The Pulse of the Pride

Lyme School Friends,

It has been another fantastic two weeks at school. We have been quite busy. Our classes remain active and our students are engaged and happy. We finished the week off with February Fun Fest for our K-5 students and Winter Carnival for our Middle Schoolers. There was a lot of fun and enthusiasm.

As we return from February Break, we will reengage with our studies quickly. Any transition in and out of school can be challenging for students. An important reminder is to keep routines as much as possible. Having bed times can really help when it is time to come back to school.

Once we return, we will have the end of the second trimester in just a few weeks. Our goal is to get second trimester report cards emailed home by March 20th. Please remember that this is our first year with ALMA, so please bear with us as we go through this process for just the second time.

We will also be picking up with parent/teacher conferences. Lower School teachers will be in touch with families about conferences and there is a blurb for middle school parents about conferences further along in the newsletter.

Please don't forget that school is closed for break February 19th - 23rd.

The next newsletter will hit your inbox on March 8th!

Have a wonderful February Break! As always, please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions.

Regards,

John P. D'Entremont, Principal

Dates:

February 19th - 23rd - School Closed/No School for February Break

March 12th - School Closed/Teacher In-Service

March 15th - Trimester Ends

March 20th - Second Trimester Report Cards

March 22nd - School Closed/Conferences

If you are having trouble, please reach out to Amanda Perry or John D'Entremont.

So far, you should have:

1. Gotten yourself logged in.
2. Received an emergency alert.
3. Double checked your contact information.
4. Completed ALMA Start Registration for this year.
5. Been given instructions to opt in to the Directory. [To opt in to the directory, you can click on the link for “my info” or get there through your profile icon in the top-right corner. You can toggle your visibility in the directory.]
6. Received preliminary information about the standards based report cards.
7. Received a first trimester report card via email on December 4th.

The Lyme School Apparel Store has a variety of apparel and accessories all customizable with a variety of school logos. The Lyme School PTO earns 12% of all sales. Thank you for supporting our school and go Lions! #LYMESCHOOLROCKS

Please remember when students are absent, it is important to notify the office. We thank you in advance for helping us ensure students are safe and accounted for.

We hope you are enjoying your Passport to Winter Fun and getting outdoors this Winter! Remember, for every 10, 20 and 30 days that your child is active for at least 1 hour, they can claim prizes from participating businesses! To claim your prizes, take your passport to the business listed on the prize sheet and once they verify that your child has reached the 10, 20 and/or 30-day milestones in the booklet, they will sign the booklet and you are free to enjoy the prize! If you haven’t completed the Front Flap, this is your reminder to do so before Friday, February 23 rd! You can turn it in to the school, mail it to UVTA’s Passport to Winter Fun (P.O. Box 1215, Norwich, VT 05055) or Scan QR code to complete the form online.

The AIR committee is proud to host Toby Summerfield this spring for a music residency! Toby will be working with the K-8 students to create an artistic piece including music, visual arts, and movement beginning Monday, February 26. The community will have the opportunity to watch the final masterpiece on Monday, March 18 at 6pm.

Kati Miller RN BSN: Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri

Matthew Greenway RN BSN: alternating Weds and coverage as needed

Celeste McCool RN BSN: alternating Weds and coverage as needed

Respiratory and Gastrointestinal viruses continue to circulate in the school this winter season. Maintaining a good sleep schedule, staying hydrated and eating healthy foods can help boost our body’s immune system.

Don't forget...when your student is ill:

1. Please notify the Main Office and/or Nurse at nurse@lymeschool.org

2. Students should stay home from school if they have a temperature of 100.4 F or higher and can only return when they have been fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication.

3. Students should stay home from school when experiencing nausea/vomiting or diarrhea.

4. It is recommended to test for COVID-19 if your student has a fever, sore throat, significant coughing and congestion or runny nose.

Please review the provided links regarding COVID-19 recommendations from the Center for Disease Control (CDC):

• Individuals who are experiencing symptoms or have tested positive for COVID-19 should isolate at home and follow CDC's recommendations
• Isolation and Precautions for People with COVID-19

• What to do if you were Exposed to COVID-19

The Health Office has a supply of rapid antigen COVID-19 tests if needed.

Thank you for your cooperation in helping to keep our Lyme School community healthy during this winter season.

