The Pulse of the Pride - 11.21.2025

Lyme School Friends,

Another two weeks have gone by fast! It is quite hard to believe that our school will be taking its first pause of the year for a few days next week. Thanksgiving is always that time of year when we are grateful for what we have and important people in our lives. At our school, this has been demonstrated recently with the food drive as well as an ongoing thankfulness campaign among the staff.

We wish you a wonderful few days away from school. If you are traveling, please travel safely. Please remember that school will be closed November 26th through 28th. School will reopen on December 1st.

With our winter weather, we are continuing to have fluctuating temperatures. Please ensure students are ready for the cold weather with coats, hats and gloves. Students do go outside even when it is 10 - 20 degrees outside.

As we enter flu season, it is also that time of year to remember dressing appropriately, eating healthy, and washing hands. We do our best to keep things clean and sanitized at school. Thank you for keeping children home until students are fever free for 24 hours for everyone's benefit.

As we prepare to break, I find myself reflecting on this line from our strategic plan "in partnership with the community" . It is not just words on a page; it is the reality we live every day at Lyme School. This week, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to you—our families—for that partnership. Whether you are volunteering for upcoming winter programs like a robotics competition, supporting homework routines, or simply sending your children to school ready to learn each day, your involvement makes our school vibrant and successful.

I am also incredibly thankful for our students and staff. Walking the halls and checking out classrooms, I witness students and staff living out our Core Values daily—demonstrating Compassion when a friend or colleague is down and Perseverance when something gets tough. The students and staff are the heart of this building.Thank you for your continued trust and support. I wish you and your loved ones a restful, safe, and happy Thanksgiving.

The next newsletter will hit your inbox on December 5th! We hope to see you at the upcoming concert on December 3rd! Have a wonderful weekend!

Thank you for your partnership and please reach out if you have questions.

Regards,

John P. D'Entremont, Principal

Dates:

• First Trimester Ends - November 21, 2025

• School Closed - November 26 - 28, 2025

• Carnival of the Animals (Kinder) - December 3, 2025

• 5th Grade Beginner Band & Middle School Band Concert - December 3, 2025

• First Trimester Report Cards Distributed - December 10, 2025

• HHS Parent Info Night - December 10, 2025

• Parent/Teacher Conferences - December 12, 2025 (School Closed)

• HHS visit day for 8th Graders - December 17,2025

• 3rd Grade Caroling - December, 18, 2025

• Winter Solstice Celebration - December 19, 2025

• Holiday Break - School Closed - December 22nd - January 2nd

The holidays are approaching, the Lyme School is launching Have a Heart, Fill a Cart food drive to benefit our own Lyme Food Pantry and Listen’s Food Pantry.

The food drive will run November 3rd - November 25. There will be boxes placed outside the doors by the cafeteria during school hours, 8:00 - 3:00, and a shopping cart in the lobby, as well.

Please check expiration dates!

Food items needed:

- canned tuna & chicken

- canned fruits & vegetables

- soups

- baked beans

- pasta products

- tomato products

- rice

- cereal

- oatmeal

- peanut butter

- jam

- crackers

- shelf stable meals

- gluten free or low salt items

Lost & Found is busting at the seams! Best times to check are 7:45 am - 8:00 and 3:00 pm - 3:15.

I recently had the opportunity to attend a lecture given by now-retired Hanover High science teacher Jeannie Kornfeld, who inspired me with the foundation of inquiry and experiential learning upon which she built her chemistry class. Our K-4 Four Winds lesson on Erosion this month tapped into that spirit of exploratory science education. We began with a tub of ice, water, and shattered glass, and asked the students what may have happened. This led to a discussion of erosion by ice and continued on to other methods of erosion, primarily water. Students had the opportunity to fill two bottles with gravel and water, shaking one and leaving one still. Of course shaking was a blast, but as the shaken water became filled with sediment they also witnessed first-hand the ways in which rocks are eroded in bodies of water. We concluded with a discussion of the positive and negative impacts of erosion and a student design challenge---how could each group reduce erosion in a hill of soil? They scoured the playground for materials, and each group presented a unique solution to mitigating the effects of watering can "rain." Afterwards we wondered how our designs might have been improved. As always, we were amazed by the students' contributions and insights.

-Adrienne Flower

If you have any questions about the program or would like to volunteer, please email me at aflower80@gmail.com.

