The Pulse of the Pride
Lyme School Friends,
The year is flying by. This is the last newsletter of May already. It is hard to believe that is the case.
Our spirit week hosted by the PTO was a great success and students and staff alike enjoyed the change of pace. The participation each day was outstanding!
Our May Pole celebration was a huge success! Thank you for attending and a big thank you to Mrs. Skelly and Ms. O'Leary for their leadership.
We want to remind families that school starts at 8AM and ends at 3PM. We have a number of students straggling in quite a bit after 8 and students lingering after school until 3:15. Please know that we open the doors in the morning at 7:45AM and after our buses depart students should already be picked up or be at the after school program. The library has asked that parents not use the library parking lot after school unless a family is visiting the library. Thanks for your help with these reminders for these last few weeks of school.
Reminder that we do not have school on Monday, May 29th.
The next newsletter will hit your inbox on June 2nd. Hello, June!
I will be out of town next week with the eighth graders in Washington, DC. Have a great weekend and week!
Regards,
John P. D'Entremont, Principal
Want Lyme School Gear?
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
As we approach the end of the school year, be on the lookout for overdue book notices. We will also start transitioning student check-outs to family accounts. If you do not have a family account at the Converse Free Library, please reach out. In the next newsletter, I will share summer reading and summer media resources.
New Hampshire Statewide Assessments
We have begin our spring standardized testing required by the state. All students in Grades 3-8 take tests in Math and English Language Arts and students in Grades 5 and 8 also take a test in Science. Statewide assessments are an important part of a student’s core educational program. They provide an evaluation of student mastery of content and skills in core academic areas and help inform future instruction in the classroom.
These standardized tests are taken on the computer and are computer-scored. Student results for the NH standardized tests are generally available upon the student completing the test. In June, once all of our students have taken the tests, we will send home an access code and directions explaining how parents can access their student(s) results through the Family Portal, a secure website managed by the New Hampshire Statewide Assessment System.
Photo Elective by Mrs. Girdwood
Photography is one of my favorite things to teach! We began this elective by creating our very own Camera Obscura. We blacked out all the windows in the Art Room (no small feat) and poked one hole in the plastic. We waited for our eyes to adjust and were amazed to see the outside projected on the ceiling and walls. With this knowledge of the inside of the camera, we worked with some pinhole cameras and black and white photo paper. Students made photograms to understand how light sensitivity and darkroom chemistry works. Once they understood the sequence (develop, stop, fix, wash), they made images by exposing the paper in the pinhole cameras. A paper negative was made first, which we photographed and digitally turned into positive images. These last few classes, we have taken our cameras outside for photo walks and I have asked the students to think more deeply about composition.
Greek Olympics in Grade 4 by Mrs. Damren
For the past 29 years, a wonderful interdisciplinary opportunity has presented itself and allowed for what is being learned in the classroom to expand into PE.
Each year, the fourth graders study the Greeks and Greek mythology. As part of a culmination of their learning, the Greek Olympics take place in PE. Each city state competes in activities after the reading of the Olympic oath is read and the “torch“ is held in celebration of the games.
This is an excellent way to combine learning and friendly competition and for Mr. Dayno and I to collaborate and work together to allow the students to experience a rewarding and fun portion of the class curriculum.
This is an all time favorite and as they say “ Let the games begin!”
Filling Buckets in Spanish Class by Mr. Harkins
In 4th grade Spanish, we have a "bucket filling" system to help recognize just some of the many, many, good choices that students make every day. Señor Harkins puts paper clips into a cup when he "catches the students making good choices", and when that cup is filled, an activity is randomly chosen from a list of activities that the students created. The pictures below are from the final round of a lip-sync competition that was energetic and hilarious. Keep up the good choices, 4th graders!
Grade 5 Health by Mrs. Damren
This week, grade 5 wrapped up their health class learning about the components of a healthy relationship. We discussed what makes a relationship healthy, whom we have relationships with, and the importance of being surrounded by people who build us up, make us feel good about ourselves, and who we feel connected to in a positive way.
Our final activity included making word clouds and filling those clouds with people, places, and things that help build relationships that are strong and with whom and what brings us happiness .
This was a wonderful group to work with!! Their contributions to class discussions and their questions made for a rewarding session of adolescent health. They have a lot to be proud of!
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