Spout the Spirit - October 10, 2008

Consistent Attendance The Most Important Routine

The 2008-2009 school year is off to a wonderful start here at Sag Harbor Ele-mentary. Students have adjusted to their new classes and are developing important relationships with their teachers and classmates. These first few weeks of a new school year are important for establishing consistent routines. Teachers work hard with children to establish consistency within their classrooms. Children do best when they know what to expect. Children thrive with regularity. Routines are helpful and no routine is more important during an academic year than getting up in the morning and arriving to school on time each day.

Research is clear that consistent school at-tendance is a major factor in determining a student’s academic success. Uninter-

rupted attendance in school leads to higher academic achievement, stronger social connections, and overall success later in life. Students who miss school lose the continuity of instruction that is so important to their learning and under-standing of key ideas and concepts. Class time missed cannot be made up. Children may be able to complete the work missed, but the meaningful questions that are asked and discussions that occur can never be replicated.

Students are to be in school each day we are in session. Of course students who are sick should stay home and get better. According to our School District Policy, excused absences from school are limited to student illness, a death in the family, or religious observances. Any absences to school for reasons other than the afore-mentioned are therefore considered unex-cused, (family vacation, hair cut, over-sleeping.)

Vol. 17 No. 1 SPOUT THE SPIRIT October 10, 2008

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Being on time is also crucial

Each school day at Sag Harbor Elementary begins with Morning Program in our gym-nasium. As we gather together we enjoy singing, celebrate birthdays, recognize holidays and discuss important school in-formation. Classes present projects they have created—sharing stories, reading po-etry, performing skits. Throughout the year we also focus on a school wide theme, this year being All Aboard, Cruising with Character. As we discuss our theme, teachers and students will share informa-tion and ideas about character (responsi-bility, kindness, honesty, etc.)

Morning Program begins with the Pledge of Allegiance and a patriotic song at 8:35 A.M. each day. If a child arrives to school after the Pledge, he or she is considered late. While Morning Program is in ses-sion students should quietly enter the gym and join their class. Stu-dents who arrive after Morning Pro-gram has concluded must report to the main office before heading to class.

Late arrivals, just as absences from school, create a disruption for both the late stu-dent and that student’s classmates and teacher. Not only do late students miss out on important instructional time, upon their arrival, they also break the flow in the classroom, distracting and disrupting others engaged in important lessons.

School and Home – An Important Part-nership

As clearly outlined in New York State Edu-cation Law and Sag Harbor Union Free School District Policy, “school attendance is both a right and a responsibility. Be-cause the school district recognizes that consistent attendance and academic suc-cess have a positive correlation, the Dis-trict will be an active partner with students and families to ensure regular attendance at school.”

Our school is required to continually monitor the attendance of all students.

•When children are absent from school parents are expected to pro-vide a note documenting the reason for the absence. •Ms. Margaret Pulkingham, our school nurse, will contact all fami-lies of absent students to check on the children’s health, offer help, and answer any questions. •If a child’s unexcused absences to-tal four days in an academic mark-ing period (10 weeks) Ms. Pulking-ham will again call the home. This call will serve as a reminder of our school’s attendance policy and again offer families assistance and support to ensure improved school attendance. •If a pattern of absenteeism were to continue and a student’s unexcused absences in a marking period


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reaches a total of 8 days, families will receive a letter from the school administration, documenting this truancy and again explaining the school district policy. •If necessary, a meeting between the student’s parents and the school will be called to discuss the atten-dance concerns and to work to-wards rectifying the situation.

We strongly believe that our children need to be in school consistently. The staff of the Elementary School will continue to partner with all families so our children get the most from their school experience. We are here to provide any help we can to ensure that attendance of all our stu-dents remains consistent.

Coaches Corner By Mr. Crowley and Mr. Katz

Physical Education classes are conducted twice a week for each grade level. Our goal is for each student to learn to enjoy physical activity and to understand the benefits. In our classes we emphasize students becoming successful by showing improvements. We all know each child has different ability and skill levels.

We expect each student to come prepared for class. Sneakers and comfortable cloth-ing are necessary for success. If your

child has an injury or for some reason can’t participate, please send a note with him or her to school.

Lunchtime recess is a time to get exercise. Milers club is a requirement for all chil-dren. This means before getting involved with another activity, a minimum of 1 lap on the fitness trail must be logged in.

Physical Education classes cannot be the only time a child exercises. We want children to find time at home to play and practice some of the skills introduced in class.

We look forward to another school year full of activity, learning and fun.

