Heights Happenings

Dear Families,

Happy New Year and welcome back! As we begin 2026, we are excited to see our students return with renewed energy and focus for the second half of the school year. As the 3rd quarter begins, we are excited to continue watching your student grow and learn.

Thank you for your continued partnership in making Eastern Heights Elementary School a wonderful place to learn and grow.

Sincerely,

Brenda Wittman

Principal

Hello Families!

At school, we’re continuing practicing the power of kind words—simple phrases like “Can I help?”, “Thank you,” and “I like how you…” that build friendships and help everyone feel safe and included. We try to encourage these words by modeling them, providing student shout outs when they are kind to one another, and simply letting them know when we hear them being kind to one another.

Families can support this at home by modeling the same language during everyday routines. Try pointing out moments when your child uses kind words, or create a family challenge to share at least one compliment each day.

Together, we can help our students grow into thoughtful, confident communicators who treat others with respect.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

January 2026

Monday, January 5 ~ School Resumes

Thursday, January 8 ~ PTO Meeting

Friday, January 9 ~ 2nd Quarter Report Cards sent home (via email)

Monday, January 19 ~ No School ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Friday, January 23 ~ PTO Sponsored Dance for Kindergarten, 1st & 2nd grades ~ 5:30-7pm

Friday, January 30 ~ Professional Development Day ~ No School for Students

Our mornings are a lot chillier now! Please remember the following:

students should arrive on campus no earlier than 8:50am unless they participate in a before school activity
we monitor the temperature & real feel temperature, as well as the weather conditions, each morning

students are brought into the building at 8:55
if we have severe cold and/or weather, we will bring students into the building at 8:50
teachers monitor the weather daily for outdoor recess and will take classes outside for fresh air weather permitting
please be sure to send your child to school wearing a coat, hat and mittens/gloves

Connecting For Kids

Connecting for Kids November/December Programs

Second Harvest Food Bank

Upcoming Drive Thru Mobile Pantries List

Second Harvest & Partner Charities

Use the link HERE to get more information about local food pantries and meals

United Way of Greater Lorain County

Use the link HERE to learn about 211 resources

Join Our Building Class Dojo

Follow Eastern Heights Elementary on Facebook

Campus traffic rules are in place to keep all students and staff safe during arrival and dismissal times. We appreciate you honoring these rules to keep everyone safe!

Drive slowly and stay alert while on campus; refrain from cell phone use while driving on campus
Drive slowly and follow all building staff directions while driving on campus
Use crosswalks when walking your children to & from the building
Cars must not stop in a crosswalk; while cars are waiting to move, crosswalks must be free for people to cross
Cars should enter campus for drop off and pick up at the Prospect/Cornell entrance and follow the ring road around campus. Using this entrance allows the smoothest flow of traffic.
There is no parking in the pickup lane during drop off or dismissal; this helps the flow of traffic move smoothly
Cars should make only 1 lane of traffic on the campus (inside lane closest to the building); do not pull out and pass cars that are in the pick-up lane
Cars should refrain from entering the bus lane on the north side of the building; this lane is used for all ECS busses as well as all daycare and after school program vans.
Drop-off & pickup your student using the spaces between the 2 orange cones directly in front of the building

Thank you for helping us make drop-off & pickup safety the #1 priority!

With safety as a top priority of the Eastern Heights Campus staff, we want you to be aware that you may see us outside practicing a drill as we start the school year. Please remember to drive slowly and/or stop to allow the drill to proceed safely. And, be sure to have your student dress appropriately for the weather and know that we practice these drills with all our students to keep everyone safe!