Hillcrest Family Newsletter
2nd Quarter
Second Quarter Report Cards
Family-School Liaison
Healthy Hillcrest
More iPads at Hillcrest
Instruction Update
At parent-teacher conferences this year, we provided you with some reports on your child’s reading and math skills. During the last week of January, we will be assessing students in reading and math again to see how they are progressing. We will be sending home those reports, so please be on the lookout for them in your child’s backpack at the end of January or beginning of February.
There is nothing more valuable than spending time reading with your child. When children associate reading with bonding time with family, they grow into life-long readers. If this isn’t part of the daily routine in your home at this time, it’s never too late to start. Even fourth graders can begin to love reading more when their families snuggle up with a book every night before bed.
For more information about supporting children’s reading, we highly recommend the website Reading Rockets ( http://www.readingrockets.org ). There, you can find much information about how to encourage reading in your home.
Attendance Matters!
This year, our school is really working to improve student attendance. As we all know, in order for students to be able to fully engage in learning, they need to be present and in the classroom. The list below outlines the ways the school is working to positively reinforce student attendance:
· Daily: Classrooms with perfect attendance hang a flag outside the door to show that everyone is present and ready to learn.
· Monthly: If a student continues to have perfect attendance, each month he/she will receive an extra recess.
· Quarterly: Students are recognized at a school assembly for having perfect attendance, and they receive a certificate.
· Semester: At the end of the first semester, if a student still has perfect attendance, he/she will get a lunch provided by the principal Dr. Seidelman.
· End of the year: If a student gets perfect attendance throughout the whole year (we call these kids PERFECT PERFECTS!), the student will get to be “Principal for the Day” and will receive 2 Royals baseball tickets.
Character Education
Bunches:
Staff and students have been working hard to promote school wide acceptance and respect. One of the ways we promote these traits is through Bunches. Bunches meet every third Friday, and students are grouped with other kids from all different ages as they work on character-themed lessons. Bunches help us establish a tight-knit school community and family. The students really enjoy this time to build relationships with other students and staff in the building.
Character Clubs:
Our after school Character Club has also been working hard to promote good character. They created a skit about showing integrity to perform at a school assembly, which was a big hit! They have also worked on school wide procedure pictures to post up in the lunch room. We are very proud of our Character Club kids!
December Pirate Principle:
This month's pirate principle is respect. Tell your student how you show respect for others as well as how they can show respect to adults, peers, and animals.
Notes from the Nurse
Staying Healthy During Cold and Flu Season
With cold and flu season in full swing, here are some tips and reminders about keeping our students healthy, as well as some guidelines to follow if a student is ill. The best defense for staying healthy is frequent and proper hand washing. Always use soap and warm water. Hand washing should take at least 20 seconds (sing the “ABC Song” while hand washing to ensure your child is spending enough time on this task). Alcohol-based hand sanitizer is a good alternative to hand washing when soap and warm water are not available.
·Always cover coughs and sneezes by either coughing/sneezing into a tissue or bent elbow. Never cough/sneeze directly into the hands, as this spreads germs.
· Remind students to only eat or drink out of a container that has not been used by someone else.
·If your student does become ill, make sure he/she gets plenty of rest and nutritious food to help the body heal itself.
·Stay well hydrated with plenty water.
·Since students can become ill at school, it’s important that the school office has current contact information for you. Please notify the school of any changes in phone number or emergency contacts.
Health Related Attendance:
We ask that parents comply with the following procedures/guidelines to help reduce the spread of infection.
- Any child who vomits or has diarrhea the night before or the morning of school should be kept home and remain at home until no vomiting or diarrhea is present for 24 hours without the aid of medication.
- Any child who has an elevated temperature (>100.4 degrees Fahrenheit) should remain home until the temperature has been normal for 24 hours without any fever reducing medication.
- Any child who is coughing hard enough or frequent enough to interrupt the educational process for the child or classmates should be kept home until the coughing decreases
- Any child that has red, watery, burning eyes that are matting with drainage, especially if they are stuck shut upon arising, shall be kept home and may return to school after receiving medication for 24 hours or with physician approval.
- Any child who looks or acts ill should be evaluated carefully before sending the child to school.
- Any child that has been to the doctor for possible infectious conditions should bring a note from the physician declaring that the child is not contagious.
Medication reminder:
Any medication must be transported to/from school by a PARENT/LEGAL GUARDIAN. Students are not allowed to transport any medication, including over the counter medication to or from school.
Feel free to call our nurse, Ashley Smith, at 348-1132 with any questions or concerns.