Husky Highlights for Families
February Family Newsletter
Hawthorn Elementary School
School Hours: 9:03-3:53
School Phone: 816-359-4390
Principal: Brooke Renton
Assistant Principal: Courtney Bishop
Counselor: Bianca Mayfield-Miller
Front Office Information
Angie Linard: Attendance Administrative Assistant/ Registrar
Barbara Ballou: Administrative Assistant
Phone: 359-4390
Email: hawthornadministrativeassistants@parkhill.k12.mo.us
If you need to make transportation changes please contact the office prior to 3:00. This will help ensure that dismissal goes smoothly and minimize the chance of a possible miscommunication.
Mark Your Calendars!
February 28th: PTA Meeting @ 6:30pm (Media Center)
March 1st: Yearbook ordering deadline!! (No personalization)
March 2nd: Early Release Day-- 1:50 dismissal
March 8th: 2nd Grade Musical @ 6:30pm
Hawthorn Highlight on PBIS
No-Tax-Increase Ballot Propositions
The Park Hill Board of Education placed Proposition I and Proposition N on the April 5 ballot. Together, these questions mean no tax rate increase, and they would allow us to maintain the community's investment in our facilities and bring them up to date. They would also let us build a 12th elementary to help us move students out of classroom trailers and maintain class sizes. And they would help us maintain our high-quality school operations, including keeping our staff salaries competitive, so we can recruit and retain the best teachers and support staff.
You can find out more information on the district website, including specific ways the no-tax-increase ballot propositions will affect our school.
[link to: https://www.parkhill.k12.mo.us/news-and-stories/2021-2022/no-tax-increase-ballot-propositions]
Join Us for An Important Discussion at the Next Hawthorn PTA Meeting
Monday, February 28, 2022, 6:30 p.m.
In Person: Hawthorn Media Center
Virtual: Zoom Link | Meeting ID: 954 6098 9521 | Passcode: 063463
Please join us for the next Hawthorn PTA meeting, where in addition to the items on the agenda linked above, we will discuss the future of PTA at our school.
At present, there are five Hawthorn PTA board seats with a two-year term ending June 30, 2022. The Nominating Committee has been working to recruit volunteers to fill these vacancies; however, has not currently received any firm commitments.
In order to continue with PTA at Hawthorn, the president and secretary positions must be filled. In order to maintain an active PTA at Hawthorn, all five seats need to be filled with support from engaged committees.
Not having a PTA at Hawthorn would most significantly affect fall and spring events like Trunk or Treat and Fun Run, spirit wear, online school supply ordering, yearbooks and support for class parties, as well as other fun programs currently offered to build community at our school.
If you can volunteer to fill one of these board seats and keep our PTA active, please send an email to hawthornpta@gmail.com by February 28. Thanks for your thoughtful consideration.
Order Your 2021-22 Yearbook TODAY!!
Yearbook ordering is completely online through Inter-State Studio. Yearbooks are on sale now through March 1, 2022. You can see pricing and ordering information below.
Enter school code: 63313Y
Lakeview Parent Orientation Night-- March 3rd
Congress Orientation Night-- March 7th
Congress Middle School's orientation night for the parents of incoming 6th graders will be Monday, March 7th at 6:00 pm. It will be followed by our AVID information presentation, which should end by 7:00 pm.
The event will be held in the cafe (just inside the main entrance). The goal of this information night is to help parents understand the classes their 6th graders will be taking, along with the programs we have available at Congress.
We hope to see the parents of our incoming 6th graders on March 8th!
Hawthorn Fundraiser....Coming Soon!!
Hawthorn Families!
Our Hawthorn Fun Run fundraiser will kick off in just 3 weeks on 3/9. Our goal is to raise $10,000 for resources to support students and staff and to strengthen our school community. We’ve asked our friends at Booster to power our fundraiser to make it more profitable, fun, and easy for everyone!
Here’s what all students can get excited about:
• Fun, engaging character development lessons
• A high-energy event to give our school a much needed boost of fun!
If your family feels it’s not in the position to financially support the school, that’s ok. Families can actually support our school by also SHARING about our fundraiser with friends and family online. Sharing IS supporting.
Key dates to remember:
• REGISTRATION OPENS - 2/16
Register on MYBOOSTER.COM
• DONATING STARTS - 2/23
• Fundraiser Kick Off - 3/9
• Event Day - 3/25
SAVE THE DATE! You’re Invited!
Thank you for supporting Hawthorn through the Hawthorn Fun Run!
Planning Now for Inclement Weather-- AMI DAYS
- Park Hill may use 5 days of AMI (Alternate Methods of Instruction) on days when the weather makes it unsafe for travel.
- Should we use 6 or more bad weather days, all students and teachers would have the snow day off.
- All students will have distance learning on AMI days from 9am-3:40pm, with a break from noon to 1pm.
- Students should check their online learning platform (Schoology or Seesaw) at 9am to see what teachers have planned for the day.
- Teachers will have planning time from 8am to 9am and should have lessons posted by 9am.
- Teachers will be available to students between 9am and 3:40pm, with the exception of an hour for lunch/planning from noon to 1pm.
Should school be canceled due to weather conditions, your child's teacher will communicate all lesson expectations with you by 9am.
Park Hill Clothing Center-- Volunteer Opportunity
Volunteers are always needed! Thank you all so much for the numerous donations, however we often have a difficult time hanging up all of the incoming clothes. There are two sign up genius links for volunteers: There is one sign up genius for the 2-4 pm timeslot every Tuesday that doesn't have shoppers present. That sign up is here and students are welcome to help out https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508084fa4a72ba0fa7-canyou
There is a second sign up for the Tuesday 10-12pm and 5-7pm slots when shoppers will be there. When shoppers are present we can't have students helping due to confidentiality. That sign up is here: https://www.signupgenius.com/.../508084fa4a72ba0fa7...
