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