Labor Day is Upon Us...

Hello Parents,

We are having a wonderful week! We are off school on Monday in honor of Labor Day. I say, let us celebrate! Why Do We Celebrate Labor Day and give our students a day off of school? I've learned that the original intent of Labor Day was to provide a holiday that would honor the social and economic achievements of American workers. It was intended to be, and in many ways remains, an annual national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well being of our country. We all celebrate this national holiday in different ways. However you decide to celebrate Labor Day, have fun, relax, and take some time away from work to catch up with your family. Fall fast approaches, accompanied by shorter days and increasing responsibilities of our jobs, our kids, and school activities. Three-day weekends don't come along that often – enjoy! I'll be spending some quality time with my family, which means fun times with my daughter Laney. Check out her picture to the right; many of you have not had the chance to meet her. She is quite the character! Remember, we will see you on Tuesday, September 4.

Don't forget about the Fine Arts Academy and all of the opportunities that are there for our students to participate in! You can click on the "Fine Arts" tab for more information.

If you need a place to go, just to see specific upcoming dates; then click on the "Reminder" tab! You can write those dates straight into your calendar, and of course, the "School Wide Calendar" tab has games and everything else listed!

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**Also, as activities and field trips come up, there will be new pictures on the blog. I will always let you know when this happens, but it never hurts to look around here for lots of pictures!

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ü Fall Pictures are next THURSDAY, September 6! Come dressed in your school uniform!

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A reminder from last week...

Our librarian Mrs. Bebout would like to remind everyone that our students are invited to participate in our Ezell-Harding Christian School “Birthday Book Program.” Parents, grandparents, and friends may purchase a book for our library in honor of a student's birthday. The student's name, birthday, and the donor's name will be inscribed inside the book, which is selected and ordered through the librarian. The birthday student has the opportunity to check out the new book first, before it is placed in general circulation. This is a wonderful way to help our library grow! We hope you all will consider allowing your child to become a lasting part of our library! 

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Next week is our next HOME football game, against our big rival DCA! We will have several things going on next Friday morning. The cheerleaders will be selling tattoos, the high school girls' basketball team will be selling DONUTS (pre orders need to be made by first thing Wednesday morning, 9/5), and the spirit trailer will be open! Come early and get all the items you need for school spirit and breakfast (I will try to order more donuts this time, but again, pre-ordering is best – just e-mail me)!! It is going to be an exciting day, and I look forward to seeing all my friends at the football game against our big rival DCA!!

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Open House is on Tuesday, September 11. Please mark your calendars for this special evening. It is a great opportunity for your children to show you their day-to-day activities. They love showing off their teachers and their work! We are certainly proud of all that they are already accomplishing this year!

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**September 15 will be Parents Night Out. The cheerleaders are giving you a night out from 5:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.! The cost will be $15 dollars per child and $25 max per family. More details to come!

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**September 20 will be Spirit Night at Angelo's Pizza! More details to come on this event as well!

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ANSWERS TO OUR TRIVIA QUESTIONS: (Were you right? Did you discuss?)

When was the first Labor Day celebrated? Answer: 1882

What do you do to Celebrate Labor Day? Top Answer: Rest

Sweet CeCe's Tonight...

Hello Wonderful Parents,

This is our third full week, and I feel it is going tremendously well. We are all getting settled into a routine and learning as much as we can each day! I personally have had a lot of fun interacting with the students and watching them take pride in their "caught ya" buttons. We are constantly encouraging our students to make good choices. As most parents know, teaching through example is fundamental to teaching our students the values we want to instill in them. Talking about good choices is also essential, including explaining to our students what a good decision is. A good decision is one that results in more good than harm, considers the feelings of other, is selfless, follows the rules, and is positive and beneficial. I am proud to say that we have "caught" almost 90 students being good! I am so proud of everyone’s efforts in challenging the growth of our amazing students.

I would like to remind you all that school starts at 7:45 a.m. and ends at 2:40 p.m. We have a new sign out by Coach Riley, which will let you all know if the bell has rung and if you need to come in to sign your child in because our day has already started. Thank you so much for helping us with this matter. 

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Our librarian Mrs. Bebout would like to remind everyone that our students are invited to participate in our Ezell-Harding Christian School “Birthday Book Program.” Parents, grandparents, and friends may purchase a book for our library in honor of a student's birthday. The student's name, birthday, and the donor's name will be inscribed inside the book, which is selected and ordered through the librarian. The birthday student has the opportunity to check out the new book first, before it is placed in general circulation. This is a wonderful way to help our library grow! We hope you all will consider allowing your child to become a lasting part of our library! 

