Principal's Notes 1/25/19

January Message

Peace Message: Tolerance

Important Dates

• January 25 – Report Cards Released (on-line)
• February 1 –  Third Grade Invention Convention
• February 15 –  High School Literacy Night from 6-7pm at the BHS 
• February 18-20 – Artist in Residence Program "Drum-Azing" visits our grades 1-4
• February 19 – Spirit Day; Wear your Silly Socks
• February 25- March 1 – Winter Vacation

Report Cards

As 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 Cards icon in the left hand pane. When you click on this icon your child's report card will appear on the screen. You can scroll to see the entire report card and choose to print it, if you'd like. Anytime you click on the Report Cards icon, the most recent report card will generate. Quarter 2 report cards will be available to view today, January 25th at 2:30 PM.

Kindness Challenge

Memorial School has accepted a Kindness Challenge! The Great Kindness Challenge is dedicated to creating a culture of kindness and compassion in schools worldwide. Our school is proudly participating in this proactive and positive kindness initiative. We kicked this program off at our all school meeting today and all students will received The Great Kindness Challenge checklist. Please encourage your child to actively participate by completing as many acts of kindness as possible. To learn more, go to https://thegreatkindnesschallenge.com/

New Volunteer OpportunityThis year Memorial School established a composting and recycling program in the cafeteria. Food scraps diverted from the waste stream will feed our adopted pig Wilbur, some chickens and guinea pigs, and compost materials will be used for a vegetable and herb garden we hope to establish in the Spring.

We are now looking for several volunteers to help students sort their lunch waste into the correct bins on a daily basis. Student volunteers will do most of the sorting work, and adult volunteers will simply oversee the process. Four 30-minute volunteer slots are available each day, Monday through Friday. Volunteers are welcome to sign up for multiple slots, but are encouraged to keep a regular schedule from week to week. Please note this opportunity is not a Cafeteria Monitor position, those are already in place, it is only to help students sort their waste after they have eaten.

All volunteers must have completed a 2018-19 Memorial School Volunteer Program form (click HERE to fill one out). If you have already filled out the form this school year, there is no need to do it again.

Available daily time slots are:
11:10-11:40 (2nd grade lunch)
11:40-12:10 (1st grade lunch)
12:10-12:40 (3rd grade lunch)
12:40-1:10 (4th grade lunch)

To sign up or for more information about the composting program, please contact Martha Westlund (westlundm@sau25.net).

Kindergarten and 1^st Grade Registration (2019 – 2020)

Starting Monday, February 4^th, you may download and print out registration packets (HERE) or stop by our school to pick one up.  The packets need to be returned to the school by Thursday, March 7^th.  A $525 deposit is required with the K+ registration (checks made out to Bedford School District).

• A child must attain his/her 5^th birthday on or before September 30, 2019 to be eligible for kindergarten.
• A child must attain his/her 6^th birthday on or before September 30, 2019 to be eligible for first grade.

Kindergarten students who are currently enrolled at MEM (or anywhere in the district) do not need to register for 1st grade.

Food Pantry

Memorial is continuing to work with the Bedford Food Pantry to help collect food items that are most needed by families.  Every other month we will be collecting 1 food item. For the months of January and February that item is Macaroni and Cheese.   We will have a box for donations in the hallway by the main entrance.  Thank you so much for supporting this very worthy cause, which supports Bedford families.

Government Shutdown – Bedford Food Pantry Info.

Please click on the links below for information from the Bedford Food Pantry regarding assistance during the Government Shutdown.

Weekend Lunch Info.

General Info.

PTG News and Information

BARNES AND NOBLE EVENT THIS WEEKEND: Join PTGJanuary 25th – 26th at the Barnes and Noble Manchester for a great family event. See amazing student art projects from all Bedford Schools, enjoy a performance by the McKelvie Music Department and listen to stories read by Bedford’s elementary teachers and MORE. A portion of all sales that weekend will benefit Bedford schools, so be sure to mention PTG at check out. For more information click HERE. Event schedule coming soon.

HANNAFORD HELPS REUSEABLE BAG PROGRAM: Hannaford on Kilton Road has chosen Bedford PTG to be the beneficiary of the Community Bag program in January. For every green Community reusable bag purchased at Hannaford, on KILTON ROAD, in January, the PTG will receive a $1.00 donation.

COLOR BLAST FUN RUN/WALK COMMUNITY EVENT:  Save the date…Sunday, June 2^nd as PTG hosts another Color Blast Fun Run/Walk. Registration opens March 15^th. Stay tuned for more exciting details.

REMINDERS

Bedford High School Literacy Night

We would like to invite the elementary students of Memorial Elementary School and their families to our club’s Literacy Night at Bedford High School.  The event will be held on Friday, February 15 from 6-7 in the library at BHS. Parents can enter through the Theater in the circle. Club members will be reading their favorite children’s books and engaging your children in corresponding activities.  

We look forward to seeing families for this fun event!

~Aubrey Patrick and BHS Student Members of the For”WORD” Momentum Book Club

Important reminder from the health office:

Flu season generally peaks in January and February.  If your child is showing symptoms of the flu, it is important to consult with a doctor.  If your child is diagnosed with the flu/and or shows flu symptoms such as fever, it is important to keep him/her home.  For the Flu Guide for Parents please click this LINK .  Please remember, when students are sick with fever or vomiting or diarrhea- they need to be out of school for at least 24 hours after they are symptom –free.

Please keep your child home if they have a fever of 100 degrees or higher, 24-hour fever free without using fever reducing medications such as tylenol or advil to recover and to help minimize spread of germs.  This helps ensure that they do not spread their illness to others. This includes special days at school such as class parties, field trips etc.  it can be hard to miss these special days but it’s important to follow the guidelines and not spread germs. 

If your child has been diagnosed with a communicable disease, please notify the school nurse.  Please also notify nurse if your child has strep throat.  The child should stay home on antibiotics and fever free for at least 24 hours.   This is very important because some students must notify their doctor of any exposures.  It is helpful to inform nurse on absentee line as to what symptoms your child is exhibiting.  The nurse tracks trends of illness to help keep school healthy.

Thank you for helping to keep Memorial School healthy!

Dr. Dawn Huebner Presentation on Anxiety in Children

Join us on Wednesday, March 13th at 6:30pm at McKelvie Intermediate School for a 90-minute Q&A with Dr. Dawn Huebner, nationally recognized Psychologist, Parent Coach and author of award-winning mental health books for kids. Dr. Huebner is best known for her What to Do Guides - including What to Do When You Worry Too Much and Outsmarting Worry - which have sold over 1 million copies. Rather than giving a one-size-fits-all talk, Dr. Huebner will be answering audience questions about how to recognize anxiety in kids, how to respond to it, and how to build skills to better manage it. Questions can be submitted in advance, written on a note card that evening (to maintain anonymity) or asked live. This is not a group therapy session but instead an informative Q&A that will leave you with a clearer understanding of anxiety, what parents do that inadvertently feeds it, and how to help your child get on the path to defeating it.

Check out Dr. Huebner in advance at her TEDx Talk on "Rethinking Anxiety: Learning to face fear" HERE.