Important Dates

• November 19 - Noon Dismissal for Parent Conferences - Ray School Only
• November 21 - Morning Brew and Budget Review-see details below
• November 26, 27 & 28 - School Closed
• December 4 - Winter Book Fair!
• December 5 - Morning Brew and Budget Review-see details below
• December 10 - Hanover School Board Meeting at 7:00pm
• December 12- PTO Meeting 
• December 12 - Author Matt Tavares joins us to share his latest book with our K-3rd graders!
• December 20-January 4 - School Closed

Message From Our Principal

Dear Families,

 

A heartfelt thank you to all our Veteran Ray family members. Students in grades 1 and 4 enjoyed  presentations from Ray School parents and veterans Lt. Colonel Josh Hotvet, Major Austin Roberts, Captain Joe Laws, and Lt. Colonel Derek Odom. We thank you for your service, appreciate your sacrifice and your willingness to share about your experiences with our students.

 

On Wednesday evening several of our 4th graders joined their teachers Nicole Monmaney and Joy Roy to share about their experience with the World Story Exchange project with the Hanover School Board.  Hazel, Eamon, Lydia, Isla, Zelda, Natalie and Roxy did a fabulous job sharing about their experience and reading their written pieces! If you are in the building for parent-teacher conferences you should check out their amazing work down in the 4th grade wing. Thank you to everyone for coming out on a school night!

 

Exciting playground update! The Accessible Playground Equipment was delivered Thursday! You will see a number of very large boxes near the wood chips. This is the equipment for our new playground area near Big Play Space. Please have students stay away from the equipment. We are waiting for a permit to install all the equipment and,  hopefully, this will be happening very soon.

 

Four grade 4 students wrote a grant with Associate Principal Nan Parsons in the fall of 2024 to purchase and install accessible equipment. These students noticed that there is very little for children who may have difficulty on the other equipment and decided to do something about it. The pride on their faces as the items were removed from the truck was priceless!

 

With the shorter days come colder temperatures and winter weather! Please send your children to school with appropriate gear for outdoor play and learning every day. We do go outside for recess unless it is pouring rain or dangerously cold all winter.  Every class has a boot rack available for students to leave a pair of boots at school. Please label your child’s winter gear to avoid any confusion-lots of children have black or blue snow pants and wear the same style boots! Only 2 items out of the MANY currently in the Lost and Found were labeled! Please help us get items back to their owners by labeling your children’s gear!

 

Congratulations to 5th grader Nirali Batra, whose design was chosen from over 2,800 entries as one of six winning designs in the NH Secretary of State “I Voted” Sticker Contest! You can see all the designs created by our students on display in the art hallway.

 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Colleen Roy

Ray School Interim Principal

 

 

School News and Information

Save the Date December 4, 2025! Winter Book Fair!

The Ray School PTO presents our WINTER BOOK FAIR, a fundraiser in partnership with The Norwich Bookstore.  Featuring books perfect as gifts for all ages & the whole family! Mark your calendars for Thursday, Dec. 4th in the Ray School Gym, open between 4 PM - 7 PM. All are Welcome! 20% of sales go directly to the Ray School Library - supporting our Ray Readers program and other programming. See you there!

 

 

PTO Thank You Notes

Help the PTO say thanks to the Ray School teachers, staff, and bus drivers!  During family-teacher conferences on November 5 and 19, PTO volunteers will be in the front lobby of the school with festive thank-you note supplies (approximately 12:30-5:00 PM).  Stop by and write a message of gratitude while you're in the building, or create notes at home using these leaf templates or your own design.  Families may create as many notes as they'd like and cut out and decorate them any way they choose.  Notes made at home can be dropped off at the PTO table on November 5 or 19, or with Trent in the Main Office through the morning of November 20.  The notes will be used to decorate an upcoming staff appreciation lunch hosted by the PTO.

 

Morning Brew & Budget Review: Coffee Hour Drop-in 

Join Superintendent Steiner, Principal Roy, and School Board members to learn about the Ray School's budget priorities for next year, ask questions, and bring ideas!

Coffee Hour will be held in the music room between 7:30 - 8:30 AM. Light morning snacks and coffee will be provided. 

A brief presentation (5-10 min) will be shared at 7:45, but feel free to drop-in as your schedule allows. Likely presentation topics are listed below, though you should feel free to bring up any topic.

• November 21st (Topic: How the District Strategic Plan connects to budgeting)

• December 5th (Topic: Vision for Pre-K)

• January 5th (Topic: How the budget serves academic needs)

• February 20th (Topic: Big investments outside the annual budget: Warrant articles)

• March 2nd (day before voting) (Topic: TBD)

Can't make it, but want to learn more? Join one of our regularly scheduled Hanover School Board meetings. (SAU70 Calendar with Meetings here.)

 

HAVEN HELPERS

Great start Ray Schoolers!! You have donated 437 pounds of goods to the Haven already this year! The Haven has indicated that they would like us to collect BAKING ITEMS (flour, sugar, mixes, etc.) for November.

Let’s continue to bring in SOUP as well for the Haven.  The weather is turning colder and soup is  a perfect item to keep on the shelf.

THANK YOU to all who have supported us so far.  

The student leaders have been doing a fantastic job spreading the word and sorting the food items. Keep up the good work, especially during November - the month of gratitude.

 

Lunch/Milk

The lunch menu can be found by using this link. If you would like to set up an online payment account, you can do so at MyMealTime.  You can find your student(s) ID# in the top right hand corner of their page in your parent portal. The Ray School provides free meals to families meeting the guidelines. All information is kept confidential. Here is the link:  Free & Reduced Lunch Application

 

Lost & Found

Our PTO has created a Lost and Found section that makes viewing items much easier. Scroll down to see current videos and photos. Please check regularly and be sure to pick up items during office hours, 7:30am-3:30. If you need to make other pick up arrangements, don’t hesitate to reach out. Please be sure to label your children's gear!