March Madness

It’s a good thing there are so many days in March because we certainly have a lot going on here at East Hill. Please get out those calendars!

East Hill PTA

The March PTA meeting will be held tomorrow night (Wednesday) at 6:30 in the East Hill Library. Please come join us to hear about District events and other activities being planned for our students.

Music in our Schools

March is Music in our Schools month. Our third graders have been working on preparing for their spring concert which will be held on Tuesday, March 14 at 7:00 p.m. for third grade families. The rest of our school will get a preview of the concert that afternoon.

Teacher Workshop Day

Please note that there is no school on Friday, March 17 due to a teacher workshop day. During this day our teachers will be receiving professional development on a variety of topics.

Education Fair

The Education Fair is just two weeks away. At this point students should have completed the majority of their packet and requested a display board from the main office. Projects will be on display during the day for students on Tuesday, March 21. Projects will be displayed for families that evening from 6:30 to 7:30. This is the seventh year we have held this event (recently changed from the Science Fair to the Education Fair) and it is shaping up to be the biggest year yet! Completed projects can be dropped off after school on Monday, March 20 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. or before school on Tuesday, March 21 from 7:15 – 8:20 a.m.

East Hill Art Exhibit        

East Hill student artwork will be on display in the Maxwell Memorial Library from March 28 through April 6.  The exhibit will feature a variety of artwork from kindergarten through fifth grade artists.

BINGO!

The PTA’s annual BINGO event will be held at East Hill for the first time! Now that we have our own cafeteria, we no longer need to use the facilities at Camillus Middle School. BINGO will be held on Friday, March 31. Look for more information about this exciting event soon!

A couple of other March events have already occurred. Today we had our fourth CODE assembly of the year with Officer Brand. A letter will be coming home that outlines the topics that were discussed at each grade level. Last Friday our first graders taught our school about the March character education trait of the month which is patience and acceptance. They did a nice job explaining how to appreciate our differences. When they were done presenting, our student council discussed the community service project that they have started. They will be collecting money through March 22. At that point we will purchase fleece to make No-Sew blankets for Project Linus, an organization that provides blankets for critically ill children. Interested fifth graders will be able to stay after school one day in April (date TBD) to make the blankets.

This week’s words of the day are fantasy, immigrant, atmosphere, climate, and witty.

Have a great rest of the week!

-          Lisa

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!
Fortunately the weather is cooperating in time for the Valentine's Day parties today! Thank you to all of the room parents who make the parties possible for our students.

Mary Poppins

Last Wednesday, thanks to our District’s Director of Fine Arts, Bill Davern, we were able to take the entire fourth and fifth grade classes from the whole district to a preview of Mary Poppins. Our students were a very respectful audience and really enjoyed the opportunity.

Mrs. Banks (Grace Craig) and Miss Andrew (Amelia Ryan)

Education Fair

This year’s Education Fair is shaping up to be the biggest yet! The event will be held on Tuesday, March 21. It’s not too late to submit an application. A big thank you goes out to our PTA again this year for supplying display boards to every participating student.

Chase McGraw, File Photo

East Hill Student Work on Display

If you're looking for something to do over winter break, stop down to Provisions Bakery in Armory Square to see selected artwork from East Hill fourth and fifth graders on display. You will not be disappointed! The bakery is located at 216 Walton Street and is open Tuesday - Friday from 7:30 - 3:00 (closed for President's Day Monday). Also on display this month until February 24th at Maxwell Library in Camillus are dioramas from students in Mrs. Devereaux's class. Maxwell Library is located at 14 Genesee Street and is open from 10:00 - 8:00 Monday - Thursday, 10:00 - 5:00 on Friday, and 10:00 - 3:00 on Saturday. They are closed on Sundays.

East Hill Student Artwork at Provisions Bakery

Words of the Day

This week’s words of the day are uncharted (T,5), boycott (W, 2), gradually (Th, K), and surface (F, 1). This year the word of the day posters are being created by our Fifth Grade Student Council using Google Draw. They are displayed in the hall across from the gym.

Winter Recess

Please remember that winter break is next week. We will return on Monday, February 27. Please encourage your children to keep reading over the break and to get a start on the Education Fair projects!