Strings by Mr. Fox

Last year was very exciting for the strings program! We had concerts in the elemen-tary school and at the high school! The or-chestra did a fantastic job! Do you re-member when one of our Pierson eighth grade students - Christopher Bereos came and played cello and then guitar for us? We will have more middle and high school students playing at morning pro-


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gram, and they will show you all the fun you can have when you play a musical in-strument. We have a number of students joining orchestra this year and look for them to be playing some wonderful pieces at our concerts.

This year the kindergarten through third grade violin classes are going to really re-inforce our classroom curriculum. We are going to have music, violin, math, history, songs, spelling and bowing, language arts fiddle fun and tons more! Our fiddles will be our best friends and help us reinforce what we are learning. The main idea is to "Focus with our fiddles" (our theme). By the way, a fiddle is a violin and a violin is a fiddle! It is the same thing, "fiddle mu-sic" is different from other types of music played on the instrument- but you can call one or the other! We are looking to use the recording program "Garage Band" in Mrs. Rice's instrumental music room. It will be fun to record ourselves and burn compact discs. Let's have a wonderful year focusing with our fiddles and learn-ing tons of stuff!

Media Center By Ms. McGuirk

Welcome back to the 2008-2009 school year. The Media Center will be seeing your child or children once a week on a regular schedule. Please check for that

special moment!

All books, CD's, etc. are due each school week. If your student forgets, they will be given a reminder note. They are welcome to come up at a different time to return their overdue item. They are even wel-come to come up early to pick new books before their scheduled Media Center class.

If by chance a book is lost or destroyed, you can replace it with an item from home of equal value. But please make sure that it is an item that could be placed upon the Media Center shelves!

Students will begin borrowing items the first week of school from 1st - 5th grade. Kindergarten will begin later in the school year after they become accustomed to their new routines.

Happy reading!

Health Hints

By Ms. Pulkingham R.N.

The focus in the Health Office is wellness. Being proactive in disease prevention is my goal. There is no better time to do this than when children are young, open and impressionable. Helping young children


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to develop healthy life practices is so ex-citing to me. I like to think that being a school nurse can make a difference in how children view their health and also help them to be comfortable relating to health care professionals. Statistics from the New York Department of Health reveal major concerns about the rising incidence of obesity in children and the medical and psychological consequences thereof. There is an increase of diabetes, asthma, arthritis, depression and low self esteem in children that are overweight. As part of SHES wellness program I hope to influ-ence the students ability to make healthy choices and keep SHES off the "at risk" list.

With that in mind, during the year when-ever a child comes to see me, we will dis-cuss health practices casually as treat-ments are taking place. While they are in the Health Office they will be exposed to monthly themes through charts, posters, riddles and photographs.

The "Healthy Question" of the month will be posted in the hallway on the way to the gymnasium. The question will relate to the theme being explored in the Health Office that month. The class with the most cor-rect answers will receive a certificate for their research efforts.

Monthly power point presentations will be presented in morning program relevant to the theme of the month. This is a great opportunity to give instruction on hygiene, exercise, nutrition, safety, disease preven-tion and aspects of anatomy and physiol-

ogy to the entire school community.

Physical exam records for new students to the district and children in Kindergarten, 2nd and 4th grades are due within 30 days of the beginning of school. Health appraisal forms to take to your physician are available from my office. This year BMI (Body Mass Index) must be included in the exam. For those of you unable to get exams from your family physician, school exams will be conducted by a lo-cal MD in late September and early Octo-ber. Vision screenings will take place in November, hearing screenings in January and scoliosis screening in March.

According to Public Health Law, immuni-zation records are required upon entry into school for every student unless a le-gitimate religious or medical exemption is on file. Full compliance on this issue is required in order for children to remain enrolled in the school.

Parent and physician authorizations are required for prescription and non-prescription medications administered by the school nurse. These forms are also available from my office.

Communication is key where health re-lated issues are concerned. I welcome in-put on your children's health issues. Please feel free to call me at any time. When significant events occur in the Health Office I will keep you informed.

As parents, you know that adult example speaks the loudest in life issues. What we


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do is often "heard" over and above what we say. Join me in setting healthy exam-ples for your children this year.

Counselor’s Corner By Mrs. Grant

Better Off in the Long Run

One of the hardest things about parenting is the whole idea of doing something that makes your children unhappy now, know-ing that they will be better off in the long run. I hadn’t been a mom for very long when I was first challenged with this, in fact if I remember correctly it was when they stuck Bailey’s heel to make her bleed when she was just a day old. I understood the importance of the test, but it was so heartbreaking hearing my baby girl scream and cry, knowing that it was my decision to allow the test that caused her pain. It was then that I decided that my husband would be the one to hold her, and my second daughter Jameson, during every shot they needed. When the deci-sion involves my daughters’ experiencing physical pain, my husband is better at it than I am; I get too emotional.

