Math Night Tonight!

Please join us tonight for our K-5 Math Night. Teachers will be on hand to explain some of the strategies that your child is learning. Math Night is from 6:30 – 7:15 in the following rooms:

Kindergarten (Mrs. Cregan and Mrs. Bush) – Room 2

First Grade (Mrs. Wangsness) – Room 1

Second Grade (Mrs. Thome and Mrs. Wolbert) – Room 7

Third Grade (Mrs. Tynan) – Room 24

Fourth Grade (Mrs. McPeak) – Room 26

Fifth Grade (Mr. Meaney) – Room 28

Well, it’s almost Thanksgiving and that means it’s time for our kindergarteners to explain how a turkey is cooked. In case you need some advice, here are three different recipes:

Thank you to all of you who were able to contribute the Student Council/PTA Thankfulness Project. We are still accepting donations until this Wednesday. The primary classrooms were asked for a specific food donation while the intermediate rooms were asked to bring in a dollar or two if possible.

It’s time to order your East Hill Yearbook!  Orders are due by December 21, 2015 to get the Early Bird Special of $13.00 for a standard soft cover yearbook, or $18.00 for a standard hard cover yearbook. After December 21, the price with go up $2.00 for each yearbook, so order soon! December will be here before you know it. You can order online at www.ybpay.lifetouch.com. The yearbook ID code is 10705616.  You can see the variety of package deals on the flyers sent home earlier this month, or view them online. Contact Tonya Wilson, PTA Yearbook Advisor, with any questions at 440-4184.

Please remember that students are not allowed into the building until 9:00 a.m. as there is no supervision for them until that time. Students dropped off prior to 9:00 a.m. have to wait outside. The weather is getting colder so it would be appreciated if you not drop them off early. Students getting breakfast are allowed to enter the building at 8:50.

Parent teacher conferences are next Monday and Tuesday. Each day is a half day with an 11:30 dismissal. If you are unsure of your conference time, please contact the school. 

This week’s Words of the Day are product (M), gist (T), persuasive (W), adaptation (Th), and frustrated (F.) Our November PTA meeting is this Wednesday at 6:30 in the library. Please join us!

- Lisa

Happy November!

First of all, I'd like to thank all of the room parents and volunteers who helped to make our Halloween parties so much fun for all of our students. Shown below are just a few of the clever costumes that the students wore.

Last Wednesday five East Hill students represented our school at the annual District Spelling Bee. Nicolo Benenati, Ella Kemp, Avery Reina, Payton Voss, and Lilliana Corrigan (all shown below) earned the right to participate based on their written test results.They all did a fantastic job! Nicolo made it to the top twelve which means that he will move on to the next round. Good luck Nico!

Last Thursday our third graders presented a wonderful assembly on Thankfulness, which is the November character education trait. They reminded us that we all have so much for which to be thankful.

Speaking of thankfulness, our 5th Grade Student Council, in conjunction with our PTA, is working on a thankfulness project. Hopefully you received a half-sheet of paper last Friday explaining this project. The fifth graders explained it to each class after leading the classes in their Fit Friday routine. We are hoping to provide ten East Hill families with a Thanksgiving meal this year. Each class has either been assigned a food item or a dollar or two to donate. The student council will sort all of the food into meal boxes, and the PTA will shop for the turkeys, rolls, and pies. Families can take their meal home with them when they come for parent conferences. Thank you in advance for helping us out with this project. If we could help your family out with a Thanksgiving meal this year, please let me know. We would really love to help.

This week's words of the day are factor (M), fluency (T), democracy (Th), and angry (F.) Please remember that there is no school this Wednesday in honor of Veterans Day, and also remember that school picture retakes and group photos are this Friday. Lastly, if you have children in grades K-3 and are interested in learning more about the different math strategies that your child is learning, please join us next Monday night, November 16th, from 6:30 - 7:15. Have a nice week!

- Lisa

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

Another Year (Almost) Over

It's hard to believe that 2014-2015 is coming to a close. It seems to have been a whirlwind of a year. Our fifth graders will be graduating on Wednesday morning at 9:30. As I write this they are currently at CMS touring their new building. I want to say a special thank you to the PTA for all of your support this year. The students, the teachers, and I appreciate all that you do, from the Ice Cream Social in September, to Enrichment Day in January, to all of the field trips and supplies that you have generously given to the classrooms, and much, much more. A special thank you also goes out to Mrs. Wilson for the phenomenal job she has done with the yearbook. 

