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MEMORIAL SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
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31 West Main Street Newton, NH 03858
603-382-5251
Interim Principal, Deborah L. Bulkley
Assistant Principal, Donna B. Johnson
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Principal's Message
Deborah Bulkley
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Dear Parents,
I often use this forum to provide information, pointers, and tips for parents to use with your children. This column will be a little different, but it has information that directly affects your children. I need to let you know in an abbreviated version about the Sanborn budget process, let you know what happens next, and finally what you can do to support our schools.
Principals develop their budget starting in September, trying to limit increased spending and reflect on what is needed to best meet the needs of their students a year in advance of the actual school year. This month long process of gathering information, receiving budget requests, and determining staffing for the next year results in the first round of cuts to the budget made by the principal. These cuts are based on our specific student population, goals for school improvement set by the staff, and priorities as determined by the administration. These goals and priorities directly reflect the needs of students at each school.
Next the Superintendent reviews the principal's requests and makes the second round of cuts. This is done after in-depth conversations with administrators both at the school and the SAU level. While principals look at their individual schools, the Superintendent is charged with looking at the "big picture" needs and keeping in mind the long-range goals of the district.
The Superintendent's budget is then sent to the School Board and Budget Committee for weeks of discussion with an extensive amount of supporting information provided by school district personnel and detailed answers to many lengthy questions. The Budget Committee determines the bottom line that they can support and makes a third round of cuts. It is this budget that goes to the Public Hearing, where community residents have the chance to ask questions and learn what has changed from the prior year's budget. This year the Public Hearing is scheduled for next Thursday, January 12th at 7:00 held in the Middle School gymnasium. We encourage you to attend this important meeting and learn about the plans that will impact your school starting in July.
The next step is the Deliberative Session at which the School Board and Budget Committee with possible input from local residents determine the exact amount that will be presented to the voters for approval in March. People who attend the Deliberative Session can make motions during that meeting and vote to increase or decrease the bottom line for the budget that will be presented to the voting public the next month.
The final step is the public vote on the budget on March 14th, at which voters have the option to either approve or defeat the proposed budget. If the budget is defeated, there is a default budget that would then be put in place.
You will note that parents have no part in the budget process in the above description other than to ask questions and make comments until the Deliberative Session, which will be held this year on February 8th. Most of the school board and budget committee members do not have children in our schools, so the voices of parents are not well represented in the budget process. Our schools rely on the taxpayers for much of our funds. We get it that no one wants to pay more taxes, but without those funds, some programs will have to be cut back or eliminated, class sizes will rise, and staff will continue to leave our schools to work in better paying districts. We truly need to have parents come out to support a school budget that is realistic and reasonable. Please make an effort to attend the Public Hearing next week and the Deliberative Session at Sanborn Regional High School on February 8th at 7:00. Be informed and be represented.
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Deborah L. Bulkley, Interim Principal
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Kindergarten Registration for 2017-2018
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NEWS RELEASE
SANBORN
REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
Office of the Superintendent of Schools
17 Danville Road
Kingston, New Hampshire 03848
Date: January, 2017
MEMORIAL SCHOOL
KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION
If your child will be five years old by September 30, 2017, and you are a resident of Newton, New Hampshire, he or she is eligible for full day kindergarten for the
2017-2018 school year.
All incoming kindergarten students will participate in a screening process
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Student screenings will take place on Thursday, May 11th and Friday, May 12th.
Please call Memorial School at 603-382-5251 as soon as possible to pre-register your child and to schedule a screening appointment.
An orientation and information night for parents of all incoming kindergarten students will take place on Thursday, April 13th, 2017, from 6:00-7:00 p.m. in the Memorial School library. School personnel will be available at the orientation meeting to answer any questions.
New Hampshire State Law requires all children to have had immunizations for DPT, Polio, Mumps, Measles, German Measles, Chicken Pox, and Hepatitis B prior to entry to school. They also require each child to have a complete medical examination within one year prior to entry into kindergarten.
Registration materials will be available beginning Monday, February 27th at the Memorial School office between the hours of 9:00 AM and 2:30 PM when you present your child's original birth certificate. Additional documentation required to complete the registration process includes, updated physical and immunization records, proof of residency as defined by the Sanborn Regional School District, and a government issued photo ID. The completed registration packet is due by June 9, 2017.
Please contact the Memorial School main office at (603) 382-5251 with any questions regarding Kindergarten registration.
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Integrated Preschool Program for 2017-2018
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APPLICATIONS ARE NOW BEING ACCEPTED
FOR SANBORN REGIONAL INTEGRATED PRESCHOOL PROGRAM
The Sanborn Regional Integrated Preschool Program is offered at both the
D.J.Bakie Elementary School in Kingston, NH and at the Memorial Elementary School in Newton, NH. We are currently accepting applications for the 2017- 2018 school year for the three year and four year old preschool programs.
