Dear Memorial Families,

We are committed to supporting our team, families, and students and plan to provide regular Principal's Updates. We will remain available to answer questions through ParentSquare messaging and emails and urge you not to hesitate to reach out to us.

Even in these uniquely challenging circumstances we know our caring and confident Cheetahs will continue to imagine, wonder and learn. Please send us pictures showcasing our learners in action and we will highlight them on our Facebook page and in our weekly Cheetah Pride Press releases.

Best,

Andy & Brandy

Memorial School's learning spaces have morphed from our classrooms to our google meets. Focusing our attention, following directions, taking turns, using our best manners is as important as ever. Thank you for taking care of yourselves and others while participating in google meets with your best effort. #CheetahPride

Our current home, school, neighborhood, town, state, national, and world circumstances are real and we are all in this together--from a safe distance. While the unprecedented shut downs and realities of a pandemic have changed everything about our daily lives, we know that everyone will do the very best they can every single day. This will require grace, self-care, and flexibility. Our Profile of the Graduate tenets have never been more meaningful and relevant.

We feel lucky to lead and support the incredible efforts of our team, families, and students. We wish you and your families the best. Please don't hesitate to let us know how me might help.

With pride,

Andy & Brandy

There are many things we can control even though our daily routines have changed so much! We can practice gratitude. We can embrace the power of yet and learn. We can ask for help. We can celebrate our colleagues, children, friends and neighbors in new ways. We can choose kindness and caring. Smiles are free and laughter is contagious. We can sing and dance and play. We can breathe deeply and hope. We can love.

We are here for you and trust that we can and will find joy in simple pleasures and overcome challenges as a collaborative team with East Hampton's youngest learners at the heart of our efforts. We hope that you and all those you love remain safe and healthy.

Best,

Andy & Brandy

It has been with Open Hearts that we have met the challenges of our closed school buildings and with Hope that we seek to remain connected through virtual celebrations.

#CheetahPride #EastHamptonStrong

Team Memorial embraced Superintendent Smith's May 14th invitation to take a deep, reflective breath and share an expression of gratitude. Below is a video collection of our thoughts. The through line is love--love for our families, our students, our team, our community, our opportunities to remain connected and to continue in the work that passionately defines us. While we understand that we cannot literally open the front doors and welcome you back into Memorial's learning spaces (yet), we are grateful for the opportunity to support the partnerships that our team, students and their families have created while opening virtual doors to continue to inspire every learner to dream, discover, and achieve.

We hope that you are strengthened by the love that surrounds you as we remain connected in teaching and learning with East Hampton's youngest learners at the heart of our efforts.

With love (because at the end of each day love is all that truly matters),

Brandy & Andy

Dear Memorial Families,

Wow! What a spring it has been! Never did we imagine in February that our building would close for the remainder of the school year in March. We are proud of you and your engagement with distance learning while partnering with our team to teach your learners. We look forward to greeting you and supporting our final big collaboration—the return of school materials and the collection of your child’s personal belongings—as we anticipate the last day of this school year. The last day of school is always bittersweet—reflecting on the end of a very special year together and eagerly anticipating the joys of a summer break and the promise of a new school year. Thank you in advance for safely supporting our pick up guidelines. As always, please contact either of us if your family is not able to make the designated times to arrange an alternate pick up plan.

Best,

Andy & Brandy

Last days are bitter sweet! So much to celebrate and be proud of! So much to miss...Summer kicked off with a very special "The Wave" celebration. Thank you for waving and cheering, honoring and celebrating our strong connectedness as we launch the start of summer vacation. We wish you an unplugged, peaceful, healthy summer. It is with eager anticipation that we look forward to opening our doors in the fall! #CheetahPride #HaveFun #BeSafe

Welcoming our students and staff back to school at Memorial has been amazing! Our learning spaces are once again vibrant with the sights and sounds of active learning.

