Memorial Update

January 30, 2022

Scenes from The Great Kindness Challenge 2023

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February 6, 2023

Good Morning Memorial Families,

Last week we celebrated the Great Kindness Challenge. Throughout the week, students and staff engaged in acts of kindness, listened to stories of kindness, and dressed festively to promote kindness in our school. While this is always one of my most favorite weeks of the school year, kindness is not reserved for just this one week. It is important that we are promoting kindness in all that we do. Through our RISE acronym, we are able to connect kindness to each of the words, and when I have to speak with children for unexpected behaviors, I always lead with the question, "Was what you did kind?". Even if the child has an excuse for the behavior, asking that question forces the reflection on their own actions. I believe strongly that if we explicitly teach our children to be kind to others by modeling how to do that, we will see fewer instances of unexpected behavior in our children.

We will be celebrating the 100th day of school this week. It is so exciting to see all that our children have learned and how much that they have grown in those 100 days. One area that I am hoping that we can continue to work on in the coming months is socially appropriate interactions between our students on the bus, at recess, and at lunch. We will be taking some time after vacation to review, model, and practice our expectations in all of these environments and we will be introducing some new routines at recess. I am grateful to the PTO for supplying us with new equipment for the playground and we will be teaching how and where the materials can be used. Part of learning in elementary school is learning how to navigate situations that are unpleasant or uncomfortable. We have definitely seen an uptick in children using their hands and bodies to respond to unpleasant situations, and so we will continue to work with all grades to teach children what words they can use instead of becoming physical. I am attaching the RISE matrix below so that our families can review expectations for recess, lunch and the bus. We appreciate the partnership in helping all of our students succeed socially in school.

On Thursday across the Mendon Upton Regional School District, students will be engaging in an Inspired Learning Day Design Challenge. At Memorial, we will be learning about the MURSD Portrait of a Learner Competencies and will connect those to things that we do at the elementary level. For the final hour of the day, our students will work in their family groups to design a zip line to get JiJi the penguin across a canyon. We will share out the designs that are developed on social media and in the newsletter next week.

Have a wonderful week!

Warmly,

Lauren and Wendy

Kids Heart Challenge: Week 5 Update

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Hello Memorial Families! I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to our students and families for all your efforts to be heart healthy and for going above and beyond to support the American Heart Association. Your willingness to help others makes you true Heart Heroes! Did you know that doing something nice for others not only helps you feel good…it keeps your heart healthy too! Thank you for your kind hearts. There is still time to sign up for the Kids Heart Challenge. Please scan our school QR code if you would like to participate.

*Kindness Coloring Page: https://www2.heart.org/site/DocServer/FY23_KHC_Coloring_Book.pdf