The students voted on the playground colors and equipment. They decided to go with the blue and yellow color scheme, and chose the Flywheel Spinner and the OmniSpin Spinner. We are not sure of the exact time frame for the new playground but I will keep you posted!

Thank you to the CMS band for coming to play with our fifth graders for our Flag Day Ceremony. We ended up having great weather for this annual event. 

Please remember that we will have an 11:30 dismissal this Tuesday and Wednesday and Wednesday is the last day of school. If you have a child moving up to CMS for the first time, please make sure you sign up to receive CMS notifications. Lastly, if you know of any incoming kindergarteners (or other students for that matter) please send them our way for registration.

Have a super summer!!

- Lisa

Assemblies and Field Trips and Engineering, Oh My!

This past week has been, without a doubt, one of the busiest that we’ve had all year! Last Monday our second graders went to Beaver Lake Nature Center. They learned about the various types of plants and species of animals that thrive around the lake. They especially loved learning about the carnivorous plants.

Some of Mrs. Thome's students at Beaver Lake.

On Tuesday we had our year end CODE assembly. Officer Brand presented awards to the fourth grade Internet Safety poster contest winners – Ella Kemp, Evan Quinn, and Ryan Till. We heard fifth graders Libby Vignogna, Joey Neimeier, and Patrick Linton read their winning, well-researched essays about why they plan to lead drug and alcohol free lives. We were fortunate to have Officer Grace, Chief Winn, and Dr. Brown in attendance as well.

Officer Brand announcing the Poster Contest winners.

On Wednesday our fifth graders met with CMS counselors to learn more about the middle school, and our third graders were treated to an “Around the World” Strings Quartet to showcase the different string instruments they can play in fourth grade.

On Thursday we held our annual Lemonade Serenade Volunteer Reception for all of the many people who donate their time to our school. The fifth Grade Battle of the Books took place Thursday afternoon.

Lemonade Serenade

Battle of the Books

On Friday our first graders went to the zoo while our fourth graders took a trip on the Erie Canal where they had the experience of going through an actual lock. Engineers from Lockheed Martin came to work with our fifth graders on designing a device to safely land an egg.

1st Graders in Mrs. Reina's class at the zoo.

Students collaborating to solve the egg-dropping dilemma.

4th Graders cruising the Erie Canal

Yesterday, our kindergarteners visited Fesko Farms in Skaneateles and our fifth graders went to Lourdes Camp to try out the Ropes Course. Our monthly character education assembly was presented by the first graders. This month’s character education trait is Cooperation.

Mrs. Augello's class at the Farm

5th Graders working together on the Ropes Course

1st Grade Cooperation Assembly

A HUGE thank you goes out to the PTA who was responsible for many of the events listed above. We appreciate all of your support. June will continue to be a busy month. I will send out another blog next week, but please remember that the last two days of school (June 23 and June 24) are half-days with an 11:30 dismissal. Fifth grade graduation will take place on the 24th at 11:30. Lastly, it is not too late to register for kindergarten. If you know of anyone with any incoming kindergarteners, please send them our way!  Enjoy the rest of the week.

-          Lisa

Happy June!

Well, May certainly flew by quickly! We have a lot of exciting things coming up in the month of June. We also ended May with a couple of great events. Two of our classes, Mrs. Devereaux's kindergarten class and Mrs. Greco's third grade class, were able to go to the Special Olympics this year. What a wonderful event! Everyone had a good time. Thank you to the PTA for helping to fund the T-shirts that we all wore.

This past Saturday 5th graders from across the district participated in a Mud Run at East Hill. Ms. O'Keefe came up with the idea and all of the other PE teachers helped to make it happen. Thank you for pulling this off - the kids loved it!

This Thursday at 11:00 we will hold our annual Lemonade Serenade Volunteer Reception followed by our June PTA meeting at 12:00. Don't forget to mark your calendars for our Flag Day Parade which will begin at 12:45 on Friday, June 12th. We are fortunate to have the CMS band with us again this year. 

Our last CODE assembly of the year takes place this afternoon, and our last character education assembly will be held next Monday. The rest of June is filled with Field Days and field trips. It is important that your child(ren) dress appropriately for these fun events.

Please remember that the last two days of school, June 23rd and June 24th, are half-days. Dismissal will be at 11:30. Have a great rest of the week!

- Lisa