This year, the Lyme School has launched an exciting new community outreach program called Lunch & Learn. This monthly initiative is designed to build a stronger connection between our students and the broader community by offering a unique glimpse into our classrooms. Once a month, a small group of students hosts community members for an informal lunch. The event features a short student presentation where students showcase what they are currently learning in a specific subject, followed by a chance for community guests to chat directly with students over lunch about their presentations and overall school experiences.

We are thrilled with the enthusiasm from both our students and community guests! We hosted four community members at our October inaugural session, who heard from 8th graders Sofia M., Mae L., H.G., and Grady. They shared their passion and insights into a wide range of topics from their Social Studies class. This week, we welcomed five additional community members for the November session. The discussion was led by 8th graders Isla, Lucia, Bennet, and Ollie, who presented on their recent learning in Science class. Both groups of students were well-prepared and impressively articulate in explaining their recent coursework. Our community members consistently leave these sessions with a renewed understanding of the learning happening in our school today, and they thoroughly enjoy the chance to meet our remarkable students.

As the School Board has been working on preparing the budget for next year, administrators recently presented on curricular programs. There is much to be proud of in the last few years.

As a part of the presentation, student scores were presented that highlighted our school's overall growth on state assessments. It is notable that our students outperform the state averages in English Language Arts, Math, and Science over the last five years. However, our growth as a school overall year over year in those last five years is even more impressive.

As a school, we work hard to push all of our students to make gains and create an environment of wanting and enjoying learning!

Part of the High School Choice process is students having the opportunity to explore life on area high school campuses. Our 8th graders had a wonderful morning last Friday during Thetford Academy’s “Taste of TA.” Students had the opportunity to meet the head of school, Carrie Brennan, experience a performing arts elective together (this was a lot of fun!), split off into either a math or ELA class, and tour the campus buildings - some of which were built by students in the design technology elective! They also heard from current TA students during a Q&A session about their experiences to bring the most authentic voice forward for our students.

Lyme 8th graders also checked out TA’s renowned Outdoor Program and learned about the unique features it offers. Many were wide-eyed at the idea of spending several hours outside each day for an entire semester while earning elective, science, and English credit at the same time.

Our students asked thoughtful questions and were strong ambassadors for Lyme School. We hope this experience gives them more information and insight as they explore high school options for the fall. A big thank you to Thetford Academy for hosting us and providing such a meaningful morning.

For more information about Thetford Academy - please visit their website.

Students will be heading to Hanover High School on Wednesday December 17th - reminder for families that students will need to pack a lunch or order one from the cafeteria. Please use this LINK to sign your student up for the HHS Visit Day - HHS requires this to attend. There is also a field trip permission form that needs to be completed and returned to Mrs. Stanton by Monday December 15th.

Important HS Choice Dates 2025-2026

December 10th - Wednesday, 5:00pm-6:30pm -Hanover High School - PARENT INFORMATION SESSION
This evening session for parents and guardians of students from sending schools will be hosted by HHS ninth-grade counselors. The evening will include a tour, a student panel, and a discussion about what makes the Hanover High School experience unique.
Please use this LINK to sign up. This event is geared towards parents and guardians.

December 17th - Wednesday 8:00am-1:00pm - LYME SCHOOL VISIT @ HANOVER HIGH SCHOOL - FOR STUDENTS ONLY
Students from sending schools are invited to spend a half-day at Hanover High School to learn about the school and what it's like to be a student here. Visits include an information session, a tour, a visit to two classes and Council, and a Q&A with a student panel. Snacks will be provided. Students should bring a packed lunch. Lyme School will provide a bus to and from HHS. Students will return to Lyme School to finish their day. Please use this LINK to sign your student up for the HHS Visit Day - HHS requires this to attend. There is also a field trip permission form you need to complete and return to Mrs. Stanton by Thursday December 11th

January 14th - Wednesday 5-6pm - St. Johnsbury Academy Information Night @ Lyme School Commons - if you plan to attend, please RSVP to rstanton@lymeschool.org

February 3rd - Tuesday - 5:30-6:30pm -HHS CURRICULUM NIGHT
Department coordinators will present an overview of the ninth-grade curriculum to prospective families.

At Lyme School, we work to ensure that every student has access to the support they need to learn effectively. Students come to us with different strengths, challenges, and learning styles, and our goal is to collaborate with families to provide the services and tools that help each child succeed. One way we do this is through Section 504 plans. The information below offers an overview to help families understand what 504 plans are and how they support students.

What Is a 504 Plan?

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a federal civil rights law that protects students from discrimination based on disability in any public, private, or religious school receiving federal funding. A 504 plan provides students with disabilities with the accommodations, modifications, or school services they may need to fully participate in school. Students who do not qualify for an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) may still be eligible for a 504 plan.

