Happy Halloween!

We’ve been pretty busy these past two weeks at East Hill. We had our playground closing ceremony last Tuesday night which was very well attended. We are sad to see our playground go, but are excited about the new playground that will be installed in the spring.

Thanks to the PTA we were fortunate to have Eric Litwin, the best-selling author of the first four Pete the Cat books and author of the exciting new musical series, The Nuts and Groovy Joe, come to East Hill last Friday. The students really enjoyed his presentations. It was a great way to conclude our two week Pick a Reading Partner (PARP) Reading Celebration. Thank you also to the PTA for providing PARPsicles for the students once again. In addition, thank you to all of the guest readers who came to read to the students.

The Merry-Go-Round Youth Theater is scheduled for grade level assemblies again this year. This past Tuesday our fifth graders were treated to a performance titled, “Emelia.” What’s great about these performances is that the actors first spend a half hour in each classroom discussing the performance with the students prior to them actually seeing it. They will be here next week to perform a Longhouse performance for our fourth graders.

We also had our first of four grade-level CODE (Community Oriented Drug Education) assemblies. Officer Diane Brand does a wonderful job talking to our students about various, grade-appropriate topics, including bullying, stranger danger, and drug awareness. If you are interested in viewing any of the videos that were shown at the first assembly, you can find them on the West Genesee homepage (www.westgenesee.org). You will see “Code Videos” under District Links on the left side of the page.

We had our first Student Council meeting yesterday. The students were elected by their classmates as representatives for their room. The students brainstormed several things that they would like to accomplish this year. I look forward to seeing some of these things come to fruition.

This week’s words of the day were data, theme, variation, election, and curious. Next week’s words are multiplication (M), narrative (T), expository (W), nutrition (Th), and thankful (F).

I look forward to tomorrow’s Halloween Parade which will be held outside at 2:00, weather permitting. If we need to hold it inside I will make that call by 1:45 and send out an alert. Please read the letter that went home concerning costumes, treats, and who should and should not be in the classrooms. Only those parents who have been contacted by the room parent will be allowed in the classrooms. I appreciate your understanding as this is for the safety for all of our students.

Lastly, please remember that next Tuesday is a half day with an 11:30 dismissal. Have a happy and safe Halloween!

-          Lisa

I'm Back!!

I’m so happy to be back here at East Hill. It has been great re-connecting with students, staff, and several families these past two days. Thank you to all of you that sent cards and well-wishes my way. They were certainly appreciated! A huge thank you also goes out to the teachers and to Mrs. Williams for doing an excellent job holding down the fort in my absence.

I unfortunately missed some great events these past six weeks – the Ice Cream Social, Curriculum Night, Character Education Assemblies, and Jogathon to name a few, but fortunately we have several wonderful events coming up for which I fully intend to be present!

Mrs. Greco's class enjoying a snack after the jogathon.

Our PARP (Parents as Reading Partners) two-week Reading Celebration kicked off this past Tuesday. The teachers arranged for the Varsity football team to come and show one of their favorite children’s books during the kick-off ceremony. They then each read a book to our students in their classrooms after the ceremony.

We were also lucky to have (a limping) Terrel Hunt and Rony Charles, SU football players, join in on the ceremony. Terrel’s favorite childhood book was, “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Rony’s was, “Captain Underpants.” You should have received a packet about the two-week Reading Celebration earlier this week. The teachers have done a super job preparing for these two weeks of reading fun! A big thank you to the PTA for organizing our guest readers. The students really look forward to having guests in the classroom.

Rony Charles, Mrs. Craig, and Terrel Hunt

Next Tuesday Dr. Brown has invited the community to attend the East Hill Playground closing ceremony which will be held at 6:00 p.m. The October PTA meeting will be held after the ceremony at 7:00 p.m. Please join us!

The Halloween Parade will be at 2:00 on Friday, October 30^th. More information will be sent home regarding this day soon. In the meantime, when choosing a costume, please remember that no weapons or gory costumes are allowed as we do not want to scare our youngest students.

This year we are again doing the “Word of the Day” in an effort to increase students' appreciation and understanding of vocabulary. These words are announced in the morning and posted in the hallways. In the past we did a “Math Word of the Day.” This year’s words are taken from all content areas, as well as special areas. Previous words this year include: noun, verb, adjective, responsible, digit, author, illustrator, life cycle, anxious, addition, characters, setting, natural resources, excited, subtract, sentence, paragraph, environment, respectful, attribute, plot, sportsmanship, carnivore, and jealous. This week’s words are conflict, habitat, herbivore, and worried. Next week’s words are geometry (M), resolve (T), fitness (W), omnivore (Th), and ecstatic (F).

I look forward to seeing everyone soon!

-          Lisa