwell and Morgan at Cromwell and on Saturday at Lyme-Old Lyme.

Varsity Girls Track did not compete last week. They are scheduled to compete on Tuesday vs Cromwell and Morgan at Cromwell and on Saturday at Lyme-Old Lyme.

All athletic schedules, directions and results may be found at ciac.fpsports.org.

Fall Sport for the 2024-25 School Year begin on August 19, 2024.

Bellringer Sideline Store. The store is available 24/7 and ships directly to you.

Please see the link below to grab your Bellringer gear.

https://sideline.bsnsports.com/schools/connecticut/easthampton/east-hampton-high-school

WESLEYAN HIGH SCHOOL SCHOLARS PROGRAM

The Wesleyan University HSSP offers outstanding high school juniors and seniors (for the spring semester; seniors for the fall semester) the opportunity to take one Wesleyan University course per semester for credit, tuition-free. The program enables qualified students to pursue advanced coursework not available at their high school and experience the intellectual rigors and stimulating dialogue that commonly take place in Wesleyan classrooms and is trademark of a Wesleyan liberal arts education. Students who apply to the program are expected to provide their own transportation to and from Wesleyan University and fulfill all requirements of the Wesleyan course they are enrolled in.

To apply, students should have previously completed demanding coursework (AP, IB, Dual Enrollment, or maximum rigor offered by their high school) and have performed at a high level. The Fall semester program is open to rising seniors and the Spring program is open to high school juniors and seniors.

Students wishing to peruse Wesleyan’s full course listing for 2024-2025 can do so here. Double-click on any subject of interest and select “Fall” for a list of related courses being offered during the Fall 2024 semester. Students are asked to carefully consider both the rigor and time constraints of their high school schedule (including extracurricular activities) and apply only if they will be able to attend all Wesleyan classes (including classes that may fall during their high school vacations) and devote the time necessary to complete their Wesleyan course.

We invite interested students to apply for this unique experience by the end of day Tuesday, April 23rd, 2024. In addition to providing basic student and high school counselor contact information, the application requires a short (250 word or less) statement of interest by the student as well the student’s most recent high school transcript and most recent quarterly or term grades. Students may apply and submit their application electronically here.

Decisions will be sent during the 4th week in April by email to the student who applied (with copy to their high school counselor). Students who have been admitted to the program will receive additional information regarding course selection and enrollment at that time.

Please see your school counselor with any questions, and inform your school counselor if you intend on applying for this program so they can submit a transcript on your behalf.

FAFSA COMPLETION HELP FROM CT STATE-MIDDLESEX

CT State - Middlesex, formerly known as Middlesex Community College is offering students and families help with the FAFSA every Friday from 10am until 2pm, no appointment necissary! Please see the attached flier for a QR Code for more information.

School Nutrition Announcements

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

EHHS Project Graduation, what we do and who we are.

Thanks

Cyndi Buchan

Chair, EHHS Project Graduation

@EHHSProjectGraduation

www.EHHSprojectgraduation.com

The EHHS LMC will be open after school until 4:00, Monday--Thursday beginning on Tuesday, September 5th. The LMC will be open for quiet study, reading time, or research opportunities. Please note, on early dissmisal days, the LMC will not be available.

The Profile of the Graduate Portfolio process has begun for the classes of 2025, 2026, and, 2027. Students are developing a Google Site that they will use over the course of their high school career to provide students an opportunity to demonstrate their growth and development of the five attributes in the East Hampton Public Schools: compassion, innovation, perseverance, collaboration, and active learning. This portfolio will display various achievements, projects, and activities over the course of the high school experience that will show attainment of skills, broadening of horizons, and pursuit of passions. Students will reflect on experiences, strengths, and abilities to confidently approach challenges. During XBlock students used a template developed by the Portfolio Committee, wrote a brief autobiography and are crafting their paragraphs explaining their understanding of the core values. By the end of the school year, students will have written about each of the values and uploaded examples of their work. Ultimately, this work will become part of their Senior Capstone beginning with the Class of 2025.

The East Hampton Public Schools is proud to introduce School Based Health Centers in each of our schools. Soon, enrolled students will be able to receive behavioral health services during the school day. The School-Based Health Care (SBHC) staff are licensed health care providers, who are able to deliver behavioral health services to students during the school day. They work in conjunction with the student’s primary care providers to support their social, emotional, and behavioral health care needs. SBHC is proud to serve over 17,000 students throughout Connecticut.

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!

During student drop-off in the moring and pick-up in the afternoon, please refrain from using the Bus Lane. At these times (7:00--7:25 and 2:00--2:25) cars are not allowed in the Bus Lane as vehicles block the busses and present a safety hazard to students. Thank you in advance for your cooperation in keeping our students safe.

Please review the EHHS Attendance Policy and Student Handbook as they contain important information.

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

It is also necessary for a student to be present at least half of the school day for the student to be recorded as present. When a student arrives after the mid-day point or leaves before it, the day cannot be counted for that student. Building principals will share the specific times in their communications with families.

A student is considered to be “in attendance” if present at his/her assigned school, or an activity.

sponsored by the school (e.g., field trip), for at least half of the regular school day.

At East Hampton High School, half of the regular school day arrives at 10:55 a.m. This means that if a student arrives after 10:55, even with a note, the student will be marked Tardy Absent. If a student dismisses prior to 10:55 and does not return to school, the student will be marked Early Dismissal Absent. Please contact the school with any questions regarding our attendance policies.

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 addresses can be used by parents to report and document their approval of an absence:

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.

