Cheetah Pride Press
Weekly Update March 1, 2024
Joey & Andrea
Head Cheetahs Message
Families,
Happy March! Today was Volunteer Appreciation Day, and we’d like to take a moment to thank all of the wonderful volunteers who generously donate their time and energy to our school community! Memorial is lucky to have so many amazing families and community partners who help make every day run smoothly. A small token of our appreciation was sent home to our regular volunteers. If you’re one of them, please check your student’s backpack. Thank you for all you do!
This week we’ll be hosting conferences. We know that our teaching staff is anxious to share all of the ways our students have been growing and learning. Please remember that we’ll have an early dismissal on Wednesday and Thursday in order to accommodate the conference schedule. Feel free to browse at the Scholastic Book Fair when you’re here for your conference. It will be open!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Joey & Andrea
Cheetahs in Action
P is For Pig
Preschoolers capped off their study of the letter P with a visit from Gilbert, The Party Pig!
Read Across America
Saturday, March 2nd is Read Across America Day. The National Education Association launched Read Across America Day in 1998 to celebrate reading and educate people about its benefits. Memorial School celebrated all week long with a variety of spirit days, and engaging read alouds. Representative Haines even stopped by to read to some of our Kindergarten students!
Cheetah Pride Assembly
PAWSITIVE Office Referrals
A PAWsitive office referral is submitted when a staff member recognizes a student who is going above and beyond to exemplify one of our three school rules - taking care of others, taking care of self, & taking care of things.
Cheetah Council Spotlight
Meet Olivia
Her teacher is Mr. McCarthy.
She is special because she loves to sing at music.
Her favorite thing is music.
She wanted to be on cheetah council to help the school.
She loves everything about school.
Related Art News
ART News: Cheetah Pride Press
Prek and Kindergarten students learned about the artistic mastery of the “Dragon Dance”, a dance that is performed during the Chinese “Lunar” New Year celebration in China, as well as all around the world. Chinese “Lunar” New Year lasts from February 10th-February 25th, 2024 on the evening of the first full moon for 2024. This year, Lunar New Year celebrates the year of the DRAGON! Students were amazed with the creative and amazing looks of the Dragon used for this special dance during this very special cultural festival. Students learned how to create their own dragon head and tail, and folded an “origami” spring, for a long, bendable serpent-like body. They turned their three pieces into a dragon puppet, which they moved, danced, jumped, and wiggled around the art room!
First grade students learned about a very special type of art, called ABSTRACT art! We learned how to look at famous works of art, and practiced what it would be like to walk through an art museum. Students looked at abstract art from 6 different famous abstract artists from the 20th century, including Piet Mondrian, Joan Miro, Helen Frankenthaller, Sonia Delaunay, Frank Stella, and Hans Hoffman. We learned that abstract art is unique because we have to create our own meaning when we look at it, unlike art that shows us what it actually is (like a portrait or a vase of flowers). Abstract art is mysterious, strange, unexpected, and full of shapes and colors! We are learning how to build an abstract sculpture using paper and 3D forming techniques such as bending, folding, twisting, rolling, overlapping, and stacking. We can’t wait for you to see our amazing abstract sculptures!
P.S. Are you looking to visit an art museum? The New Britain Museum of American Art is very used to young visitors, and has an amazing collection of American artists from the past 200+ years. Admission is free before noon every Saturday! The first grade students know that we need to take great care of the artworks in an art museum (because they are very valuable and ancient). We have also learned that we can look, talk quietly, wonder, admire, and think about artworks that we view in a museum setting. We also learned how important it is to walk quietly around while stopping at each work of art so we don’t miss anything, and to treat art museums like a library (shhhhh…)! If you take your child to visit an art museum I would LOVE for you to share a photograph so I can put it on display in the art room and celebrate this amazing opportunity your child experienced! And of course, I hope you have FUN!
Second graders have been working hard to complete their papier mache sculptures of FOOD! We have worked on improving the sculpture's balance and stability. We have also critiqued and analyzed our work while adding multiple layers for refinement of the sculpture's surfaces. Some students have begun painting their food sculptures, and are adding the details to their beautiful masterpieces! We will be taking our sculptures home soon!
Third Graders finally have a large body of ceramic work that will be trickling home in the next week. If your child has a work of art made from clay that your child brings home, please make sure that it is placed in a safe spot, free from cats and toddlers;) Also, if your child plans to use their ceramic sculptures for food or drink, the glazes and clay are food safe and should be hand washed only. Please do not put any hand built pottery in the dishwasher or microwave! Also, students are continuing to plan for success during their choice art classes and are moving through the projects they will need completed by the end of 3rd grade. Our goals are year long goals, and it would be very helpful to check in with your child about the projects they have not yet completed. These unfinished projects are what we talk about each week during choice art class, and students are making plans right now how to complete those projects. The project list includes :
Portrait
Landscape
Abstract
Still Life
Animal
Design
Please reach out to me any time if you have any questions about your child’s progress towards their end of year goals, and thank you for always encouraging and supporting your child's artistic visions and creative experiences!
Coaches Corner
Save The Dates
March
3/5 - Progress Reports go home
3/6-3/7- Parent/Teacher Conferences
3/8- Professional Learning Day For Staff - No School for students
3/16 - Preschool Touch-A-Truck Community Event @ Memorial
3/18 - PTO Meeting, 5:30 @ Memorial
3/22 - Paraeducator/Interventionist Appreciation Day
3/25 - Board Of Education Meeting, 6:30 @ Town Hall
3/27 - Cheetah Pride Day
3/28 - Early Dismissal - Professional Learning for Staff
3/29 - Good Friday/No School
Kindergarten Registration
Touch-A-Truck
East Hampton’s Memorial School PRE-K is looking for trucks or vehicles that you are willing to bring to TOUCH-a-TRUCK on Saturday March 16th from 10am-1pm at Memorial School.