The three year old program is held Mondays through Thursdays from 8:30 AM to 11:00 AM. Eligible children must be three years old by September 30, 2017 and be residents of Kingston or Newton, New Hampshire.
The four year old program is held Mondays through Thursdays
from 12:00-3:00 PM at each school for residents of Kingston and Newton.
Eligible children must be four years old by September 30, 2017. There are limited openings in the four year old program at both schools.
Tuition for the three year program is $165 per month and the four year old program is $200 per month. A tuition agreement form must be completed and returned in order to participate in the program. Enrollment is limited, and the deadline for submitting an application is Friday, February 24, 2017.
All applicants must participate in a developmental screening process. Please note that this is not a Child Find. You may call to schedule a Child Check Appointment if you are questioning a possible educational issue. For more information, or to register your child for the lottery, please call Robin Baker at 642-5272 or email at [email protected].
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Sanborn Regional Budget Committee
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Did You Know?
Annie Collyer for the Sanborn School District Budget Committee
Did You Know that, on December 22, the Sanborn Regional School District Budget Committee (BudCom) set a proposed budget for next year? BudCom is comprised of 7 members elected from the communities of Kingston and Newton, plus one appointee from the District School Board. They have the legal responsibility to 'assist the voters in the prudent appropriation of public funds' for the School District.
The initial budget proposal approved is $33,650,000, which represents a decrease of $915,866 over the current fiscal year's budget, an increase of $372,527 over what was spent as of the fiscal year that ended in June, and is $1,073,540 lower than the default budget for the next fiscal year that begins this coming July. Members of the Budcom have spent the past 9 months reviewing past budgets and expenditures and asking many questions of the District's Administrative leaders. Members have actively sought to identify the needs of the District and to balance them with the needs of the towns and those who pay the bills, the taxpayers, according to their charter established under the laws of New Hampshire. Details of the proposals as well as the Q&A's are on the SAU17.org website in the minutes, and by video on the website and now also on Newton Cable TV.
The next steps in the Budget development process directly involve the voters of the communities. First is a Public Hearing of this initial budget proposal on January 12. Please watch for details of time and location.
Then the voting begins with the presentation of the final BudCom proposal at the first of two voting sessions. The first session is a review, discussion, debate and possibly any final amendment to the proposed budget number, only by the voters who are present at the Deliberative Session. This townhall style meeting will be held on February 8th. The Second and Final Session that sets the Budget for the next fiscal year takes place on Tuesday, March 14. Unlike the Deliberative Session, voting takes place at the polls, and absentee ballots are permitted. The March 14 vote results decide whether the voters will adopt the proposed budget that emerges from the Deliberative Session, or whether what currently is a Million Dollar higher default budget will be in effect beginning July 1.
BudCom strongly encourages all voters to mark these 3 important dates in your new 2017 calendars: January 12, February 8 and March 14. The results of these votes determine the educational funding for the education of the children of our communities and about 70% of every household's property taxes. In New Hampshire, these decisions are completely under local control, and voter participation in our local democracy is crucial.
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Student Council News
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The Memorial School student council closed out 2016 with a very successful food drive. Our school filled 13 large boxes of food and personal items to donate to the residents of Packer Meadows to help them through the winter season. The student council collected the items and boxed them up and the officers went to deliver them at Packer Meadows.
As we turn the calendar to 2017 we are looking beyond our community to help make a difference in the lives of children who are truly in need. We are starting a new donation drive for students at the primary school in Petit Goave, Haiti. This is one of many schools and areas in Haiti who have been affected by multiple natural disasters in recent years. Rachel Collins, daughter of our own Mrs. Rebecca Collins, is a teacher at the school and our donations will be sent to help enrich the lives and education of these students. We will be sending out a flyer soon, that will include a list of items that we are looking to donate.
Thank you all in advance for any and all help in meeting our goal of helping these children.
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News from 2nd Grade
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Second graders investigated matter (solids, liquids, & gases) and learned about the properties and found examples of each. At the conclusion of our unit we studied how it can change from one form to another. We pretended we were sending candy to a friend at Camp "Way Too Hot" in Florida. We had to experiment with different types of candy to see what would melt by placing it in hot water. No one wants melted candy! We sorted the results into 3 groups; melted, partially melted (squishy) and not affected. We found out we can't send chocolate or caramel. The best types of candy to send are gumballs, smarties and life savers. It was a fun activity to show kids the changes in properties. See pictures below:
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Library News
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NEWS
from
LIBRARY VIRTUAL LEARNING COMMONS
by Mrs. Mulcahy
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News from our School Counselor
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School Nurse
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Outdoor recess clothing:
Our students will be playing outside every day, sometimes twice a day for recesses. We are now approaching the colder seasons of late fall and winter, and some of our students are forg
etting to bring a warm coat. We suggest that you remind your child of the outdoor temperature to insure that they are warm at play. Please be aware that after wet weather, we may have some puddles on the playground. You are encouraged to send a spare set of dry clothing to school for your child to change at school should they become wet during outdoor recess. Please label the clothes with your child's name, so they can keep the bag in their cubby here at school. Thank you!
