Teamwork/Citizenship

Teamwork/Citizenship
The Positivity Project character strength that we are focusing on this week is teamwork/citizenship. Teamwork is the ability and willingness to place overall group success as a higher priority than individual achievement. To learn more about this strength, see the character card from the Positivity Project. Students at all levels will be talking about what it means to do something for the greater good this week. Please ask your child to tell you what that means.

Last week we held our first Positivity Project assembly of the year. It is just so cool to see the sea of green in the audience. Thank you to our PTA for continuing to provide t-shirts for all of our students!

Jogathon this Friday!
The jogathon, which is the East Hill PTA's primary fundraiser, will be held this Friday. This event will be held outside, weather-permitting. Cars will not be allowed to enter or leave the parking lot from 9:30 to 12:15 and 12:15 to 1:00 so please plan accordingly. Parents are more than welcome to attend!

The schedule is as follows:

Jogathon File Photo

1st Grade - 9:40
2nd Grade - 10:10
5th Grade 10:40
3rd Grade - 11:10
4th Grade 11:40
Kindergarten - 12:30

This year's jogathon theme is Positivity.

School Pictures
Your child will be bringing home the order form for school pictures tomorrow. Pictures will be taken on Wednesday, October 10.

Have a great rest of the week!

- Lisa

East Hill's PTA

East Hill's PTA
We have a wonderful group of parents and teachers that belong to our Parent Teacher Association. This group of dedicated individuals continuously volunteer their time to provide activities for our students and resources for our staff. We had a pretty good turnout last night for the first meeting of the year. The next meeting will be held on Monday, 10/15 at 6:30 in the East Hill Library. If you are interested in joining the PTA, this is the link to join online.

Kaitlyn reads quietly while Mom attends PTA.

Spirit Wear
If you are interested in purchasing any East Hill or West Genesee swag, the PTA has teamed up with Action Print Wear to provide families with a lot of different options. This is the link to purchase spirit wear. Once at the site, click on the black customer login tab. The username is easthill and the password is spirit1. Just choose the East Hill Clothing option. Holden and Crewe are sporting some of their West Genesee swag today!

Curriculum Night
Thank you to those of you that were able to attend last week's Curriculum Night. We hope you found the event informative. Some of you noted a musty smell when you were in the classrooms. We, too, have noticed that and have discovered that some of our older bulletin boards had a strong concentration of the odor so we decided to be proactive by taking down all of them and reordering new ones. With the warm, humid fall we have had it has been difficult to keep things as dry as we would like them but we are working on bringing down the humidity level in the building. Luckily we now have air conditioning since our recent capital project so that should likely help to dry out the air.

Standing room only in Mrs. Ciciarelli's room!

Curiosity

Curiosity is this week's Positivity Project strength focus. Here is the Curiosity Character Card. People with this character strength like exploration and discovery. They ask a lot of questions because they want to learn more about anything and everything. I recently asked students in the cafeteria what they were curious about and while I received a variety of answers, most students are curious about space and their future. 

Second Graders response to, "What does curiosity look like?"

Upcoming Dates
Jogathon: Friday, September 28
School Pictures: Wednesday, October 10
PARP (Pick a Reading Partner): Monday, October 15 through Friday, October 26
Book Fair: October 16 and 17 (Family Night 10/17, 5:30 - 7:30)

Have a great rest of the week!

- Lisa

Curriculum Night This Week!

Curriculum Night
Last week your child should have brought home a letter from me about this week's Curriculum Night which will be held this Wednesday evening, September 12 (2018, not 2017 as the letter mistakenly stated!). The schedule for the evening is as follows:

6:00 - 6:25  Kindergarten & First Grade Presentations
6:30 - 6:55  Second & Third Grade Presentations
7:00 - 7:25  Fourth & Fifth Grade Presentations

As noted in the letter, this night is for parents and guardians only. The Open House held in May will be for the entire family. We hope you will be able to attend this worthwhile event. You will get to meet your child's teachers and learn about the programs they will experience this year. You will also receive the East Hill Family Handbook and sign up for parent conferences as well as other volunteer opportunities.

Ice Cream Social
The PTA's annual Ice Cream Social was another success thanks to all of the PTA volunteers that helped out. If you are interested in joining the PTA, you can join online at this link. You can also join at tomorrow's Curriculum Night. The PTA hosts a great deal of events for our students and could use your support! The September PTA meeting will be held in the East Hill Library on September 17 at 6:30.

A happy group at the Ice Cream Social.

Positivity Project
The Positivity Project kicked off yesterday at East Hill and hundreds of other schools across the country. This first week will be focused on the Other People Matter Mindset. Ask your child what that means and I will bet they will be able to tell you! Click here to read a brief overview about the Positivity Project's purpose and benefits.

Thank you to Mrs. Rose for the great bulletin board!

Safety Patrol
Our fifth grade Safety Patrol is up and running! Each month a different fifth grade class takes on the responsibility of getting our students safely on the bus in an orderly fashion. Ms. Button's class is in charge this month and they are doing a fantastic job!

A proud safety patrol member whose older brothers started the program!

 I look forward to seeing you tomorrow night!

- Lisa

They're Back!

Welcome Back!
We are so excited to welcome back our staff and students for the 2018-2019 school year! Our custodians have East Hill looking better than ever and our teachers are ready to welcome their new students. Here are just a few pictures of students donning their first day outfits, and smiles!

Mark Your Calendars!
The PTA's annual Ice Cream Social will be held tomorrow night, Thursday, September 6, from 6:00 - 7:30. It's a great time to meet your child's classmates and socialize with friends!

Alex and Joey at the 2017 Ice Cream Social.

Next Wednesday, September 12, is our Curriculum Night for parents/guardians. This is a time for you to meet your child's teacher and learn about the program your child will experience this year. Kindergarten and First Grade runs from 6:00 - 6:25, Second and Third Grade runs from 6:30 - 6:55, and Fourth and Fifth Grade runs from 7:00 - 7:25. We hope that by separating our grade level presentations it will allow parents to meet all of their children's teachers and provide additional parking as well. 

Our PTA will hold their first meeting on Monday, September 17 at 6:30 in the East Hill Library. Please come join us! Speaking of the PTA, on Friday, September 28 our PTA will hold their annual Jogathon which is their primary fundraiser. You will receive more information about this event in the coming weeks.

Arrival, Dismissal, and Safety
The school day begins at 9:00 and ends at 3:20. If you drive your child to school, please do not drop your child off prior to 9:00 as there is not adequate supervision for students until 9:00 when the doors open (for students only). If, however, your child eats breakfast, students are allowed in to the building at 8:50. If you are picking up your child at the end of the day, please plan to arrive between 3:10 and 3:15. Students being picked up are dismissed at 3:17; students riding the bus home are dismissed at 3:20. Please utilize the student drop-off area when dropping off and picking up your child. Thank you!

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions! Don't forget to follow East Hill onTwitter, @EHElementary. Have a great first week of school!

- Lisa