We'd like to thank:

• Our students and staff for their outstanding efforts with taking care of themselves and others by wearing their masks and doing their best to maintain social distance while working to grow academic and social skills.
• Memorial's families, for being so supportive throughout the reopening period. We thank you for your patience at arrival and dismissal and for understanding that student safety always comes first. With that said, we are improving our response times each day and the safety procedures are operating efficiently.
• The East Hampton Police Department for being on site and supporting our arrival and dismissal sessions.
• Our team of teachers! We want to publicly praise them for their extraordinary efforts. Their planning, collaboration, communication, and implementation has been nothing short of amazing. #CheetahPride
• Our entire IT team for receiving, preparing and distributing Chromebooks in protective cases for all learners.
• Our cafeteria staff for safely preparing and delivering meals to our students in their classrooms each day.
• Our facilities team for taking care of things including cleaning touch surfaces multiple times a day.

Reopening has truly been a team effort!

With pride,

Andy & Brandy

This week we celebrated the return of all our Cheetahs in the Bridge to Reopening Plan with a special spirit week. Thursday was Sports Day. I have been a Laker fan all my life and admired the drive and dedication that Kobe Bryant had for becoming a better basketball player. I am also someone who enjoys a good quote. One that I have had in my office for years is "we have the choice between easy or better all the time". I try, each day, to make the choice to be better. I work to model this for my own children and the staff and students of Memorial. The effort it takes to be better is not easy, but the sense of accomplishment and feeling that comes along with personal growth is well worth it. Even more gratifying then getting better yourself is seeing others you care about improving. Our staff and students display the confidence to dare to be great while teaching and learning. Our caring community of learners utilize teamwork and encourage each other to continuously grow. We support our students to dream, discover and achieve in their pursuit to be better every day!

~Andy

Dedication sees dreams come true. -Kobe Bryant

THERE'S (STILL) MAGIC IN THE MESS

Every day, we embrace our opportunity to serve--our teams, our learners, our families, our communities. While leading through challenges and growing through change, we strive to model our Profile of the Graduate tenets--Imagination, Confidence, Teamwork, Wonder, Caring.

While 2020 certainly has been messy, we never lose sight of the magic--the sounds of active learning, the talents of our team, the resilience of our learners. At Memorial, our Cheetah Pride runs deep and unites us as we whole-heartedly take care of ourselves, others and things. Our School Spirit will be in full swing this week beginning with Hat Day on November 2.

Thank you for persevering with us through these messy times. We are surrounded by the best and believe that together we will dream, discover, and achieve. We look forward to providing more details this week about our new enhanced hybrid model transition scheduled to begin November 9th. As always, don't hesitate to be in touch with questions, concerns, and celebrations.

With pride,

Andy & Brandy

"Goals are good, but they won't lead you where you want to go.

Your commitments lead you to achieving goals."- Jon Gordon

At Memorial we are committed to serving our staff, students and families. We are committed to opening doors to inspire every learner to dream, discover and achieve.

As we begin 2021, the thought of goal-setting is on the minds of many. At Memorial, goal-setting and reflection is an on-going process for everyone. Specifically, students are taught how to set rigorous, yet attainable goals through our literacy and mathematics workshop models. Individual goal-setting allows students the opportunity to make learning self-directed, purposeful and organized. This level of ownership further engages students in learning and encourages them to work hard to attain benchmarks they have set for themselves. Setting goals and then realizing them empowers learners and builds confidence. Additionally goal setting has been shown to improve academic achievement, increase motivation while enhancing pride and satisfaction in performance.

As lead learners, we remain relentlessly committed to our school-wide goals in 2021!

Happy New Year!

Cheers,

Andy & Brandy

There were many takeaways from this week's historic inauguration. As I viewed parts of it with my children, one of my youngest daughters was very impressed with the young poet lariat Amanda Gorman's presentation. I could not help but wonder if watching her share these powerful words with our nation was inspiring my daughter and other young children to want to do something similar when they grow up.