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Our Girls Scout troop 333 is starting a POUCH BRIGADE. Their troop is going to help our school by teaming up with TerraCycle, who recycles Capri Sun, Honest Kids, and Kool-Aid drink pouches. There will be a collection box in the cafeteria for all used drink pouches. After we are done collecting, Troop 333 will be giving the money back to our school! 

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Reminder that we are currently selling City Saver books and smart cards! Our last turn in day is Monday, August 27! Thank you for helping support our school with this fundraiser!

TONIGHT IS SPIRIT NIGHT at Sweet CeCe's in Smyrna! Stop by any time from 3:00 - 9:00 p.m. to get a yogurt treat! I will be there, and I can't wait to see all of my friends again! 

Please take a look under "Eagle Happenings" to see pictures of our 4th grade cheerleaders. Also, we have a new tab called "Fine Arts," where you will find new information about the program. Please click here to see upcoming opportunities to participate in drama and chorus! 

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Our preschool and pre-kindergarten friends enjoyed this week’s puppet show put on by the Nashville Public Library. Be sure to click under their tab to see a few pictures of this activity!

Finally, there is a "Reminder" tab that will list upcoming events and dates! September 6 is when we will have fall pictures! 

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ANSWERS TO OUR TRIVIA QUESTIONS: (Were you right? Did you discuss?)
The 42nd President was from Hope, Arkansas. Can you guess who it was? Answer: Bill Clinton
Which side did Arkansas support in the Civil War? Answer: South

Full Week #2

Hello Parents,

It has been another wonderful week so far!! I am very proud of our students and the "good choices" they are making each day! I have had over 50 students "caught" being good! Emanuel Swedenborg once said, “Kindness is an inner desire that makes us want to do good things even if we do not get anything in return. It is the joy of our life to do them. When we do good things, from this inner desire, there is kindness in everything we think, say, want and do.” Let's continue to encourage our children to find that inner desire to do what is right simply because it is right. It feels good to be "caught" in the act of kindness, so let’s start here as we continue to mold our little ones into the best students they can be!

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Be sure to click on our New "Chapel" link posted above. Today's topic was "Bearing Fruit Fit For A King."

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As always, when a new year starts, there are several reminders that we need to make. First, let's start with morning traffic. As a staff, we always want to put the safety of the children first, and if we work together we can make drop off as easy and as hassle-free as possible.
1.) Remember that there is NO parking in the traffic lanes (if you want to park, please go to the lower lot and park there)
2.) Have your child ready to get out of the car (backpack in car with them-not in trunk)
3.) Please stay in the 1st and 3rd lanes only
4.) The middle lane is the safe lane, and children can walk all the way down to Coach Riley and then cross, but if they decide to cross where their car is stationed, please have them stop and look (double checking it's safe)
Thank you so much for helping us. Car lines can be tricky, and we just want everyone to get inside safely.

Tardies:

I would like to remind you all that school does start promptly at 7:45 a.m. Students are tardy if they are not in class when the bell rings. Our teachers get started first thing, in order to utilize every minute of instructional time. Please be understanding and considerate of their hard work, and have your child at school on time. Thank you so much for helping us on this matter! Your child’s education is very important to us!

Please click on the link to the right to see our policies on tardies. The link is “Policies (absences & tardies)”.

A lot of exciting changes are happening to make the PTO at Ezell-Harding the very best it can be. We have lots of new families who have joined the EHCS family. We welcome all of you and encourage you to become an active participant in your child(ren)'s school. Studies have shown that children will be more successful if parents are involved in their education. You might ask, what does it mean to be a PTO member? The answer: That depends on you. You can be a member in name only, or you can become an active member. We invite you to become an active participant in your student's education by being an active participant in the PTO. Parents and grandparents, we need your help! Be an active participant! The level of involvement is up to you! There are lots of ways to be involved, and the PTO would love to have your help! Thank you in advance from the PTO! 

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Box Tops! Box Tops totals were such a success last year. The elementary will be getting three new document cameras and a projector for the Eagles Nest. Congratulations to the elementary! Please keep cutting, clipping, and bringing in those box tops for our school!

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FRIDAY NIGHT (tomorrow) we have our FIRST home football game. In honor of the event, we will have several things going on tomorrow morning. The cheerleaders will be selling tattoos, the high school girls' basketball team will be selling donuts, and the spirit trailor will be open! Come early and get all the items you need for school spirit and breakfast!! It is going to be an exciting day, and I look forward to seeing all my friends at the football game!!

