Cheetah Pride Press!

Families,

We are thrilled to report that we have a celebrity among us! Every year the United States Postal Service selects new stamps that will be printed for that given year. The selections have ranged from famous people, animals, architecture, sports and more. This year, the USPS has released a new stamp collection featuring bridges around the United States; and MR. JOE GOWAC PHOTOGRAPH OF THE ARRIGONI BRIDGE WAS SELECTED! In case you didn’t know, when Joe’s not teaching, he spends his time perfecting his wildlife and drone photography skills. The USPS’s art division came across Mr. Gowac’s photography on social media, and they approached him about using his photo in their collection. The other bridges being featured are from Iowa, Oklahoma City, and Nebraska. These stamps will be available for bulk, first class mail. The quantities will be printed in coils of 3,000 and 10,000. A release date is not yet known, but it will be available for purchase in 2023. Way to go, Mr. Gowac!

In addition to the excitement about Mr. Gowac, this week was full of celebrations. Those celebrations included: World Read Aloud Day, Groundhog’s Day, the 100th Day of School, and a spirited assembly.

Thank you for your partnership!

Joey and Andrea

Our Profile of a Graduate Principle this month is WONDER. All it took was one child's wondering for a positive action to take place. One of our grade 3 students wondered if they could start a clean up club. This club would clean up the outside areas around Memorial school once a month during recess. Once getting administrative approval, they created a detailed plan and this past Wednesday the grade 3 clean up club began! They recovered two recess balls, a clip board, and found three full bags of trash! Your Wonderings make a difference!

Kindergarteners participated in this world wide event.

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.

This week we celebrate Mrs. Zilora, a School Psychologist in the building, as Order of The Cheetah. All staff and students benefit from Mrs. Zilora's dedication to Memorial School. Mrs. Zilora is always willing to always lend a helping hand or ear! Thank you Mrs. Zilora for all that you do at Memorial School!

Hi Cheetah families!

February is an exciting month at the Memorial School Library!

See below for grade level classroom expectations.

• PreK students are enjoying a variety of read alouds and songs with the themes of Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, kindness, and friendship.

• Kindergarten and First grade have started their unit on the Caldecott Award. We will be reading a variety of past winners in anticipation of this year's announcement. We are lucky to have a special guest, Mr. Jerry, our ASO, join most K classes to read our first selection, Officer Buckle and Gloria with us! During our book check out time, students are also designing using bloxels.

• Second grade is working on creating Valentines for seniors to donate to the 1st grade service learning initiative. Later in the month we will focus on using our online catalog and reviewing library skills.

• Third graders are finishing up their coding unit and will move into our library skills unit. We will be reviewing how to use our library catalog and practice being expert library patrons.

For more information and updates, make sure to check out the library website at https://sites.google.com/site/centermemoriallibrary/ .

Questions, please contact Mrs. Flannery at rflannery@easthamptonct.org.

Mrs. Flannery and Mrs. Hill

Second and third grade students had a busy start to the month of February. On Wednesday, Memorial K-3 students celebrated World Read Aloud Day. World Read Aloud Day has called attention to the importance of sharing stories by challenging participants to grab a book, find an audience, and read-aloud! This event is a global effort and is celebrated annually in over 173 countries. We celebrate bringing people together through the shared connection of reading aloud in communities around the world. Classrooms participated in read aloud viewing parties in the cafeteria and their classrooms. This included viewing of stories being read aloud from across the globe including places like India, Colombia and South Africa.

Second grade students are working on wrapping up their current reading and writing units. In reading, they are working on setting goals for reading and creating goal clubs. These clubs will help hold students accountable for their goals and allow them to work with their peers to meet those goals. Reading goals include fluency, literary language, and keeping track of longer books. In writing, students are revising and editing their poems to prepare for publishing.

Third grade students are hard at work on their mystery unit, using strategies to keep track of information in longer books and looking for patterns across the story. In writing, students are drafting opinion pieces. They are working on strengthening their leads and adding evidence and examples to support their opinion. Third graders also continued to gain familiarity with the SBA platform this week. They engaged in a practice interim assessment which will allow teachers to provide instructional opportunities to support all students in specific areas of need.

Continue to help support your growing readers and writers at home. This helpful resource has a variety of tips! https://www.readingrockets.org/article/reading-tips-parents-third-graders

Dear parents/guardians,

Please bring in a change of clothes as well as socks and shoes for your child to keep at school. Also, snowpants and snowboots are needed in order for them to play out in the snow. The nurse's office has very limited supply of spare clothing to donate. We would also appreciate any gently used donations of boys size 8 and up sweatpants/joggers and girls size 8 and up leggings.

Thank you for your assistance.

Nurse Katie and Miss Michelle

The East Hampton Lions will be hosting an outer wear drive for residents of East Hampton. The collection will begin on Monday, February 6th and run thru February 14th. Please drop off your CLEAN, GENTLY USED coats, jackets, gloves, hats, scarves and, sweaters at St. Patrick's Parish Center at 47 West High St week days between 8 and 4, as well as Paul & Sandy's, or the foyer of Memorial School.

The free clothes will be available at the St. Patrick's Parish Center on Thursday, February 15th between 6:00pm-7:30pm and if donations last on Friday, February 16th between 6:00pm-7:30pm.

For further information please call Lion Mary at 860-977-5760.

East Hampton Little League Registration is now open. Please follow the link to register. Registration is open until February 12th.

African American History Month

2/8- National School Counselor Appreciation Day

2/12- Super Bowl

Random Act of Kindness Week 2/13-2/17

2/13-BOE Meeting at 6:30pm

2/14- Valentine's Day/Kindness Day- Spirit Day!

2/17- No School Teacher Professional Development

2/20- President's Day= No School

2/21- Winter Weekend Break= No School

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.

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: 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