Monday Memo
August 19-23
Welcome Back
Shout Outs
- Thank you to Mr. Matt, Michelle, Jennee, and Bella for all of their hard work this summer preparing our school to so that we are ready to open our doors for the 19-20 school year! The end of summer hasn't been the easiest, but everyone has pitched in to make sure that classrooms, bathrooms, and hallways are spic and span!
- Thank you to Kristin for all of the time she has spent getting the office ready and making new families feel welcome and at ease with starting school this fall! We truly could not run without you!
- Thank you to our tech department and especially Joyce Ploeg for all of the help with the new phone systems, updating computers and iPads, and other tech needs this summer!
Welcome to Alward!!
- Emily Daenzer is joining our KDG team and comes to us from Hope College. In her spare time, Emily enjoys baking. She can also do a great Elvis impersonation!
- Emma Carr is joining our 5th grade team and comes to us from GVSU. Emma likes to take in stray cats and provide them with a cozy home.
- Emily Nagelkirk is moving into a new role at AES as our school social worker. She will be here Mon, Wed, and Fri. Emily is enjoying married life and is coming up on her first wedding anniversary!
- Brooke Rausch is joining our Special Education Team and comes to us from Hope College. Brooke was also recently married and has jumped right into her role as she has been working with a couple of our students this summer!
- Alyssa Alt is joining our Special Education Team and comes to us from Wisconsin with six years experience. She is certified in all specialty areas of special education and brings with her a deep understanding of PBIS and curriculum!
- Betsy Emmert is joining our front office team as our office clerk. Betsy is coming to us from Georgetown Elementary and has multiple years experience as an aid and resource room plus para.
Tasks and Updates
2. Daily AES Schedules: Update your grade level schedule by the first student day.
3. PBIS Updates:
- We will review PBIS at our second staff meeting later this week.
- Posters will be delivered to your classrooms tomorrow. Please make sure that you hang up the two posters in your classrooms to refer to throughout the school year.
- Pocket charts-You will receive a pocket chart to hold PBIS tokens. We will discuss these tokens during the second staff meeting.
4. Open House: Please make sure that the hallways are clear of garbage and furniture prior to open houses on Tuesday, August 20. Please give a helping hand with some of this as we are running reduced numbers with custodial staff. Thank you for your help and support!
5. Phone Systems: Please do not move your phones. The tech dept. has placed them in a specific spot for a reason. The phones are wired to be able to contact 911 and for emergency medical teams to know the exact location of the phone call.
6. Peanut and Nut Free Classrooms Update: This year, all classrooms will be peanut and nut free. We have numerous classes with students that have peanut and nut allergies. PK and KDG will continue to have a food-free birthday treat policy. 1st grade will implement this policy this year (food-free birthday treat policy).
7. HR Newsletter: Anne has been sending out HR newsletters. This past newsletter had some important to do items listed.
GCN Tutorials: All HPS staff is required to view and sign-off on GCN training videos for the 2019-20 school year. You can find the directions to login to the GCN system HERE. Staff has until September 30, 2019, to complete the videos. You must use your Hudsonville Public Schools google account to view the directions. Reminder to use "Hudsonville" as your organization ID when logging into GCN.
Many staff that were on-boarded this summer and did the trainings do not need to do them again. All employees must complete the videos if you have completed them since last year. These are annual trainings that are required by labor law. We appreciate everyone getting these done in a timely manner. If you need additional support, please do not hesitate to contact our office.
Instructional and Special Education Para Mtg Information: All instructional and special education paraprofessionals are scheduled to meet at 12:00 pm on August 20 in the HSFC auditorium. In the meeting we will be discussing PMLA, board policies, FERPA, mandated reporting, PBIS, and more. Please plan on attending.
Staff T-shirts: This year, our HPS t-shirts will be sporting the SOAR logo. With the passage of the millage and HPS creating new positions to support the social and emotional needs of our students, we all need to start off strong in supporting, teaching, and demonstrating the SOAR mentality. Let's all remember to be Safe, Own it, Act responsibly, and be Respectful when we work with one another and deal with all the things that happen within a school year. Be it meetings with parents, conversations regarding curriculum, communication and support around a student, working on our professional growth and development, or anything else that involves the interaction of others we must show how we SOAR. Modeling behaviors and having students see our positive interactions is the best way for them to learn these behavior expectations.
8. Staff Notebook Coming Soon: The staff notebook is still under construction and will be ready by Wednesday!
Welcome Back PD Schedule
Here is a link to the calendar of events taking place this week Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday!
PK/KDG Open House
6:30
- Students with names A-M will go to the cafeteria for a 20 minute presentation first.
- Students with names N-Z will go to their classrooms.
6:50
- Families will travel to either their classroom or the cafeteria.
- Families can go check out the bus in the bus loop.
7:00
- Student with names A-M will go to their classrooms.
- Students with names N-Z will go to the cafeteria for the 20 minute presentation.