What Does a 504 Plan Include?

A 504 plan typically outlines three key components:

• The student’s disability

• The supports and services needed

• The accommodations required for equal access to the curriculum and school environment

Who Qualifies for a 504 Plan?

Students may qualify for a 504 plan if they have a physical or mental disability that substantially limits one or more major life activities, such as:

• Walking

• Talking

• Reading

• Learning

• Concentrating

• Other important daily functions
  
  

Accommodations

Accommodations help remove barriers to learning without changing what a student is expected to learn. Students learn the same material and follow the same curriculum as their peers.

Examples include:

• Preferred seating

• Extra time on homework, classwork, or tests

• Use of a word bank

• Organizational supports

• November is American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. In addition, we have a wide assortment of Gratitude themed books available. Both links take you to the Lyme School catalog.

• Students in grades 2-8 can access their library accounts through the school catalog to see what books are checked out or overdue. I print notices for grades K-1 throughout the year. Please help students locate and return library books.

• Several parents have asked about the many digital resources students can access using their Lyme School google account credentials. This can be helpful if students are interested in accessing school resources remotely for any reason.

• Research resources available: PebbleGo, Gale, Ebsco, Newsela, NoodleTools, Discovery Education

• Learning & Creation Tools available: Typing Club, Sora, Canva for Education, WeVideo, Soundtrap

If your student is unsure of their Lyme School email log-in information, please feel free to contact me to access any of the above tech & media tools.

From CFL:

• If there are any remaining Blisters for Books pledges outstanding, please send them into CFL. This year we have raised over $6,000. Thank you to all who contributed!

• Our next after school movie is December 9: The Bad Guys 2

Our Lyme Lions Robotics team is heading out to competition this weekend after two months of designing, building, coding, and troubleshooting robots, and preparing two unique innovation project presentations. This year the group grew so large that we needed to split into two teams. These seventeen students are ready to put their robots to the test while competing alongside other regional teams, in hopes of punching their ticket to the state championships in December. Beyond the robot matches themselves, they’ll also be presenting their research projects to a panel of judges.

This year's First Lego League challenge theme is Unearthed, in which the teams were directed to identify and try to solve a problem faced by archaeologists. One of our teams, the Guac-a-Moles, met with a maritime archaeologist and they decided to create a device that could be mounted to boats to help with the discovery and monitoring of important archaeological artifacts in the oceans. The other team, the Archaeological Arachnids, is innovating on a robot designed by Boston Dynamic, called Spot. Their solution is to transform this four legged robotic dog into an eight legged mechanical spider. This robotic arachnid would be equipped with ground penetrating radar, a mechanical sifter and other tools and technology that would assist with archaeological work in the field.

They've worked really hard and the coaching team is very proud of their commitment and teamwork. Please join us in wishing our robotics teams the best of luck at this weekend’s competition at Hypertherm in Lebanon. Reach out to Mr. Betournay if you would like more information about how to watch the action!

Students in grades K-2 revisited dynamic balance last week, but with an added challenge. Each student was given a pool noodle and a poly spot. Their challenge was to walk around the gym, keeping their dot balanced on top of their pool noodle. Balance and coordination come from the cerebellum in the brain, so anytime we can activate portions of our brains with movement, is a benefit to physical and cognitive growth

In the intermediate grades, more team/group activities are introduced to encourage students to learn how to work together as a unit. Recently, our 5th graders participated in floor hockey, which is a highly active game that involves several manipulative skills and uses eye-hand coordination. This group took this on with great skill and sportsperson ship as they shared positions of offense and defense and learned the art of passing and utilizing their teammates. Well done, fifth grade!!

The third grade recently enjoyed a spin off activity of the movie "home alone". This activity reinforces the skill of agility, and the responsibilities of playing offense and defense at any given time. Each student had the role of being a home owner, who had to defend and try to keep their object in a hoop while others had to try and take/steal the object from the hoop. If the object was taken, the homeowner role would change and if tagged by the homeowner, the player attempted to take an object from another "house. This is a fun one that the kids truly enjoy!

During 5th grade health, students spent time making a paper chain of all the things they are grateful for. A consistent gratitude practice has been proven proven to improve mental and physical health by reducing stress and anxiety, enhancing mood, and strengthening relationships. It can also lead to physiological benefits such as lower blood pressure and heart rate, better sleep, and a stronger immune system. The more time we take to notice things we appreciate and let others know, the better our mind, bodies, and relationships will be! Great work, 5th graders!