If you are interested, please contact Stacey Gibson at sgibson@easthamptonct.org
We would love the support of the community for this event.
TOUCH-A-TRUCK will be for the whole community of East Hampton to have a hands-on interactive experience with a variety of vehicles parked in Memorial school’s parking lot.
Donations to attend support PreK experiences at Memorial school.
Nurses Notes
Dear Families of Memorial Elementary Students,
This is an important update! We are asking for your assistance in helping keep our school healthy and safe. We have been experiencing a surge in stomach bug, coughing, strep throat, pink eye and fevers as well as several covid cases. If your child tests positive for covid or any illness, please inform the nurse office asap as we track all illnesses. Positive covid cases should stay home for 5 days and can return on day 6 as long as it has been 24 hour fever free without medication. It is also encouraged to wear a mask for days 6-10 while at school.
We have also recently had several food items brought in to share in classrooms. Please be aware that non food treats are encouraged. If food items are brought into school for sharing, it needs to be store bought, prepackaged and made in a nut free facility and the school nurse must be notified at least 24 hours in advance.
Please consider the following guidelines, provided by the school nurse, for sending students to school:
Consider keeping your child at home for an extra day of rest and observation if he or she has any of the following symptoms:
- Very stuffy or runny nose and/or cough
- Mild sore throat (no fever, no known exposure to strep)
- Mild headache and/or stomachache
- Fatigue
Definitely keep your child at home for treatment and observation if he or she has any of these symptoms and remember the 24 hour rule:
- Fever (greater than 100 degrees. May return to school after 24 hours of no fever WITHOUT fever reducing medications)
- Vomiting (Even once. Must wait 24 hours after last vomit episode to return to school)
- Diarrhea (Must wait 24 hours after last episode to return to school)
- Chills
- General malaise or feelings of fatigue, discomfort, weakness, and/or muscle aches
- Frequent congested, wet, or croupy cough
- Lots of nasal congestion with frequent blowing of nose
- redness and discharge from one or both eyes
To help prevent the flu and other colds, please remind your child(ren) about good hygiene habits:
- Wash hands frequently
- Do not touch eyes, nose, or mouth
- Cover mouth and nose when sneezing/coughing and then wash hands
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick
Often when a child awakens with vague complaints (the way colds and flu begin) it is wise to observe your child at home for an hour or two before deciding whether or not to bring them to school. Your child should be physically able to participate in all school activities on returning to school. Keeping a sick child at home will minimize the spread of infections and viruses in the classroom. We use our nursing assessment and judgment when students come into the nurse office and make calls home as we deem necessary. Thank you in advance for helping to make this year at school as healthy as possible.
*Please also update emergency contact information! In case of an emergency or in instances where your child needs to be dismissed from school, it is extremely important that we be able to reach someone on the contact list. We have also been having trouble with parent voicemail boxes that are full and we are unable to leave a message.
Please also make sure to have a spare change of seasonally appropriate clothing for your child to keep in their cubbies!!
Remember to notify the nurse's office if your child has been diagnosed with any illness (or injury). The nurse tracks illnesses and will send a note home to the class if there are 2 or more cases in the classroom. If your child has an injury that has activity restrictions, please share with the nurse's office so we are aware and can notify appropriate staff members. We want to keep our students healthy and safe and your cooperation is needed to do so. We appreciate your assistance.
Kindly,
The Health Office Team,
Nurse Katie and Miss Michelle
Please contact your child’s pediatrician first. If unable to be seen, here is a list of
local walk in/urgent care locations if unable to be seen by pediatrician:
CVS Minute Clinic, East Hampton 866-389-2727
ProHealth Extended Hours, Glastonbury 657-5940
Middlesex Health Urgent Care, Middletown 860-358-4170
Colchester Urgent Care 860-531-9749
Breakfast Menu
Lunch Menu
Safe School Climate
The East Hampton Board of Education and the school community as a whole promote a secure and productive school climate, conducive to teaching and learning that is free from threat, harassment, and any type of bullying behavior. Therefore it shall be the policy of the Board that bullying and/or teen dating violence committed against a student by another student is prohibited. The Board believes that a school environment in which students feel safe, supported, engaged and helpfully challenged is optimal for learning and healthy development. The Board seeks an environment in which students and adults feel socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically safe; an environment that is free of harassment, intimidation, teen dating violence and bullying. Our website provides links to various policies and reporting forms including our Safe School Climate Plan. Hard copies are also available in our main office. If at any point you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to building administration for further assistance.
Attendance Matters
Please note
When considering the number of absences your student has accrued, keep in mind that a student must be present for 195 minutes in order for the day to count! When bringing your student in late, or signing them out early if they have not been in school for a 195 minutes the day will be recorded as an absence.
Memorial School Attendance email:
memorial_attendance@easthamptonct.org * there is an _ between memorial and attendance!
Covid Protcols
Students, parents, and community members have access to an anonymous tip line on the front page of the school district website to report self-concerns, mental health concerns of a friend, or concerns of violence. Simply click here or view on the website: https://www.easthamptonps.org/.
Memorial School's Profile of a Graduate
Memorial Elementary School Contact Information
Email: jbauer@easthamptonct.org
Website: https://www.easthamptonps.org/o/memorial-school
Location: 20 Smith Street, East Hampton, CT, USA
Phone: 860-365-4020
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ehmemorialschool