Hillcrest Hawk Happenings
The official newsletter of Hillcrest Elementary Staff
Supporting, empowering, & championing every single student, every single day, in every single way.
October 6, 2019
IMPORTANT DATES
TO ACCESS THE MONTH-BY-MONTH CALENDARS for the whole year, click HERE. Please know that these are still works-in-progress, so check back often to see the updates. October has been updated with the mandatory morning meetings -- calendar invitations to follow!
MUST READ
IMPORTANT LINKS
NEW!!! Hillcrest Classroom Sign-out Sheet
NEW!!! Hillcrest Reading Log/Response Choices
Coming soon: 2019-20 Assessment Pacing Calendar (stay tuned)
Principal's Parking Spot
To nominate an individual for this special privilege, click HERE.
THANK YOU
Specifically, I'd like to thank the aide and teachers who intervened when two students got into a physical altercation in the hallway after gym. And I'd like to thank the social worker, social work intern, and classroom teachers who helped support those students throughout the rest of the day. I'd like to thank the teacher who forged a close relationship with a student early in the year so the student could trust to tell the teacher about a classmate engaging in self-harming behavior. I'd like to thank the social worker who conducted the risk assessment, contacted the parent and helped connect them to an emergency mental health evaluation. Thank you to the psychologist and guidance counselor who followed up with a risk assessment with that student's friend, who we learned was also considering self-harm. And thank you to all three for staying after the contractual work day to meet with the second student and parent, and follow up with the first student and hospital. I'd like to thank the secretary who worked with Transportation to have a special ed student who was not greeted at the bus stop returned to school. I want to thank the assistant principal who waited with me when we could not reach the student's mother, or any of the emergency contacts. I'd like to thank the aide who runs the after school program for allowing the student to hang out with the other children in the after school program so he could distract his mind from the fact that it was hours past dismissal. I'd like to thank the student's teacher, and former teacher, for both answering my texts after work hours, in our efforts to locate the student's family. I'd like to thank the assistant superintendent who drove to the student's house to look for the student's mother, and then came to wait with us at the school for the police to come, and for staying with us until the student's mother was located.
And this is just some of people who did something special to support students this past FRIDAY. These were just some that I was involved with; I'm sure there were many more examples that I was not involved in throughout the day. Multiply that by 180 days of school, and you get an idea of how giving and supportive our school community is.
We don't know about every act of kindness, every outstretched hand of support, every time someone goes out of their way, but these amazing things happen every day at Hillcrest. Thank you for the ways you have gone above and beyond to support our students, in large ways and in small. For each one contributes to making Hillcrest what it is.
BEHAVIORAL/SOCIAL EMOTIONAL pre-faculty meeting survey
AIMSWEB SCORING MEETING OCT 7
SCHOOL PICTURE DAY
Last chance: CLASSROOM LIBRARIES
BEHAVIOR/DISCIPLINE TASK FORCE MEETING OCT. 21
Are you interested in lending your voice to the conversations around behavior and discipline in our school? Are you interested in exploring what other schools are doing, and some of the latest research around behavior and discipline in schools? In addition to joining our volunteer PBIS Committee, consider joining our Behavior/Discipline Task Force. We will meet at least once a month, and we will share relevant articles and engage in a book study as we form a common understanding of best practices to support our students. If you are interested, please sign up on this Google Doc.
LIGHTHOUSE VISITS
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER FAMILY NEWSLETTER
ICYMI: MORNING ANNOUNCEMENTS
We are exploring some new ways to submit your announcements for the morning announcements. For the time-being, if you have something you would like to add to the morning announcements, click on this calendar doc and add it to the morning you would like it announced. Be careful not to type over someone else’s announcement. I know some people had difficulty accessing the document, but I have changed the settings to make sure everyone can edit the file.
Self-portraits update
Because of the size of the papers used, we won't be able to purchase frames for all of the self-portraits. We will instead have to mount them on construction paper before hanging them up outside of your classrooms. If you have turned your self-portraits in to me, I will be returning them so that you can have students mount them on construction paper. We should them hang them up in a line outside of your classrooms -- be sure to include the staff members' self-portraits for each staff member in our classroom, too!
Literacy Night & BBQ OCTOBER 15
I know many of you volunteered to help, or to lend a tent: please re-visit the sign-up sheet below to confirm that you can still attend, or to sign up now!
Sign up HERE to volunteer and to lend a tent! Thank you SO MUCH -- this will be a FANTASTIC event with your cooperation and support!
Remember: AMAZING things are happening every day. celebrate what's RIGHT
To watch the TEDx talk again (and again and again), click the link: CELEBRATE WHAT'S RIGHT WITH THE WORLD
Here are links to two related articles:
7 Reasons Why Your Brain Goes Negative, and How to Go Positive Instead
Reminder: NEW TRIMESTER DATES
As you know, we are moving to trimester this year from quarters. Here are the dates on how those trimesters are being divided up:
1st Trimester: 9/3/19- 11/27/19
2nd Trimester: 12/2/19- 3/20/20
3rd Trimester: 3/23/20- 6/26/20
The assessment pacing guide should be finalizes this week, so stay tuned for more information on that soon.
Back to School Nights
The grade 5 Back to School Night takes place on October 10 at 6:30 PM
We will follow a similar format to last year for our Back-to-School Nights. We will begin with the Meet-n-Greet Fair in the gym, with a brief introduction and welcome by administrators, and then time in the classrooms with teachers. Departmentalized teachers will have to plan to have fewer slides so that parents can move between both classes.
Prior to the Back to School Night, students who have completed the summer packet will be invited with their family to attend a recognition event at 6:00 in the cafeteria. If teachers wish to attend to hand our certificates, you are welcome to do so.