Lyme School Friends,

It has been a great two weeks. The weather has been warm although it looks like we are in for a storm this weekend.

It has been nice to see families in and out for conferences over the last few days and today. We truly appreciate your partnership in educating your children. Although nothing is perfect, we feel like we do a really good job educating your students. We hope you feel the same. If you have not conferenced yet, we hope you will take the opportunity to do so as these meetings are helpful in the growth of the children.

Our middle schoolers continue their work on the production of Newsies, Jr. It has been amazing to see some of their rehearsals and the great work they are putting into the show. I think we are in for another excellent middle school drama production.

Report cards for the second trimester were sent home yesterday. You should have received a pdf via email. You can also access the report card any time through ALMA. For those students who get reading or math support, you should have also received that report. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Have a fabulous weekend! The next newsletter will hit your inbox on April 11th!

As always, thank you for your partnership and please reach out if I can be of assistance.

Have a fabulous weekend and here comes April!

Regards,

John P. D'Entremont, Principal

Dates:

April Vacation - April 14th - 18th, 2025

Newsies, Jr. Drama Production - May 2, 2025 @ 6PM, May 3, 2025 @ 1PM & 5PM

8th Grade DC Trip - Mary 19th - 23rd, 2025

K-5 Lyme School Bands Spring Concert - May 14, 2025 @ 6PM.

Memorial Day School Closed - May 26, 2025

Maypole Celebration - May 29, 2025 @ 1PM (rain date May 30, 2025 @ 2PM)

Field Day - June 11, 2025

8th Grade Recognition/Graduation - June 11, 2025

Third Trimester Ends - June 11, 2025

With the construction project happening this summer in the K-3 wing, we are starting school a bit later than we typically do. Here is next year's school calendar for your planning.

Lyme School Families,

My name is Tori Thayer and I am one of the third grade teachers at our school. As part of a study I am working on I will be exploring food equity in our cafeteria. The goal of this study is to assess whether the meals we offer meet the diverse dietary, cultural, and nutritional needs of our students. By gathering feedback, the goal is to identify areas for improvement and ensure that all students feel included and respected in the cafeteria. Although this work is intended for graduate coursework, your input will be invaluable in helping us create a more equitable and welcoming experience in our cafeteria for all students.

As part of this study, we would like to invite you and your student(s) to participate in a brief survey about your experiences with the school cafeteria. The survey is divided into two parts:

• The first 9 questions are for parents to provide their perspectives on food offerings and inclusivity.

• The last 4 questions are for students to share their own experiences, including their satisfaction with food choices and whether these options align with their personal, cultural, or religious dietary preferences.

Your student’s participation in this survey will help us gather important information about food equity and inclusivity in our school environment. Participation is entirely voluntary, but we hope you will take advantage of this opportunity. The survey will be anonymous, meaning no personal information will be linked to responses, and all answers will remain confidential. The information gathered will be used for my coursework and for the purpose of improving our food offerings and promoting inclusivity in our school cafeteria. Simply click the link below and complete the survey with your student.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Tori Thayer, John D’Entremont, Danielle Dindo

Please find the survey here.

The Passport to Winter Fun program concludes at the end of this month on March 31st!

This is your reminder to cash in incentive prizes earned on days 10, 20 & 30 before the end of the month! Businesses will no longer be accepting Passports after March 31st so go enjoy the prizes before time runs out!

Once your child has completed all 30 days in the Passport, they have officially earned the title of Polar Bear Achiever and qualify for a prize! To receive the prize, please complete the Back Flap and turn it in to the school, mail it to UVTA’s Passport to Winter Fun (P.O. Box 1215, Norwich, VT 05055) or Scan QR code to complete the Back Flap online. If you submit the Back Flap before Friday, April 4th, your kiddo will also be entered into the Grand Prize Raffle and could win an AMAZING prize!

Visit uvtrails.org to view complete list of Grand Prizes.

Lyme School Community and Sustainability Committee is preparing for our third year of food waste awareness in school during Earth Week (April 21st-25th). We are hoping to elevate this experience for students by being able to have our food waste donated during this week. If you are/know a farm or residence who would accept our food waste donations for that week please send an email to Community and Sustainability members Mo Chandler (mchandler@lymeschool.org) or Shannon O'Leary (soleary@lymeschool.org) by April 5th.

Thank you!

-Lyme School Community and Sustainability Committee

Feel free to reach out to Chef Dindo if you every have questions or concerns at ddindo@lymeschool.org.

April Menu:

NHAMLE has organized a fundraising competition between schools with the NH Fisher Cats. If our school won, our staff would select someone to go down and represent our school throwing out the first pitch. Either way, a great opportunity for those that like Fisher Cats baseball.

Established in 1989 by the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA), Brain Injury Awareness Month is observed every March and strives to promote awareness around the causes of brain injuries and support available. It is a time to advocate for brain injury research and treatment. Most importantly, it is an opportunity to spread knowledge and education that can prevent brain injuries from occurring.

