Families,

The new year is off to a great start at Memorial School. Our classrooms are buzzing with activity! We can hardly believe that we’ll be halfway through the school year next Friday. January 20th is the 90th day of school; and in recognition of this benchmark, our third grade classes will be celebrating “Halfway Day!” Soon after, on February 3rd, our K-2 classrooms will recognize the 100th day of school! Stay tuned for more information on these exciting events from your student’s teacher.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Thank you for your continued partnership!

Joey and Andrea

The Profile of A Graduate Monthly Principle Is Wonder

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.

We are thrilled to announce that William Clark and Eli Laplant will be honored for excellence in Visual Ars and Music at this annual event. Carolanne Vining and Sarah Maldonado, teachers of art and music respectively at Memorial School, selected these two students to be recognized at the Connecticut Association of Schools event. William will be recognized for visual arts, and Eli will be recognized for music. We are so proud of them both! Here’s what Mrs. Vining and Mrs. Maldonado had to say about William and Eli:

William has been selected as the CAS award recipient for visual arts. He embodies the essence of an artist. His studious attitude, perseverance through artistic challenges, and mastery of any media are key for his success as an artist. Not only does William work tirelessly during art classes, but he also expands his artistic abilities and is driven outside the art room as well. He is constantly creating and refining personal works of art. He then shares his abilities with others, and even takes time to teach his peers special skills that he has learned. He is a kind and compassionate student who has so much to offer the future of art.

Eli has been selected as the CAS recipient for music because of his exceptional work in the music room! He is self-motivated and driven to produce high-quality music. Not only is he an exceptional recorder player, but he is creative and thoughtful in all of his music creations and responses. He is an excellent musician, but he is also kind, helpful, and respectful. Eli readily takes on the role of teaching other students, and helping wherever he is needed. He is a role model in the music room!

Congratulations to Ms. Bennett for being recognized as this week's Order Of The Cheetah. Ms. Bennett is a Paraprofessional in our building. Ms. Bennett goes above and beyond for her the students and staff at Memorial School.

Hello Memorial Families! It has been another fun month in the music room. Find your student’s grade level below to see what we were up to!

Classroom Expectations:

Preschool: Students enjoyed exploring with jingle bells. We discovered that different sets of bells made louder or softer sounds, depending on the size and number of bells! We enjoyed playing jingle bell freeze dance, singing a song about a jingle mouse and a jingle dinosaur, and of course singing “Jingle Bells” while shaking bell sets!

Kindergarten: Students spent this month reinforcing skills they had learned so far such as steady beat, making a perfect match when singing, and describing or performing music that was fast, slow, loud, or soft. Some classes took turns being soldiers and dancers as they moved to “March” from Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite”.

First Grade: Students learned about a new rhythm this month, called the quarter rest! When they see it, they know that there will be one beat of silence in the music! By playing a game called Post Office, students practiced recognizing the correct quarter rest rhythm pattern. Some first graders had fun moving to the song “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson, taking turns being the horse that pulls classmates in an imaginary sleigh! Other classes took turns being soldiers and dancers as they moved to “March” from Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite”.

Second Grade: This month, students continued to practice their new rhythm (the half note) by reading, writing, and improvising. They played a game called “Rhythm Conversation”, where they tried to carry on a conversation with classmates by speaking in rhythms instead of with words! For some winter fun, many classes used teamwork to play colorful tuned tubes called Boomwhackers while following a play-along video to play winter songs! We also played Freeze Dance using jingle bells!

Third Grade: Third graders have been fully focused on the recorder unit this month! Many of them have mastered the song “Hot Cross Buns” and worked to earn their “white belt” in recorder karate this week. Next, they will be learning the “yellow belt” song, called “Gently Sleep”. Students are expected to recognize the notes B, A, and G on the music staff and then demonstrate how to play them on the recorder.

Please check out the music room website for more information about the music program. Feel free to reach out at any time by emailing smaldonado@easthamptonct.org.

Mrs. Maldonado

Mrs. Gibson’s class goes “ice skating” in the music room, along to some beautiful music!

Welcome back and happy 2023! We are so excited our Memorial mathematicians are back and ready to learn. As we prepare for our winter assessment window, this time of year provides a great opportunity for you to work with your mathematician on developing their growth mindset as they prepare to develop new learning throughout the second half of the school year. At Memorial, we believe in the power of setting goals, celebrating growth and being reflective in our learning. Our new K-5 math program, Bridges in Mathematics, helps develop young mathematicians to ask thought-provoking questions, collaborate and participate in discourse with their peers, self-reflect in order to set individualized learning goals and believe in themselves as learners. Bridges offers many resources on developing this lifelong skill within your learner. Check out this great resource to find out more.

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 the week of January 9th.

The i-Ready Diagnostic will provide results that help our team identify your child’s strengths and determine next steps for instruction. All students in grades 1-5 have access to i-Ready Instruction upon completion of the Diagnostic. i-Ready Instruction provides students with lessons based on their individual strengths and areas for growth. These lessons are targeted based on your child’s performance on the Diagnostic, are interactive in design, and provide strategic supports to keep your child engaged as they learn.

To make sure your student is reported absent please call the Memorial School main office the day of the absence at 860-365-4020. When your child returns please send them in with a green note or send and email with in ten days explaining the absence so it is considered excused. Below is Attendance reporting email.

Memorial_Attendance@easthamptonct.org

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Dear Families of Memorial Elementary Students,

The winter season is upon us; along with all of the cold, flu, and stomach bugs that come with it! 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:

• Fever (100.4 degrees or higher. 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

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. Thank you in advance for helping to make this year at school as healthy as possible.

Kindly,

The Health Office Team,

Nurse Katie and Miss Michelle

East Hampton Little League Registration is now open. Please follow the link to register. Registration is open until February 12th.

1/16- No School MLK Jr. Day

1/17- i-Ready Testing Continues

1/20- Spirit Day "Wear Your Cheetah Gear"

1/20- Grade 3 Half Way Day

1/23- Magical Monday in the Cafeteria

1/23- BOE Meeting @ 6:30pm

1/27- Early Dismissal For Professional Learning

2/1World Read Aloud Day

2/3- 100th Day of School

2/8- School Counselor Appreciation Day

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.

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.

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.

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: 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