Students, parents, and community members will 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. Please view the front page of the website at https://www.easthamptonps.org

We are excited to launch our new Bellringer Sideline Store! The store is available 24/7 and ships directly to you!!!

Please see the link below to grab your Bellringer gear

https://sideline.bsnsports.com/schools/connecticut/easthampton/east-hampton-high-school

As a reminder to members of our school community, Board Policy #5145.122 allows the schools to work with the East Hampton Police Department to protect the health and safety of students and staff by conducting sweeps of school property by trained sniffing dogs. Please review the policy and procedures below. Our goal is to ensure that the East Hampton Schools are free of illegal substances. Annually, we provide notice of this policy to our school community. Should a sweep be conducted, parents and the Board of Education will be notified upon completion.

Use of Dogs to Sweep School Property

The Board permits the administration to invite law enforcement agencies to sweep school property with dogs trained for the purpose of detecting the presence of illegal substances, when necessary to protect the health and safety of students, employees or property or to detect the presence of illegal substances or contraband, including alcohol and/or drugs. The use of trained canine sniffing dogs and their associated law enforcement personnel is for the purpose of “alerting” on property only, and is subject to the following:

1. Parents and students shall be notified of this policy through its inclusion in the student/ parent handbook and the Superintendent and Principal or their designees, shall explain the policies and procedures followed in sweeps and searches to students and staff on an annual basis. Once notification has been given to parents and students through the handbook and assembly respectively, the school district will have met its obligation to advertise the sweep and search policy and associated procedure. Additional notices need not be given and actual times or dates of planned sweeps need not be released in advance.

2. The Superintendent or designee shall authorize the sweep. Immediately prior to the sweep, an announcement will be made for students and staff to ‘stay put’ in their classrooms while the sweep is taking place. Representatives from school administration shall accompany dogs and handlers while on school premises.

3. The Board shall be informed by the Superintendent of Schools that a sweep has taken place.

4. Parents shall be informed through the school’s mass communication system by the Superintendent of Schools that a sweep has taken place.

5. All school property which students have access to during the day, such as lockers, classrooms, parking areas and storage areas may be swept.

6. Individuals shall not be subjected to a search by dogs.

a. Dogs shall not be used in rooms occupied by persons except for demonstration purposes. The handler and representative from school administration will always be present with the dogs

b. When used for demonstration purposes, the dog may not sniff any student and/or staff.

7. Only the dog’s official handler will determine what constitutes an alert by the dog. If the dog alerts on a particular item or place, that locker or vehicle will be identified for later search. Upon completion of the sweep, the school administration will then search the identified property in the presence of a witness.

8. Searches that disclose evidence of misconduct shall result in disciplinary consequences in accordance with Board policy and may also result in referral to law enforcement agencies.

Legal Reference: Connecticut General Statutes

Policy adopted: March 15, 2016

10-221 Boards of education to prescribe rules.

New Jersey v T.L.O., 53 U.S.L.W. 4083 (1985)

54-33n Search of school lockers and property

Students who are being dismissed due to illness, MUST FIRST see the School Nurse. Additionally, we ask that parents familiarize themselves with our attendance policy which is in the EHHS Student Handbook. Some of the main policies/procedures that we are mut be followed are listed below:

• EARLY DISMISSALS: A written request (no phone calls) from a parent or guardian must be presented to the main office before school begins so student may obtain an early dismissal slip. Students will wait in the main office for their parent/guardian to call the office and we will send your child out to meet you after they sign-out.
• NURSE DISMISSALS: In case of illness during school, dismissal will be arranged through the school nurse, or in her absence, through the office. Students feeling ill should report directly to the nurse's office. Students should not be texting or calling home when not feeling well.

Please note that having a parent’s written request before the start of the day allows the students name to appear on the Daily Attendance sheet so their teachers will be aware that they may not be in class on that day. This also eliminates the office staff from calling in and disrupting a classroom to dismiss the student. We do realize that there may be occasions when you may need to unexpectedly pick your child up early. In those cases we will call the student down when the parent/guardian arrives to the school.

Students that are dismissed from school will not be allowed to return without appropriate documentation from their visit/provider. In the event that doucmentation is not available, a parent will be required to sign their student into the main office upon return.

1. Dropping off on items--the table to drop off items for students has been moved inside the first set of doors. Parents will be able to drop items of for students, but will no longer be admitted to the main lobby.
2. Appointments--for security reasons, parents and visitors who are requesting to meet with a teacher or administration should call in advance to ensure that the requested party is available to meet rather than show up unannounced.
3. Effective immediately, there is an anonymous tip line to enhance a safe environment in our schools. Students, parents, and community members have access to the front page of the website to report self-concerns, mental health concerns of a friend, or concerns of violence. https://www.easthamptonps.org/

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.

Parents are asked to join our schools and speak to children about marijuana edibles. While legal for purchase by adults in CT, please note that the psychoactive ingredient, THC, is still considered a controlled substance in school.

We have had recent incidents at the High School of students consuming THC gummy candies - with and without knowing what they contain.

The school district treats consumption and distribution of a controlled substance very seriously. Students who ingest or bring gummies to school will face consequences up to and including 10-days of suspension. Those who distribute gummies on school grounds will face consequences up to and including expulsion from school.

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/teen/substance-abuse/Pages/Edible-Marijuana-Dangers.aspx

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: everner@easthamptonct.org
Website: www.easthamptonps.org
Location: 15 North Maple Street, East Hampton, CT, USA
Phone: 860-365-4030
Twitter: @EH_CTPrincipal