The Pulse of the Pride

Lyme School Friends,

We have had a great two weeks since our last newsletter! Students have been engaged and active in and out of the classrooms. This can be a difficult time of year for students as we are nearing the end of the stretch between February Break and April Break. At school, we stick to our routines, stay positive, and encourage a strong finish right through our April Break two weeks from now.

It was nice to see so many families at the Artist in Residence (AIR) Concert. I know many students enjoyed this event. Mr. Summerfield spent time with each class both in the art room and in the gym to create what was seen last Monday. We would like to thank the PTO for supporting this activity for the students.

We have seen a lot of parents/guardians in and out of the school for parent/teacher conferences. You should have also received report cards for the second trimester on Wednesday the 20th via email. If you have questions, please reach out to teacher. (We did have a glitch and that explanation is in the ALMA section below. Thanks for your patience as we still get used to our new system.) Thank you for taking the time to come in and visit and check-in with the teachers. We are always happy to share how your children are doing at school.

We will be sending home a couple of surveys in the next newsletter to collect feedback on how Parent/Teacher Conferences and Communication are going for you. The middle school tried a different way to do conferences this time and we are specifically looking for feedback on those differences. We are also interested in how we are communicating with you as a school and directly from the classrooms and middle school team. Please look for the survey in the next newsletter.

I guess we need to keep the shovels out a little longer. Our facilities team is planning to be in early Monday morning to clear the snow for school. Like usual, you will hear by 5:30 AM if we need to delay or cancel school.

The next newsletter will hit your inbox on April 5th as we head into the April Break!

Regards,

John P. D'Entremont, Principal

Dates:

March 22nd - School Closed/Conferences

April 8th - 12th - April Break - School Closed

May 27th - School Closed

If you are having trouble, please reach out to Amanda Perry or John D'Entremont.

So far, you should have:

1. Gotten yourself logged in.
2. Received an emergency alert.
3. Double checked your contact information.
4. Completed ALMA Start Registration for this year.
5. Been given instructions to opt in to the Directory. [To opt in to the directory, you can click on the link for “my info” or get there through your profile icon in the top-right corner. You can toggle your visibility in the directory.]
6. Received preliminary information about the standards based report cards.
7. Received a first trimester report card via email on December 4th.
8. Received a second trimester report card via email on March 20th.

Second trimester report cards were published and emailed on March 20th. We did have a bit of a glitch and not all report cards ended up emailed at the same time. That was fixed. We also had an issue with not all standards getting to the report card specifically with Design Lab. That also was fixed. Report cards are published to the ALMA portal and you can see them by logging in any time. Please let us know if you have questions.

If you have an incoming Kindergartner for next school year, please reach out to Amanda Perry in the office. Your child must turn 5 by September 30, 2024 to be eligible.

The Lyme School Apparel Store has a variety of apparel and accessories all customizable with a variety of school logos. The Lyme School PTO earns 12% of all sales. Thank you for supporting our school and go Lions! #LYMESCHOOLROCKS

This 2024 Solar Eclipse Webpage provides a list of resources, educational materials and events for teachers and parents regarding this rare and exciting learning opportunity on April 8. We received our solar eclipse glasses and these will be coming home some time next week with your students. Every student will be bringing a pair home!

Please know that Judy Russell has informed us that the library will also have some glasses if someone else in your household needs a pair!

For any parents interested in summer school programming with a focus on academics (reading, writing, math), please complete the attached Google Form. The plan is to run summer programming from July 8th-August 1st, 4 days a week (Monday - Thursday) from 8:00 AM - noon.

The district has Title 1 Grant money available which allows us to open programming to more students who qualify based on district-level and statewide testing results. The school team will be meeting this Tuesday (March 12th) to compile the list and we will send a letter to parents/guardians by the end of the week.

Whether your child has an IEP, 504 plan, receives intervention or you simply believe they would benefit from summer programming, please complete the form attached and I will reach out to you within a week to discuss the programming and answer any questions you may have.

For any students who require special education services during the summer (like Speech and Occupational Therapy, individual academic work), case managers will schedule meetings to discuss these needs and the team will set up sessions as needed.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email or call at your convenience (gtomlinson@lymeschool.org, 603-795-2125 ext. 106).

Kati Miller RN BSN: Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri

Matthew Greenway RN BSN: alternating Weds and coverage as needed

Celeste McCool RN BSN: alternating Weds and coverage as needed

As of March, 1 2024 The Center for Disease Control and Prevention updated guidance to provide "practical recommendations and information to help people lower risk from a range of common respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19, flu and RSV."

These recommendations are Core Prevention Strategies that we can all take to protect one another and help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses. These strategies focus on the following:

We follow these guidelines. Please review the following links from the CDC for more information and reach out to me with any questions/concerns.

Thank you for your efforts in keeping our Lyme School students, staff, and families healthy.

Preventing Spread of Respiratory Viruses When You’re Sick

Testing and Respiratory Viruses

Masks and Respiratory Viruses Prevention

CHIMP BRAIN

Hello Lyme School Families!

