A Message from Mrs. Hennessey

The last month or so has been very busy here at Memorial School! We have celebrated 100 days of school. We took part in the Kindness Challenge, and we hosted a thrilling Read Across America Week! We have been integrating educational experiences into each of these exciting activities, and kids have been demonstrating new skills and knowledge all around Memorial School. Thank you to our Memorial families for all of your help with our Spirit Days! We greatly appreciate you!

I would like to thank each of you for your continued support of Memorial School. We are so fortunate to partner with our New Gloucester families to educate our bright young minds. Please feel free to contact me directly at ahennessey@sad15.org or by phone at 926-4322. 

Kindergarten Registration & Screening

The link to register a child for kindergarten in the 2024-2025 school year is now available on the Memorial School website. Click the link on the left.

Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences

During the week of March 18th, classroom teachers and case managers will be holding parent-teacher conferences. Like in the fall, these conferences will take place in person or via Zoom. Please be on the lookout for sign-up info from your child’s teacher(s).

We look forward to meeting with you!

Read Across America Week

During the week of March 4th, Memorial School celebrated Read Across  America Week! We had many exciting activities take place throughout the week. There were themed Spirit Days. Everyone in the school took part in our Read Across Memorial event on Wednesday. We were able to raffle off 24 new books! We hosted an author visit with Tom Booth. And we had a very fun Character Parade on Thursday, March 7th.

We would like to thank the parents who worked hard to put together spirited outfits and the Memorial School staff for their planning and facilitation of these exciting events!                 

iPad Care & Use

Please take the following steps to ensure the safety of your child’s school-issued iPad  when it is sent home:

  • When iPads are issued, please be sure to have students carry their iPads back and forth to school in their cases. 
  • All students have hard-backed keyboard cases. Students should keep the keyboard cases on at all times to protect the device screens.
  • Students should be sure to put the iPads in the neoprene sleeve whenever the device is not in use or charging.
  • Please remind children to carefully set their backpacks down when getting on or off the bus or arriving at home/school.
  • Please contact the Main Office as soon as possible when damage is noticed so we can provide a loaner device and send the iPad off for repair.

Thank you for your continued support and care with district-loaded devices. Please feel free to contact Mrs. Hennessey (926-4322 or ahennessey@sad15.org) with any questions.

Counselor’s Corner with Mrs. Dwyer

This month in guidance, we are kicking off March with “Read Across America” week and reading some of my favorite books with students.

Kindergarten will be learning how to handle disappointment and read through the book “You Get What You Get.” It is important for children to understand that disappointment is part of everyone’s life. By talking about it and seeing how Daniel Tiger (pbskids.org) handles disappointment, children can recognize this feeling, give a name to it, and practice some ways to handle the disappointments that arise.  We will continue to build skills in managing our emotions and behavior; positive self-talk; and continue practicing and learning new calming strategies.

First & second grades will be learning about self-control. They will be learning the acronym T.H.I.N.K. before we speak. They will learn about our social filter and how to filter our thoughts before they are spoken. We will read through “Being Frank” & “What If Everybody Said That?” together to better understand these skills.

T- is it true?

H- is it helpful?

I- is it inspiring?

N- is it necessary?

K- is it kind?

We will continue discussing conflict resolution and peaceful problem-solving.

Schedule Changes Due to Weather

Inclement Weather Options Include:

  • School cancellation
  • One-hour delay
  • Two-hour delay
  • Remote learning day (when feasible)

Notification:

  • Superintendent King works to get official information to families as soon as possible
  • Superintendent King communicates about storm days using School Messenger (phone message and/or text), television news, and the district website

Remote Learning Days

District administration will be watching the weather throughout the winter. When the forecast is worrisome, Memorial School may be sending home our district-issued iPads in anticipation of poor travel conditions and the potential of a remote school day. When devices are sent, we will communicate this to you through an email and/or Seesaw message. The iPads should stay in backpacks at home unless we have a remote school day. If there is no remote school day, please keep the iPad and sleeve in the backpack ready to come right back to school that day.

Should we implement a remote day we would use the following schedule:

K-2 Remote Day Plan

9:00-9:45:

Live Zoom – Morning Meeting & Literacy (whole group)

9:45-10:00: 

Break

10:00-10:30: 

Live Zoom – Math (whole group)

10:30-12:00: 

Asynchronous work on Seesaw (including Specials) and/or small group/individual sessions with the classroom teacher, Response-To-Intervention staff, or Special Ed services

12:00 – 12:30: 

Lunch

12:30-2:00: 

As needed, small group/individual sessions with RTI or Special Education

Zoom links and assignments will be shared via Seesaw. You can also expect specific communication from Mrs. Hennessey and your child’s classroom teacher should we need to implement remote learning for any reason. 

Updated March 11, 2024