From Nov. 7 to Dec. 8, students, faculty and staff at Roland A. Chatterton School will be greeted by 100 billowing American flags lined along its courtyard. Community members were encouraged to honor family members and friends who served in the United States Military by purchasing an American flag as part of the school’s inaugural “Field of Honor.”

The event, sponsored by the Chatterton Parent Teachers Association, brought several dozen volunteers to the Merrick Union Free School District elementary school on Nov. 7. The field was brought to fruition by the Mack and Gubba families, who created the Veterans Day Planning Committee and spearheaded the project. Parents and student volunteers worked in unison to plant the flags along the school’s front lawn in honor of Veterans Day.

The proceeds from each flag, which ranged from $20-$50, will benefit the Bellmore-Merrick food pantry, Community Cupboard, as well as Operation Heal our Heroes and the Wounded Warrior Project—both of which are organizations dedicated to offering services and programs to support veterans.

All those who sponsored a flag were also gifted a keepsake 3’x5’ American Flag in honor of their heroes. 

Sixth graders at Chatterton School recently participated in the school’s seventh annual Literary Character Pumpkin Patch. 

Students were challenged to transform ordinary pumpkins into their favorite fictional characters. Using various crafts, students decorated their pumpkins to resemble Winnie the Pooh, Harry Potter, the Cat in the Hat, Rapunzel and Captain America, to name a few. 

The pumpkins were then displayed in the hallway outside of the main office for students and staff to admire.

Assistant Principal Michael DeLuca said, “Our sixth graders did an amazing job and the whole school enjoys walking by the patch looking at some of their favorite fictional characters,” 

To kick off Halloween within the Merrick Union Free School District, Chatterton School’s Parent Teacher Association hosted a “Parade of the Jack-o-Lanterns” on Oct. 30.

The night featured student-carved pumpkins, spooky Halloween lawn displays and a socially distanced parade of cars. More than 100 cars drove through the haunted trail as families enjoyed the decorations and had an opportunity to admire the students’ jack-o-lantern masterpieces.  

Congratulations to Merrick-Roland A. Chatterton School’s newest students of the month. Each month, students from each grade are selected by their classroom teachers to represent that particular month’s theme. The theme for September was “courteous.”

Each of the following students were selected for displaying respect, friendliness goods manners and concern towards teachers, classmates and staff. Congratulations!

Kindergarten: Jameson Feld, Paige McCann and Lincoln Tirado
First Grade: Edward Healy, James Roslow, Ryder Schadt and Gianna Vasquez
Second Grade: Nathaniel Bradshaw, Sam McManus and Juliette Thompson
Third Grade: Stella Alonso, Ella Brecher, Drew Brous and Hannah Rimawi
Fourth Grade: Mayla Lillo, Emory Mallalieu and Alexa Sherman
Fifth Grade: Nicholas Alonso, Lucianna Aykaz and Lucas Leo
Sixth Grade: Mackenzie Belmonte, Casey DeCosta, Matthew Lattanzio and Grace Taormina