One of my FAVORITE units to teach is Self-Control. Second-graders traveled into the human brain to learn about our limbic system (older part - emotions, impulses, survival response) and our prefrontal cortex (newer more evolved part - logical, thinking, reasoning). To simplify and make it more fun, we call these our CHIMP Brain and PROFESSOR Brain, respectively. These are both awesome parts of our brain and we need BOTH of them! At times, one part may be more in the driver’s seat at the steering wheel of our brain than the other, but we really need them to work together. It’s not about eliminating or “caging” the CHIMP Brain, but slowing it down so maybe the PROFESSOR Brain can get some ideas in so our whole brain can make the best choice - putting a “leash” on it as one second grader so eloquently offered. If we didn’t have our CHIMP Brain, we wouldn’t have any emotions (positive or negative), ability to make memories, or be able to quickly respond to danger for survival. We learned about our STAR (STOP<THINK<ACT<REFLECT) POWER which helps us to calm our CHIMP Brain and tap into our PROFESSOR Brain. Students shared and learned about calming strategies to help get back into the green zone so they can recruit the PROFESSOR brain to figure out the best next choice and reflect on their choice.
Kids came up with fantastic scenarios and skits to demonstrate the CHIMP Brain desire/reactions and the PROFESSOR Brain using “STAR Power”.

We had our final lesson where students participated in the “Marshmallow Challenge”, a test from Stanford University that placed a marshmallow in front of students saying that they could eat it now, or, wait a certain amount of time and receive an additional marshmallow as a reward for waiting. This was a way for researchers to observe students’ ability to delay gratification. We talked about strategies we might use to relax our CHIMP Brain (it might tell us to EAT the marshmallow)I am SO proud to announce that EVERY student in Ms. Gannon’s and Ms. Thayer’s 2nd-grade class, employing their self-control strategies, were able to resist the temptation and wait a whole five minutes with a marshmallow/alternative reward sitting in front of them. They each earned a 2nd marshmallow/reward and had some fun watching this video of a magician and other students doing a slightly different marshmallow challenge with some magic thrown in… ENJOY! Great job, second graders - we’ll keep referencing these parts of our brain throughout our time at Lyme School together!

What is a 504?

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a federal civil rights law that protects students from disability discrimination in any public, private, or religious school that receives federal funding. Students of all ages with disabilities who may need accommodation, modifications, or school services to participate fully and have equal access to school. A 504 plan might be appropriate for students who do not qualify for an Individual Education Plan (IEP) may qualify for a 504 plan.

What does a 504 contain?

A 504 plan is most often a short document that identifies the student’s disability, the services and supports needed, and the accommodations needed for equal access to the curriculum.

Who qualifies for a 504?

Students may qualify for a 504 plan if they have a physical or mental disability significantly limiting a major life activity, such as walking, talking, learning, reading, or concentrating.

What are accommodations?

Accommodations are supports that help students access the classroom curriculum. Students learn the same material as their peers and meet the same expectations, and accommodations correspond to the student's disability. Some examples of accommodations are preferred seating, extra time on homework, classwork, and/or tests, or access to a word bank.

What are modifications?

Modifications are changes to the curriculum or the output expected from the student. Students may not learn the same material as their peers. Some examples of modifications are reducing the number of problems a student must complete, using multiple-choice questions instead of essay questions, or projects instead of written work.

What are school services?

School services include access to the School Counselor or Student Success Coordinator. Some examples are a scheduled time to meet with the School Counselor to understand and manage anxiety, access to the Student Success Coordinator to review a positive behavior support plan, and access to a lunch or snack group to practice skills in a small group setting.

If you have questions or want more information please contact Geoff Tomlinson (gtomlinson@lymeschool.org), Director of Student Services, or Connie Balch (cbalch@lymeschool.org), Student Success Coordinator.

Adapted from: https://www.education.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt326/files/inline-documents/sonh/model-process-for-504-plan-development.pdf

https://drcnh.org/education/section-504/

March 22, 2024

The first graders each recorded themselves reading their ‘what the sun “sees”’ poem and shared them on this Buncee board. Their handwritten poems and watercolor paintings they completed with Ms. Cushman are on display outside the first grade classroom.

Some new pathfinders have been shared with first and second grade students to support their classroom research:

The second grade students are now comfortable navigating to the pathfinder in google classroom, and accessing all the resources linked. First graders are working on navigating to Google Classroom, and can easily access PebbleGo and Epic! They have been introduced to Gale as a research tool as well.

Shifting to BOOKS:

MANY new titles have been added to the collection and are available for check out from the Library Commons. Here are just a few of the new titles in junior collection:

Remember that grades 4-8 have the opportunity to read and vote for the Great Stone Face book award and the Isinglass Teen Book Award. There are still a few weeks left to read some more titles before the vote!

On our March 12 inservice day, our teachers worked on revising middle school curriculum, discussing lower school reading and math data , and preparing for report cards and parent conferences. Our specialists had some time dedicated to planning the spring musical performance that involves all of our middle school students.

