Principal's Notes 2/1/2019

February Messages
Peace Message: Managing our Feelings
Brain Message: I can ask for help

Important Dates

• February 1 –  Third Grade Invention Convention
• February 5 – Budget Deliberative Session at the BHS Theatre, 7:00pm
• February 15 –  High School Literacy Night from 6-7pm at the BHS 
• February 18-20 – Artist in Residence Program "Drum-Azing" visits grades 1-4
• February 19 – Spirit Day; Wear your Silly Socks
• February 25- March 1 – Winter Vacation
• March 8 – Kindergarten Love Bug Brunch
• March 12 – No School; Voting Day and teacher Workshop Day
• March 19 – Spirit Day; wear your rainbow colors
• March 29 – End of 3rd Quarter
• March 29 – Memorial's Spring Fling 5:00pm Memorial School 
• April 5 – Report Cards Released (on-line)
• April 8-11 – Scholastic Book Fair
• April 22-26 – Spring Vacation

We hope you all enjoy the weekend and wish for a positive outcome Sunday night for the Patriots!




The Bedford School Board unanimously named Mike Fournier as Bedford's Superintendent.  Congratulations to Mike, we are happy to have him leading our district.

Bedford School District Deliberative Session February 5

All registered voters in Bedford are invited to participate in the Bedford School District Deliberative Session on Tuesday, February 5, 2019 at 7:00 pm in the Bedford High School Theater. Voters will discuss the Bedford School Board's Warrant, which included the proposed budget and special articles authorizing an Energy Related Infrastructure Bond and a 2-Year Teacher Contract. The voters will either affirm or revise the School Board Warrant at this meeting. Please click HERE to read Superintendent Fournier’s blog to access information about the upcoming BSD Deliberative Session and purposed warrant articles. The Superintendent and School Board view these articles as investments in our students, teachers, schools, and community.

Paper Retriever Recycling

Unfortunately, the green and yellow paper recycling containers (Paper Retriever), which were available to parents/community members have been removed from the district’s schools as this company has gone out of business.  Therefore, there will no longer be any containers available on school grounds for the public. 

Memorial School’s Annual Spring Fling Event planning is underway
Save the date: 3-29-19 from 5:00pm - 8:00pm
You are invited to join us for any of our three dinner seatings and our raffle of exciting theme baskets. The baskets are created by Memorial School students, families, friends and many area merchants. We hope you can join us for this fun filled family event. Spring Fling is our annual fundraiser that supports Memorial School’s continued efforts to provide enhanced educational opportunities for our students. All funds raised directly benefit Memorial School’s children. More information will be coming!

From Mrs. Pleat’s Desk…

During the month of February, announcements and classroom guidance lessons will focus on learning to control strong emotions. Students will be encouraged to “be the boss” of their feelings, instead of having their feelings control them. Students will learn about the Zones of Regulation, a program that helps kids recognize when their bodies and emotions are in a heightened state, and learn ways to manage them. The Brain Message for February reinforces concepts of growth mindset. Students will learn that asking for help and getting it, causes neurons in our brains to grow and connect.

For information on Zones of Regulation and how you can use it at home, visit: ProgramsServices/Zones/Documents/Zones%20of%20Regulation%20Parent%20Presentation.pdf

Love Bug Brunch

Reminder to our kindergarten parents that on March 8th from 9-10 AM. All kindergarten students are invited to attend in during the morning session.  The kindergarteners and their special adult will enjoy a brunch together in the cafeteria.

PTG News and Information

THANK YOU FROM PTG: Thanks to everyone that came out to enjoy stories read by our Principals and Assistant Principals at Principal Winter Reading Night and to those that stopped by Barnes and Noble last weekend to listen to story time with staff from our elementary schools, enjoy an amazing art show, and hear the sounds of singers, musicians, and performers from our schools. 

COLOR BLAST FUN RUN/WALK COMMUNITY EVENT:  Save the date…Sunday, June 2nd as PTG hosts Color Blast Fun Run/Walk.  Registration opens March 15th. Stay tuned for more exciting details . . . . . Local businesses…want to join PTG’s efforts in providing enriching educational opportunities, creating community events, and helping support the individual needs of our Bedford School District, while gaining positive exposure for your business? Consider becoming a Color Blast Fun Run sponsor visit HERE  for more details or contact  bedfordcolorblast@gmail.com.

STAY CONNECTED TO PTG: Please visit our PTG WEBSITE and follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) to see all the exciting things happening at our schools. Thank you for your support!

REMINDERS
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.

New Volunteer Opportunity This 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).

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/

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.

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

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.