Cold and Flu season is here
This is the season for an increase in the number of cases of colds, flu, intestinal, & GI viruses, conjunctivitis, and even strep throat and pneumonia. Parents are asked to consider the following suggestions from the school nurse in order to limit the exposure of healthy children to those who are ill, and to ensure that those who are ill will have as rapid a recovery as possible:
1)
If your child has a fever (99.6* or above), please keep your child at home for an additional 24 hours of fever-free time (OFF fever-control medicines) to ensure adequate rest and the opportunity for the immune system to recover. Your child may still be contagious if he/she has a fever at night, but is fever-free in the early morning.
2)
If your child has vomited during the night, keep him/her home for at least another 24 hours until you know that he/she is eating regular foods without difficulty and is no longer experiencing nausea or abdominal pain.
3)
If your child has a persistent cough not controlled by over-the-counter medications, please contact your health care provider, as they may have an underlying bronchial or lung infection or pneumonia.
4)
If your child has one or both eyes with a red appearance to the sclera (white area), and/or drainage from the corners which is yellow, and/or yellow crusts on lashes and lids which are itchy and/or swollen, please keep them home and consult your health care provider.
Conjunctivitis is very contagious, and children with this infection must be on medications for a minimum of 24 hours and no longer draining from the eye to attend school.
Frequent hand washing is the number one prevention for the spread of germs and disease within your family as well as in school. Concerns regarding your child's illness, or duration of his/her symptoms should be addressed to your family health care provider. Thank you for your assistance to help ensure the health of all students (and staff) at our school.
Upcoming Vision Screening
On January 27, 2017 we are fortunate to have members of the Lions Club come to Memorial School to do vision screenings on students, which takes less than 1 minute to complete per child. This screening will test for abnormalities of the eye and eye muscles. Your child will bring home the results for you to bring to their pediatrician for further evaluation, if needed. You will see in the top right corner of the page if further evaluation is recommended. It will say "Complete Eye Exam Recommended". If no concerns were present during the screening it will say "Screening Complete".
If you do not want your child to participate, please contact the school nurse, Mrs. Koutelis, either by phone or email to opt out of the screening.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact the health office during the school day.
Thank you,
Sheila Koutelis, RN
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Memorial PTO
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The PTO is warming up for the winter season with some fun events!
Our next and most popular restaurant night is January 10th at Flatbread in Amesbury. Both dining and carry out from 5:00-9:00 p.m.
We are happy to Congratulate Caleb F. in Grade 5 who won UNO's pizza for a year from the Fall Fundraiser by Genevieve's.
Please keep in mind the Theme Baskets for each classroom for our Spaghetti dinner in March. Room parents are working hard on getting them together!
Themes:
Cole - We all scream for ice cream
Carroll - Let's get crafty
Manning - Scrapbook Memories
Patkin - Chocolate Candy Craze
Cardarelli - Game stop
Gwynne - Reading and writing
MacDougall - Lego-tastic
Black - Life's a beach
Kaminski - Science experiment
Banyas - Go Patriots
Kirste - Night at the movies
Doucette - Green thumb garden
Tozier - Gift gards galore
Daigle - Day at the spa
DesRosiers - Red Sox Rally
LaPorte - Grillin and chillin
Tatirosian-Augustin - Italian dinner party
Bolduc - Coffee lovers
Teachers - Camp out
P.S. If/When shopping Amazon, don't forget to shop at "
smile.amazon.com
" and first pick Memorial as your charitable organization. It is so easy!
Our next PTO Meeting is January 12th at 7:00 in the library. Hope to see you there!
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Box Top News
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Box Tops Update
Happy New Year!! Wow! A check for $1000 was received by the school from Box Tops for Education. What a great way to start the new year! This check represents the total of Box Tops clipped and submitted from April to October; anyone who sent in even 1 Box Top helped earn this money. Great job to all you clippers! Each year the money received helps to fund school field trips that the look forward to and other classroom needs. Keep in mind that 1 teeny, tiny Box Top gets us $.10, yes 10 cents to use for our kids all because you bothered to collect that little scrap of cardboard! Thanks to all the "Clippers" out there and keep clipping. I will be sending home next week a Box Top for Education shopping list so you will know exactly which products have those precious Box Tops on them. Our next big Submission Date is
March 1st
for a check around
May 1st
so keep on clipping!
