Friday, October 28, 2016

Principal Notes - October 28th

Dear Memorial Families,
It certainly has felt like fall this week. Just a gentle reminder that our mornings are quite cold and we do have morning recess so please have your children dress for the weather. This time of year with all the changes is difficult but some children this week were saying they were cold.
NEW NEWS


Guidance Message
Week of  October 24:
Oct. 25: Peacemaker Challenge: Be an Upstander for yourself if someone is unkind to you.  You can tell them to stop, walk away, ignore it, play with others, or if it’s scary or dangerous, tell an adult you trust.  
Oct. 30:  Review of what students can do to be an Upstander.  They can tell the person to stop, ask friends to help them, be kind to the target, or “Stop, Walk and Talk” (tell an adult).  There is never an excuse to sit by and do nothing.  Peacemaker Challenge: Be an Upstander when you see unkind behavior.  It is the responsibility of all of us to help keep our school bully-free and peaceful.

Make Life Sweeter Candy Drive
Beginning the Tuesday after Halloween (November 1), until the end of the school day on Monday (November 7), with the help of a BHS student, we will be conducting a week long post-Halloween candy drive. All of the collections will be donated to the New Horizons Soup Kitchen in Manchester.  New Horizons gratefully uses these donations as dessert when they serve the homeless, and they also pass it along as a nighttime treat to those homeless guests staying in the shelter.  The goal of the drive is to make life a little sweeter for those less fortunate.  All donations can be placed in the marked box outside the office, which will be collected at the end of the school day on Monday, November 7th.

BHS Theater Company
Bedford High School Theatre Company presents "The Drowsy Chaperone" November 10th, 11th and 12th @ 7 PM November 13th @ 2 PM November 18th and 19th @ 7 PM. Tickets are $12 for Adults, $10 for Seniors (65+) and $5 for Students. Tickets can be purchased online at http://seatyourself.biz/bedfordhigh or at the door.


Annual Pet Week - October 17th - October 31st - Last Couple of Days
For many of us at Memorial School, our pets are an important part of our families. During the month of October we'll be celebrating how animals enrich our lives through a variety of pet-themed events. 
Starting on Monday, October 17th and ending on Monday, October 31st, we will be accepting donations for the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire. The donations can be sent in with students and placed in the bins which will line the front hallway of our school. Some of the most needed items at the shelter include: 

·      Canned Fancy Feast (kitten or adult)
·      Flat cat beds (not the stuffed ones)
·      Plain chicken or turkey baby food (for kittens)
·      Kitten food (both canned and dry)
·      Clay cat litter
·      Laundry detergent, high efficiency
·      Hand sanitizer
·      Toilet Paper
·      Disposable non-latex gloves
·      Good “brain toys” for dogs
·      Good quality canned food for dogs (Iams, Pedigree, & Up)
·      Martingale clip-on collars
*The Animal Rescue League also has a wish list through Amazon.com. which you can find under “Animal Rescue League of NH”.

Thank you for all the contributions so far!

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PTG NEWS
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Gift Cards
GIFT CARDS are back! Gift giving and every day shopping is easy when you order Gift Cards through the PTG. We are excited to offer gift cards to locally owned businesses along with a wide variety of local and online retailers. There is NO expiration date on the gift cards and you receive the FULL value of the gift card while the retailers will give a portion of the sale to the Bedford PTG (see order form for details). Order by November 2nd for pre-Thanksgiving delivery and order by November 30th for pre-Christmas delivery. Order forms have gone home with students K-8 and are available to download at www.bedfordptg.org
PTG Hosts Superintendent Coffee
**TIME CHANGE** COMMUNITY MEETING Please join the Bedford PTG along with guest speaker, Superintendent Chip McGee, at BCTV (10 Meetinghouse Road, Bedford) on Thursday, November 3rd at 7:30p.m.At this community event Mr. McGee will be speaking on important topics such as enrollments, current budget drivers/priorities, academic performance as well topics you bring with you! Light refreshments will be served at 7:30 with the presentation to begin at 7:45p.m. There will be discussion and Q&A, and your children are welcome to attend.

Shorty's
Join the PTG at SHORTY’S in Bedford before or after our community meeting at BCTV on Thursday November 3rd, or grab some food for take-out.  Mention the PTG or show this flyer and we will receive 15% of the total sales (including beverages), good on dine-in and take-out all day long.

Ski & Skate Sale
The annual Ski & Skate sale will be held on Saturday, November 19th, 2016 at BHS. Interesting in volunteering at this event? Email Maria Rocco at maria_rocco@yahoo.comClick Here for more information or visit www.bedfordptg.org

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REMINDERS 
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Report Cards
Just a reminder!

Student report cards are available online only in the PowerSchool Parent Access Portal. To access your child's report card online, log into the PowerSchool Parent Portal and you will see a Report Card icon in the left hand pane. Quarter 1 report cards will be available to view on Friday, November 4th at 2:30PM.

Parent Pick-Up at Dismissal
Thank you to all the parents for their patience as we try to deal with the limited parking at Memorial.We are working on a plan to make parent pick-up safer. The police have stated that it is not legal to park in the access road to the church. Though it is a longer walk, please park in a parking space. We are trying to make the best of a difficult situation. I will be back with you soon with a plan that we hope will ease the situation.

Teal Pumpkin Project - An Idea for Holloween
Memorial School wants to help every child experience the joy and tradition of trick-or-treating on Halloween by encouraging our families to participate in Fare's Teal Pumpkin Project. Last year, households from all 50 states and 14 countries participated. This is a worldwide movement to create a safer, happier Halloween for all trick-or-treaters.

