Monstricola's Message

Dear MES Families:

Have a great weekend!

Take care,

Kathleen Ortega and Michelle Romein

JMES PATT presents The Great Pumpkin Family Bingo Night on October 22, 2026, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

Enjoy a night of bingo, pizza, prizes, and fun!

Prices are 10 bingo card games for $5, popcorn for $2, a whole cheese pizza for $12, and a whole pepperoni pizza for $12. Pizza is available only through presale.

Scan the QR code on the flyer to place your order.

Snacks, drinks, craft kits, and bingo cards will also be available for purchase at the event.

Parent conferences are coming up! You should have received an email from Sign Up Genius to sign up for a conference. Some fourth grade families will have received an invite through Google Appointment. We are piloting this new way and will evaluated its ease and convenience after this round of conferences. Please reach out to your child's teacher if you have not received an email.

October 28th: Early Release Parent Conferences

November 3rd: No School Elections

November 11th: No School Veterans Day

Our annual Halloween Parade (weather permitting) will be held on October 30th at 1:30 on O'Neil Field. Families are invited to attend the parade! We will parade around the field in costumes and then students only will re-enter the building for their Halloween party.

Costume Guidelines

• Students should bring their costumes to school. (Consider a back-up costume if your child's costume has a lot of parts or is complicated!)
• Any face paint/make-up needs to be put on before arriving at school.
• Scary costumes are not permitted. We will be parading with our preschoolers and kindergarteners. If you are unsure about the costume, err on the side of caution and choose a different costume for school.
• NO WEAPONS or fake blood will be allowed.

Thank you for helping us to continue to have this years-long tradition by following the above guidelines.

Our Title One Teachers are looking for UNO cards! They do not need to be sets, just ANY UNO cards!

Thank you!

The Scholastic Book Fair is coming! This can’t-miss event gets kids excited about reading and earns funds for our school. SAVE THE DATE for October 28th- November 10th and start exploring together: https://www.scholastic.com/bf mastricolaelementaryschool!

Kindergarteners have been learning their first element of art: Color! Using a template students have traced circles and through guide instruction painted full color wheels through mixing primary colors together to create secondary colors. Then decorated their wheels using foam shapes, pompoms, googly-eyes, and markers to make their collage personal to them.

First graders have been looking deeper into the element of art: Line! Once learning different styles of lines students used oil pastels to create a water color resist for their monster’s skin. After they dried, they cut out a monster body and used a variety of crafting materials to create their own unique monsters.

Second graders have been working on their Crazy Hair Day self portraits that focus on learning variety and lines. Once reviewing different styles of lines students replicated styles they enjoy and used them to create “crazy” hair for their self portrait.

Third graders have been focusing on the element of art: color! Within the class we have learned about warm colors (red, orange, yellow) and cool colors (blue, green, purple) and complementary colors. We discussed how those colors can invoke different feelings depending on which ones we use within our art.

After reviewing both color and line with fourth grade we have focused on creating faux stain glass collages. Students were able to choose their own subject for the collage, after tracing over their image with permanent marker they applied layers of tissue paper to create new colors and texture into the collage.

In between current projects and our next lesson students were able to experiment during studio time where they have a choice of six different centers throughout the class room including:

• Creation Station

• Variety of crafting materials and cardboard

• Stamping

• Water color/tempera painting

• Drawing

• Play-doh

• Legos/magnet tiles

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 4th Grade Student Council is excited to bring popcorn to every grade throughout the school year, and we need your help to make it happen! We're looking for volunteers to pop and prep popcorn on Thursdays. Whether you can help weekly, monthly, or just occasionally, we'd love to have you! Popcorn popping is easy, flexible, and can be done during the school day or after school. Check out the sign-up details below to get involved!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0A4CA4AB2CA5FFCF8-66723696-popcorn

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.

October 20th: PATT Meeting

October 22nd:The Great Pumpkin: Family BINGO Night

October 28th: Early Release (Parent Conferences)

October 30th: Halloween Parade and Parties

November 3rd: No School: Election Day

November 4th: Title One Open House 5:30-6:30

November 9th: Parent Conferences

November 11th: No School

Novmeber 17th: PATT Meeting

November 18th: Picture Retakes

November 25th-November 27th: Thanksgiving Recess