Cheetah Pride Press

Families,

Happy Memorial Day! While enjoying the three day weekend, we hope you will take time to reflect on Monday’s holiday. Please join me in sending love to anyone who has lost a friend or family member while serving in the armed forces. And to those who have friends or family members who are currently serving…. May they all return home safely.

The next three weeks will be full of exciting events, beginning with the Writing Celebration on Wednesday evening. We hope you’ll be able to join us! Following the Writing Celebration, we’ll be gearing up for Fun Day, Kindergarten shows, and grade 3 Step Up ceremonies. We look forward to celebrating the many successes of the 2023-24 school year with you and our students over our final days.

As a reminder, Meal Magic accounts should be current by the end of the school year. Please take a moment to check your student’s lunch account balance.

With appreciation for all you do,

Joey & Andrea

Author Darryl Cobb came to visit Memorial this week. He taught us everything there is to know about being an author and read us some of his favorite books.

Today, Center School’s Garden Club visited Memorial School to collaborate with Memorial’s Garden Club. Each group shared what they have been working on and how the outdoor raised garden beds differ from Center School’s greenhouse. Center students brought kale and pumpkin plants, which they had grown from seed to transplant to Memorial’s garden. We also planted rainbow beets, squash and flower seedlings, which had been under grow lights in Memorial’s kitchen.

Memorial students saw how their corn, which was “planted” in a plastic bag last week had sprouted. We even got to visit a nest of baby birds in the courtyard!

Students explored and learned about the ocean and nature.

Last Friday, grade 3 students brought someone special to the dance. They danced the night away with an "Under The Sea" theme. Thank you to the PTO and all the parent volunteers that made this event special for the third graders.

Memorial Models are chosen weekly by their teacher. These students have excelled all week in taking care of themselves, others, and things. The recipients will dine at a VIP table during lunch every Friday!

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.

Literacy News

The Writing Celebration at Memorial is one of the year’s biggest highlights! It is a chance for students to showcase their written work from throughout the school year. It is always amazing to see the growth from the beginning of the year to now. You will see samples from a variety of different genres that the students have explored this year. Here is a guide to familiarize yourself with the different types of writing you may see at this wonderful event.

Narrative writing:

• Personal narrative – a true story from the author’s life and the author’s. perspective. When focused in time,these pieces can often be referred to as “small moments.”

• Realistic Fiction – A created story with fictional characters, plot and/or setting.

• Historical Fiction- A created story with historically accurate details.

Opinion/Persuasive: This type of writing refers to the ability to convince someone to see things from your perspective.

• Review – A piece in which the author presents their praise and/or criticism of a particular subject. The author may review restaurants, movies, concerts, books or plays.

• Argument – The author makes a claim and then provides reasons for that claim. The reasons are backed with information from credible sources. The author will present the reasons, or evidence, and then explain how the reasons support the claim. The author may also include counter-claims.

Informational Writing: This type of writing gives readers facts about a certain topic.

• All- About Books- Teaches the reader all about a topic, often based on personal expertise.

• How- to-Books- Teaches the reader how to do something.

• Research Reports- Teaches the reader about a topic that involves research by the author.

Poetry- Poetry is language that is written following specific patterns, rhythms, structures, and/or rhymes to express ideas and emotions.

Literary Essay- A piece of writing in which the author identifies a theme or big idea about the character of a text by generating a thesis statement. Within the literary essay the author uses several pieces of text evidence to support the thesis.

We hope you will join us in celebrating your child’s accomplishments at the celebration next week!

Hello Memorial Families! Please find your student’s grade level below to see our May learning expectations!

Preschool Expectations: Students were expected to explore with voices and movements this month. They especially enjoyed fishing with my toy fishing set and singing about the things they caught! They also had fun using egg shakers.

