On the Horizon
Conference Week Oct 26-30
Message from the Principal
Personal Message
Personally, as well as professionally, this has been a very challenging season. With our four children (ages 5-10), we currently have 3 remote learners and our youngest remains in-person. One is thriving, two are doing ok, and one has a daily meltdowns 88% of the time so far this fall. With so many factors outside of our control, my family has needed to focus on what is most essential and within our current sphere of influence to cope with the Covid changes.
I sincerely hope that you, as part of the Harbor Heights family, are supported by us here at school. First from your teacher, then our counselor Mrs. G, calling into the office, Mrs. Brookman our assistant principal, and lastly me at bentlerd@psd401.net or office extension x1801. We have all received specific training in August on remote instruction and will continue to engage in professional development and collaborative practices, but we certainly have not mastered digital teaching yet to the extent that we are accustomed to in the building. Our staff is phenomenal, and we want to best support each other as a whole community during this challenging time. Just as we boldly started off the year with personal connections via conferences the first week of school, we look forward to seeing you next week for fall 2020 parent-teacher conferences.
This week is Conference week, the start of our Book Fair, the final week of Socktober and our Boo Thru on Friday night.
Conferences will be held 10/26-10/30 via zoom
Monday, 10/26 - Half Day Conferences
Elementary students released at 12:15; Conferences 1:00-4:00
Tuesday, 10/27 - Extended Day Conferences
Elementary released at 12:15; Conference 1:00-7:00
Wednesday, 10/28-No Late Start, No Conferences
Thursday, 10/29 - Extended Day Conferences
Elementary students released at 12:15; Conferences 1:00-7:00
Friday, 10/30 - No Conferences,
Elementary released at 12:15, Boo Thru 4-6pm
2nd Grade specialist times start at 10:25 this week, this is a change just for the 1/2 day schedule
howea@psd401.net, Mrs. Howe STEM
coovertk@psd401.net, Mrs. Coovert STEM
Ruccid@psd401.net, Mr. Rucci PE
mandereyj@psd401.net, Mrs. Manderey Music
Last week to donate to Socktober!
Book Fair is Here
https://www.scholastic.com/bf/harborheightselemschool1
Visit our school's homepage to hear the latest Book Fair news, RSVP for events, sign up to volunteer, and more!
Preschool age: https://bookfairsfiles.scholastic.com/flippingbooks/F20-PreK-booklist/F20-PreK-booklist.html#p=1
Regular Scholastic BookFair Digital Flyer: https://bookfairsfiles.scholastic.com/flippingbooks/F20-SBF-booklist/F20-SBF-booklist.html#p=1
Fair Kid BookFair commercial: https://players.brightcove.net/1543299976/default_default/index.html?videoId=6060341625001
Elementary Author Video: https://players.brightcove.net/1543299976/LG9eJZeIF_default/index.html?playlistId=1666421937743573368
Visible Learning in Kindergarten
Learning is always happening at HH
Ms. Till's Bat Nails
Kindergarten Bat Learning Visuals
5th Grade Geometry and Geography
Highly Capable Testing
Highly Capable Referral Notice for Annual Testing grades 1-8
Open October 22nd – February 12th, 2021 (Note the extended window for referrals)
Online Highly Capable Referral form for Parents and Teachers
Direct link- https://tinyurl.com/PSD401HCREFERRALS
Please note: single online referral form for teachers and parents
https://www.psd401.net/learning/highly-capable for more information
¡Aviso importante!
Las aplicaciones al examen anual del Highly Capable Program (Estudiantes de Nivel Avanzado) ya están abiertas
Cuando: del 22 de octubre del 2020 al 12 de febrero del 2021.
Dónde aplicar: el formulario para referir a un estudiante se encuentra en la liga https://tinyurl.com/PSD401HCREFERRALS
Quien debe referir a un estudiante: los padres y profesores del alumno.
Para más información por favor visita https://www.psd401.net/learning/highly-capable
¡Recuerde! enviar un solo formulario diligenciado por los padres y profesores del estudiante.
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.
Virtual Resources Update
At Harbor Heights we strive to be a community that values inclusiveness, respect, and critical thinking. Recently, it came to our attention some links and videos in a digital library intended for adult and educator use and posted on some Schoology pages were not developmentally appropriate for students.
1. The slide deck was created by someone outside our district and used nationally to provide access to literature about diversity and current events. As stated in our Statement of Equity and Inclusion, we strive to be an organization focused on eliminating racism, institutional bias, and racial and other identity inequities.
2. It was brought to our attention that the deck had some links at the end that connected to content we do not support and others that were developmentally inappropriate for some students.
3. We immediately updated the slide deck and removed or replaced materials or links that were not appropriate, and changed the title to one which more accurately described the deck.
4. We like to work in collaboration with parents as much as possible and appreciate the families who contacted us so we could work together.
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