Please review the provided links regarding COVID-19 recommendations from the Center for Disease Control (CDC):

• Individuals who are experiencing symptoms or have tested positive for COVID-19 should isolate at home and follow CDC's recommendations Isolation and Precautions for People with COVID-19

• What to do if you were Exposed to COVID-19

Happy February Break, Everyone!

I hope you all get some good recharging and reconnection this coming week.

Yesterday our K-5 folks had some fun participating in another multiage event called February FunFest! Our specialists and interventionists led some fun activities for students in mixed age groups. A lot of joy and merriment was had and connections across grade levels were made - thank you to our station runners!

Students enjoyed soccer, wall climbing, and corn hole in the gym. They played a fun game called DOUBLES that they can tell you all about, a fun collaborative math game, relaxed with some reading and bookmark-making, and roasted marshmallows while soaking up the sunshine during some recess free play with their multiage group.

Big kudos to our classroom teachers and ed assistants for leading our groups and especially to our 5th grader leaders for helping our little folks get to and from classrooms and being supportive role models throughout the day.

One thing about Lyme students I truly adore is how kind and conscientious of others they are - they always rise to the challenge!

Have a great break and we’ll see ya back at school!

Mrs. Stanton

To celebrate Black History Month, grades K-4 have all heard the Caldecott Honor book, There Was a Party for Langston, by Jason Reynolds, which tells the story of Langston Hughes and other Black poets, and Coretta Scott King Award winner, Firebird, by Misty Copeland, which tells the story of the first Black African American prima ballerina mentoring a young black girl. This week’s focus was visual arts, and students heard either Tar Beach by artist Faith Ringgold or Ablaze with Color: A Story of Painter Alma Thomas, by Jeanne Walker Harvey.

Middle school students also all came to the Commons to browse for a free choice independent reading book.

All students in grades K-5 had the opportunity to visit Converse Free Library before mid-winter break, and they enjoyed the chance to settle in to read and share their books together.

Lower School Parent-Teacher Conferences

Lower School (K-5) teachers will reach out directly to families with information to sign-up for conferences.

Middle School (6-8) Parent-Teacher Conferences

This March, we plan to try out a new approach to parent-teacher conferences with our middle school. Parent-teacher conferences are not mandatory in any way. We do our best to create time slots for as many families as we can. If you have met with the team recently, it would be great to allow others that have not had the opportunity to meet with the team.

This time around, we will pilot Grade Level Team Parent Conferences, moving away from the traditional format of individual conferences with each subject area teacher. Our desire is to have these conferences in person. If this does not work for you, we are happy to accommodate you online. Middle school parents who would like a conference will sign up for just one conference time to meet with all of their child’s academic teachers (ELA, math, science, social studies, Spanish, and special education) in a time slot. A link to the sign-up platform will be sent to you in the beginning of March just like in the past. You will notice a variety of times of day including the most slots on 3/22 which is an in-service day marked for conferences. Due to the condensed nature of the schedule, being on time for your conference and keeping the team on time will be imperative. If you have two students in the middle school, you would just sign up for two time slots.

We believe this adjustment will offer several advantages for both parents and teachers. By participating in grade level team conferences, teachers can collaborate more effectively to discuss with parents the students' academic and social experiences. We think the team conference approach will provide a more holistic understanding of student strengths, areas for improvement, and overall well-being. Just as important is streamlining the scheduling process for both parents and teachers. Grade level team conferences will allow for more efficient use of everyone’s time.

We believe these team conferences can promote consistency in the information shared with parents, ensuring that everyone is on the same page regarding academic expectations, goals, and any necessary interventions. As this is a shift from our traditional parent-teacher conference format, we plan to solicit your feedback through a survey after the March team conferences. Your input will help us determine the best format for middle school conferences moving forward next school year. We thank you for your support in trying something new to see if it might be better fit for all.

We will give the writing portion of the NHSAS required state testing between March 4-15. This is due to the writing portion being hand scored this year. We will conduct our ELA and Math NHSAS testing like we usually due in the spring.

The company cast list is live for our Middle School Musical! Special shout out to all those who auditioned to be a part of the Main Cast. We're looking forward to everyone on and off stage playing their part and helping to create an amazing show this May!

