News from Eli Terry
A Peek Inside the Week - Sept. 30th, 2022
A Note From Your Principals
- We average 470 views each week. With the newsletter sent to 610 recipients (staff & families), that means about 77% of people are engaging with our content.
- The majority of people access the newsletter through our Friday email blast, but we have about 10% of people accessing it through the PTO Facebook page.
- The hyperlinks included, taking readers to additional information, are clicked between 2-75 times. That means at most, only 12% of readers are accessing the additional information.
- Most readers (35%) spend less than 1 minute reading the newsletter; 18% spend 1 minute; 22% 2-5 minutes; 19% 5-10 minutes; and 18% spend 10+ minutes.
Our goal is to make this newsletter as informative, accessible, and engaging as it can be. If you have any feedback that you believe would improve the Friday Update in any of those areas, please do not hesitate to share. Two features you see included this year (the quick access to previous week's newsletters and the ability to click events and add them to your calendar) were a result of feedback last year!
Our work is only successful if we partner together. School-home communication is imperative to that partnership!
Today's Lockdown Drill
Keeping our students, staff, and visitors safe is of the utmost importance. In order to do so, it is necessary to have procedures in place and practice them throughout the year. As you may know, schools are mandated by state law to practice emergency drills each month, which include fire drills, evacuations, and lockdown procedures. This morning we conducted a lockdown drill. Students and staff were not in danger, and all students and staff were briefed on the drill before it occurred.
During our drill today, Mrs. Hammer and a member of the South Windsor Police Department walked the hallway with our Director of School Safety and Security, Tom Dillon. He debriefed with us after, offering suggestions on how to keep our entire school community as safe as possible. Mr. Dillon also shared how impressed he was with how our lockdown procedures were implemented by our students and staff!
If your child comes home and expresses fear or anxiety about this drill, or our past fire drills, please talk with him/her about the importance of practicing these procedures. They are only intended to keep everyone in our school safe.
Should you have any questions, please feel free Mr. Kenyon or Mrs. Hammer.
Meet Our New...CROSSING GUARD!
We are hopeful that beginning Monday, Mr. Bryon Orduz will be supporting families rain or shine in the crosswalk from 8:15-8:45 and from 3:15-3:45.
Mr. Orduz is a longtime South Windsor resident having moved here from Manchester in 2003 because he wanted his daughter in the South Windsor Public School system. Fun Fact: Mrs. Hammer actually taught Mr. Orduz's daughter at Pleasant Valley!
Mr. Orduz loves Nascar racing, riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle, the Mets and seasonal camping. He has 3 dogs named Oscar, Alex, and Max. He LOVES to cook a big Sunday breakfast, featuring his signature arepas, for his family and friends!
We know this announcement is welcomed news for our many families who cross Graham on their way to/from school. Please join us in welcoming Mr. Orduz to our wonderful Eli Terry family!
September's PAWSitive Office Referrals & Shout Outs
Students who received a PAWSitive Office Referral were recognized for going above and beyond in the areas of our PAWS expectations: Personal responsibility, Acting safely, Working together, Showing respect). We are SO proud of these students as they have served as incredible role models as we get back into the swing of our school day and school routine!
Individuals who received a "shout out" were recognized in a few different ways; during our morning announcements on "Thankful Thursdays", on the monitor displays throughout our school, or with a physical "shout card".
Take a peek at the slideshow below to see those students recognized, in addition to all the gratitude shared through our "shout out" initiative! A reminder that "shout outs" can be submitted throughout the year using this quick Google Form. Keep those notes of thanks coming!
If you are not comfortable sending cash with your child, please sign up for eWallet! It is Scholastic's version of an online gift card and is so simple to use. Any remaining balance after the fair will be held in your Scholastic account for online shopping or you can apply it to an eWallet for another fair later this year. Our volunteers will have access to the full list of eWallets funds. Sign up here! https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bookfairs/parent-how-it-works.html?fairID=5170748
Would you prefer to shop with your child(ren) or have other family members that want to check out the fair? We'll be hosting Family Night on Thursday, October 6. To help with parking and customer flow through the fair, we prefer attendance based on the following times but understand there will be situations where one time works better for your family.
Kindergarten - Grade 2 - 5:30 to 6:30
Grades 3 - 5 - 6:30 to 7:30.
Any students in attendance will get a chance to win some additional books in our Family Night raffle! Looking forward to seeing many of you there.
And a final note of thanks to our volunteers - we couldn't run the fair without you!
2022-23 PTO Family Directory
Please click the link below to access the electronic version of this year's directory.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/161kdGQomOdASxWdGuPJtYzrN5TP5-fJh04xhJwtG73U/edit?usp=sharing
Mark Your Calendars!
- NO SCHOOL - Yom Kippur - Wednesday, October 5th
- Scholastic Book Fair - Week of October 3rd - 7th
- Scholastic Family Night - Thursday, October 6th (see below for schedule)
K-2 Family Night 5:30-6:30
Grade 3-5 Family Night 6:30-7:30
- NO SCHOOL - Indigenous Peoples Day - Monday, October 10th
- Unity Day - Wednesday, October 19th (students should wear orange!)
- Picture Retake Day - Friday, October 28th
Remember...any of the above events can be quickly added to your own Google Calendar just by clicking the blue hyperlink!