Cheetah Pride Press

Joey & Andrea

Families,

We hope everyone enjoyed the extended holiday weekend. You must have had fun, because our cheetahs all returned to Memorial looking refreshed and ready to learn! Today, we celebrated the hard work of our Kindergarten learners during a Super Readers parade. Our young students have spent the past six months growing their reading muscles, and they were proud to share all that they’ve learned about what strong readers do!

Next week, we’ll continue to highlight the benefits of reading as we approach Read Across America Day on March 2nd! The week will be filled with spirited reading. Please refer to the spirit week flyer below.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Joey & Andrea

kindergarten students have been working hard on using their super reader POWERS (Strategies). Today we had our annual Super Reader Parade to celebrate earning their super reading powers.

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 Kareem!
His teacher is Mrs. Haydu.
He is special because he plays soccer.
Soccer is his favorite sport.
He wanted to be on cheetah council because he thought it would be fun.
He loves school because he loves math.

Last month, we shared how teachers are incorporating vocabulary through Interactive Read Alouds in the classroom. We also provided you with some helpful tips for doing an Interactive Read Aloud at home. This month, we will provide you with tips for introducing new words to your learner at home!

1. First, provide a simple, kid-friendly definition for the new word: Enormous means that something is really, really big.

2. Second, provide a simple, kid-friendly example that makes sense within their daily life: Remember that really big watermelon we got at the grocery store? That was an enormous watermelon!

3. Third, encourage your child to develop their own example: What enormous thing can you think of? Can you think of something really big that you saw today? That’s right! The bulldozer near the park was enormous! Those tires were huge.

4. Last, keep your new words active within your house. Over the next few days and weeks, take advantage of opportunities to use each new vocabulary word in conversation.

To read the full article, click on the link below.

Building Your Child's Vocabulary

As part of our ongoing commitment to fostering a supportive and inclusive learning environment, we are pleased to invite you to a Parent Informational Meeting on Special Education.

Date: March 11, 2024

Time: 5:30 pm

Location: Town Hall, Room 117

During this meeting, we will cover various aspects of our support services and special education programs, including:

• An overview of student services and the special education services offered at our schools.
• The Individualized Education Plan (IEP) process.
• Common special education disability categories.
• Section 504 of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• The importance of reevaluations.
• Strategies for supporting your child's educational journey.
• Resources available to parents within the special education community.

This meeting aims to provide valuable insights into how we work together to ensure the success and well-being of every student. Your participation and engagement are crucial as we strive to create a collaborative and supportive partnership between parents and educators.

We look forward to your attendance and encourage you to reach out if you have any preliminary questions or specific topics you would like us to address during this or any future meetings.

Thank you for your continued support in creating an inclusive educational experience for all students.

2/26-3/2- Read Across America Week- Spirit Days

2/26- PTO Meeting, Center School at 5:30pm

March- Music In Our Schools Month

3/1- Volunteer Appreciation Day

3/1 Cheetah Pride Assembly- "Wear You favorite comfy clothes"

3/1-3/7- Book Fair

3/5- Progress Reports go home

3/6-3/7- Parent/Teacher Conferences

3/8- Professional Learning Day For Staff - No School for students

East Hampton’s Memorial School PRE-K is looking for trucks or vehicles that you are willing to bring to TOUCH-a-TRUCK on Saturday March 16th from 10am-1pm at Memorial School.

If you are interested, 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.

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