Madagascar Full Company Cast List
Show dates: Friday May 3rd and Saturday May 4th

There is much to celebrate this time of year. In the lower school, students have been learning about the artists Alma Woodsey Thomas, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Aaron Douglas, and Romare Bearden. In the middle school, Fiber Arts elective wrapped up this week, a little shorter than usual so we can work with our Artist-in-residence when students return from February vacation. Students were able to sew bags, pillows, stuffies, and even a dress (thanks to Julie Guay, who not only donated beautiful fabric, but also came in and helped us figure out zippers!). I love the spatial thinking that happens with sewing. We also worked on some basics of knitting and crocheting in the last week.

Have a wonderful vacation!

February is “Healthy Heart Month” and to celebrate, students in the primary grades have been exercising their jump roping skills in order to learn ways to keep their hearts strong and healthy. Cardiovascular disease and childhood obesity continue to plague our nation and taking part in aerobic activity and leading a healthy, active lifestyle, beginning in childhood has been shown to be one of the top preventative measures in combating these two diseases.

In our PE classes, we make physical activity fun! The children had a great time combining a lesson in taking care of our hearts, muscles, and lungs by spelling out our names as we jumped. By being creative and making exercise enjoyable, children are three times more likely to continue to stay active, not to mention stimulate neurons in the brain, making exercise a win-win for our bodies and minds !

Fifth graders have been learning about self image (how we see ourselves ), self concept (what we think of ourselves), and self esteem (how we feel about ourselves) and how all three intertwine and affect one another.

Our recent class activity involved having students draw a self portrait and write things about who they are.
Building our self esteem in a positive way helps us feel confident and more self assured. When we focus on our strengths, knowing we have areas of growth, we can develop good habits and make good choices, allowing us to feel good about ourselves. Knowing who we are, with honesty and humility, helps us better understand ourselves and in turn show compassion toward others.

Emily, from WISE, joined our sixth grade health class to discuss stereotypes and the roles that society places on people. Our activity included having students create an anti stereotype “ message” to help reinforce that being ourselves and placing assumptions about different groups aside, helps us focus on who we are as individuals and celebrating all the wonderful qualities we all possess, without being placed in a category created by others who do not truly know who we are.

Students in grade 7 have been learning about stereotypes and how our society labels people based on their gender, age, ethnicity, or socioeconomic background. After a deep spiderweb discussion about this particular issue, we concluded this lesson with a “Love and Acceptance” activity ( which happened to fall on Valentine’s Day) asking students to describe what love and acceptance are.

Love and acceptance breed tolerance and when there is tolerance, stereotypes can be smashed and we can work toward a place of unification. The seventh grade nailed it! Lucky the teacher who has students who think broadly and who can teach others some pretty important life lessons.

Dear Lyme School Community,

As you know, the Board and administration are working together to move forward on a project to abate the asbestos that is in the school and the lead paint that is on the exterior surface of the school. Currently, the asbestos is contained by encapsulation and iits condition continues to be monitored so that the students and staff are not at risk. We will be setting up a small barrier along the outside to deter any lead paint exposure.

Please join us for a forum on Tuesday, February 27th at 7pm in the Lyme School Gym.

We will share the project plans for abatement and subsequent construction that we hope will be implemented in the summer of 2025. We will happily answer any and all questions that you have.

The actual vote in order to move forward with this project will be at the School District meeting on Thursday, March 7th at 6pm. This will be a ballot vote and you must be present to vote.

We hope that you come out to get informed and vote.

Please let us know if you have any questions,

Frank Perotti and Yolanda Bujarski

Here is a link to the pictures below and more information on the website.

FREE webinar to learn about the risks of vaping and tobacco.

Tuesday, February 27

from 6pm to 7pm

The Upper Valley High School Trails Corps is happening this Summer for high school age students (14-18)! Participants will join the UVTA staff on local trails to learn about trail building, conservation and trail stewardship by working with professional trail builders.

If you're looking for an awesome, educational-outdoor opportunity for the Summer (that also looks great on a college application) this is the program for them!

Click HERE to learn more about the program and apply!

Visit uvtrails.org to learn more about the Upper Valley Trails Alliance.

OUR VALUES

● Fairness ● Acceptance of Others ● Integrity ● Responsibility

● Perseverance ● Individuality ● Compassion ● Courage

John P. D'Entremont, Principal

Elise Foxall, Academic Director

Geoff Tomlinson, Student Services Director