Elm Hill School ~ February 2024
February 7th, 2024
Elm Hill School ~ April 2024
Principal's Office
Dear Elm Hill School Community,
Happy spring! The students at Elm Hill School have been engaging in a lot of fun learning experiences this past month with our amazing and creative staff. Classrooms throughout our school have been incorporating Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics learning into their curriculum and collaborative learning. Giant snow caterpillars and leprechaun traps were made, as well as models of the human body and the digestive system. The Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS), continued to work with our classes this month, exploring the topic of light with our first graders, and force and motion with our kindergarteners. This month, many of our students learned about the process of sugaring, and took advantage of our warm weather to get outside and learn about this in an experiential and hands-on way. The week of April 1st, Elm Hill had our first Spirit Week. The themes included Beach Day, Decades Day, Grown Up Day, and Cosmos Day. The students and staff both had a lot of fun, and it was a great way to gear up for Spring Break.
This past month, Elm hosted our second round of Parent Teacher Conferences. Around 95% of Parents attended, often with their students with them. The conferences were an excellent chance for parents to connect with their children’s teachers, and for the students to reflect on how they’ve grown.
We have been hard at work preparing for Kindergarten Registration Day. We have been making our groups of incoming kindergarten students, sending out information to parents, and have already arranged for several organizations to join us for the day, including Northstar Health, the PTA, All-4-One, HCRS, and the Springfield Library. We are so excited to meet our new kindergarten students and their families.
At Elm Hill School, our teachers are learning too. Most recently, Elm Hill School sent four staff members to Manchester, NH to see Competency Based Education in action. We visited with students and teachers at Parker Varney Elementary School, and observed whole group instruction, small group interventions, and how personalized learning makes education meaningful. We even had the opportunity to listen in on some student “Binder Talks” where students talked about what they were proud of, what goals they had already met, and their goals for the future. The students shared their work and the excitement that they had in the celebration options for when they achieved a goal (“Leveled Up”).
Thank you for your continued support of our school. We appreciate all that you do for our staff and our students.
Amanda C. Tyrrell
Acting Principal, Elm Hill School
Important Dates
May 1: First Grade Arts Night
May 7: Kindergarten Arts Night
May 8: PTA Meeting at Union Street School
May 9: Second Grade Arts Night
May 10: Kindergarten Registration - No School for Current Kindergarten Students
May 16: Off to Kindergarten Night
May 27: Memorial Day - No School
Lost and Found
If you student has lost an item please reach out to Ryan Seaver at rseaver@ssdvt.org. Ryan is the keeper of lost and found.
Miss Lora & Miss Jenn's Kindergarten News
We have begun writing simple sentences. We call them “silly sentences” as children are choosing random cards from 3 different buckets to create their sentences. Each bucket is labeled 1, 2 or 3 and
are color coded in order to place the cards in the correct order! This activity has become a popular station during our literacy time.
Below is one of the sentences we created and wrote out together! Once the sentence was written, I asked the children to illustrate. They enjoyed writing and illustrating for our sentence, “Gum hit me”.
Every week just keeps getting better! Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!
Warmly, Miss Lora & Miss Jenn
Ms. Carr's Kindergarten
Ms. Carr's class was busy in March planning how they could trap the tricky leprechaun on St. Patrick's Day! Throughout the week they listened to several read alouds on trapping the leprechaun, they made a green inspired snack (jello parfaits), they wrote about what they would do if they found gold, and designed traps on how they would trap the leprechaun! The students set their traps on Friday afternoon with hopes of having a new classmate (Lucky the Leprechaun) on Monday, but all they found instead was a note and some gold coins for their efforts!
McLoughlin Minutes
Happy Spring!
Here are some great ways to practice counting.
In kindergarten, we are practicing counting to 100. See if you can find 100 trees on a walk.
Count out 100 legos and then build a structure. Count out 100 leaves and make a picture with them (ones that are on the ground). Play a game like Chutes and Ladders.
First grade, we are learning how to count out large groups of items. Making groups of ten is helpful. Find acorns or pinecones in the yard or on a walk and put them in a bag. When you get home make groups of ten and count how many you found. Play a game like Rack-o. This game practices ordering and comparing numbers.
Second grade, is working on place value.
Pick a two-digit number like 45. Answer these questions?
What digits are in 45?
What place has a value of 40?
What are the digits in our number system?
In the number 45 what place has a value of 5?
These questions will help with place value understanding.
Health Office
Happy Spring! 🐰 “Hop” into some news from the Health Office…
Time to Go Outdoors and Get Physically Active this Spring!: Check out an article at healthychildren.org to discover the many ways regular physical activity benefits children and how to encourage your child to be more active.
Ticks Are Returning!!: Some tips from the VT Dept. of Health/ CDC to prevent tick exposure:
1. Tuck your shirt/socks inside pants when outside.
2. Apply up to 30% DEET Spray to clothing, exposed skin.
3. Check your body/clothing for ticks daily.
4. Shower soon after being outdoors.
5. Call your doctor for any fever, rash.
**For more information about ticks and tick-bite prevention, go to http://www.healthvermont.gov/disease-control/tickborne-diseases/prevent-tick-bites-tickborne-diseases
Sun-Safety 🌞 Health Tips for Students/Families:
Drink plenty of water.
Wear hats, sunglasses, loose-fitting protective clothing.
Apply sunscreen with SPF of 15 or greater.
Limit sun exposure outdoors from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
**To see these and other sun-safety tips, go to https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/skin/basic_info/sun-safety.htm
April is Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Month: According to the CDC, one in 36 children are diagnosed with ASD by the time they reach eight years of age. ASD is a developmental disorder that can affect a child’s communication, social skills, and behavior. The number of children diagnosed with ASD has dramatically increased since the 1990’s. To learn more about ASD, diagnosis, therapies, and more, go to https://healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/Autism/Pages/Autism-Spectrum-Disorder.aspx
FREE Virtual Parent Support Education Programs from PCAVT: For more information: https://www.pcavt.org/family-support-programs.
Extra Clothing, Please 👖👚!: Please continue to send your student to school with a spare set of clothing each day for all of those unexpected accidents that may occur at school. We have very limited clothing in the Health Office. Thank you!
Medications 💊: A friendly reminder that if your student needs to receive an emergency medication or over-the-counter medication at school, it is best (at this age level) for these to be delivered to the Health Office by an adult. Thank you!
COVID Tests are still available from the Health Office, if needed.
Have a Fun and Safe Spring 🌷!
With Warm Regards,
Nurse Mary