FARE’s Teal Pumpkin Project helps make sure all children will come home on Halloween night with something they can enjoy. It just takes one simple act: offering non-food treats, such as glow sticks or small toys, as an alternative to candy.
How to Take Part
  1. Provide non-food treats for trick-or-treaters.
  2. Place a teal pumpkin in front of your home to indicate to passersby that you have non-food treats available.
  3. Display a free printable sign or premium poster from FARE to explain the meaning of your teal pumpkin.
If you have any questions or need free printables, go to the Teal Pumpkin Project Website: http://www.foodallergy.org/teal-pumpkin-project

Happy, Safe, Trick-or-Treating! 

Bedford Education Foundation
The Bedford Education Foundation Fall Fundraiser will be held on Friday, November 4, 2016 at the Manchester Country Club at 7:00pm.   
Tickets available at www.seatyourself.biz/befnh
$50 for community members and $25 for faculty and staff in Bedford.
Don’t miss this fantastic evening out for a great cause.
For more information or for sponsorship opportunities please email info@befnh.org


Memorial Clothing

You can order Memorial School clothing online!  Please go to www.bedfordwear.com.  Hover over Schools in the menu bar, and select Memorial School.  An order typically takes 7-10 business days to be delivered.  You can order in a variety of colors and styles.  We have a few samples in the office area so you can get an idea of what is offered.  Also, there is a size chart on the website for your reference.  10% of profits come back to the Memorial.


Community Council
The first Community Council Meeting will be on Monday, October 17th. We will be talking about new signage for Memorial, yearbooks, and parking for dismissal. The following are members of this group:
Sally Kellar, Megan Olibiero, Chris Heath, Roberta Keane, Mindy Bator, Tara Jenkins and Rachael Bagenstose, Janice Souza, and Pam Ilg. If you have any ideas, please share them with a member of Community Council.

Principal's Advisory

A student from each third and fourth grade classroom will be representing their class on the Principal's Advisory. The following students will represent grade 3, Cori O'Donnell, James Tamulevich, Brendan Kaup, Mea Kling and grade 4 will have Evan Dunker, Elyse Ngenda, Sarah Winslow, Lily Kfoury, and Max Shea. I am looking forward to working with these students. 

Bedford Skis Crotched Program
Registration is now open!  Go to http://www.crotchedmtn.com/52-school-program/ for information about the options available.  "CMBEDFORD" is the User Name and "bsdmember" as the Password (both are case sensitive).  Rentals, lessons, and adult passes are available.  The program begins Friday, January 6, 2017, and the deadline to purchase 5+2 passes is November 15, 2016.  Contact Isabelle Grenier at isabelleg@comcast.net with any questions.

Bedford Ski Program
Bedford students in grades 1-8 are invited to take advantage of discounted ski/snowboard lessons at Pat’s Peak Ski Area in Henniker, NH. This parent run program is geared to give kids the opportunity to learn to ski and snowboard at a ski area perfect for all levels. This five week Friday night program includes 1 hour lessons and free ski time – under the lights until the 10PM closing time. Discounted lift tickets are available for students who do not need lessons. Included in the program is a free bonus day at Pat’s Peak, Gunstock, and Cranmore to be used from February 27 th to the close of the 2017 season.
The 2017 Bedford Ski Program begins on Friday, January 6 th and runs for 5 weeks. The choice of lesson times are 3:30 – 4:30PM or 4:30 – 5:30PM. Parents are responsible for providing transportation or arranging carpools.
Easy Online Registration is available at www.patspeak.com. Click on “Learn to Ski & Ride Program” and “Register Here”. The username for bedford330 and bedford430 for the 4:30 lesson. The Password is patspeak17. More details are available at www.patspeak.com. Visit our table at the Bedford Ski and Skate Sale.
Contacts –
Kim Ahnen – kim.ahnen@comcast.net
Martha Cronin – bplmartha@gmail.com

Marker Recycling Program
Memorial School is happy to announce that we have joined the Crayola ColorCycle program! Through this program, used markers (ANY plastic marker - Crayola, dry erase, highlighters, etc) are collected and shipped to Crayola to be re-purposed into many different items. And it's free! Crayola even pays for the shipping!
Our Crayola dropbox is located just outside the main office - please feel free to drop off any and all dried out markers. Questions? See Mrs. Schmitt for more information.


Ecosmith Recycle Bins for Destination Imagination
Did you know that every school in the district has an Ecosmith Recycle Bin?  This is a great way to donate/recycle old clothes, while helping raise funds for our teams who advance to Global Finals each year.  You can put any kind of fabrics in these bins, towels and stuffed animals too.  Ripped shirts and pants with holes are fine, as well as well worn shoes.  Bedford DI greatly appreciates your continued participation in this program.

Updated School Phone Extensions
The district has updated its phone system.  We now have 5 digits extensions.  You will need to add a 2 in front of our previous 4 digit extensions.  For example, our nurse’s former extension was 5201, and it is now 25201.



Text Message Alerts
Parents - If your cell phone number is in the District's PowerSchool Information System and you wish to receive alerts via text, you can text YES to 68453.

IMPORTANT DATES


October 28 – End of Quarter 1
November 4 – Report Cards will be released electronically
November 7 - Picture Re-takes
November 7-18 – Parent/Teacher Conferences
November 8 – Election Day/Workshop Day (No school for students)
November 11 – Veterans’ Day Observance – NO SCHOOL
November 23-25 – Thanksgiving Recess – NO SCHOOL


Thanks,
Pam  

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