According to the BIAA, there are 2.9 million traumatic brain injury (TBI) related Emergency Department visits every year in the US. This is a significant public health concern because prior brain injury and head trauma are associated with the development of neurodegenerative diseases including

• Parkinson’s disease

• Ischemic stroke

• Alzheimer’s disease

• Chronic traumatic encephalopathy

• Chronic pain

• Depression

Common causes of traumatic brain injury include

• Falls

• Sports related injuries

• Motor vehicle crashes

• Explosive blasts/military combat injuries

In the US, 1 in 10 children have a traumatic brain injury every year. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), the most common cause of TBI in children younger than 14 years of age are falls from stairs, beds, playground equipment and vehicles. Head injuries sustained in contact sports contribute to the incidence of TBIs in the adolescent and teenage population.

Find out more at the links below and help spread awareness about the prevention and risks of Traumatic Brain Injury all year long.

Traumatic Brain Injury in Children

Brain Injury Association of America

It is starting to be that time of year believe it or not. Please check your children for ticks. Be safe out there!

Our Spanish language program is based on three foundational principles: 1) the neurological capacity to speak multiple languages is determined early in child development, 2) the brain is most receptive to learning while at play, 3) the process of learning a second language is most effective when it parallels the patterns of how we naturally learn our native language.

For these reasons in K-8 Spanish, we use the “Comprehensible Input” method of instruction which emphasizes a developmental approach to the acquisition of a new language. Acquiring a language is something that happens to you instead of something that you make happen. When you learned how to speak your first language, you acquired it naturally by listening to other people speak it around you for a long time; not by studying it. Our caregivers repeated words and phrases used often in daily life (high-frequency words) and we learned to recognize these words and phrases and responded to these “comprehensible inputs” long before we could actually speak the words and phrases. In the same manner, our K-8 students experience Spanish language acquisition, similar to how they learned to speak their first language at home with their parents. Therefore, almost all of our class time will be spent using Spanish--not using English to talk about Spanish.

In Kindergarten through 5th grades, we use the high-frequency words and phrases along with motions to help students build their listening comprehension in Spanish. Students quickly recognize and understand the many words and phrases they hear their teacher use. We use these words and phrases to make up stories in class, which we then use to make videos and little books. The stories serve as the backbone and focus of the class, and interwoven throughout each class are games, songs, mini-stories, and other activities designed to build listening comprehension and beginning spoken vocabulary. We believe strong listening comprehension skills are an important foundation for acquiring a new language.

There is one more weekend to complete Read Across America BINGO activity. Monday is the last day to turn in BINGO cards. This is optional fun! Thanks to everyone who participated in celebrating Read Across America Month!

Grades K-5 had an opportunity to visit Converse Free Library this week and last week. Some highlights of the books we enjoyed to wrap up Women’s History Month:

Grades 4-8 have the opportunity to read and vote for the Great Stone Face book award and the Isinglass Teen Book Award. There are still a few weeks left to read some more titles before the vote! Voting will take place after April break.

CFL Events for Families:

April 8: 3-5pm - After School Movie - Dogman

May 17: 9-12 - Friends of Lyme Library Used Book Sale

The week before February break, our Lower School was scheduled to participate in a K-5 event called “February Fun Fest.” However, due to a snow day, we had to postpone it to the following month, now appropriately rebranded as “March Madness.” Last Thursday, our K-5 students enjoyed this multi-age event, with activities led by our specialists and interventionists. A lot of joy and fun was had, and connections were made across grade levels—thank you to our amazing staff who ran the stations!

Students enjoyed soccer, wall climbing, and corn hole in the gym. They also played a hilarious and much-loved game called DOUBLES (which they can tell you all about), enjoyed a board and card games room, relaxed with some reading and bookmark-making, sat on the edge of their seats during exciting BINGO games, and soaked up the warm weather during recess free play with their PRIDEs.

Big kudos to our classroom teachers and educational assistants for guiding our groups throughout the morning. A massive round of applause goes to our 5th-grade leaders for helping our younger students get to and from classrooms and being supportive role models throughout the day! This was a very proud moment for these students—they truly rose to the occasion, demonstrating maturity and compassion. We look forward to seeing more leadership from them as they prepare for their transition to middle school in just a few short months!

Students in 4th and 5th grade Spanish classes have created their own versions of the classic children's book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle. We read the story in Spanish and used it as a basis for our grammar study on verbs, noticing the multiple verb endings of the verb ver and discussing their meanings. Then students were able to review some animal words and look up some new ones, as well as practice color vocabulary as they created their own pages for a class book-making project. After the pages to their book were complete, each class presented their final products to the Kindergarteners. They did a great job reading in Spanish! And I enjoyed watching them connect with our youngest Spanish students in an engaging way.

Students in grades 3 and 4 have been working hard during our most current unit of using jump bands. Much like elastic bands, jump bands are long and wrap around the ankles. Students, working with a partner, and later in small groups, not only get an immense amount of cardiovascular exercise, but also work together to keep a rhythmic beat.

Students have learned to step together, jump together, criss cross step and jump together, and move in different directions while keeping a beat. This cooperative learning activity has been great at fostering communication and moving as one unit to keep rhythm and time.

