Cheetah Pride Press

Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success. -Swami Sivananda

Believe me as a Giants fan this is not the easiest paragraph to write, but as I watched the Super Bowl this weekend I couldn't help but marvel at Tom Brady and admire his sustained greatness and pursuit of continuous improvement. Even after reaching and winning the most Super Bowl championships, he is still working hard--maybe harder than ever to perfect his craft. I truly respect this effort. Throughout his career he has challenged himself to take risks and strive for excellence in all endeavors. While a member of a new team this year, Brady embodied a growth mindset and confidentially approached new challenges while adapting to his environment. In these ways he is a role model to me and our young Memorial Cheetahs.

~Andy

While our young learners enjoyed a vacation day on Friday, February 12th, our lead learners actively collaborated as teams while participating in a multitude of professional learning sessions in our continuous efforts to open doors to inspire every learner to dream, discover, and achieve.

Professional Learning Sessions included:

• Planning for implementation of at least 3 science units this year
• Fundations in Action training
• Implementation of Interim Assessment Blocks (Grade 3)
• i-Ready Deep Dives (Grades 1-3)

• Advancing Racial and Ethnic Equity (Kindergarten)
  

• Differentiated Instruction (Special Education & Related Services)

• Meeting requirements of NAEYC Accreditation (Preschool)

We are excited to announce that Memorial will be hosting a virtual visit with author, Brad Meltzer, and illustrator, Dan Santat, for all PK, K, and 1st Grade students on March 8th. Stay tuned for more details.

We are excited to announce that Memorial and Center School will be hosting a virtual visit with author, W. Bruce Cameron on Thursday, February 25th for all 2nd-5th grade classrooms. Students will be learning about W. Bruce Cameron, reading selections of his books, and formulating a few questions for our author in library class over the next two weeks.

Families who wish to purchase W. Bruce Cameron’s books, should use this link.

http://bit.ly/wrjj-w-bruce-cameron *Important note: Families must put the school name, as well as the student name in the comment field. For free shipping select your shipping option as pick up. Add in the special instruction box, please ship to Memorial School for STUDENT NAME.

If you have any questions, please contact Rebecca Flannery at Center School or Jessica Warner at Memorial.

• Implement Second Step Social Emotional curriculum with fidelity across all grade levels and classrooms.
• Achieve individual growth targets as measured by the i-Ready reading and math diagnostic assessment for all students.

The Second Step program teaches skills in the following four areas:

1. Skills for Learning: Students gain skills to help themselves learn, including how to focus their attention, listen carefully, use self-talk to stay on task, and be assertive when asking for help with schoolwork.

2. Empathy: Students learn to identify and understand their own and others’ feelings. Students also learn how to take another’s perspective and how to show compassion.

3. Emotion Management: Students learn specific skills for calming down when experiencing strong feelings, such as anxiety or anger.

Ways to Calm Down: Belly breathing, using positive self-talk, counting

4. Problem Solving: Students learn a process for solving problems with others in a positive way

i-Ready Personalized Instruction provides students with lessons based on their individual skill level and needs, so your student can learn at a pace that is just right for them. These lessons are fun and interactive to keep your student engaged as they learn. We recommend usage should be limited to 45 minutes per week per subject area! See below for how to access the progress and time on task for your student.

Each year the East Hampton Public Schools administers the i-Ready Diagnostic in Reading and Math in the fall, winter, and spring to monitor student growth and performance. The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions to suit your child’s needs. Each item a student receives is based on their answer to the previous question. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier ones. The purpose of this is not to give your child a score or grade but to determine how to best support their learning. These results are reviewed as one data point amongst other assessments, observations and data regarding student performance. The assessment is integrated into your child’s day as part of their academic learning and is paced to ensure that they work on the assessment in small chunks of time. The implementation of this assessment is completed in accordance with Connecticut State Department of Education guidelines. Our student will complete this assessment over the next two weeks.

The i-Ready Diagnostic will provide results that help our team identify your child’s strengths and determine next steps for instruction. A reminder that this year all students will have access to i-Ready Instruction upon completion of the Diagnostic. i-Ready Instruction provides students with lessons based on their individual strengths and areas for growth. All students are recommended to complete 45 minutes of i-Ready Reading and i-Ready Math each week after the completion of their winter diagnostic.

• Implement Fundations with fidelity across k-3 grade levels and classrooms.
• Utilize the workshop model of instruction in mathematics in all classrooms.

• Ensure that all teachers engage in Individual Data Meetings with Reading/Math Specialists and Administration to review student performance data, set individual growth targets for every learner, and create instructional plans to help realize these goals.
• Create teacher driven goals at the classroom level to enhance communication, connection and support in response to the 19-20 Parent Feedback survey.

