New Manchester Elementary School

November is a great time to reflect and give thanks. Thinking back on the first nine weeks of school, I am thankful for our students, parents, staff, and community. It has truly been a "team" effort to provide the necessary foundation needed for the academic, social, behavioral, and emotional success of your child. Our students have been amazing and are so positive and eager to learn. Each student has been an active participant in setting goals and keeping track of their academic data. We will be continuing this strong commitment daily in the classroom alongside your child. We will continue to provide support for you through a variety of means. Please keep talking with your child on a regular basis about school and his/her goals. As always, we appreciate all that you do for your child and their education. It truly is remarkable how well our mission statement, "It Takes a Team to Educate a Child", is seen positively on a daily basis! Enjoy your Thanksgiving Holiday season and thank you for allowing me and our staff the opportunity to be a part of your child's educational process.

11/2 Daylight Saving Time Ends - Turn your clocks back

11/3 Girls Who Code After School Program for 4th Grade 3:30 - 4:30
11/5 NED Program

11/6 Pre-K & Kindergarten Family Engagement 4:30 - 5:30

11/7 Swaney Memorial Library visiting 1st Grade

11/10 Girls Who Code After School Program for 4th Grade 3:30 - 4:30

11/11 No School - Veterans Day

11/12 LSIC Stakeholders Meeting at 3:30 to review School Data

11/13 World Kindness Day - Wear a Cardigan or Sweater

11/13 4th Grade Financial Literacy with HCSB

11/14 Storybook Cafe Literacy Bus visiting 1st Grade

11/17 Girls Who Code After School Program for 4th Grade 3:30 - 4:30

11/17 - 11/21 American Education Week

11/17 Kicking Off American Education Week - Wear silly socks

11/18 Buddy Up for Learning - Bring a stuffed buddy to school

11/19 Celebrate our TEAM - wear your favorite team's colors or apparel

11/19 Girls Who Code After School Program for 4th Grade 3:30 - 4:30

11/20 Bright Future Day - Wear bright colors and/or sunglasses

11/21 School Spirit Day - Wear NMES colors/clothing

11/21 Family Read Aloud

11/24 - 11/28 No School for Students

11/24 Professional Learning Day for Staff

11/27 Happy Thanksgiving

The Character Trait for our "Guidelines for Success" for November is Loyalty which can be defined as having a devotion or commitment to someone or something. It embodies many other qualities such as trustworthiness, responsibility, and perseverance. It is the dedication or promise to continue an action or uphold a responsibility over time.

Teaching loyalty helps to teach the following in young children:

• Trust - This is the cornerstone of loyalty. It encourages children to always tell the truth and keep promises - even small ones.
• Standing By Others - It shows them how to support friends and family not only when things are easy but especially during hard times.
• Respecting Differences - It means valuing relationships while respecting others' opinions or differences. Teach your child to be loyal without compromising kindness or fairness.
• Avoid Gossip - Discussing why spreading rumors or betraying someone's confidence breaks trust and loyalty and how it damages relationships.

It is important to teach loyalty in the early years as our children's young brains are actively developing moral frameworks. Early instruction in loyalty equips them with tools to:

• Develop strong relationships
• Enhance Emotional Security
• Build Character
• Improve Future Success
• Promote Empathy

Congratulations to our Bearcats for being the Student Spotlight for November!

Pre-K: Bryden, Deacon

Kindergarten: Emerie; Dillon

1st Grade: Lillian; Dustin; Weston

2nd Grade: Winafred; Sutton; Levi

3rd Grade: Jace; Westen

4th Grade: Natalie; Brayden; Nathan

One student per classroom will be chosen each month by the teacher to be recognized for our "Student Spotlight". The student will have their picture posted to our front lobby bulletin board, will be recognized in our monthly newsletter, and will receive a token of appreciation for their efforts at our PTA meetings

Criteria for selecting the Crew Chiefs will include (but is not limited to) the following

• Effort
• Character through compassion, honesty, trustworthiness, optimism, and responsibility
• Behavior and self-control
• Attitude toward others/learning
• Good citizenship
• Leadership and integrity
• Demonstrates responsibility.
• Respectful to peers and teachers
• Significant progress in the classroom and/or marked improvement in grades

November 17 - 21, 2025 is designated as American Education Week. This is a great opportunity to celebrate the importance of public education and the great commitment of our students, staff, and families. We are very fortunate at New Manchester Elementary to have such a dedicated staff, great students, wonderful families, and a supportive community.

Please encourage your child to participate in our fun days celebrating Public Education.

World Kindness Day is a global day that promotes the importance of being kind to each other, to yourself, and to the world. This day, celebrated on November 13 of each year, is recognized to encourage everyone to understand that compassion for others is what binds us all together. Every staff and student is encouraged to wear a cardigan (sweater) to represent the kindness that the late Mr. Rogers spread.

