Good afternoon Panther Families,

Happy new year! We have had a great week back from winter recess. We have a lot happening throughout the month of January as you will see throughout this issue. A reminder that quarter two ends on Friday January 20th. If you have any questions or concerns regarding grades, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child's specific teacher. As always, if at any point you would like to set up a parent meeting with your child's team, reach out to the Team Leader to arrange. Team Leaders are listed below:

Team Diamond - Mrs. McCabe

Team Ruby - Mrs. Parsons

Team Emerald - Mrs. Aiken

Team Sapphire - Mr. Storrs

Be on the lookout from Team Leaders who soon will be sending January team newsletters through Parentsquare!

Best,

Christina & Emily

• January 9th - Board of Education Meeting @ Town Hall
• January 9th - Jazz Band
• January 10th - Homework Club
• January 11th - Robotics club
• January 11th - PTO Meeting
• January 12th - EHMS Early Act Club
• January 16th - Martin Luther King Day - No School
• January 18th - Band and Chorus Winter Concert
• January 20th - 2nd Quarter Ends
• January 27th - Early Release for Students at 12:35 - Teacher Professional Development

Each month Team Leaders will share an update on current happenings throughout the team. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to your child's Team Leader. Contact information is within each newsletter.

Below is access to team's December newsletters. Don't forget to check out Team Amethyst's newsletter. This is our specials and P.E. team. Team Leaders will be sending out their December newsletters through Parentsquare.

Enjoy!

We are so proud when our students exemplify our PBIS pillars. Highlighted are the students from this week!

Mrs. Werme and Mrs. Rahusen would like all cast and backstage crew at our first rehearsal on Monday, January 9th. Click on the flyer to the right to access the schedule for the remainder of the year. (Schedule is subject to change) Rehearsals will immediately follow the school day and meet either in the library or music room (students will be made aware of location). Be sure to send your child with a water bottle, pencil, snacks, and their script. If your child has not received a script yet, do not worry it will be handed out on the first day of rehearsal.

We are so excited to get started!

We are looking forward to our band and chorus students performing at our EHMS Winter Concert. Please see the invitation below for specifics!

iReady Diagnostic

Each year the East Hampton Public Schools administers the i-Ready Diagnostic in Reading and Math in the fall, winter, and spring to monitor student growth and performance. The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions to suit your child’s needs. Each item a student receives is based on their answer to the previous question. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier ones. The purpose of this is not to give your child a score or grade but to determine how to best support their learning. These results are reviewed as one data point amongst other assessments, observations and data regarding student performance. The assessment is integrated into your child’s day as part of their academic learning and is paced to ensure that they work on the assessment in small chunks of time. The implementation of this assessment is completed in accordance with Connecticut State Department of Education guidelines. I-Ready will begin on Monday January 9th in all math classes. The i-Ready Diagnostic will provide results that help our team identify your child’s strengths and determine next steps for instruction.

Math and Literacy Intervention Services

The East Hampton Public Schools uses assessment data to measure student growth and skill development in both math and literacy. Through these universal assessments, the reading and math department identifies students who may need additional tiers of support to demonstrate grade level skill attainment. Once our winter assessments are completed, we will review student needs to determine changes to services or groupings of students. The reading and math department communicates directly with families regarding any additional services.

What can I do to help?

To help prepare your child for the i-Ready Diagnostic, encourage them to:

• Get a good night’s sleep and eat a full breakfast the day of the assessment.
• Try their best on each question and try not to rush.
• Try not to worry about questions they do not know—remind them that it is expected they
• will only get about half of the questions correct.
• Be respectful of other students who take longer to finish
• Students should come to school with their earbuds and a fully charged chromebook.

Mrs. Kalisz’s seventh grade students are preparing to write an argument essay on competitive sports. Students have been researching the pros and cons to children playing competitive sports and are preparing to argue their opinion. This year, seven grade students are introduced to counterargument and will learn how to acknowledge, yet diminish the counterclaim. Be sure to ask your seventh grader their opinion on competitive sports for kids!

We're so excited to be ramping up the Ski and Snowboarding Club! If you are interested in joining the Ski and Snowboarding Club please join the Ski and Snowboarding Club Group on Parent Square. All information will be posted on the group page. Thank you!

We will be running things just as we did last year.

• Family members Grades 2 and older will be able to join at the club rates!
• There will be no bus to and from the school; students and their families will be responsible for providing their own transportation. The school will leave it to parent/guardian discretion as to how their child and equipment (which cannot be stored at the school) get to and from the mountain each week.
• Arrive at the mountain at 3:15 PM, depart from the mountain at 7:30 PM

The dates we have booked are:

Thursday, 1/19

Thursday, 1/26

Thursday, 2/16

Thursday, 2/23

Pricing per person for the 4 passes varies depending on which package you choose:

Lift Ticket $140

Lift and Lesson $192

Lift and Rental Equipment $212

Lift, Lesson and Rental Equipment $252

While there are no refunds for missed days, Mount Southington will let you trade your lift ticket in for a different day later this season or the following one.

Team Diamond students were challenged by Mrs. Wosleger to come up with one word that will be a motivator and focus as we begin the new year. Students did a fantastic job developing words meaningful to them. Students watched a short video to help begin brainstorming!