- Lisa

Enrichment Day a Success

Enrichment Day

Our PTA's annual Enrichment Day was another huge success this year! Many thanks go out to co-coordinators Carrie Grooms and Becky Tully for all of their hard work and organization behind the scenes, to all of the volunteers who offered their time and talents to work with our students, and to our community partners, including Home Depot, Dunkin Donuts, and Cam's Pizzeria, who donated supplies and materials. Over 180 students came to take part in the event and they all left with a smile on their face as well as a new skill. Students were able to enjoy two different hour-long classes ranging from cupcake decorating to kickboxing. Shown below are just some of the classes that were offered:

Scrapbooking 

Kickboxing

Ready, Set, Grow

Fleece Tug Dog Toy 

Kids in the Kitchen 

Hip Hop

Karate

Tie-Dye

Everyday Art

Lego Robotics

Wildcat Totes

Coding

Woodworking

Catapulting

Cupcake Decorating

Stained Glass

Basketball

Mark your calendars!
I know it's not quite February but we have a couple of events coming up in the not too distant future that you might want to jot down on your calendar now.

East Hill's annual Education Fair will be held on Tuesday, March 21st from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. Again this year, students will be able to complete either a reading project or a science experiment. Look for information to be coming home soon about this exciting night!

An Evening with Dr. Aaron Gleason, PhD, will be held on April 11th, 6:30 - 8:00. Do you worry about how much your child worries? Does your child have trouble sleeping? Does your child have stomachaches, headaches, or other unexplained ailments that interfere with his/her daily functioning? If so, then this night is for you! Dr. Gleason is a clinical psychologist and will be at East Hill to talk with parents about why children worry and what can be done about it. If you are interested in attending this presentation, please fill out this short questionnaire. More information will be sent out about this important evening in March.

Words of the Day
This week's words of the day are transparent (T,3), severe (W,K), extinct (Th, 1, and suffrage (F, 2). Next week's words of the day are ferocious (M,3), reluctantly (T, 3 & 5), frigid (W, K), destructive (Th, 1), and boycott (F, 2).

Enjoy the rest of the week!

- Lisa

Happy New Year!

New Year’s Resolutions

I hope that 2017 is off to a good start for you and your family. The students quickly got into the swing of things here at East Hill.  Many of our students and staff have reflected on the first half of the year and have set goals that we all hope to accomplish during the remainder of this school year.

Mrs. Wolbert's class sporting their 2017 glasses

Goals for 2017 written in Mrs. Tuttle's classroom

Faculty and staff resolutions

What is Collective Responsibility?

At East Hill Elementary School, we are committed to high levels of learning for every student. We call this commitment: “collective responsibility.” This means that we will do whatever it takes for all of our learners to be successful. Because every learner is different we respond in different ways for different learners. We know that not all students learn the same way or at the same speed. Our collective responsibility model helps us to ensure that every child receives the additional time and support needed to learn at high levels. Some students require interventions or additional practice to meet essential learning targets. In other cases, students who have already met the essential learning targets need to be challenged with additional opportunities. Whatever the case, we strive to provide students with what they need as soon as they need it. Or, to look at it from the student’s perspective, we strive to provide “What I Need, Now.” 

As part of our collective responsibility, teachers meet weekly during their planning time to analyze student work in order to identify needs. We take an “all hands on deck” approach that involves classroom teachers, instructional specialists, special education teachers, and teaching assistants. Each grade-level has a block of time during the day when the team provides the interventions and opportunities that each student needs – what we now call their “WINN time.” You may have heard from your child or your child’s teacher that your child sometimes receives support from a different teacher during literacy and/or math instruction. It’s part of our collective responsibility to provide “What I Need, Now.” We think it is a winning formula for student learning. 

Upcoming Dates

We have a lot of things to look forward to in January. Please mark your calendars:

1/9         PTA Meeting, 6:30, East Hill Library

1/11       Dialogue with the Superintendent, 7:00, WGHSLGI

1/16       No School, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

1/28       East Hill Enrichment Day

1/30       No School, Teacher Workshop Day

In addition to the above we will have a visit from the Merry-Go-Round Theater for our third through fifth graders tomorrow, a character education assembly on perseverance next Wednesday, CODE assemblies on the 17^th, and the end to the marking period on the 27^th. It will be a busy month!

Words of the Day

Our words of the day for this week are reign (T,K), atmosphere (W, 1), abolitionist (Th, 2), and vibration (F,3). Next week’s words are domestication (M, 4), ingenuity (T, 3 and 5), tattered (W, K), categorize (Th, 1), and economy (F, 2).

Take Care!

- Lisa

Holiday Happenings

It’s been a busy time here at East Hill these past couple of weeks, just like it is everywhere at this time of the year! Earlier this month three of our teachers took their students to see a Syracuse University Women’s basketball game at the Dome. A great time was had by all. At the end of the game Brittany Sykes, one of SU’s top players, came up and visited with our students, signing autographs for many of them. They were thrilled!

On December 13th our 4^th and 5^th graders held their winter concert. The band, orchestra, and chorus all did a wonderful job. The concert assembly was enjoyed by the students during the day. On Monday night Erin McConnell, our band teacher, took her fifth grade band students to play with the Marcellus Elementary Band at Destiny. They sounded wonderful. This week we had caroling in the cafeteria by our band and orchestra. Holiday parties were held yesterday afternoon. Thank you to all of the parents for putting together such well-organized parties for our students.

