Harbor Heights On the Horizon
2/22-2/26
Important Personal Principal Message
I hope you had a great midwinter break - we look forward to seeing you back at school! Before covering the typical information in the weekly news, I want to share a personal message.
My four years as an Orca are joy-filled, meaningful, and formative for my professional and personal growth. I was welcomed so graciously by you all back in 2017, supported to engage actively with our learning community, and stretched as an educator more than I ever could have imagined.
For those of you who might know me well, this will not come as a shock: The Bentler family is moving to China next year! My wife and I student-taught in Cameroon, Africa, back in 2006, and our dreams to return overseas have now become a reality. I will be an assistant principal/teacher and my wife will be a classroom teacher at a 240 student K-12 International School near Beijing. These roles fit us perfectly - we believe that this will be a very challenging and rewarding experience for our family, and we are excited to immerse ourselves in a new community. Although this decision is challenging to leave our amazing Harbor Heights and Gig Harbor community, and family in the PNW, we are affirmed this is a sound decision for the Bentlers - for at least the next 2 years, beginning in August 2021.
The heart of our Harbor Heights community is truly you and our amazing teaching staff, and I am excited for what the future holds for our school and all of PSD - adding the 10th elementary by the YMCA and completing the new buildings for Artondale and Evergreen. Thank you for your partnership in continuing to focus on educating the whole child for the remainder of my final year as an Orca. Continuing traditional events, although modified for our current COVID times, such as Read and Lead, are such an encouragement to stick to what we stand for here at this amazing school!
I want to reiterate that I remain committed to Harbor Heights through June, and I hope to see the most growth and positive change possible in these 4 final months just as I have experienced all 4 years.
Below is a picture of the 4 Bentler kiddos sledding over the break and a 5 segment snowman named after their papa - amazing to see them grow up so fast and increasingly able to accomplish more on their own due to the great education they experienced here in the PSD!
Gratefully,
David Bentler
Harbor Heights Principal
530-1800
"We are a passionate community dedicated to the success of the whole child"
Reminders
Daily Attestation 1/2 sheets
As we return to the routine on Monday, please ensure each of your children has a completed and signed Health Screening Attestation forms every day. Thank you parents for having these forms ready to hand to a staff member at parent drop off. We have seen an increase with students who take the bus to school arriving without a signed form - to avoid a call home before school even starts for your child, please double check that your child(ren) know the routine. Please email your teacher or call the office at 530.1800 if you did not receive enough paper forms that are sent home each week. We also have copies outside the school.
Mask Wear
Help your child at school by ensuring their mask fits well and does not slip off their nose. It really helps if the mask that you send your child with is clean and fits comfortably. If you do have questions or need help, please reach out to your teacher or call the office.
Winter Clothing
As we saw before break, the temperatures dipped quite a bit! Gloves are a good idea if the temperature is freezing or below. Now with temperatures back in the 40's, please send your child with a good jacket and footwear since rain is likely.
Please refer to the latest PSD communication regarding all the news including re-districting boundary lines, Sup updates, and more: https://www.psd401.net/schoolreopening
Orcas working together on Feb 12th during recess to make an impressive snowman
February at Harbor Heights
We would like to acknowledge that as we begin the month of February, we also begin Black History Month. It is an opportunity to broaden our experience, perspectives, and reflect on how we welcome more students in our building.
In music, we started off in January learning about the history and structure of the blues. 2nd-5th graders each composed their own blues songs. We all agreed that singing through our struggles helped us feel better! We acknowledged and were thankful for this contribution to our country's musical heritage by many wonderful Black musicians such as Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith. Most of our modern music genres stem from these blues and jazz styles.
In February we are continuing this study, learning about Scott Joplin and Ragtime, as well as various Jazz styles including Swing and scat singing. We are singing and playing instruments along with this music, as well as comparing and contrasting these pieces with music from various times in history. We celebrate the joy this music still brings us today! Upcoming lessons include jazz pianist Hazel Scott and the great Aretha Franklin, as well as more recent genres developed from jazz and blues.
For all students, here are some messages that we hope to read during morning announcements in February.
It has been a great week, let's make it a great month!
February Lunch Menu
Elementary & Middle HC:
Highly Capable Referral Notice Extended for Annual Testing grades 1-8. Either parents or staff may initiate referrals on the same form link.
Open October 22nd – March 15th, 2021 (Note the extended window for referrals)
Online Highly Capable Referral form for Parents and Teachers
YRU - Year Round Updates to ensure your contact information is up to date
Parents have the ability to log into their Parent Portal account and click the Year Round Update link to review and make changes to their contact information. If you don’t already have a ParentPortal account you will have to create one. For information on creating an account go to psd401.net/parent-portal. We ask that all families review the information at least once a year as well as any time they have changes.
Attendance
Harbor Heights Elementary
We are a passionate community dedicated to the success of the whole child
Email: bentlerd@psd401.net
Website: https://hhe.psd401.net/
Location: 4002 36th Street Northwest, Gig Harbor, WA, USA
Phone: (253) 530-1800
Facebook: facebook.com/hhorcas