Love of Learning!

Love of Learning
This week's character strength focus is Love of Learning. People with this strength enjoy mastering new topics on their own and/or in school. An apple is being sent home with each child today. Please work with your child to come up with a topic they would like to learn about, write it on the apple, and decorate the apple. Please return the apple to be hung in the hallways. For more information about the strength of Love of Learning, click here.

Kindergarten Readiness
This year we are trying something new for our incoming kindergarteners. We are holding Kindergarten Readiness sessions to help these students (and their parents!) make an easy transition to kindergarten. Last night they met each of the kindergarten teachers and completed an activity with their parents in the room. During our next session, parents will receive pertinent information from some of the East Hill staff members in the library while the students complete readiness activities in the classroom. If you know of someone that has an incoming kindergarten student that has not yet registered, please encourage them to do so. We are excited to welcome the incoming class of 2031!

BINGO
Thank you to Mrs. Grosser and Mrs. Tully for planning such a great, well-run event for our East Hill families! Everything went smoothly and everyone had a great time! Thanks to all of you that volunteered your time or provided raffles or baked goods for the evening. Very much appreciated!

NYS Assessments
We completed the NYS English Language Arts assessments and are happy to report that we had very little technological difficulties at East Hill. Thank you for making sure your children had a good breakfast and came to school on time. This year we had the least number of make-ups to administer than we've ever had! I am positive that our students performed well on these assessments and am looking forward to seeing how they do on the math assessments coming up in May.

Upcoming Dates Reminders:
Tuesday, April 17: PTA, 6:15, WGHSLGI
Tuesday, April 17: Budget Presentation, 7:00 WGHSLGI
Friday, April 20: Half-Day, 11:30 dismissal (11:20 parent pick up), Spring break begins!

Have a great rest of the week and a great Spring Break!

- Lisa

Happy April!

The Positivity Project
Last week was a "Wildcard" week for the Positivity Project as many schools around the country were on break. We decided to play, "What's My Strength?" to review some of the character strengths that we have learned. Each morning a clue was read on the announcements and students and staff had to listen for the appropriate way to respond with the correct answer, which was different each day in order to keep everyone on their toes. Answers came via a phone call to the office, an email, a text, a tweet, and the PA system. It was a lot of fun and a great way to review what we have learned.

This week we are learning about integrity.There is a poster that says, "Character is what you do when nobody is watching." This is actually the character strength of integrity, which is just one of many strengths that make up your character. Our learning target for this week is, I can be honest and speak the truth. I present myself genuinely and sincerely. To learn more about integrity, click here.

Let's Go Blue 4 Kids
Did you know that April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month? Throughout the month of April, the McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center is joining the National Children’s Alliance and its thousands of members and supporters across the country to bring much needed attention to the issues of child abuse intervention and prevention. As the leading agency in Onondaga County for the prevention of child abuse, McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center is planning a number of activities and events to recognize the importance of community education on child abuse prevention.

The West Genesee PTA/PTO District Council is asking for your support during the April awareness campaign Go Blue 4 Kids. By donating $1, you can help the WG community go BLUE and support the McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center’s important work. For each $1 donated, the school will receive a pinwheel. Please send donations by April 12 in an envelope marked “Pinwheels for Prevention” and have your child put it in the collection box in the Main Office.

On April 19, all pinwheels will be placed outside of each of the schools in the district. The McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center works to prevent child abuse through intervention and prevention education.

NYS Assessments
This Wednesday and Thursday our third through fifth grade students will take the computer-based English Language Arts exam. We view these assessments as a great opportunity for students to show how much they have grown as learners. We encourage them to do their best on these assessments. I am confident they are well-prepared for these assessments which have been shortened to two days, written by NYS teachers, and are once again untimed as they were last year. I'm anxious to see our results as we are now four years in with our math program and two years in with our new literacy program. Please let me know if you have any questions about these assessments. Please help by making sure you child has a good breakfast on these days (and every day), and arrives on time.

Dismissal
We are once again making improvements to our dismissal procedures. We will continue to let parents in at 3:10 to sign students out at the office, but we will then ask you to wait in the cafeteria where you will meet your child prior to leaving the building. Thank you for your assistance with this new procedure. 

Upcoming Events
4/11, NYS ELA
4/12, NYS ELA
4/13, BINGO, East Hill Cafeteria
4/17, PTA, 6:15, WGHS LGI
4/17, Budget Presentation, 7:00, WGHS LGI
4/20, Half-Day, 11:30 Dismissal (See Dr. Brown's blogpost for more information)
4/23, Spring Break

Have a great week!

- Lisa