Spring is in the Air!

Appreciation of Beauty
The sounds and sights of spring are just one of the many things that people with the character strength of "Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence" admire, which is this week's character strength focus. To read more about this strength, click here. Here are a few signs of spring around the building!

PTA
Please join us for tonight's PTA meeting which will be held at the West Genesee High School LGI at 6:00. Immediately following the meeting you will have the opportunity to hear the 2019-2020 budget presentation.

Syracuse Mets Education Day
Our fifth graders will be attending the Syracuse Mets vs. the Buffalo Bisons at NBT Bank Stadium tomorrow. We are excited that our band will be performing the National Anthem! Please have your children dress warm as the temperature is expected to be in the upper 40s tomorrow.

Upcoming Dates:
4/30     Chipotle Fundraiser, 4:00 - 8:00
5/1       Grades 3-5 NYS Math Assessment, Session 1
5/2       Grades 3-5 NYS Math Assessment, Session 2
5/8       Book Fair
5/9       Open House, 7:00 - 8:00; Family Night Book Fair, 6:30 - 8:00
5/14     4th & 5th Grade Spring Concert
5/20     5th Grade Parent Information Night, CMS, 6:00

Enjoy the rest of the week!
- Lisa

Love Our School Day!

Love Our School Day!
Yesterday was national Love Our School Day! I spent a good deal of time asking students what they loved about our school. I was pleasantly surprised to hear so many responses that involved learning about new things and everyone being so kind, in addition to gym and the playground, of course!

"I love P2!"

"I love our teachers!"

"I love everything about this school because everyone is so kind!"

"I love the students!"

"I love the playground!"

"I love our awesome principal!" (Had to include this one!)

Put Down That Device!
This week's Positivity Project focus was on another element of the Other People Matter Mindset - Being Present and Giving Others My Attention.  According to the co-founders of the Positivity Project, the purpose of the Other People Matter Mindset weeks is to consistently remind students why they're learning to see these character strengths in themselves and others - to build positive relationships. A deliberate focus on being present is so important due to the increasing number of distractions vying for our time and attention. Phone calls, texts, messages, emails, and social media notifications all have the formidable capacity to pull us away from the pesent moment and what's most important - our relationships with other people. We have challenged kids to put down their devices over the break and be present with their families.

East Hill's 5th Grade Band Takes the Gold!
On Wednesday our 5th Grade Band attended the NYSSMA competition at Fabius-Pompey and came home with a gold! This was the first year that West Genesee has ever sent an elementary band. We are so proud of them!

Upcoming Dates
Spring Break! 4/15 - 4/19
PTA Meeting, 4/23, 6:00, WGHS LGI
PTA/PTO Budget Presentation, 4/23, 7:00, WGHS LGI
Fifth Grade Field Trip to Syracuse Mets, 4/24

Enjoy your spring break!

- Lisa

You Crack Me Up!

Humor
This week's Positivity Project focus is humor. Humor means you like to laugh and bring smiles to people. To read more about this strength, click here. As you can see in the picture below, many of our students and staff identify humor as their top strength! I am not sure why Mrs. Klaben is not in this picture as she is our resident April "fooler" as shown in the pictures below the humor photo!

Raptor

Starting next Monday, East Hill will begin using the Raptor Visitor Management System which will aid in keeping our students and staff safe. You will receive a letter home with your child this afternoon that details how this system works. Visitors will need to provide identification when they visit the building and plan on going any further than the office. This can be a driver's license or a passport. If you do not have either of these forms of identification, two alternate IDs will be accepted, as long as one is a photo ID. Because the letter details this new system, I won't go into further detail here. Please let me know if you have any questions after reading the letter. Thank you.

Love My School Day

Next Thursday is Love My School Day! Students should wear their East Hill or West Genesee gear on this day. To learn more about the history of this day, click here. Those of you following us on twitter

will see tweets with the hashtag #LoveMySchoolDay. If you aren't yet following us on Twitter, please do! Our twitter handle is @EHElementary.

Bingo!

A huge thank you goes out to our PTA and all of the many volunteers who made last Friday's Bingo night successful! Thank you also to all of our community members who sent in donations and prizes for the raffles. We had an amazing turnout (please ignore the "Maximum Occupancy" sign in the picture below - we definitely exceeded it. Sh!) and a great time was had by all!

Third Grade Chorus Concert

Mrs. Causer and our third graders did an amazing job on last week's concert. The concert's theme was the Positivity Project. Students told the audience what many of the character strengths stood for and sang songs incorporating perserverance, love, creativity, and humor, to name just a few. Well done!

Loved seeing this kindergartener tie his friend's shoes at the concert!

Survey Says!

If you haven't had a chance to take our school survey, please do! Your feedback is necessary, valued, and appreciated. Here's the link. 

Upcoming April Events

4/2 & 4/3, ELA Assessments

4/11, Love My School Day!

4/15 - 4/19, Spring Break

4/23, PTA Meeting & Budget Presentation, 6:00, WGHSLGI

4/24, 5th Grade Field Trip to Syracuse Mets

4/30, Chipotle Fundraiser, 4:00 - 8:00

Have a great rest of the week!

- Lisa