Monstricola's Message

Dear MES Families:

It was great to see so many of you at our Open House. The kids love having the chance to lead their parents around the school!

Thank you for your support!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Take care,

Kathleen Ortega and Michelle Romein

At MES, each classroom creates their classroom expectations that outline what they will do in their classrooms to be their bestselves in order to learn. They then work together to define what the grade level expecctations. As a school, we then work together to identify the school expectations and what they look like all over the building.

We had our first assembly today to review what they look like! Check out our upcoming Instagram and Facebook posts for more information!

Thank you to everyone who has updated their PowerSchool Accounts. If you are having any problems doing this, please email: abby.hammond@sau26.org. September 28th fis the deadline for parents/guardians to be able to update PowerSchool. Any changes needed after the 28th will need to be communicated to the office and we will update it on our end. Thank you!!

Why Walk, Bike or Roll?

It’s fun! Remember the thrill of riding a bike for the first time or walking or rolling to school on the first day? There’s a feeling of joy and independence—a sense of adventure—that doesn’t fade. Of course, there are many other benefits to walking, biking or rolling to school, too.

Healthier Habits

Active trips to school enable children to incorporate the regular physical activity they need each day while also forming healthy habits that can last a lifetime. Regular physical activity helps children build strong bones, muscles and joints, and it decreases the risk of obesity. In contrast, insufficient physical activity can contribute to chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer and stroke.

Early Release Schedule

Dismissal for AM preschool: 10:15

Disimssal for K-4: Begins at 12:15

No PM preschool

On September 28th and 29th, the Merrimack Lions Club will be assisting our school nurse in conducting annual vision screenings on all students with their Welch Allyn’s Spot Vision Screener. Results will be viewed only by our school nurse and then sent home. If your child wears glasses, please make sure they have them for the screening. If you have any questions, please contact Michelle Webster, JMES School Nurse, at 424-6218 or Michelle.Webster@sau26.org

How Does it Work?

• The Starting Position: Users begin with all beads pushed over to one side.
• Sliding Beads: Children slide beads in groups from right to left in a single motion rather than counting one by one.
• Subitizing: The color-coded groups of five help children subitize—recognize a quantity visually without needing to count individual pieces (e.g., seeing five red and three white beads instantly as eight).
• Math Operations: It provides a visual model for anchor numbers 5 and 10, making it easier to solve addition and subtraction equations (like making doubles or bridging through ten). You can try a digital version via the Number Rack by The Math Learning Center or Toy Theater's Rekenrek.

In Kindergarten we jumped right into singing with a favorite song, “If You’re Happy & You

Know it”. We began exploring pitch matching with an echo song called, “Oh My, No More

Pie!” Ask your child about what happened to the pie at Mrs. Beaudet’s house! Students also

had fun taking turns leading steady beats on a drum. Our first Beaudet Beat, “Chop Chop

Chippity Chop” came home in backpacks this week. Have your child share it with you!

In First grade we had so much fun revisiting some of our favorite tunes from last year.

Students learned a new rhyming song called, “Teddy Bear Teddy Bear” that had us up and

moving! First graders also had fun performing a creative scarf dance exploring high and low

sounds and we started learning a fun new folk dance called, “Sasha”.

Second graders jumped right into the year learning, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”

complete with movement! It has quickly become a favorite! We got music books in hands

to begin learning the parts of a song, title, lines, and verses. Students also learned,

“Obwisana” a rock passing game that had us moving to the beat, building teamwork and

having fun!

Third graders enjoyed reviewing so many of our favorite songs and learned a new one,

called “Waddaly Atcha”. Students got to take turns leading the class in steady beat motions

while singing the silly song! We enjoyed revisiting” Obwisana” from second grade and

added a more complicated rock passing pattern! Chorus letters came home last week.

Please have the permission slips back by 9/25. Third grade chorus rehearsals start October

1st!

Fourth Graders were challenged with a very complicated clapping game called, “It’s Not

Hard”. They have been working very hard getting all the patterns into their hands – please

ask them to share it at home! We also learned another community clapping game called,

“Sarasponda” that got us up and clapping around the entire class! Chorus letters came

home last week. Please have the permission slips back by 9/25. Fourth grade chorus

rehearsals start September 29th!

Allie made her own flower out of Gotchas!

1) To help families stay connected with the school and what your children are up to while they are here, classroom teachers will share a classroom update with you every other week through email. Keep an eye out for it and be sure to reach out to them if you have questions. You will be amazed by all that they do!

2) Monstricola's Message will be shared weekly and contains information about upcoming events. pictures. snippets from our school days and information for parents. Please let the office know if you need a paper copy. Please note Monstricola's Message can be translated into a number of language!

3) Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: It is a goal of ours to share information regularly with all of you, so you can see the amazing things happening every day at MES!

Did you know that filling out the Free and Reduced Lunch Form may help provide:

• After School Academic & Enrichment Programs?
• Free/Reduces meal 30-day rollover for the next school year?
• State and Federal funding for school budgets?
• Fund computers and technology at home and for your school?
• Fee waivers for college applications and admission tests?

Click here for information and application.

The Merrimack School District (SAU #26) has elected to use the Vector Training program to provide school-related safety trainings. Vector Training offers trainings in all facets of school safety issues, and its compliance management system tracks all the training for the district, allowing us to easily demonstrate compliance with safety mandates.

To take the required trainings, you will need to create an account with Vector.

NEW Users: Use the “quick link” registration URL: https://sau26nonemp-nh.safeschools.com/register/7efa4566. When you create your username, PLEASE use your personal email address

Existing Users,: Log in to your account here: https://sau26nonemp-nh.safeschools.com/login.

The courses you must take annually, are:

• Bullying: Recognition and Response (~50 minutes)

• Child Abuse: Mandatory Reporting (~30 minutes)

• Sexual Harassment: Student Issues and Response (~30 minutes)

• Sexual Harassment: Staff to Staff (~30 minutes)

• Suicide Prevention (2 hours)

You can find these courses by clicking on “View Library”, and search for the course in the top left search bar. Once complete, you will be issued a certificate of completion, we will also receive notification that you have completed the course. Your participation will help to make SAU #26 a safer place to work and learn!

If you have any questions, please contact Melissa Fazlic, Director of Human Resources, at Melissa.Fazlic@sau26.org or 603-424-6200, option 1.

We’d love a few helping hands at the JMES Ice Cream Social on Wednesday, September 23!

Shifts are just 30 minutes, leaving plenty of time to enjoy Open House with your family. Volunteers will help with treat sales and handing out ice cream and popsicles, and a PATT member will be there throughout the evening to help.

Grab a 30-Minute Volunteer Slot

*All volunteers must be cleared to volunteer at JMES with requirements up to date.

September 23rd: Open House (6:00-7:00 Classroom Visits, 6:00-7:30 Ice Cream Social)

September 29th: Kindergarten In-House Field Trip: Carriage Shack Farm

September 30th: School Pictures

October 1st and 2nd: Grade One Field Trip

October 9th: Early Release

October 12th: No School

October 20th: PATT Meeting

October 22nd: Fall Family Festival (More Info Coming)