Feb 1-28--African American History Month

Feb 12--No School--Professional Learning Day for Teachers

Feb 13-16--No School--February Winter Weekend

Feb 14--Happy Valentines Day

Feb 14-20--Random Acts of Kindness Week

Feb 17--Random Acts of Kindness Day

Feb 17--Kindergarten Registration Packets Available

March 26--Deadline to Submit Kindergarten Registration Packets

2021-2022 Kindergarten Registration packets will be available at the Memorial School foyer and online on Wednesday, February 17, 2021.

To secure a screening appointment for your child, we ask that you please return all completed registration paperwork to the Memorial School Office or drop box in the foyer by Friday, March 26, 2021.

A Parent information night will be held Thursday, May 6, 2021 at 6:00 pm. Details to follow.

Kindergarten Screenings will be held 9am -2pm the week of Monday, May 24th – Friday ,May 28th.

Integrated Preschool and Smart Start packets for 3 & 4 year olds are now available in the outer lobby at Memorial School, the Town Library, and www.easthamptonps.org. The deadline for submitting packets to Memorial’s office is March 19, 2021. Preschool Screens will be conducted April 7 & 8. Please contact Kelly Caruso at Memorial for more information.

Starting from the beginning of February to the end of March, please bring in donations for the POA animal shelter of East Hartford. This is a capstone project that will bring comfort to the critters who are in the shelter. Donations can be food, toys, leashes, and more. Please drop off your donations in the main office. Thank you so much for this opportunity!

Smiles,

Sonja Venetianer

Grade 8, East Hampton Middle School

At Memorial we are "Spot-On" when we take care of ourselves, others and things with kindness and compassion! Now that we are all in 5 days each week, classroom teachers recognize student efforts with nominations to serve as Memorial Models. Models are recognized during morning announcements and celebrated in photo ops! #CheetahPride

Please make sure that if you have had any changes to your contact information (new phone numbers or email addresses) that you share this information with the main office. There have been times when our team has tried to get in touch with families and have not been able to easily touch base. Thanks for your cooperation in ensuring our lines of communication are seamless.

We appreciate how proactive families have been in taking students to get tested for COVID. Please know that if you choose to do this, you are required, per Chatham Health guidance, to keep your learner home until the negative results are shared with the school. Please also remember that rapid molecular and PCR tests are the only tests accepted by our schools.

Close contact: within 6 feet of an infected person (confirmed COVID19) for a total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period, or a direct exposure to possibly infected droplets of saliva or nasal mucus (e.g., being sneezed or coughed on in the face).

The East Hampton Public School District Nutrition Program would like to remind families that thanks to Federal funding and support from the CT Department of Education, free breakfast and free lunch is available for all students 18 years and under for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year. Check out these PSAs by the School Nutrition Association of CT for all the details: English Version PSA and the Spanish Version PSA!

Additionally, in an effort to be able to flex and respond to frequent schedule changes, EHPS is now featuring weekly lunch menus.

Our normal meal pick-up time continues to be Noon - 1:00 PM on Wednesdays in the HS side parking lot by the Tennis courts for the foreseeable future.

A big thank you goes out to all our Cafeteria staff for adjusting to all the changes this year!
Be safe, be healthy and support your local lunch program!

Did you know that children who eat a healthy breakfast are proven to have improved academic performance, reduced behavioral problems and a reduced risk of obesity? Every parent knows how challenging it can be to get your kids to eat something healthy before rushing off to school. We have the solution - Memorial school is now offering a healthy breakfast FREE OF CHARGE to all students through December 31st! Simply go to the Nutritional Services page of the School Website or cut and paste this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfXEzxnyQnQXNb-tAkgdEgCcTEOC1kwg0sDey9StHXP_5ZcIg/viewform each weekend to order breakfast to be delivered to your child’s classroom. All school breakfasts include a whole grain item and/or lean protein, 100% fruit juice, a fruit and milk.

A Message from the Department of Children and Families

We are asking for your help spreading the word about the state’s new “Talk It Out Line”, which is a Department of Children and Families’ initiative created to provide support and services to help parents and caretakers with the stress and increased needs resulting from caring for their children during the COVID-19 crisis. Parents and caregivers are invited to call 833-258-5011 and/or visit www.talkitoutct.com to speak with trained professionals (in both English and Spanish) who will listen and discuss their concerns and, if additional help is needed, refer them to responsive services. The "Talk It Out Line" is available Monday-Friday from 8am to 8pm; and on weekends from 1 pm to 8 pm.

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.

Home of 570 PK-3 Proud Young Cheetahs and Future Bellringers!

Email: memorialoffice@easthamptonct.org
Website: http://www.easthamptonps.org/o/memorial-school
Location: 20 Smith Street, East Hampton, CT 06424
Phone: 860-365-4020
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ehmemorialschool/