New Manchester Elementary School
October 2023 Newsletter
A Message from the Principal
October Events
10/2 PTA at 6:00 p.m. with 3rd Grade Performance
10/2 PTA Fundraiser Begins
10/2 PTA Membership Drive ends
10/5 Open House (A-L 5:00 - 5:45 and M-Z 6:00 - 6:45)
10/6 2 Hour Early Dismissal for Students K- 4th (1:00 p.m.)
10/6 PTA Membership Incentive
10/6 No Pre-K ONLY
10/8 - 10/13 - Fire Safety Week
10/9 NO SCHOOL
10/12 ROAR Program
10/13 Summer Reading Challenge Reward
10/16 - 10/20 Bus Safety Week
10/18 Unity Day - Wear Orange
10/20 PTA Fundraiser Ends
10/20 First Grade Field trip to the Pumpkin Patch
10/20 No Pre-K ONLY
10/26 End of the 1st Grading Period
10/27 PTA Read Aloud
10/30 AR Reward
10/31 Halloween Parade
10/31 Report Cards will be distributed
Grab & Go and Lunch Menus
NMES Starting Line Up
Congratulations to the following students for earning a place on the "Student Spotlight"
Preschool: Jaxton, Saylor
Kindergarten: Garyn, Jamison, Jason
1st Grade: Ellie, Gracyn, Blaise
2nd Grade: Asher, Teagan, Skarlette
3rd Grade: Landon, Luna, Laila
4th Grade: Christian, Noah
Criteria for selecting the students for the Starting Line Up will include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Effort
- Character through compassion, honesty, trustworthiness, optimism, and responsibility
- Behavior and self-control
- Attitude toward others/learning
- Good citizenship
- Leadership and integrity
- Demonstrates responsibility
- Respectful to peers and teachers
- Significant progress in the classroom and/or marked improvement in grades
Home - School Communication
If you need to join Dojo, please contact the school for referral code.
Title I
"Let's Knock It Out of the Park, Bearcats!"
New Manchester Elementary School follows the Expected Behaviors in Safe and Supportive Schools – Policy JG. A condensed version is found in the New Manchester Elementary School student handbook. A complete copy can be obtained in the Hancock County Board of Education office or our school office.
Our theme for the students is "Bearcats - Let's Knock It Out of the Park!"
BEARCATS stands for a behavior we will focus on each month (B= Behavior/Striving to be your best self; E = Effort; A = Acceptance; R = Respect; C = Commitment; A = Attitude; T = Trustworthy; S = Supporting one another). Students will work toward earning a badge for each month related to the focused behavioral concept. Each student will receive a baseball diamond that will keep track if they met their goal for each nine weeks (which will be considered a base - 1st 9 weeks = 1st Base, and so on). If a student has made it around all 4 bases, they can attend the end of the year PBIS reward full time. If they earned 3 bases, they can attend 75% of the time; 2 bases = 50% of the reward time; 1 base = 25% of the reward time. Throughout each month, students will have the opportunity to turn their dojo points in for classroom incentives so that they are rewarded for positive behavior continuously throughout the year.
In October, we will focus on "Effort".
Effort is the application of your time, concentration, energy, abilities, and resources to an activity or goal. In school, effort usually refers to whether a student asks for help, tries, and/or participates in class. While it may seem obvious to adults to link effort to achievement, it is sometimes difficult for students to understand the connection. To help our students understand the connection and change their belief system, we will be focusing on effort throughout October. We will be sharing examples of individuals whose success was based on their continuing efforts or refusal to give up. We will ask students to reflect on times that their efforts led to success. We will track their effort and achievement over the month in order for the students to see the connection in a visual manner utilizing their student data binders.
Fire Safety Week
Fire Prevention Week is October 8 - 14, 2023. This year's Fire Prevention Week safety theme is "Cooking Safety Starts With You" This theme works to educate everyone about simple, but important, actions they can take to keep themselves and others safe when cooking. The New Manchester Volunteer Fire Department will be visiting NMES during the month of October to discuss the importance of fire safety. They will bring their fire truck to our school and will be utilizing a Smoke House to demonstrate and practice escape routes. We appreciate all of our local Fire Departments and the work they do for our community!
School Bus Safety Week
October 16 – 22, 2023
“1 Bus + 1 Driver = A Big Impact on Education”
Safety Starts at the Bus Stop
Your child should arrive at the bus stop at least five minutes before the bus is scheduled to arrive. Visit the bus stop and show your child where to wait for the bus: at least three giant steps (six feet) away from the curb. Remind your child that the bus stop is not a place to run or play.
Get On and Off Safely
When the school bus arrives, your child should wait until the bus comes to a complete stop, the door opens, and the driver says it’s okay before approaching the bus door. Your child should use the handrails to avoid falling.