Kindergarten Expectations: – Kindergarten students were expected to make a “perfect match” with their singing voices when singing hello to the teacher. They were also expected to sing correct words and show correct movements as we began work on the music for our Kindergarten Show. Finally, they explored movement with various singing games like “Charlie Over the Ocean” and dances like “Superheroes Unite”.

First Grade Expectations: This month, students were expected to read patterns made of the notes “sol” and “mi”. They practiced finding the notes in songs, playing games like “Match the Melody” and even writing their own melodies with the notes!

Second Grade Expectations: This month, students worked on rhythm and composition. Students identified the dotted half note in the classic springtime song “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”. They are now expected to read and write patterns that include the note. They also worked in teams to compose and perform original boomwhacker (tuned plastic tubes) songs. Students were expected to use teamwork to achieve their performance goals!

Third Grade Expectations: Students are working hard to meet expectations in our recorder program! By the end of our unit, students are expected to have earned at least their “green belt” (level 4) in the recorder karate program! Many students have already surpassed this goal, or will meet the goal soon. We have also been learning about instruments in the four families of the orchestra. Students are expected to identify instruments, as well as the family they belong to. Students even participated in the “Instrument Petting Zoo”, where they met high school instrumentalists and got to hold each instrument as they decided whether to play in fourth grade!

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

Dear Families of Memorial Elementary Students,

This is an important update! We are asking for your assistance in helping keep our school healthy and safe. We have been experiencing a surge in stomach bug, coughing, strep throat, pink eye and fevers as well as several flu and covid cases. If your child tests positive for covid or any illness, please inform the nurse office asap as we track all contagious illnesses and send notes home to families if there are 2 or more cases in a class. ​*Positive covid cases may now return to normal activities as long as it has been 24 hours fever free without medication and improvement in symptoms. It is also encouraged to wear a mask while at school. *

We have also recently had several food items brought in to share in classrooms. Please be aware that non food treats are encouraged. If food items are brought into school for sharing, it needs to be store bought, prepackaged and made in a nut free facility and the school nurse must be notified at least 24 hours in advance.

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 and remember the 24 hour rule:

• Covid, flu or strep diagnosis. 24 hour fever free without medication and on antibiotics for 24 hours for strep infections.

• 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
• redness and discharge from one or both eyes

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. We use our nursing assessment and judgment when students come into the nurse office and make calls home as we deem necessary. Thank you in advance for helping to make this year at school as healthy as possible.

*Please also update emergency contact information! In case of an emergency or in instances where your child needs to be dismissed from school, it is extremely important that we be able to reach someone on the contact list. We have also been having trouble with parent voicemail boxes that are full and we are unable to leave a message.

Please also make sure to have a spare change of seasonally appropriate clothing for your child to keep in their cubbies!!

Remember to notify the nurse's office if your child has been diagnosed with any illness (or injury). The nurse tracks illnesses and will send a note home to the class if there are 2 or more cases in the classroom. If your child has an injury that has activity restrictions, please share with the nurse's office so we are aware and can notify appropriate staff members. We want to keep our students healthy and safe and your cooperation is needed to do so. We appreciate your assistance.

Kindly,

The Health Office Team,

Nurse Katie and Miss Michelle

Please contact your child’s pediatrician first.

5/27- Memorial Day = No School

5/29- Writing Celebration Open House

5/31- Wear Your Cheetah Gear and PBIS Assembly

6/3-6/6- Fun Days

6/7- Grade 3 Visits Center School

6/7- Smart Start Graduation

6/10- Grade 3 Step -Up Ceremonies

6/10-6/11 Kindergarten Shows

6/12- Grade 3 Procession/Bell Ringer Walk

6/12- Integrated Celebration

6/13- Last Day of School Early Dismissal

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.

Memorial School Attendance email:

memorial_attendance@easthamptonct.org * there is an _ between memorial and attendance!

Students, parents, and community members have access to an anonymous tip line on the front page of the school district website to report self-concerns, mental health concerns of a friend, or concerns of violence. Simply click here or view on the website: https://www.easthamptonps.org/.

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