Keep those Box Tops coming!
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Gale Library News
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Winter Reading Time
Winter reading programs will start at the Gale Library, Newton on Tuesday, Jan. 17 and continue through
March 1st. Children list each book they read on a reading log. When they reach their goal, they choose prizes and new books from the treasure box. All readers are entered into the program's raffles for weekly prizes and a Grand Prize. We will celebrate the finale with a Bingo For Books night on
Mon. Feb. 27, 6:30 PM during Read Across America Week.
Teens and Adults also can join the Winter Read Program! Just register, read, and take a chance in our weekly prize drawings.
Come to the Gale Library, find some good books and get reading!!
All are welcome to join us for a Seacoast Area Libraries Family Storytelling Celebration with Papa Joe on
Monday, January 30 from
6:30 to
7:30 p.m at the Gale Library. This is a family event and is open to the public.
Papa Joe has been sharing his stories with children of all ages for many years both in NH and across the states. With his long graying hair and beard, dressed in bright colors, he is the very picture of a tale weaver. "Papa Joe, what stories will you tell us?" the children ask and are delighted by his tales. Hope you can join us for a fun night!
Story time continues with stories, songs, and crafts about Bears, Penguins, and all things Winter
on Tuesday at
10 AM.
Check out our Facebook page at The Gale Library, Newton, NH for pictures and more info. or call 382-4691
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Important Information on Absences and Dismissals
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STUDENT ABSENCE/TARDINESS
When a student is going to be absent or late for school:
- Please call the absentee phone number 382-5251, ext. 100. A phone answering machine is in operation all hours that the school is not open.
- If the parent does not call, the school will then try to reach the parent at home or work and, if necessary, the person(s) listed by you on your child's emergency card will be phoned to assure the safety of your child.
- If the school is still unable to ascertain the whereabouts of a child after these steps, the Newton Police Department will be contacted to conduct a well-child visit at the home to ensure the child's safety.
- Any student arriving after the 8:40 a.m. tardy bell must use the main entrance and check in at the office for a "tardy pass" before reporting to his or her classroom.
- To be eligible to participate in an after-school curricular or extra-curricular activity, a student must be present in school on the day of the event unless there are extenuating circumstances and approval has been granted by the activity leader or school administration.
STUDENT DISMISSAL
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Dreambox
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Dear Parent/Guardian,
Memorial School has purchased DreamBox Learning's Math Program, an online, Intelligent Adaptive Learning(tm) program that helps all students achieve better, faster math proficiency.
DreamBox is an online program - there's no software to download! All you need is a high-speed Internet connection and Adobe Flash. Adobe Flash is free and is included with many Internet browsers.
To access DreamBox on iPad, go to
http://www.dreambox.com/ipad
, or search for "DreamBox Math" in the App Store. Download DreamBox Math Green and DreamBox Math Blue to ensure your student has access to the full catalog of DreamBox Learning Math lessons. When prompted in the app, use this School Code: 4f3h/memorials
Review your student's academic progress with a DreamBox Parent Account. Please follow these steps to create your free Parent Account:
2. Have your student login to their profile just as they would at school.
3. Click Setup Parent Access at the bottom of the page.
4. Follow instructions to create a new login and password.
5. Read Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
6. Click "Submit".
Log into your home account after set up:
2. Enter your email address and password.
3. To see student progress, click the "Family Dashboard" button.
If you have any questions, please contact DreamBox Client Care by calling them at 877-451-7845 (weekdays 7am to 5pm, Pacific Time), or email
[email protected]
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You can also contact our technology teacher, Jodi Tamayoshi, at
[email protected]
with any questions.
Sincerely,
Donna Johnson
Assistant Principal
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Sanborn Regional High School Scholarship Drive
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Baseball & Softball Sign Ups
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Futsal
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Attention soccer players!
Futsal at Sanborn Regional High School's gym resumes this
Sunday, Jan. 8.
It's not too late to join us. Just show up, sign up and play. The registration form is attached if you want to fill it out in advance, but we'll have them at the gym, too.
This will be the third of 10 weeks for our U10-U13 travel/middle school program and our high school age group. This week will be the first week for our U8 and U10 recreation player group.
Here's the schedule:
10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.: U8 and U10 recreation players (first of five weeks).
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. for U10 to U13 travel soccer team players and middle school soccer players, girls and boys.
1 to 2:30 p.m. for varsity and JV high school soccer players, girls and boys.
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Internet Essentials
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