Education Fair Tomorrow Night!

East Hill's Second Annual Education Fair takes place tomorrow night. Projects can be dropped off after school today (Monday) from 3:15 - 4:30 or they can be brought in tomorrow morning between 7:15 and 8:20. Students will get to view the projects during the day with their class. Families are invited to attend in the evening. The night begins with math games in the classrooms (one room at each grade level) from 6:15 to 6:45. You can then view the projects in the gym from 6:45 - 7:45. Students should take their projects home with them at the end of the night. It is my favorite event of the year; I hope you can attend!

Thank you to our PTA for coordinating another fun night of BINGO for our students and families at CMS last Friday night. We had a great turnout! Shown below is Colbey Barth who was a winner of one of the raffles and got to call one of the BINGO games with me. Nice job Colbey!

This past Saturday night over thirty of our our East Hill 5th graders sang the National Anthem at the Syracuse Crunch game. Thank you to Mrs. Causer for arranging this exciting evening for our students!

Next week is spirit week at East Hill. Monday is West Genesee Day. Students should wear their blue and gold. Tuesday is Future Career Day. Students are encouraged to dress as they would look in their future career. Wednesday is Red Carpet Day. Students can dress up in their finest on this day if they would like. Thursday is Rainbow Day; Each grade level has been assigned a different color to wear - Kindergarten: blue, 1st grade: yellow, 2nd grade: green, 3rd grade: orange, 4th grade: purple, and 5th grade: pink. Please remember that there is no school on Friday, 3/25.

Are you planning to travel outside the continental United States over spring break? If so, it would be wise to read these documents (click on links) that were provided to our district by the Onondaga County Health Department. The first one is a letter from the county that discusses what the Zika virus is and precautions that should be taken. This second document also discusses ways to prevent mosquito bites and provides a map and listing of countries where infestation has occurred.

This week's words of the day are perimeter (M), erode (T), repel (W), recycle (Th), and embarrassed (F).

Have a great week!

- Lisa

Not Your Father's Oldsmobile

The Oldsmobile commercial has been running through my head as I walk around the building as of late. For those of you too young to remember the commercial (or for those of you who were not yet born for that matter!), the commercial was intended to market the Oldsmobile as a new, more modern version of the car to attract new, and younger, buyers.  What students are learning and doing is very different from what our father’s learned and did in school, that’s for sure!

In first grade students are learning about the geographical features of the earth's surface. High school earth science teachers will be happy to learn that they are already being exposed to the three types of rock: metamorphic, sedimentary, and igneous. In second grade the students have just started learning about the amazing world of insects. They have learned about the parts of the insect body. They previously learned about Westward Expansion and the Pony Express. Students were shocked that the Pony Express riders were chased by wolves and had to trudge through deep snow. Nothing could stop them! Third graders are learning all about the Vikings. They are fascinated by them.

Our father’s would also be surprised to see what is happening in our special area classrooms. In physical education the students are learning how to play golf. The younger students are learning how to putt while the older students are learning how to properly swing the club. In art class, first graders have drawn Henri Rousseau inspired lion pictures. So clever! In music class second graders are learning how to play on the bass xylophones. I wish we had those in second grade!

There are 8 days left to order a yearbook as ordering closes on 3/15. You can place an order online at www.ybpay.lifetouch.com.  This year’s edition will have a commemorative cover of the old playground. If you have any questions about the yearbook you can email Tonya Wilson, tonyafored@gmail.com.

Patience and Acceptance are the character traits for the month of March. Our second graders did a great job teaching us about these traits at our assembly this afternoon.

Kindergarten registration has been extended through 3/25. 

This week’s words of the day are quadrilateral (M), categorize (T), attract (W), endurance (Th), and nervous (F). This Wednesday is SU day at East Hill. All students should wear orange and blue for the start of the ACC tournament. The March PTA meeting will be held this Wednesday at 6:30 in the library and BINGO will be held on Friday night at CMS. Doors open at 6:00 and games begin at 6:30. Hope to see you there! Lastly, don't forget to come to the Education Fair which is held next Tuesday, 3/15 from 6:15 - 7:45. Math games will take place in the classrooms from 6:15 - 6:45 and the projects will be on display from 6:45 - 7:45. Have a great rest of the week!