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*Fourth Grade did a science experiment last week. Click on their tab to see pictures!!

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ANSWERS TO OUR TRIVIA QUESTIONS: (Were you right? Did you discuss?)
1.) Are the bristlecones pines growing in California are the oldest living things on earth? Answer: True
2.) Is Death Valley the hottest or coldest place in the U.S.? Answer: Hottest

School Rocks!!

Hello Parents:

As we start on this journey through a new school year together, I want to welcome you back, and in some cases, welcome you for the first time, to Ezell-Harding Christian School. I look forward to working with you and your children this year! The beginning of every new school year is an exciting time. A tremendous amount of energy goes into this beginning, on the part of all of us - parents, students, faculty, and staff. We all want to start the year right, to give students the best possible beginning to help them make this year a successful, productive, and happy one. To this end, we will help both new and returning students understand their roles in making EHCS a school that is free from teasing and bullying, as well as a safe and productive environment for everyone. Please help us by reinforcing these expectations at home. With your help, EHCS will continue to be a school community in which every person feels respected, valued, and encouraged and challenged to achieve at the highest levels. I love this place, and I know we all take great pride in what we have to offer here. **Please note the post this week will be unusually long due to explaining lots of new things. I promise to not be so long-winded in the future. I really want to be open and to communicate with you all as much as possible! **

I want to start by giving you a quick tutorial of what you will find on the blog. As you know, each Thursday there will be a new post, and in that post I will remind you of many things and discuss what is going on here at school. I will also let you know any time I add something new somewhere else on the blog. For example, I have updated several of the TABS that you will find above this post and below the "committed to excellence" picture. Those tabs are: "Home" "Terrific Tickets" "Eagle Happenings" "Discipline Plan" "School Calendar" "Reminders" "PK3 & PreK" "Kindergarten & 1st" "2nd-4th"

If you click on any of these tabs, you will find regular updates. There will always be pictures under the grade level tabs and the Eagle Happenings tab and new information under the other tabs. Also, please look to the right of this post. You will find several things you can click on there as well. Above the "Caught Ya" students you will find policies reminders (absences and tardies). Below the “Caught Ya” you will find guidance information from Mrs. Pomeroy, Teacher Feature (still under construction), and a trivia section where you can discuss the questions at dinner time with your family. PLEASE CLICK on these features and see all the information at your finger tips! 

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We have several new teachers I would like to introduce to you. In PreK3, we have Mrs. LouEllen Pickard, who graduated from Goodpasture Christian School and continued her education at MTSU. Also in PreK3, we have Brandie Garland, who already has two children here at EHCS, who is also a certified nurse to help us in time of need! In first grade, our new addition is Matt Birchett. He has a sweet three month-old baby boy, Lincoln. He completed his undergraduate education at Tennessee Technological University and his masters degree at Trevecca Nazarene University.

We have two other new staff members who will be interacting with your children daily. We have Mr. John Sullivan, our new campus minister, who came to us from Harding University. Mrs. Laura Ice, who has transitioned out of first grade, is now our Fine Arts Director. She will be in charge of drama, chorus, plays, and programs school-wide! We are excited that all these teachers are here with us!

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A link to the new school handbook will be on the blog next week. We are still making a few corrections. Just a reminder: school starts at 7:45 a.m. with dismissal at 2:40 p.m. Once the bell has rung at 7:45 a.m., students that are late must be accompanied by an adult to the office to sign them in. If you click on "POLICIES" to the right of this post, you will find what the handbook states about tardies and absences. Even if you see our morning person outside, your child is still late after 7:45 a.m.

Be sure to click on "Eagle Happenings" and the grade level tabs to see the latest pictures I have posted!

*BRING IN BOX TOPS!!! We are going to have some cool prizes for our top classes, so cut, clip, and bring them in!!

If your child has received a "Caught Ya" button, their name will appear on the blog for a week. Each Thursday, I will update the new names for that week. Make sure your child gets to see it. If they receive a Terrific Ticket, they get their picture on the blog under the "Terrific Ticket" tab! Let's encourage

our students to make those good choices! 

*Every Friday = Spirit Friday (Jeans & an Ezell-Harding T-Shirt)

*Spirit Trailer open on home Football games!

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Parents, I love you all and your children! I am very excited about the challenges of the new school year. I encourage us all to work together to foster a partnership in support of spiritual development and academic excellence for our students. Remember, ongoing communication is essential. I’m committed to keeping you informed about what is happening in school, and I welcome your thoughts and ideas. Please feel free to contact me at 361-5717 or kbledsoe@ezellharding.com.