"There are three ways to ultimate success. The first way is to be kind. The second way is to be kind. The third way is to be kind." - Mr. Rogers

We have an exciting opportunity for Family Engagement occurring every Friday with Mrs. Cole and Mrs. Gamble.

Our "Fluency Fridays" will be posted to Class Dojo the first and last Friday of each month to help you understand the importance

of the Science of Reading and Math fluency. These will be activities that you can do at home to increase fluency at home. The activities that will be explored have been recommended by Hancock County's Literacy and Numeracy Teams.

The first Friday of the month will be dedicated to Reading and the last Friday of the month will be dedicated to Math.
We are hoping for this to be an "interactive family engagement community" in which we can all benefit.
You will be able to receive feedback on any comments or questions you may have.

Look for Episode 1 coming October 3rd!

We understand that parenting is a challenging and oftentimes overwhelming experience. This program connects you with a free parenting coach and therapist-created content to help you navigate the ups and downs with confidence.

https://parentguidance.org/

Although it was last month, it is worth mentioning that October 10th was World Mental Health Day. It is set aside annually as a day to talk about mental health and show everyone that mental health matters. It is a day to let people know it is okay to ask for help, no matter what we are going through. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than one in five youths (ages 13-18) currently or at some point in their lives will have a seriously debilitating mental illness. Although not all children and youth will experience debilitating symptoms, most children will inevitably encounter a multitude of life challenges that require the need for resilience. There are four things we can do to help.

First, it is important that we as adults encourage them to face these challenges with a positive mindset while we provide emotional support and model healthy coping strategies. Most of us would prefer that our children and/or grandchildren avoid having setbacks; however, setbacks can be good for children to experience when they are viewed as learning opportunities. We can help them gain perspective while validating their feelings. At school we talk a lot about the basic emotions of “happy, sad, mad, anxious/scared, and neutral.” As children grow up, they can develop their emotional vocabulary which can help them express more accurately what they are experiencing. When appropriate, we can share firsthand about personal setbacks and how we overcame or what we learned from the experience.

Secondly, we can reinforce the process and not just desired outcomes. Defeat can be hard for anyone, but it is important to acknowledge the effort and work put into the process. I am happy for our students when anything positive happens in their lives, but I am proud of them for their effort, no matter the result. I want to reinforce personal effort whenever I can.

Thirdly, we can nurture passions and strengths by involving kids in a variety of activities such as sports, the arts, gymnastics, clubs, and such. Even though most children enjoy what they are good at, we have an opportunity to reinforce doing activities for the sheer pleasure and the learning process instead of just performance.

Lastly, it is important that we cultivate perseverance by having them finish tasks or activities they have started. Our patience with the learning process can help with this and model persistence and endurance ourselves.

As the weather gets colder in November, take steps to keep your children warm. Adjust winter clothes for children’s needs. Dress babies and young children in one more layer of clothing than an adult would wear in the same conditions. Keep exposure to the cold at a minimum. Babies and young children do not have the same tolerance for cold that adults do. It is important to limit time outside. Remember warm boots, gloves, and hats!

November is also National Diabetes Month. Over 38 million children and adults have diabetes in the United States. Early detection and treatment are important! Common symptoms of diabetes: urinating often, feeling very thirsty, feeling very hungry, extreme fatigue, blurry vision, slow healing cuts/bruises, weight loss, tingling, pain, and/or numbness in the hands/feet. The A1C test can be used to diagnose diabetes or help you know how your treatment plan is working by giving you a picture of your average blood sugar over the past two to three months. Talk to your doctor if you have symptoms of diabetes today!

This is a fun way for students to classify objects from a Thanksgiving meal.

Give your child some pictures or actual Thanksgiving dinner items. Ask your child to either classify the items by a given criteria (ex/ color, shape) or ask your child to explain how they would classify the item (food group, taste, likes/dislikes.). Add some fun by adding edible and non-edible items (napkins, utensils, etc.)

• November is the last month of the fall season.
• November 1 is National Cook for Your Pets Day (I don't know about you but I'm sure my dogs would love a good steak).
• November's full Moon is traditionally called the Beaver Moon because during the Colonial Era this was the month to set beaver traps before the swamps froze and beavers retired to their lodges.
• November is National Peanut Butter Lover's month (maybe we can combine this with Cook for your Pets Day and make them peanut butter treats).
• While November is likely to be chilly and full of falling leaves in our area, countries in the Southern Hemisphere are just getting into spring.
• Football is the main sport watched in the United States during November.

"It Takes a Team to Educate a Child"

Email: cyeater@k12.wv.us
Website: https://newmanchester.hancock.k12.wv.us/
Location: 128 Frankfort Road, New Cumberland, WV, USA
Phone: 304-564-3242
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Elementary-School/New-Manchester-Elementary-School