Just a reminder that we continue to offer before school intramurals. Intramurals will run on the 1st and 3rd Friday of every month. The sessions will be held on Fridays from 7:00 - 7:45 in the gym. Depending on the weather and space available, activities will include basketball, flag football, kickball, and wiffle ball.

If your child is interested in participating, please email Mr. Sullivan at psullivan@easthamptonct.org or through Parentsquare.

Just a reminder that we continue to run Homework Club. Students can join at any point. Facilitated by a staff member, students who are interested can stay after school until 4:00 to have a quiet, structured space to work on school work. There will be times that we collaborate with the high school and students from Interact come to help assist students. The next Homework Club session is Tuesday, January 10th and the club will run every other Tuesday after that. If you are interested in your child participating, please complete the following google form. If there are any questions, please contact our main office.

With the new year comes time to prepare our 8th graders for their milestone transition to high school. Please see the attached letter, also shared through Parentsquare, that speaks to specifics occurring during February as we begin to prepare our students for their transition to East Hampton High School.

We hope you will join us at our first meeting of 2023: Wednesday, January 11th at 5:30pm.

We will discuss plans for the new year and welcome your ideas!

EHMS welcomes Ken Precourt to our building as our new Armed Security Officer. Ken is a retired Windsor Locks Police Officer and retired SRO. Ken has begun his role this week. You may see Ken outside during arrival and dismissal. Ken will be introduced at Monday night's Board of Education meeting.

The East Hampton Public Schools is proud to introduce Megan Donnelly our School Based Behavioral Health clinician. Soon, enrolled students will be able to receive behavioral health services during the school day. Megan is a licensed health care provider, who is able to deliver behavioral health services to students during the school day. She will 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. If you are interested in School-Based Health Care for your child, please visit SBCH2.com for enrollment information and forms.

A reminder that the following email addresses can be used by parents to report and document their approval of an absence:

Memorial_Attendance@easthamptonct.org

Center_Attendance@easthamptonct.org

EHMS_Attendance@easthamptonct.org

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 child for the first 9 absences. After your student has more than 9 absences, additional documentation or communication is required to excuse the absence. However, please continue to use the email designated for your child's school to continue to notify the school that your child will be absent. You may call your child’s school at any time to report an absence but please make sure to follow up a phone call with a note or email to the attendance email.

Send the library a photo of you reading over break. Let’s fill in the collage wall with lots of great places to read. Send it to Ms. Fielding at cfielding@easthamptonct.org.

Message from Nurse Hafele:

We are working on creating a collage of pets for the health office. Please send in a picture of your pet to add to our wall! Any and all pets welcome! Please hand in to Mrs. Hafele.

Now that Winter is upon us and the germs are starting to get a little too comfortable, let’s review the below guidelines.
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:

• 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

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

Helpful resources:
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

If at any point you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me at khafele@easthamptonct.org or call the school office at 860-365-4060.

Thank you!

Mrs. Hafele

East Hampton MS Athletics Schedule Jan 9 - Jan 13

MONDAY, JAN 9

East Hampton girls basketball at Beman MS (Middletown), 2:20 dismissal, 2:30 bus, 3:45 pm game.

Beman MS boys basketball at EHMS, 3:45 pm game.

Monitors: Head Cyndi B and Assist April A

Cheer Leading attending game

TUESDAY, JAN 10

Boys Basketball 2:35 until 4:30 pm

Girls Study Hall 2:35 until 4:15 pm in room 35

Girls Basketball 4:30 until 6 pm

No Cheer

WEDNESAY, JAN 11

Boys Basketball 2:35 until 4:30 pm

Girls Study Hall 2:35 until 4:15 pm in room 35

Girls Basketball 4:30 until 6 pm

Cheer practice 2:35 until 4:30 pm

THURSDAY, JAN 12

East Hampton boys basketball at Cromwell MS, 2:30 dismissal, 2:30 bus, 3:30 pm game. (No JV game) Note: JV boys will dress and travel to the game.

Cromwell girls basketball at EHMS, 3:30 pm game. (No JV game) Note: JV will dress for varsity game.

Monitors: Head Cyndi and Assistant Jarrett D

No Cheer Leading

FRIDAY, JAN 13

Boys Basketball 2:35 until 4:30 pm

Girls Study Hall 2:35 until 4:15 pm in room 35

Girls Basketball 4:30 until 6 pm

Cheer practice 2:35 until 4:30 pm

If your child is having any Chromebook or technology issues please click on the link below to do some troubleshooting: EHMS TroubleShooting Tips

If the troubleshooting doesn't work click on the link below to submit an IT work ticket:

Chromebook Trouble Ticket

Please encourage your child to take pride and care in their device. Below is a video to review the proper care of Chromebooks with your child.

Board of Education Statement on School Safety:

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.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement of the East Hampton Public Schools:

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.

Nondiscrimination Statement of the East Hampton Public Schools:

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: camaral@easthamptonct.org
Website: https://www.easthamptonps.org/o/ehms
Location: 19 Childs Road, East Hampton, CT, USA
Phone: (860) 365 4060