Eastport's Fin-Tastic News

Dear Eastport Families,

As the leaves change and the crisp autumn air settles in, it is hard to believe that we are already closing out another fantastic month together. October has been filled with joyful learning, vibrant community gatherings, and incredible growth across all grade levels.

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for our seasonal celebrations this month! A special shout-out goes to our dedicated ETPTO for organizing and hosting a wonderful Fall Festival. Seeing our families, students, and staff come together for games, laughter, and seasonal activities was truly the highlight of the month. Events like these remind us how strong and supportive our school community is. Thank you to all the volunteers and families who contributed their time and energy to make the festival such a resounding success.

At our school, we believe that every student has the capacity to be a leader. As part of our commitment to the Leader in Me framework, our students are currently in the process of applying for school-wide Leadership Roles. Through these positions, students practice responsibility, build confidence, and take active ownership of our school environment. Here are a few key roles our students are applying for this month:

• Bus Leaders: Helping ensure safe, respectful, and orderly transitions to and from school each day.

• Attendance Leaders: Encouraging daily punctuality and keeping track of classroom attendance goals.

• Assembly Leaders: Assisting with setup, greeting guests, and running school-wide gatherings with pride.

• Student Ambassadors: Serving as welcoming guides for new families, visitors, and special school events.

We are so proud of the thoughtful applications and enthusiasm our students have shown throughout this process. Announcements regarding final leadership team assignments will be shared soon!

As the holidays are fast approaching, I would like to make you aware that several local agencies are in the process of organizing holiday assistance programs for Thanksgiving and Christmas. These programs are designed to offer support to families and individuals facing financial strain. If you would like to be connected with these agencies or need additional information regarding general assistance programs please contact Nina Leonard, school social worker at 631-801-3183.

Thank you for your ongoing partnership, dedication, and encouragement. Together, we are creating a nurturing space where every child can learn, grow, and lead.

Best,

Mr. DeKams

Eastport rolled out the red carpet for our Summer Reading Walk of Fame! Students took their turn walking the red carpet as we celebrated their incredible dedication to reading all summer long.

And what an accomplishment… our students logged OVER 93,000 minutes of reading this summer! That’s 93,000+ minutes of imagination, adventure, learning, and great stories!

We are so proud of every student who made reading a part of their summer and helped make this celebration so special.

A huge THANK YOU to our librarian, Mrs. Sorensen, for putting together such a fun and memorable event to celebrate our readers!

Over the last month, Easport celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month, highlighted by our Hispanic Heritage Spirit Week between October 13th and October 16th and daily morning announcements that taught our students about various Hispanic cultures!

Oh, the Places They'll Go!

Our third graders are becoming geography explorers! Using hands-on maps and globes, students are discovering the seven continents, five oceans, and learning how to navigate the world around them. They are practicing their map skills by using a compass rose and identifying cardinal directions, as well as intermediate directions.

Through fun, interactive activities, our young explorers are learning to read maps, follow directions, and locate places around the world. One world, seven continents, five oceans, and SO much to discover. Our third graders are ready for their next adventure!

Quinn Keane is our musician of the month! Quinn is a 4th grade cellist in Ms. Fazio’s orchestra who has went above and beyond so far this year. She always practices, helps others, and has strong musicianship. She is eager to practice at home to sharpen her skills, and come into lessons to show how far she has come. She is always willing to lend others a helping hand, and she truly is a model and leader in 4th grade orchestra. We are so proud of how much progress she has already made, and so excited to watch her grow even more! Congratulations, Quinn!

Students in Ms. Fazio’s General Music class are learning how to bucket drum this year! This month, they played along to their favorite songs, did rhythm challenges, and lots of echoing patterns. They also did drumming solos and played their Poison Pattern game.

This month in P.E., students continued practicing their jump rope skills during each class. Many have progressed to the next level by achieving two consecutive minutes of continuous jumping—an impressive feat!

Throughout October, students also participated in our Thursday Morning Run program. Those who arrived before school earned extra laps on their running cards. A special shout-out to Jax Lozowsky, Brayden Sparks, Ashton Sparks, Matthew Samiento, and Connor Turitto, who each completed 9 laps (2.7 miles) within the time limit. Excellent work!

Additionally, students engaged in indoor and outdoor soccer lessons this month. Soccer offers incredible benefits for our young athletes, including:

• Physical Fitness: Builds strength, stamina, balance, coordination, and flexibility.

• Teamwork: Teaches students to cooperate, share the ball, communicate, and work toward a common goal.

• Confidence: Mastering new skills and contributing to a team helps build self-esteem.

• Social Skills: Encourages friendship, respect, and positive interactions with peers.

Mark Your Calendars!

The National Circus Project will be visiting Eastport Elementary School the week of January 25th–29th. Please save the date for a special evening performance by our 6th-grade students on Friday, January 29th.

This month in art class students got to work with a lot of different mediums and they learned about a couple new artists!

3rd grade practiced their "Beautiful Oops!" We read the book "Beautiful Oops" by Barney Saltzberg and learned how to turn "mistakes" into something even better.

4th grade art focused on Mola artwork, which is a traditional fabric artform that originates from Panama. Students picked a nature theme and practiced their symmetry to create a Mola inspired collage!

5th grade art got to learn about the very unique style of Tim Burton and used their observations to create their own scary self portraits! We looked at Burton's exaggerated facial features, shadows, highlights, and silly expressions.

6th grade art was a bit more technical in their designs. Students were tasked to mix the tertiary colors found on the color wheel, and then cut and assemble shapes to create their own version of the color wheel!

Our students have been busy exploring, creating, and engineering in STEAM! Third graders used Sphero robots to investigate distance, speed, and mass. Fourth graders brought their creativity to life by coding their own sprite worlds in Code.org. Fifth graders put their game design skills to the test by creating original arcade games in Bloxels. Meanwhile, sixth graders used Tinkercad to design and 3D print their very own fidget clickers! Each grade level is building important skills in problem-solving, coding, engineering, and creative thinking. We are so proud of all their amazing STEAM creations!

5th Grade Spanish completed a gallery walk to practice writing with descriptive adjectives as they learned about influential Hispanic figures.

4th Grade students have kicked off the year in their first unit as they begin to explore describing features in Spanish. Students in this activity used this knowledge to help them describe a mystery person to their partner who tried to sketch out what they looked it. Were they blonde or a red-head? Did they have blue or green eyes? Or were they hazel?

Our Makerspace Club students had a fantastic time this month creating, building, designing, and letting their creativity shine! Students worked together, tried new ideas, solved problems, and had fun bringing their imagination to life. We love seeing our young makers take risks, collaborate, and become confident creators!

11/3: Superintendent’s Conference Day (NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS)

11/5: Picture Retake Day

11/10: Veterans Day Breakfast @ 9 A.M.

11/11: Veterans Day (SCHOOLS & OFFICES CLOSED)

11/18: ETPTO Meeting @ TAS 10 A.M.

11/20: ETPTO Dingo @ EES

11/23: 6th Grade Thanksgiving Feast

11/24: Balloons Over Eastport

11/25-11/27: Thanksgiving Recess (SCHOOLS & OFFICES CLOSED)