CES students and staff celebrated Mrs. Myers for National School Counseling week. Each day during the morning announcements, the students were given an idea of a way to recognize Mrs. Myers. On one of the days, everyone wrote her a Post-it note thanking her for something she helped us with and placed them on her door.

Mrs. Gosselin's fifth grade class dedicated a morning meeting to her. They got her the book "B is for Breathe" by Dr. Melissa Boyd. From the letter A to the letter Z, "B is for Breathe" celebrates the many ways children can express their feelings and develop coping skills. The fifth grade students made posters for each of the letters and showed them during the assembly. The Sunshine Committee presented Mrs. Myers with a gift containing many of her favorite things. Mrs. Myers is an amazing school counselor and we're so fortunate to have her at CES!

Living in New Hampshire requires adaptability to frequent weather changes. We will go outside for recess every day that we can. Watch/Listen to local weather reports and help your child dress according to our guidelines (see attached letter). It is recommended that you post these in a visible place at home!

If your student is not dressed for the weather, they will report to the nurse’s office and make a phone call home during their recess time. Thank you for your support as we work to ensure a safe, fun recess time for all students!

Do you have a student who will be five years old by September 30? It’s time to think about registering for kindergarten! An online kindergarten registration for the 2023-2024 school year will be open during the week of March 20-24. You can also register in person at CES during this week from 9 AM - 2:30 PM. To access the online registration, please go to www.sau80.org:

• Click on Resources

• Kindergarten Registration/ALMA Start

March 9: Kids Heart Challenge Events (rescheduled due to snow day) - during P.E. classes

March 9: PTO Meeting - 6 PM

March 14: Teacher Workshop Day - NO SCHOOL

March 14: School Budget Voting - Old Town Hall

March 20-24: Kindergarten registration week (for the 2023-2024 school year)

March 21: 3rd Grade Wax Museum

March 22: Monster Concert Rehearsal Day (Band) - More details to come

March 24: Traveling Planetarium - sponsored by the PTO (school day event)

March 24: Trimester 2 Grades Close

March 30: PTO's Snack and Paint Night (Family Art Night) - 5:00-6:30

March 31: Progress Reports sent home

Big Mama officially has a new home! Thank you to Osborne's Farm and Garden Center of Belmont for the generous donation of a new tank for our special turtle friend. Thank you to the CES PTO, who sponsored 1/2 the cost of a new larger filtration system, and to the parents of the fourth graders, who pitched in for supplies. A special thank you to the Ellis-Hopkins family for their support in coordinating these efforts with Mr. Bailey.

The CES PTO is pleased to announce a Snack & Paint Night, scheduled for Thursday March 30th in the Canterbury Elementary School art room from 5:00-6:30 PM. Lauren Morrocco, our fantastic art teacher, will be leading participants through a springtime painting. There will be snacks available for all that attend! Come join us for a creative, community event! Keep your eyes peeled for sign-ups coming out in early March!

We would like to thank all those that attended our first Family Fun Night at Canterbury Woods Golf Course on February 17th! The turnout was better than we could have imagined! It was a perfect evening of delicious food and family fun!

The CES PTO meets the second Thursday of every month. Our next meeting is March 9, 2023 at 6PM in the library at CES. Please come and join us as we plan upcoming events and fundraisers! If you have any questions please email Jessie Heath, PTO Chair, at jmheath579@gmail.com.

Students in grades 3-5 participated in Winter Sports Day. The students started the day by ice skating at the JFK Memorial Coliseum. It was awesome seeing the students encourage and support one another. After skating was done, the students enjoyed their lunch and went bowling at Yankee Lanes. The students worked together to create teams and bowled a few games. Thank you to our amazing volunteers: Ashley, Brian, Marlyn, Jessica, Roger and Wally. It was awesome to have so much help!

In the event that your child borrows an article of clothing or footwear from our school inventory, please be sure to launder the item and return it as soon as possible. Our supply of items is limited and we want to ensure that future students can benefit from a provision of clothing if needed. In addition, if you find that your student frequently needs a change of clothes, please send in an extra set to keep at school. Thank you!

After the buses have departed, those in private vehicles may enter the school driveway and proceed to the playground entrance for car rider pick up. A staff member will escort each child safely to their ride. If folks arrive too early, the cars get backed up into the road. Please adhere to the 3:20 arrival time in order to mitigate this issue.

It is also essential that private vehicles do not drive around other vehicles (whether they are school buses or other private vehicles) while students are loading or unloading. Please wait until the vehicle in front of you begins to move.

Thank you for your help in ensuring that our routines are efficient and safe.

Regular attendance at school is critical for a student's success. The interactive nature of lessons at school today make it challenging to provide students with the same learning experiences when they return from an absence.

If a student reaches 10 half days (or 5 full days) of unexcused absences in a school year, the State of NH considers that student habitually truant. Our protocols require that we follow a process with families to ensure that the importance of attendance is understood and that unexcused absences are to be avoided.

Below I have attached a PDF of our attendance policy, as well as RSA 193:1 (Duty of a Parent - Compulsory Attendance) and RSA 189:35-a (Truancy defined).

Absences are excused in the event of sickness, required quarantine, a death in the family, or medical appointments. Other absences are considered unexcused and should be avoided.

Please note: SRSD School Board Policy JH states that for absences other than illness, parents must provide a written notice to the principal 10 days prior to the absence: the reason for the absence and how long the student will be absent.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Thank you for partnering with CES to support the success of all students.

CES was fortunate to have the opportunity to host author and illustrator Marty Kelley just before the break. Marty gave a fantastic presentation in which he shared his writing process with students and staff. In the lead-up to Marty's visit, students read Marty's books and participated in various artistic projects related to his work.

I'd like to share a special thank you to Mrs. Desborough and Mrs. Drouin, along with the entire CES staff, for their efforts in organizing this opportunity for our learners. In addition, I'd like to thank the CES PTO for purchasing a title for each classroom! Lastly, many thanks to Marty Kelley for the inspiring and amusing presentation!

Congratulations to the top two winners of our "I love to read" bookmark challenge! Rilynn West designed a cat themed bookmark, "Books are Purrfect" and Amdyn Hall designed a Harry Potter themed bookmark that reads, "Books are Magic". Thank you to all of the 36 participants, we hope to see your artwork again next year!