We’re in the process now of trying to get Jameson used to wearing her new glasses.Mind you, she had never complained about not being able to see things, until we made her start wearing her bifocals.

Our drive home from picking up her glasses had me in tears in the front seat as she told me that she couldn’t see the trees anymore. She normally barrels up and down the stairs with no problem, but the bifocals now have her clutching the railing so she doesn’t fall. I get that she needs to be uncomfortable now to make sure things will be good later in life; but at three years old, she doesn’t get it at all.

These are the kind of tough decisions we have to make as parents. Some of these decisions are pretty much made for us, like the need to test for medical disorders or to make your child wear glasses when they don’t want to. But as parents, we still have to deal with the fallout and be the ones to follow through and be consistent. Luckily, most of these “better off in the long run” decisions don’t involve medical concerns or physical pain; but I think they are tougher decisions for us as parents. They’re tougher to make because, when it’s not a medical concern, it’s often easier to give in to the moment. These tougher decisions are more about developing character traits like independence and re-sponsibility. They involve things like de-ciding to make your kids clean up the mess they made, knowing it will likely be a 20 minute whining episode when you could have just done it yourself in about 5 minutes. It’s letting them to go to school and face the consequences when they have forgotten their homework for the 7th time instead of bailing them out every time. It’s saying “no” to the sleepover on Saturday when you know it will cause


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your child to still be sleep-deprived and cranky on Monday morning. Your decision to insist they clean up or go to school un-prepared or miss out on a sleepover is based on what is best for your child in the long run, and it is also likely that they won’t get that. So prepare yourself for the tears and the tantrums and continue to make those tough decisions with your eye on the prize. And hopefully, someday, you will have a remarkable young adult that cleans up without being told, is prepared when they need to be, and knows how to balance pleasure with responsibility. And then you can be sure that they finally “got” it.

School PolicyIn the beginning of this school year fami-lies were provided a calendar that con-tains information about events, holidays and school district policies. The "Student Directory Information Policy" requires a response from parents who want to restrict the release of student information. That policy is presented again for your review. Please respond in writing by November 1st, if you do not want information as de-scribed in the policy about your child re-leased

STUDENT DIRECTORY INFORMATIONThe District shall publish an annual public notice informing parents or eligible stu-dents of their right to refuse the release of student directory information and indicat-ing a time period for their response. Fol-lowing such public notice and a reason-able period, the District may release such

information to an outside group without individual consent.

The District, for purposes of compliance with The Family Education Rights and Pri-vacy Act (FERPA), defines student direc-tory information as the following: name, address, telephone number, e-mail, place of birth, grade level, participation in offi-cially recognized activities and sports, weight and height (if members of athletic teams); honors, degrees and awards re-ceived, photographs and samples of stu-dent work.

It is the District practice to release student directory information to community groups and local media as part of news releases or public relations campaigns. Student directory information may be printed in the District newsletter, in local newspapers and may appear on local television and radio stations. Such infor-mation may also be released to Booster Clubs, service organizations like The Lion's Club and to the town offices such as the Recreation Department.

As part of the Technology Acceptable Use Policy, the District restricts the release of student directory information to the fol-lowing: grade level, photographs and samples of student work with all personal references deleted. Each year parents will be notified that they have the right to re-fuse the posting of the limited student di-rectory information on the Internet. Absent the expressed written refusal from a par-


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ent, the District may post the specific Internet directory information.

We Are Going Paperless!

We are working toward being a paperless school. In keeping with our ‘Green’ ob-jectives we are going to be posting the SPOUT on our website www.sagharborschools.org starting with this issue! If you do not have access to a computer and still need paper copies of the SPOUT, please let us know by filling out the form on the last page of this SPOUT and handing it in to the main of-fice or to your child’s teacher by October 31st. We will be happy to send the SPOUT in paper form home with your child.

GREEN MINUTE

Did You Know?•Every year Americans drink about 167 bottles of water each.

•Only 2 out of 10 bottles are recycled.

•That leaves about 38 billion plastic water bottles in landfills every year.

•Plastic bottles take 700 years before they even begin to decompose in a landfill.

What Can We Do?

•Use reusable bottles. Fill them up from the tap!

•Stainless steel bottles are best.

•If everyone in New York City gave up water bottles for one week, they would save 24 million bottles from going to a landfill!

Did You Know?

•Light bulbs, windows, TVs, mirrors...What do they all have in com-mon? GLASS! We use a lot of glass!

•We throw most of our glass away! Every MONTH we throw away enough glass to fill up a giant skyscraper.