Use Caution Around the Bus
Your child should never walk behind a school bus. If your child must cross the street in front of the bus, tell him/her to walk on a sidewalk or along the side of the street to a place at least five giant steps (10 feet) in front of the bus before crossing. Your child should also make eye contact with the bus driver before crossing to make sure the driver can see him/her. If your child drops something near the school bus, like a ball or book, the safest thing is for your child to tell the bus driver right away. Your child should not try to pick up the item, because the driver might not be able to see him/her.
UNITY DAY
Support Kindness, Acceptance and Inclusion for All Students
Unity Day is Wednesday, October 18. Wear and share ORANGE to send a visible message that no child should ever experience bullying.
Nurse's Corner
With cold/flu season approaching, here are some guidelines to follow when your child is not feeling well:
Consider keeping your child at home if he/she:
· Has a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher
· Has been vomiting
· Has symptoms that prevent him/her from participating in school such as
- Excessive tiredness or lack of appetite
- Productive coughing, sneezing
- Headache, body aches, earache
- Sore throat
Keep your child home until his or her fever has been gone for 24 hours without medication.
Colds can be contagious for at least 48 hours. Returning to school too soon may slow the recovery process and expose others unnecessarily to illness.
As always, please feel free to contact me at the school if you have any medical questions or concerns.
Mrs. Lyons
Coffee with the Counselor
I am immensely proud that the Handle with Care (HWC) program originated in West Virginia. It began at Mary C. Snow West Side Elementary in Charleston in 2013. It is an initiative where law enforcement informs school officials of police contact with families. This gives the school a “heads up” when a student is identified at the scene of a traumatic event – for example an arrest, drug overdose, domestic violence situation, or drug raid, etc. Law enforcement identifies the student or students involved, and an HWC notification is sent to the school. That notification only includes the student's name and a “Handle with Care” designation. No information regarding the specifics of the police contact is shared. However, teachers are trained on the impact that trauma can have on learning and how to implement interventions to reduce the negative impact for identified students, even when teachers are not aware of specific details.
This year we have decided to expand this program to include our students’ grownups – that is, family members can feel free to inform the appropriate school personnel that they are dealing with a significant family stressor that might be negatively impacting their child or children. Again, sharing specific details is not necessary – just that the student might be affected by something going on at home. That way the teacher will have an understanding as to why the student might be tired, hungry, or moody and in turn offer additional TLC. Feel free to contact Mrs. Yeater, Mrs. Enochs, Mr. Taylor, Nurse Lyons, Deputy Barnhart, or your child’s teacher to pass along an HWC notification.
Regarding trauma, I would also like to mention that September was Suicide Prevention Month. To help break the stigma associated with this type of family loss, it is important to acknowledge death by suicide can be a tragic reality for those feeling overwhelmed, helpless, and/or hopeless. The National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is simply 988 which connects those experiencing a mental health crisis with a trained crisis counselor right away. This is in part why we take mean, hurtful behaviors seriously at school and why October is Anti-bullying month.
Weather
Fun Facts
- October is known as the spookiest month on the calendar.
- The opal is the birthstone of October. It is the only birthstone that isn't crystalized and can take on many shapes and colors. Did you know that the opal was a favorite of Cleopatra?
- October is the national month for a lot of snack food. National Pizza Month, National Pretzel Month, and National Popcorn Month are celebrated (not to mention we eat a lot of chocolate and candy corn in October).
- The World Series of Major League Baseball always starts in October. The first World Series took place on October 1, 1903, with the Boston Americans winning it all.
- Many important dates in American history have occurred during the month of October. There was Christopher Columbus landing in the Americas on October 12, 1492. The Great Chicago Fire occurred on October 8, 1871 destroying the city and leaving 100,000 people homeless. Also, in October 1886 France gifted the US the Statue of Liberty.
- Over 50% of the US population buys a pumpkin in October.
Math at Home - Fun with Pumpkins
- Guess the amount of pumpkin seeds that are in the pumpkin. Once you carve it, actually count the pumpkin seeds. Was your estimate greater than or less than the actual amount? Can you count the seeds by 1s, 5s, 10s?
- Guess how much your pumpkin weighs and then actually weigh it.
- Determine the circumference of the pumpkin.
- What shapes can you use to carve out a face in the pumpkin?
- Do you think your pumpkin will sink or float if you put it in a container of water?
New Manchester Elementary School
Email: cyeater@k12.wv.us
Website: newmanchester.hancock.k12.wv.us
Location: 128 Frankfort Road, New Cumberland, WV, USA
Phone: 304-564-3242
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Elementary-School/New-Manchester-Elementary-School