Kohl’s Autism and Related Disorders Program presented KidSpeak – A puppet workshop to our kindergarteners and first graders yesterday. They do a nice job explaining autism in grade-appropriate terms. They will be back in January to present the same puppet show to our second graders.

Yesterday was dress-up day at East Hill. Below are just a few of the students donning their finest.

Last week’s words of the day were legend (M,1), voyage (T, 2), aqueduct (W, 1 and 3), alliteration (Th, 4), and visualization (F, 5). This week’s words were succulent (K, M), enormous (1, T), endurance (2, W), civilization (3, Th), and melancholy (4, F).  Our Student Council members are making posters for the words on Google Draw that are displayed in the hall.

I hope you enjoy the holidays and the winter break with your families. School will resume on Tuesday, January 3, 2017

  - Lisa

Tis the Season

The Season for Caring and Compassion

Yesterday afternoon our third graders taught the school about what it means to be compassionate and caring. They created posters and explained different ways we can show caring and compassion at home, at school, and in the community.

When our third graders were done with their presentation, fifth grade students from Troop #293 spoke to the school about recycling in the cafeteria, which will begin today. They talked about the 3 Rs, why it is important to recycle, and what and how to recycle in our new cafeteria. Recycling is one way we show caring toward our environment.

The Holiday Jitters

I recently read the following in a column that I passed along to my staff from Responsive Classroom titled, “Keep Learning Going During Holiday and Vacation Times.”

In the weeks leading up to winter vacation, what you’re seeing may well be a case of the holiday season jitters. From November through January, children often become more fidgety, giggly, testy, and tired. There are many reasons: they may be distracted by the excitement of home activities, or they may be reacting to increased stress at home. At school, schedules are often disrupted at this time of year by assemblies, plays, and special events, and such changes in routine can throw children’s behavior off. Plus, at many schools, recess is curtailed once winter weather arrives.

What can you do to help your students stay on track and learn at their best during this season? We’ve found that an extra measure of calmness, consistency, and structure can work wonders.

Suggested strategies from the column that might apply to home as well as school include: sticking to routines, noticing and reinforcing success, keeping expectations high but appropriate, reading aloud to your children and keeping the learning going. I would also add keeping up the communication, as I recently read in a blog from Lori Keevil, principal of Stonehedge Elementary:

The season brings out the best in many, but we recognize the struggle many children (as well as adults) feel at this time of year. During this stressful and busy month, let’s all make the time to have conversations with our children about what’s really important.

Community Giving
Thanks again to everyone who was able to take a tag off of the PTA’s annual giving tree. With your generosity, and the support of Todd’s Fund, we will be able to make the holidays a much more enjoyable time for seven of our local East Hill families.

Words of the Day

Next week’s words of the day are legend (M, 1^st), convenient (T, 2^nd), aqueduct (W, 3^rd), alliteration (Th, 4^th), and visualization (F, 5^th).

Enjoy the rest of the week!

- Lisa

Compassion and Caring

Compassion and Caring are the December character education traits of the month. I feel so fortunate to be a part of such a compassionate and caring community here at East Hill. Due to the generosity of our community, and with the help of our 5th Grade Student Council and our PTA, we were able to provide Thanksgiving meals for many of our local families. We have also filled two barrels for the Salvation Army Food Drive that members from the 174th Fighter Wing will be picking up next week.

Our PTA's Community Giving Tree still has several tags on it with gift requests if you interested in
helping out one of our East Hill families this holiday season. If you can't stop in to the school for a tag, but want to buy a gift, you can email Mary Kay DeVore at mkdevore@hotmail.com, or call or text her at (315) 569-7963. They are asking that all gifts are wrapped with the tag securely fastened on the outside of the package and dropped off to the school next week. Your help is definitely appreciated. I know we ask a lot, especially at this time of year, so please do not feel obligated to participate.

Our 4th and 5th grade is preparing for their winter concert which will be held on Tuesday, December 13th at 7:00 p.m. at the high school. Don't forget to mark you calendar! Speaking of music, several of Mrs. Mercer's 5th grade viola and cello students were able to be her "teaching assistants" this past week at Syracuse University, where Mrs. Mercer works part-time. Her SU students were grateful for the opportunity that Mrs. Mercer gave them to work with these students. Thank you to the parents who made it possible for the students to participate!

This week's words of the day are cautious (M,5th), cunning (T, 1st), theme (W, 5th), mischief (Th, K), and ancient (F, 1st).

Take Care!

- Lisa