•We throw out 28 billion bottles and jars every year.

What Can We Do?

•Recycle glass! Find a place you can keep a box for recycling glass at home.


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http://www.sagharborschools.org

http://www.sagharborschools.org

•Ask an adult to help you take it to the recycling center.

•Recycling glass saves energy. The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle will light a 100-watt bulb for four hours!

AWARDS

BLUE WHALE AWARD

Week of September 12th

Mrs. Carone’s Class

Mrs. Collum’s Class


Mrs. Raebeck/Mrs. Landry’s Class

Mrs. Deyermond/Ms. Rowland’s Class


Mr. Kneeland’s Class

Mrs. Cosgrove’s Class

Week of October 10th

Mrs. L. Lattanzio’s Class

Mrs. Johnston’s Class

Special Area Awards Computer - Mrs. L. Lattanzio’s Class

Music - Mr. Kneeland/Ms. Hornung’s Class, Mrs. Semkus’ Class and Mrs. Raebeck/Mrs. Landry’s Class

Art - Mr. Kneeland/Ms. Hornung’s Class and all third grades

Library - Ms. Meyerhoff’s Class

Science - All 2nd grades

Spanish - Mr. Kahofer’s Class and Mrs. Landi’s Class

P.E. - All Kindergarten classes

Ice Cream - Mrs. Collum’s Class


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October 13th Columbus Day NO SCHOOL

October 14th – 21st EDITH

October 14th & 15th Picture Day

October 15th Health Curriculum Mtg. 7:00 p.m.

October 16th PTA Meeting 3:30 p.m.

October 16th Partners in Print 6:00 p.m.

October 20th Bd. of Ed Meeting 7:30 p.m.

October 23rd PTA Meeting 3:30 p.m.

October 24th PTA Bingo Night 6:30 p.m.

YARD Proudly Presents

“Best of the Hamptons”

3rd annual Silent Auction Benefit

Saturday evening October 18th

BSmith’s on the Wharf in Sag Harbor

$25 admission includes:Live music & ‘Dinner by the Bite’, door prizes & fifty fifty raffle, Grand Raffle Drawing for 52” Sharp LCD-HD TV, Cash Bar & Silent Auction

Guest of Honor - Joan Frisicano

Ticket information available at the Main Offices in the High School and Elementary School or call Debbie Skinner at 725-5302x750

Do you know a great dog?

The Southampton Town Animal Shelter and Adoption Center is sponsoring the 3rd Annual Cody Award Great Dog Contest.

Contest Deadline October 15, 2008.

Please see the flyer on our community bulletin board in the Elementary School lobby for more details or call 728-7387.

Family Fun Day

Southampton Youth Services

Saturday October 4th 11:00-3:00

Kids under 12 Free

$5 Teens, $10 Adults

Live music, sports and games, arts and crafts, kid’s run, Chinese auction, bouncy castles, giant slide, rock climbing, hay rides.

1070 Major’s Path, Southampton

287-1511

www.sysinc.org

Open House at the Fire Department

Sunday, October 12th from 10-noon. Come see the equipment and live Fire & Rescue demonstra-tions. Talk to members of the community that proudly volunteer their time to protect our Village and surrounding area.

The Retreat Host’s

Issues in Interpersonal Violence

October 27 8:30-3:15


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http://www.sysinc.org

http://www.sysinc.org

Elder Abuse, Evidence Collection, Lunch, Evi-dence Based Prosecution and the Law, DV Inci-dent Report Follow Up, Teen Dating Violence and Cyberbullying.

This training program will be presented by Cindy Kanusher Esq. and the Pace Women’s Justice Cen-ter, Joy Solomon of the Pace Women’s Justice Center and The Hebrew Home for the Aged, and Assistant Chief Anne Fitzsimmons, ot the White Plains Police Department along with Retreat Staff.

Free Parent Workshop

The Long Island Speech-Language-Hearing Asso-ciation (LISHA) is sponsoring a FREE PARENT WORKSHOP on Saturday October 25, 2008. The workshop is titled "Developing Play and Lan-guage During the Preschool Years: Getting Ready to Read". The presenter is Carol E. Westby, Ph.D., CCC-SLP. Dr. Westby, a speech/language pa-thologist, has published and presented nationally and internationally on play assessment and de-velopment, language and literacy, and more. The conference is in Westbury, N.Y. Registration is limited! Registration forms may obtained in school lobby or by asking Mrs. Grille.

If you would like to have a paper copy of the SPOUT sent home with your child please fill out the following form:

Name___________________________

Child’s name_____________________

Child’s Teacher____________________

Please hand in to the main office or to your child’s teacher.


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Spout the Spirit - October 10, 2008

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