On the Horizon
October 5th - 9th
Message from the Principal
Congratulations K/1 in-person families on a successful first week on campus! From arrival to dismissal, and all operations in between, families and students have done a fabulous job of adhering to the new safety guidelines. We are planning to safely sustain our current PSD plans to engage with students in the most efficient and effective way possible at this time. Well done helping the arrival and dismissal process go increasingly swift with your diligence in filling out attestation forms, and having those Orca Signs on the passenger side visor/windshield.
For Remote Learners K-5, we at Harbor Heights are currently in transition with our Specialists Zoom sessions.
- PE and STEM will remain the same, Synchronous Zooms and Asynchronous Content remain fully accessible
- Music is BACK starting Tuesday, Oct 6th! Mr. Saxon is coming in to serve as a guest Music teacher to provide live synchronous instruction at regular remote times for 2-5 while also engaging in K/1 classes. Additional content is planned to be uploaded to Schoology courses for each grade level 2-5. This is the current plan for the next two weeks.
I apologize for any frustration experienced for attempting to access any zoom links that resulted in canceled/discontinued sessions. We are working with the currently available staff to remedy any gaps in the schedule.
Materials Pick Up: Please refer to your teacher for specifics. See Pictures below for STEM packets to pick up in front of the school for the next two weeks.
K/1 In-Person Updates
Here is the Link to the essential information for K/1 in-person learning.
SEL Survey for all 3rd, 4th, and 5th Graders
Here is the Panorama Link for all 3-5 grade students http://surveys.panoramaed.com/psd401
Third, Fourth, and Fifth grade Teachers will be supporting this SEL survey next week in hopes of having all intermediate students complete this by Friday.
Panorama help videos: a couple of short videos and a Google Slides deck
Panorama has also created a slide deck mini-lesson on survey taking and vocabulary designed to support younger students
Teachers will be sending reminders for completing this survey by Friday, Oct 9th.
David Bentler
HHES Principal
STEM Packets for 2/3 and 4/5
Front of the School STEM
What a Fun sunny week at recess
Kindergarten and 1st Grade In-Person Learning reminders
Transportation: K/1 Bus Routes Link
- If riding the bus in the am, please send students with a completed attestation form
- If getting dropped off by car, we will hand you an information packet directly by 8:50 am
- Please ensure your teacher and the office know transportation home-PPU or bus?
Here is a K/1 Opening plans document with additional information: print an attestation form attached below or in the link (English pg 9, Spanish pg 10) see the slides presentation from our last community chat, and more!
Attendance Information - Call 253.530.1807
- A cough
- Shortness of Breath
- A fever of 100 or higher
- A sore throat
- Chills
- New loss of taste of smell
- Muscle or body aches
- nausea/vomiting/diarrhea
- Congestion/running nose (not related to seasonal allergies)
- Unusual fatigue
- Headache
If your in-person student is homesick, please call our attendance line (253) 530-1807.
12-1 Free Lunch Pick Up Daily at PPU
Summer program will continue all 2020! This means any child, 0-18, can pick up a lunch and breakfast M-F. It has been great to see you already, we welcome all of you. A sack lunch and breakfast will be available for any youth, this will continue even as more and more students come for in person learning, free lunches will be 12-1 pick up.
When other schools are shut down (like HH due to air quality, GHHS, Evergreen Elementary, and Purdy still have lunches served 12-1)
Contact Tina Burbridge if you have any ?'s at burbridget@psd401.net
Socktober 2020
Dear Harbor Heights Families,
It is that time of year when the days grow shorter and the temperatures grow cooler. It is also a time when families in need, this year more than ever, may find themselves without a wardrobe basic thay many of us take for granted- socks. So, even though our school year looks a little different this year we are still inspired to carry on our Harbor Heights traditions. Yes, that is right, “Socktober” is back for the sixth straight year!