Students will continue to work together to culminate their learning through a routine created in partners or small groups.

Ms. Emily and I cannot wait to see what they come up with!

All the dates of the final events of the year are out and in multiple places. We have some great events coming up!

Please spread the word and hope to see you there.

Ms. G. wanted to share a number of photos of set production and some after school courses for those that might be interested...

The eighth grade has begun a unit of study on substance use and abuse. To launch the study of information, students were given a series of vocabulary words and definitions. Each were spread all across the room. Students then had to try and find the definitions that matched the vocabulary word as an entire group.

I am proud to say, that out of nearly 20 words, they only missed two , both of which had similar meanings. Learning about substances is important, as my goal is for students to understand the different types, categories, and uses (medicinal and recreational) and how they can help or hinder growth and development, judgment and decision making, not to mention, the legal consequences, and social implications that can affect them.

Lucky the teacher whose students are engaged and invested not only in the health topics taught, but in their own personal health and well being now and in the future.

As mentioned in our email home to families, we have begun our adolescent health curriculum with our middle schoolers. We also wanted to share that we will be welcoming our amazing educators from Upper Valley WISE back to Lyme School. They will be joining us next month to explore topics including stereotypes, consent, and healthy relationships. We are so fortunate to have this resource in our community.

Staffing:

The Nurse's office is staffed Monday-Friday by a Registered Nurse. Please email

nurse@lymeschool.org and/or call the Main Office 795-2125 if your child is absent from

school due to illness or injury.

Duties include Nursing care, Health Screening, Medication administration, First

Aid, Emergency care, Individualized Health Planning, Health Education, and

collaborative work with families, teachers, special education services, our

guidance counselor and behavioral coach.

Kati Miller RN BSN: Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri

Matthew Greenway RN BSN: Wednesday/as needed coverage

Celeste McCool RN BSN: Wednesday/as needed coverage

Medication Administration:

If your child requires emergency medications (epipen, inhaler, etc.) to be kept securely

in the Nurse's office, please contact nurse@lymeschool.org to set up a time to deliver

the medication along with an updated allergy or asthma action plan from your child's

Healthcare Provider.

Returning students need an updated allergy or asthma action plan at the start of each

school year.

For daily medication administration, please complete and return the forms below with

your child's Healthcare provider.

All medications need to be dropped off before the first day of school.

Authorization for RX Medication Administration

Medication or Procedure Order Form

COVID-19 Information:

Please review the provided link regarding COVID-19 recommendations from the Center

for Disease Control (CDC) if your child is experiencing respiratory illness symptoms or

has tested positive for COVID-19.

CDC Guidelines

The Lyme School Nurse's office is here to support you and your child and to promote

healthy outcomes for students and staff.

Please contact me with any questions or concerns you or your student may have

regarding the upcoming school year.

We look forward to a new school year and appreciate your cooperation.

Kati Miller RN BSN

Lyme School

As of March, 1 2024 The Center for Disease Control and Prevention updated guidance to provide "practical recommendations and information to help people lower risk from a range of common respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19, flu and RSV."

We follow these guidelines. Please review the following links from the CDC for more information and reach out to me with any questions/concerns.

Thank you for your efforts in keeping our Lyme School students, staff, and families healthy.

Preventing Spread of Respiratory Viruses When You’re Sick

Testing and Respiratory Viruses

Masks and Respiratory Viruses Prevention

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

This is a final call for campers and volunteer counselors for the Pond Program. Registration is still open, but will be closing in a couple weeks. Campers must be entering grades K-6. We have a great team of volunteer counselors, but can still welcome a few more! If you are a rising 7th grader, 8th grader, or high school student who is interested in joining our team, please apply!

Visit the Town of Lyme website to register campers and counselors. From the home page, registration is located under Recreation Commission, Recreation Program Registration, or by following this link.

Thank you,

Susan Wasp and Allison Mancuso

Pondprogram@lymenh.gov

Event Title: Science Day at Dartmouth

Date: Saturday, April 5th, 2025

Time: 10am-3pm (drop-in style event)

Location: Life Sciences Center (LSC) on Dartmouth College campus
15 Dewey Field Road, Hanover, NH 03755

Cost: FREE

Pre-registration: Preferred but not required (see link below)

Attention all scientists!! We are thrilled to announce the return of Science Day at Dartmouth, taking place on Saturday April 5th, 2025 from 10am - 3pm on the Dartmouth College campus in Hanover, NH! Come join us for a day filled with fun interactive experiments and demonstrations led by current Dartmouth students and staff, learn about their work, and find out about what they love to do. Students and families will have a chance to meet researchers training across various scientific areas including but not limited to Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, and Math. Activities are geared towards students ranging from 5th to 10th grade, however all are welcome (note: all students must be accompanied by an adult). More details on Science Day events and pre-registration can be accessed via the link below. We look forward to an exciting day filled with scientific exploration with you all!

Website:

https://academic-outreach.dartmouth.edu/programs/science-day

Registration:

https://forms.gle/RFTPYZH8hWvHzaRW8

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