You are all invited to the Lyme School Solo and Small Ensemble Concert on December 3rd, 2025 at 5PM in the gym. Our 5th Grade Beginner Band and our Lyme Middle School Band will be performing in small groups and solos in their first concert of the 25/26 school year. We would love to see you there!

Read through our flyer and follow this link here or the QR code to learn more and sign up for our email list!

Kindergarten students drew pictures of their families and presented to the class about them in Spanish. They were all very brave and did a great job! Look for their drawings if you come into the building for parent-teacher conferences.

First graders have co-created a story about a dog and a cat. They are working on illustrating it, reading it, and acting it out in class before bringing it home to share with their families. They have put lots of hard work in so far and I look forward to seeing the results!

Second and third graders are working on a project, which we hope to share digitally with you in coming weeks. It is a song accompanied by their artwork about HAIR! We'll be sure to share it with families when they finish.

Fourth and fifth graders took a pause from their unit about parts of the house in order to revisit their previous Hispanic Heritage Month projects and revamp them using a new Google tool called GoogleVids. Students showed great perseverance as they mostly taught themselves how to utilize this technology and ultimately created a product they are proud to share with you. Check them out in the links below, and enjoy!

4S Google Link to view their GoogleVid presentations

4M Google Link to view their GoogleVid presentations

5th Google Link to view their GoogleVid presentations

Kindergarten students worked on our first clay project together, the pinch pot. They are very proud of their work and have been patient through the whole process of creating, firing, and painting. Watch for these to come home early next week!

First grade just finished up weaving…over and under, back and forth. We have played warp and weft, we read a weaving story (told by a goat), and we found patterns in all the colors.

2nd grade: FINALLY…we have finished the monster pots! I was happy to have our Tuesday back and the grade 2s are excited to bring their transformed pinch pots home.

3rd grade discovered the magic of colorful yarn, drinking straws, and some tape. This class earned some perseverance points on this project!

4th grade finished up their monster portraits (inspired by alebrijes AND the muppets…) and worked on a bead weaving project this month. I shared the story of the Hiawatha belt and we worked to understand this remarkable piece of art. The students designed a pattern on a grid and wove their pattern onto looms.

5th grade had their second visit to the Hood on Friday morning. In art class, they finished up their pastels of owls and started on building clay slab pies (I call this project “thankful pies”).

In 6th grade, students have been focusing on line and value to draw sneakers. There are many ways to draw, and I want the students to have a few tricks to simplify the drawing process. One of the “tricks” is to close one eye and draw what you see directly on plexiglass with a whiteboard marker. This is a very clear way to make 3D things 2D. They are becoming quite adept at drawing what they see!

8G students finished their “what’s on your mind” project with a brief intro to the artist Basquiat, a little nudge to mine the world/studio for images and inspiration, and a spray painting exploration.

Cardboard Construction Elective wraps up next week! I really cannot say enough positive things about how these students have embraced the creative limitation: we use cardboard for the Art. When I looked around the Art room and everyone was making something different, I knew that something good was happening. As we head into the reflective time that is parent/teacher conferences, I wanted to make sure that each student knew that they had made an idea come to life, stuck with that idea through whatever process of constructing a 3D version of that idea looked like (so challenging!), cared for the studio and the people in it the whole time, and did so joyfully.

Check out this week's article:

Digital Drama? Supporting Healthy Smartphone Habits

FROM AMLE - A quick disclaimer: This site explores topics involving typical behaviors of young adolescents. Remember that the ideas shared here are suggestions. Every child is unique and you know them best. If you pick up signals that your child is acting outside the typical range, seek help from your school counselor, family doctor, or other specialists.

Older Shared Articles from Previous Newsletters:

Young Love? Likes, Crushes, and Other Teen Attractions

Reaching and Raising Generation Alpha in Middle School

How to Support Your Middle Schooler's Mental Health

Use One Sentence

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

A big thank you to the team for their efforts this afternoon on the Lyme Green. The boys were able to put all of the trees in place and hammer in metal stakes at each location. There will be some sore shoulders tomorrow. I hope they will feel good seeing folks enjoy the display this season knowing they played a part in making it happen. I'm proud of them.

Coach Lepene

New England School of the Arts Holiday Makers Day Camps (Dec 22 & 23, 8:30am–4:00pm in Lebanon, NH) are perfect for kids ages 4–12 to explore arts, crafts, LEGO building, and more while you get a head start on holiday prep. Each day is $100, with financial aid available. Sign up for one or both days—spaces fill fast! Learn more and register at: https://www.nesarts.org/about-holidaycamp-1

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