K-5 teachers looked at our student spelling data with Jen Wilcox, our reading support teacher, and discussed how our new reading program introduces and reinforces grade level spelling patterns. Teachers also shared how they are able to provide targeted spelling review for students in the regular classroom setting. Most often, teachers are working with students in small groups to review a spelling skill and then work through a guided practice with the students.

K-2 teachers also looked at the middle of the year spelling (encoding) assessment results and regrouped their students for reading groups according to the current skill levels of their students. In our EL reading program, spelling (encoding) assessments tell us what spelling patterns have been internalized by our students. Often we have students who can read better than they can spell. Regularly assessing and teaching the encoding skills help develop stronger decoding and fluency skills.

We like to thank the PTO again for the generous support for our inservice breakfast and lunch treats!

Congratulations to this year’s 5th grade floor hockey tournament champions!

This week in PE, fourth graders took part in a game of “Fitnopoly”. This fun activity resembles the game Monopoly with the exception of the playing board being completely centered around landing on spaces that list fitness activities to participate in. Once the die is rolled, students advance the number of spaces indicated on the die, flip over a poly spot, where they find a fitness activity. These activities include running laps, jump roping, performing a wall sit, a plank hold, sit ups, bleacher dips, agility jumps or push ups while music plays. When the music stops, students return to the poly spot they just left, the die is rolled, and the game continues.

This is a highly active and engaging game that has some nice “ teacher freebie” wild cards that allow students to either rest or perform an activity of their choice. Fitness should be fun and our fourth graders sure do make it look that way!

Students in the primary grades have been building upon their eye-hand coordination skills. Using balloons, which are light and come down slowly, students use the “pads” of their fingertips to “pop” the ball into the air and let it come down slowly as they ready themselves to repeat the pattern of the skill. A slow moving balloon readies the brain to hold the skill into memory so that those repetitions become easier with practice .

We use a lot of skill cues in physical education. Skill cues are words that help us remember the skill and then have it imprinted into memory to help with motor planning and manipulative skill work. “Eye, pads, up” were the words used to help students learn how to use their eyes and hands as a team and keep the balloon they were using in the air .

On Monday, our Artist in Residence came to a cacophonous conclusion as the K-8 students put on a show stopping performance led by Toby Summerfield. Summarizing the journey Toby sought to embark on with students is as such:

For this Artist-In-Residence Toby took the role of composer. His compositional voice is not for a generic performer- say “any string quartet”- but for specific musicians he has a collaborative history with. It’s not just “violin 1” in the score, it’s “Dina, Violin.” Compositional decisions are made based on longstanding musical friendships and conversations. In working with the students of the Lyme School Toby sought to reach the kids as collaborators, too, trying to find shared interests and language. In the interest of being inclusive with the whole student body he introduced the students to Graphic Notation, starting in the art room with his guitar. Graphic Notation came to western music in the mid 20th century as a way for composers to include shapes, colors and gestures outside what can be expressed in standard musical notation. This can be a very intuitive way for people to express and understand musical ideas, whether they can read standard notation or not. And there’s often not one “right” way to understand the score. This can give a performer more room to be themselves in the music. The piece on Monday was the result of two weeks of playing with, teaching and learning from the students at Lyme. Elements in the score reflect ideas developed hand in hand with the students.

4th grade: Students began their ukulele unit last week and have been energetically tackling the new instrument. They look forward to making their debut on the May 1st concert!

5th grade: Students worked in secret to prepare Happy Birthday for Ms. Burns. The surprise went off without a hitch and all were thrilled with the event!

Middle School: We have gone head first into preparations for the musical. Beyond the actors themselves, students are working on the set, staging, as well as T-shirts posters and more! Put May 3rd and 4th in your calendars for our presentation of Madagascar Jr.!

The company cast list is live for our Middle School Musical! Special shout out to all those who auditioned to be a part of the Main Cast. We're looking forward to everyone on and off stage playing their part and helping to create an amazing show this May!

Madagascar Full Company Cast List
Show dates: Friday May 3rd and Saturday May 4th

Set Design and Stage Crew are hard at work building and painting the sets for this year’s play. During middle school elective block, these students are learning the play and working collaboratively to understand how to visually communicate the story. We are painting BIG, stepping back and taking measure, and enjoying some solid progress! I appreciate that this group is connected to the story, thoughtful about how much time we have, and willing to pitch in wherever there is a need… from building props, painting huge blue skies, designing costumes, or organizing and cleaning up!

The Upper Valley High School Trails Corps is happening this Summer for high school age students (14-18)! Participants will join the UVTA staff on local trails to learn about trail building, conservation and trail stewardship by working with professional trail builders.

If you're looking for an awesome, educational-outdoor opportunity for the Summer (that also looks great on a college application) this is the program for them!

Click HERE to learn more about the program and apply!

Visit uvtrails.org to learn more about the Upper Valley Trails Alliance.

OUR VALUES

● Fairness ● Acceptance of Others ● Integrity ● Responsibility

● Perseverance ● Individuality ● Compassion ● Courage

John P. D'Entremont, Principal

Elise Foxall, Academic Director

Geoff Tomlinson, Student Services Director