For those families that are new to Harbor Heights, Socktober, is a school wide service project. Every October, we as a school community, collect new socks for all ages- infants to adults. We have donated more than 6,000 pairs of socks to Children’s Home Society and FISH food bank over the last five years. To bring awareness and to celebrate the event, Harbor Heights staff and students, participate by bringing in socks for families in need and by wearing “wacky socks” on Wednesdays. This year we will be collecting socks Monday, October 5th through Friday, October 30th. We are hoping to collect over 2,500 pairs of new socks!
You can donate infant to adult socks in the following ways:
K/1 students can bring socks to your teacher.
You can drop off and place your sock donations every Wednesday in the parent pick up area - We will have a sandwich board and bin marked "Socktober"
You can mail your sock donations directly to Harbor Heights.
Harbor Heights Socktober
4002 36th St NW, Gig Harbor WA 98335
Join in “Wild Wacky Sock Wednesday” by wearing crazy socks. We would love to see pictures of your wacky socks! Please send pictures to nelsonja@psd401.net.
Tell your neighbors, grandparents, and other community members about what our school is doing and see if they would like to join us in donating socks as well.
If you have any questions, please email Mrs. Nelson at nelsonja@psd401.net.
Thank you for your support,
Mrs. Nelson
Read & Lead and Yearbook Updates
Read and Lead Medals: If you still need to pick up your Read and Lead medal from last year, please email the VPO at harborheightsvpo@gmail.com so we can coordinate with you!
Yearbooks: All 2019-2020 Harbor Heights students get a yearbook for FREE compliments of the VPO. If you have not picked up your yearbook yet and you have a current 1st-5th grade student, please contact the Harbor Heights office at (253) 530-1800. If you have a current 6th grade student at Goodman, they have your yearbooks. Please contact their office at (253) 530-1600.
Safety Message from Last Week
Dear Harbor Heights Families,
I hope this message finds you and your family safe and well. I’m writing to share information about our school’s COVID-19 Site Safety Plan. This plan will be in place for our K/1 students who have chosen to begin in-person learning starting Monday, Sept 28th.
Each school in the Peninsula School District has an assigned COVID-19 Building Site Coordinator and at our school this person is Kelsey Brookman. As our Site Coordinator, Kelsey is prepared to follow this plan and respond in the event of a health concern at our school. She will work with our school’s response team to manage COVID-19 cases should any happen at school. She will also report suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases to the district COVID-19 Safety Coordinator. Read more in the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department's School COVID-19 Case Response Toolkit.
Here’s a link to our school’s COVID-19 Site Safety Plan.
Please know safety remains my top priority as we transition back to meeting with students in person, and I will continue to take all appropriate measures as outlined by PSD and the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department to help keep students and staff safe at Harbor Heights.
If you have any questions about safety protocols at our school, please contact either me or Kelsey.
Sincerely,
David Bentler, Principal, bentlerd@psd401.net
Kelsey Brookman, Assistant Principal BrookmanK@psd401.net
Technology Issues Being Resolved
Please make sure you know your students 7 Digit student number - this student number serves as the username and email for Chromebook log in and Student Portal. Once you log in completely to my.psd401.net with your 7 Digit student number and password, your Portal will allow simpler access to Schoology and Zoom sessions. Feel free to pass on to your teacher any tips and tricks that helped you to log in to the most essential resources.
Remote Learning 101 Links
- How to start using your Chromebook
- Parent Portal and PowerSchool - The main hub for student data
- Teacher, contact information, lunch accounts, etc.
- Parent Portal Information
- Schoology - Our PSD learning management system
- Central location for all learning resources, directions, assignments
- Schoology Step by Step
- Zoom - Video Conferencing for direct, live (synchronous) connection
Since we are now all learners at home, one of the most supportive practices families can do is become familiar with these 3 primary platforms. Teachers, the office, and admin can help with basic resource or technology questions.
See our most up to date Fall 2020 HH information https://hhe.psd401.net/fall2020
For District Updates https://www.psd401.net/schoolreopening
PSD Tech Tutorials with videos
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