HILL HAPPENINGS
#HillHasHeart Edition - April 2021
A Note from the Principal
Hello Hill Families,
I hope that you all had a restful and healthy spring break. We are happy to have our students back to school. Can you believe we only have 11 weeks left? Time is flying by.
We had a wonderful March celebrating March is Reading month. We were also happy to start up our 4th grade safety patrol. To be considered for safety patrol, students need to keep up on their schoolwork, lead by example, maintain a positive attitude, and earn all 3's and 4's on their Cardinal Code. Congratulations to Finnegan Dean, Charlotte Dipzinski, Zachary Farner, Leah Hensley, Ella Carpentier, Addyson Kondel, Jaxson Lobban, Ellie Rogers, Blair Vickers, and Aiden Wetherford for being selected as our first team of leaders. Our second team of leaders will be selected later this week!
I have included our April family check-in below. This only takes a few minutes and allows me to gauge the needs of our families. We are all in this together and we want our families to know, that you are not alone. I appreciate and value your feedback as we continue on this journey together.
Thank you for your continued partnership in helping your children to grow academically. I appreciate all you are doing to support your children and our school!
Respectfully,
Mrs. Burke, Proud Principal
#HillHasHeart
Teacher Requests
Davison Community Schools is fortunate to have talented and dedicated teachers on staff in every one of our schools. Our teachers believe in working with parents so that children can excel and be successful. Sometimes, parents like to make requests for the teacher they would like their child to have the following school year. Whenever possible, our building principals will try to respect parental requests. However, please know that in some instances, a parent’s request might not be in the child’s best interest. A child’s learning style, how he/she interacts with other students, special academic and elective needs, are some of the factors used in determining the placement of your child.
If you would like to request a teacher for your child next year, please complete the teacher request form. Requests will be accepted beginning Monday, April 19th at 8 am and must be completed by Friday, April 30th at 4 pm to be considered.
Please note that this request does not guarantee your child’s placement with that teacher. Many factors go into a child’s final placement. The deadline is in place so schools can begin the scheduling process for the upcoming school year.
Completion of this form is not required.
Kindergarten Round-Up
Don't forget - students currently enrolled in E-5 (Developmental Kindergarten at Thomson DO NOT have to go through the enrollment process again.
Current GSRP students MUST go through the Round Up enrollment process. Be sure to set up an appointment.
Any families who want their students to attend Hill Elementary for kindergarten, should call the Hill office to be added to our wait list if you haven't already done so.
Positivity Project (P2)
As you know, Hill is a partner school, which means all of our families get free access to awesome resources that reinforce the character traits and teaching we are doing at school. There is a character card that explains the character trait, a grade-appropriate video to show the character trait in action and some questions that are great conversation starters at home.
Click here to check out P2 for Families (password: P2).
This week students will begin learning about, "Identifying and appreciating the good in others."
Counselor Corner with Mrs. Ganabathi
Not all screen time is created equally. Technology can be a great tool, but there are some guidelines to keep in mind when thinking about screen time for elementary children.
YouTube and Internet use should be supervised at all times. There are many graphic videos that are “disguised” as kids’ videos.
Young children are not developmentally able to understand the difference between reality and fantasy, so keep this in mind when choosing shows for your child.
Remember, you are the parent and can decide what your child watches. Stay away from scary shows/games and those that don’t represent your family’s values.
Screen time should be limited to 1 hour on weekdays and 3 hours on the weekend.
Spend time with your children without screens. Invite your child to help you make dinner, go for walks together, play board games, build together, and read books.
Music Notes from Mrs. DuPrey
After Spring Break, 3rd grade students will receive their recorders!!! We will work with the recorder until the end of the year. Recorders should come to music class every day, during the week that your child has music. Unfortunately, I will not be able to give anyone a recorder to use during class if they forget their instrument for the day. That being said, on the weeks your child does not have music I encourage all students to bring the recorder home to practice! Students will receive a recorder karate book that should come to music class as well. We use the Recorder Karate program which has students earn “belts” for individually passing songs during class. Students should work to pass through blue belt (When the saints go marching in) by the end of the school year, but are encouraged to go as far as they can!! I have had great success in working with recorders and it is always a fun time for the kids!!