- Lisa

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Happy Leap Year Day!

Over the February break the construction crew began work on what will be our new library. If all goes as scheduled, and so far it has, the library will be ready the first day of school. Work will then begin on the cafeteria which should be ready in November. The playground will be installed in the spring when the weather gets better. It's exciting for the students (and the adults) to watch the progress.

It's hard to believe that we have already been in school over one hundred days this year. The classrooms celebrated this exciting event in a number of ways last Monday. See below for just some of the activities in which students participated.

"If I were a 100 years old I would rock in a rocking chair."

Gumball Math in Kindergarten.

Making a picture with 100 dots in 1st Grade.

Writing and posting 100 words in 2nd Grade.

March Events: The March PTA meeting will be held on Wednesday, 3/9 at 6:30 in the library. The PTA will hold BINGO night at Camillus Middle School on Friday, 3/11. Doors open at 6:00 and the games begin at 6:30. It's always a fun night for the students and their families. The Education Fair will be held Tuesday, 3/15 from 6:15 to 7:45 and the 3rd grade chorus concert will be held on 3/23 at 7:00 p.m. in the gym.

This week's words of the day are difference (M), equator (T), draft (W), motion (Th), and patience (F). Have a great week!

- Lisa

Survey Says . . .

Thank you to those of you that were able to complete the East Hill parent survey created by our Shared Decision Making committee. Eighty-six people completed the survey which we felt was a good, representative sampling of our East Hill families. The results of the survey, along with the comments that were submitted, will be used to help guide our future planning. Click here to see the results if you are interested.

As discussed in my last blog before the winter break, East Hill's Vocabulary Parade the first week in February was a huge success. Bonnie Russell, our School Information Officer, put together this short, 3-minute video. Thanks, Bonnie!

Thank you also to all of the room parents and room volunteers for making the Valentine's Day party so much fun for our students. We certainly appreciate it!

It's not too late to order your yearbook. This year we will have our first custom cover with the old playground as the cover.  It will be a real memory book!  Yearbooks are $15.00 for softcover and $20 for hard cover. You can order with an order form or online at 
www.ybpay.lifetouch.com, ID code 10705616. Tonya Wilson, our yearbook editor, is in need of photos for all grades and classes.  If you have photos you would like to share, you are encouraged to do so. Submissions can be sent to 
www.community.lifetouch.com, upload code UZMUOR. 

It's also not too late to enter East Hill's annual Education Fair which will take place on Tuesday, March 15th. Our PTA has once again generously offered to purchase the display boards this year. Once students show me that they have a good start on their project, they will be given a display board. Students can do a science experiment or a reading project.

2015 Education Fair Science Experiment

2015 Education Fair Reading Project

Kindergarten registration has begun! Click here to make an appointment to register. Registration is not taking place at the elementary schools as it has in the past; registration now takes place at the Central Registrar's office located at the District Office. If you know of anyone that has a child that will be registering, please let them know. Thank you.

This week's words of the day are sum (M), abundant (T), hygiene (W), improvise (Th), and grateful (F).

Have a great week!

- Lisa

Vocabulary Parade a Hit!

Last Wednesday's Vocabulary Parade was a hit (as in a smashing success)! Over forty words were paraded and explained to the whole school in conjunction with February's character education assembly. Below are just some of the words that were showcased. 

Champion and Cheerful 

Condensation

Disappointed

Explosion

Lasso

Lounge

Measure (a multiple-meaning word)

Thank you to those of you that completed the parent survey created by our Shared Decision Making Committee. The survey will close tomorrow (Tuesday) night. If you didn't get a chance to complete it yet, just click on this link. We appreciate your feedback. 

East Hill's Second Annual Education Fair will be taking place on Tuesday, March 15th. Students can either complete a science project or a reading project. They can work alone, with a sibling, or with a friend. All students received information on this last week. Please encourage your child to do this as it is a great learning experience and a lot of fun! Display boards will once again be provided for the students this year.