Throughout the ceremony, the word dream was used frequently. I am proud that in East Hampton we open doors for every learner to dream, discover and achieve. We work hard to instill confidence in our students so that they can be brave enough to see the light and brave enough to be it!

With pride,

Andy

There is always light, if only we are brave enough to see it. If only we're brave enough to be it. -Amanda Gorman, The Hill We Climb

During January 24th's Board of Education meeting Memorial proudly presented the following recent accomplishments:

National Association for the Education of Young Children Accreditation-

We are proud of the collaborative efforts of our entire Preschool Team! Much work went into transforming their learning spaces and growing their instructional practices on this journey to accreditation. They engaged in a lengthy process of documenting the inner-workings of our programs to meet the accreditation criteria within the domains of NAEYC. They also shined during a visit by the NAEYC assessor where all observational criteria was met. We are now accredited for 5 years and continue to be eligible for state funding. Equally important our programs are labeled with this mark of quality.

Unified Sports National Recognition-

A special shout out of appreciation goes to our Physical Therapist, Sue Freeman for her leadership and to our students who make kindness and caring common. They shared their kindness during numerous sporting events. This recognition really embodies so many of the dispositions of the elementary schools' Profile of the Graduate, caring, confidence, teamwork and community.

Teaching and Learning-

While preparing for this year we knew we needed to focus on the social-emotional well-being of our learners but we stayed committed to making sure we maximized all learning opportunities and helped students grow academically. Our teaching team has expertly implemented new programs provided to them through the budget process. One particular highlight is the implementation of Fundations. Our students have really responded to the consistent, systematic, multi-sensory approach within the program. We have witnessed our students transferring these skills into new learning situations and we strongly believe performance on reading and writing assessments will improve as a result of this new program and instructional approach.

While our young learners enjoyed a vacation day on Friday, February 12th, our lead learners actively collaborated as teams while participating in a multitude of professional learning sessions in our continuous efforts to open doors to inspire every learner to dream, discover, and achieve.

Professional Learning Sessions included:

• Planning for implementation of at least 3 science units this year
• Fundations in Action training
• Implementation of Interim Assessment Blocks (Grade 3)
• i-Ready Deep Dives (Grades 1-3)

• Advancing Racial and Ethnic Equity (Kindergarten)
  

• Differentiated Instruction (Special Education & Related Services)

• Meeting requirements of NAEYC Accreditation (Preschool)

“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” --Haruki Murakami

March 26--Calendar Change--Now a Full Day of School

March 26--Deadline to Submit Kindergarten Registration Packets

March 29--EHE PTO Fundraiser Pick-up--Butter Braids & Cookie Dough

April 2--No School--Good Friday

April 9--Calendar Change--Distance Learning in AM--Professional Development for Staff in PM

April 10-18--No School--School Vacation Week

2021-2022 Kindergarten Registration packets are available in the Memorial School foyer and online.

To secure a screening appointment for your child, we ask that you please return all completed registration paperwork to the Memorial School Office or drop box in the foyer by Friday, March 26, 2021.

A Parent information night will be held Thursday, May 6, 2021 at 6:00 pm. Details to follow.

Kindergarten Screenings will be held 9am -2pm the week of Monday, May 24th – Friday ,May 28th.

A Message from the Department of Children and Families

We are asking for your help spreading the word about the state’s new “Talk It Out Line”, which is a Department of Children and Families’ initiative created to provide support and services to help parents and caretakers with the stress and increased needs resulting from caring for their children during the COVID-19 crisis. Parents and caregivers are invited to call 833-258-5011 and/or visit www.talkitoutct.com to speak with trained professionals (in both English and Spanish) who will listen and discuss their concerns and, if additional help is needed, refer them to responsive services. The "Talk It Out Line" is available Monday-Friday from 8am to 8pm; and on weekends from 1 pm to 8 pm.

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: memorialoffice@easthamptonct.org
Website: http://www.easthamptonps.org/o/memorial-school
Location: 20 Smith Street, East Hampton, CT 06424
Phone: 860-365-4020
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ehmemorialschool/