Fourth grade students have been working with our ukuleles and will continue in some format, to do so until the end of the year. We have learned three chords now (C, F, and A minor) and will soon be adding G7. Students will have a project at the end of our unit to sing and play a song of their choosing. The song has to have at least two chords and can be something we have done in class or something they choose on their own. If they are choosing their own song it needs to be approved by me. If your child is interested in having a ukulele at home, please let me know and I would be happy to recommend a good quality, reasonably priced instrument.
In kindergarten, first, and second grade, we have been enjoying our virtual field trips! We just finished the play “Miss Nelson Has a Field Day”, and the kids really enjoyed watching this. Next we will see a performance from The Troubadours from the Flint Institute of Music, and a concert from The Flint Symphony Orchestra.
Mrs. DuPrey :)
Fitness Fun with Mr. Whitman
Happy Spring! During March we had a broom hockey unit. This is the first time we’ve done the unit in about 5 years. Any game that uses sticks can be a dangerous activity if students don’t follow directions. However, the students did awesome! Each grade got to play for a full 2 weeks. We focused on teamwork, strategy, and keeping the stick on the ground when swinging.
After spring break, we will be outside regularly if the weather cooperates. Please send a sweatshirt or light jacket with your student so they can be dressed appropriately for class. In addition to going outside, we also plan to incorporate Cardio Drumming into our April plans.
Go Cards!
Mr. Whitman
Library Corner
March was a really busy but amazing month in the library here at HilI. We learned about Dr. Seuss and read There’s Wocket in my Pocket, then learned about the life of Mae Jemison and how she was the first black women to go into space in the book Mae Among the Stars, we also learned about Leprechauns and St. Patrick's day, and closed out the month by celebrating Easter by listening to The Story of the Easter Bunny and making a colored egg Easter wreath. It sure was packed with a lot of fun and excitement!
In addition to all the fun, we did hold our Virtual Book Fair which was a huge SUCCESS! Therefore, I just would like to send a big THANK YOU to all of our students, staff, and parents at Hill Elementary for making our Virtual Book Fair such great success. It is because of all of you that we will be able to purchase some pretty amazing items for our library in the future.
Looking ahead into April we will be revisiting our library rules and etiquette while also learning about some amazing Caldecott and Newberry medal winning books. I am really looking forward to sharing some spectacular books with our students throughout the month of April. I will let you know what we decided on in our May newsletter.
PTO NEWS
Thank you to all of you who participated in our Little Caesars Fundraiser. The fundraiser ended on March 22nd. We will be sharing out more information about our prize winners and how much we earned toward new playground equipment in our next communication. Please know that all Hill families are welcome to our monthtly meetings. The next meeting is on Monday, April 12th at 5:30. The meeting is virtual and the link for our meeting is below.
Topic: PTO Meeting
Time: Apr 12, 2021 05:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7145281177?pwd=K3R5aTlhWEJ6cjdtZzhlUG1iclIxZz09
Meeting ID: 714 528 1177
Passcode: Hill2020
20/21 PTO Officers
PTO President: Jill Lobban
PTO Vice President: Drianna Keltner
PTO Secretary: Lindsay Brandon
PTO Treasurer: Danielle Wenzel
Mark your calendar:
- April 19-23 Kindergarten Round-Up
We are Here to Help-Important Contact Information!
While it is always best to reach out to your child's teacher first, below is a list of other Hill Staff that you may want or need to contact. Please remember that we are here to help!
Mrs. Burke, Principal-Email: jburke@davisonschools.org ; Hill Phone Number: 810-591-0839
Mrs. Ganabathi, School Counselor-Email: aganabathi@davisonschools.org; Hill Phone Number: 810-591-0842
Mrs. Debbie Alderson, Secretary to the Principal-Email: dalderson@davisonschools.org; Hill Phone Number: 810-591-0839
Mrs. Julie Talaska, Secretary: jtalaska@davisonschools.org; Hill Phone Number: 810-591-0839
Connect with Hill Elementary
Email: jburke@davisonschools.org
Website: https://www.davisonschools.org/
Location: 404 Aloha Street, Davison, MI, USA
Phone: 910-591-0839
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavisonCardinals/
Twitter: @proud_principal