February's PTA meeting will be held at the Brasserie tomorrow (Tuesday) night at 6:30 p.m. This week's words of the day are addend (M), myth (T), constellations (W), defense (Th), and disappointed (F), Valentine's parties will be held on Friday at 2:15. Please remember to not attach food to your valentines if you are in a nut-free room. Thank you for your understanding.

Next week is winter break. I hope you are able to spend some quality time with your family. Have a great week!

- Lisa

Happy February!

Enrichment Day was another huge success thanks to the efforts of our PTA and the many volunteers that came out on Saturday morning to work with our students. Thank you to Bernadette Irving and Carrie Grooms, co-coordinators of the event, for making sure everything ran smoothly. Pictured below are just some of the activities that took place on Saturday.

Have Fun with Painting 

Kids in the Kitchen

Karate

Scrapbooking

Lego Robotics

Exploring our Underwater World

Small Project Woodworking

Cake Decorating

Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

Stained Glass

As I mentioned in last week's blog, our Shared Decision Making Committee designed a multiple choice survey for parents. Thank you to those of you who have already taken this survey. For those of you who have not, we value your input. Please click on this link to access the survey.

This Tuesday students will come home with information about our 2nd annual Education Fair which will be held on March 15, 2016. Students can complete a reading project or a science experiment. They can work solo, with their siblings, or with a friend or two. Please save the date!

We are really looking forward to East Hill's Vocabulary Parade this Wednesday at 10:00. If your child is participating in the parade, please feel free to join us! It should be fun to learn more about words, such as despicable, discombobulated, flabbergasted, hypochondriac, portcullis, and many, many more!

This week's words of the day are equivalent (M), ancient (T), adverb (W), offense (Th), and honest (F).

Upcoming Dates:

• The next PTA meeting will be held February 9th.
• Winter break runs from Monday, February 15th through Friday, February 19th.
• The NYS English/Language Arts assessments for grades 3-5 will be April 5th - 7th and the Mathematics assessments, also for grades 3-5, will be held April 13th - 15th. Please try to avoid scheduling appointments on these days if at all possible. There have been some changes to the testing, including a different vendor, greater involvement of teachers in the test development process, fewer numbers of passages and test questions, and a shift to untimed testing.

If you are on twitter, you can follow me @lisadcraig. Have a great week!

- Lisa

Continuous (as in ongoing) Improvement (as in refinement)

At East Hill, continuous improvement is our goal. To that end, our Shared Decision Making Committee has designed a multiple choice survey for parents. We would appreciate your input. To access this survey, simply click on this link. Thank you in advance for your time and feedback. The results will be used to guide our future planning.

Our Vocabulary Parade is shaping up to be a big success! We have 40 words that will be showcased on February 3, 2016 at 10:00. If your child is in the parade, please feel free to join us! We will be practicing this Wednesday afternoon. Costumes do not need to be ready by Wednesday, but students should be prepared to read their word descriptions.

Students in Mrs. Tynan's room explore vocabulary words.

"Dialogue with the Superintendent" has been moved to tomorrow night, Tuesday, January 26, 2016, at 7:00 p.m. in the WGHS LGI. This is a great opportunity to ask questions of Dr. Brown and hear about the state of the District. I am looking forward to Enrichment Day which will be held this Saturday from 9:00 - 11:30. Thank you to the volunteers who make this day possible.

Last Friday our January character education assembly was held. Mrs. McConnell's flute players and Mrs. Mercer's violin players taught the school about perseverance, which is January's trait.

This week's words of the day are: denominator (M), compromise (T), advantage (W), melody (Th) and afraid (F).

Please remember that Friday is a half day. Students who are being picked up will be dismissed at 11:20. Buses will be dismissed at 11:30.

One last reminder: If you drop your child off in the morning, please remember that they cannot enter the building prior to 9:00 unless they are having breakfast. This is in the interests of safety as there is no supervision for students until 9:00, and it is too cold for them to have to stand outside. I appreciation your cooperation in this matter.

Have a great rest of the week!

- Lisa