We appreciate all of your help!!
-The Park Hill Clothing Center
Student Leadership Virtual Assembly
Watch as we celebrate student leaders of the month! The NEWEST leadership assembly can be enjoyed by clicking on the link below:
Wall Of Fame Classrooms
Each month we will feature one classroom from each grade level who has earned the most PAW POINTS. Students can earn Paw Points when they demonstrate our school-wide expectations:
Be Safe
Be Kind
Be Smart
Be Your Best!
Congratulations to the following classes for being featured on the WALL OF FAME this month :
K- Mrs. Hurt's Class
1st Grade-Mrs. Wells/Jenswold Class
2nd Grade- Mrs. Gore's Class
3rd Grade- Mrs. Coen's Class
4th Grade- Mrs. Pittman's Class
5th Grade- Mrs. Roepe's Class
Counseling Newsletter
Curriculum Connections for February
Check out the linked Curriculum Connections below to see what students will be working on in each subject area in February! We want to share the learning topics at all of the grade levels so that you are familiar with what topics and content are taught this month! Your child's teacher is always happy to provide more details should you have questions!
February Curriculum Connections: Math
February Curriculum Connections: ELA
February Menus
~In Every Edition~
Early Release Day Information
2021-22 Early Release Days:
Wed., Sept. 8th
Wed., Oct. 6th
Wed., Nov. 10th
Wed., Dec. 8th
Wed., Jan. 5th
Wed., Feb. 2nd
Wed., March 2nd
Wed., April 6th
Wed., May 4th
Parent Orientation Information
Positive Behavior Intervention & Supports
School-wide Positive Behavior Intervention & Support (SWPBS) is a systems approach to establishing the whole-school social culture and intensive individual behavior supports needed for school to achieve social and academic gains while minimizing problem behavior for all students. SWPBS is NOT a specific curriuculum, intervention or practice, but a decision making framework that guides selection, integration and implementation of scientifically-based academic and behavioral practices for improving academic and behavior outcomes for all students. A central feature of SWPBS is implementation of behavioral practices throughout the entire school. SWPBS defines practices that all students experience in all parts of the school and at all times of day.
- Fewer behavior problems
- Improved school climate
- Reduction in discipline referrals
- i.e.—Every faculty and staff member will have a protocol to follow.
- Safer schools
- More time spend on instruction and less on discipline
The power of PBIS at Hawthorn is that we have building wide expectations for all areas of the building. The expectations focus on four key behaviors:
- Be Safe
- Be Kind
- Be Smart
- Be Your Best
When students demonstrate these expectations they are honored with a building wide currency (PAW POINT) which they can exchange for menu items. Students are responding well to this and working hard to earn a lot of PAW POINTS!
COVID-19 Protocols-- January 2022 Updates
(As with everything during the last 2 years, please know that this is the most current information available at this moment. As we receive new guidance the information shared below is subject to change. Thank you for understanding!)
Latest update: Sunday, January 9, 2022
- The Park Hill School Board approved a mask mandate for all district facilities. This mandate will be in effect from January 9th through February 3rd. The board will revisit this decision at the January 27th meeting.
The CDC recently updated its guidance about isolating people who have COVID and quarantining people who get exposed to someone else who has COVID.
We will continue to work with our local health departments to follow the latest public guidance, and our testing site for students and staff will remain open on school days. Your school nurse will be happy to help you with any questions you might have.
We remind students and staff who have any symptoms to please stay home.
Isolation of Sick People:
· In compliance with the CDC's new guidance, we will require anyone who tests positive for COVID to stay home for five days, beginning on the date of the positive test or on the first day symptoms appeared.
· If the person has no symptoms or their symptoms resolve, they may return after five days. They might need to stay home a little longer if one of their symptoms that resolved was a fever, as they must have had no fever without medication for more than 24 hours to return.
Quarantine of Exposed People:
· The CDC also updated quarantine guidance for people who get exposed to someone with COVID.
· People who are fully vaccinated within the last six months or fully vaccinated and boosted do not need to quarantine, but the CDC does recommend they wear a mask for 10 days.
· The CDC recommends people who are not fully vaccinated within the last six months or not fully vaccinated and boosted to quarantine for five days and then wear a mask for another five days.
· The CDC says "If you can’t quarantine you must wear a mask for 10 days. Test on day five if possible. If you develop symptoms get a test and stay home."
Classroom Notification:
In an effort to help everyone understand the new COVID process for notifying families, I have put together the information below to help you understand the notification that is going out surrounding COVID.
- All staff and families will receive an email, like they did last semester, stating the total number of confirmed positive cases of COVID-19.
- If you receive an additional email stating that someone in your child’s classroom tested positive for COVID-19, it does not mean that your child needs to quarantine. We are sharing that information with you so that you know your child may have been exposed sometime during the school day and so that you can monitor your child for symptoms.
- For privacy purposes, we cannot give you any information about the person that tested positive, including but not limited to, where your child sits in relation to that person or whether the person wore a mask or not.
- The Kansas City Health Department (KCHD) has taken over the process of contact tracing. If they gather information that someone needs to quarantine based on an exposure, they will reach out to those people individually. If you believe your child was exposed to someone that tested positive for COVID-19, you can contact your child’s doctor or the KCHD (816-513-6008) to get guidance about quarantining procedures.
If you have any questions, our school nurse, Emily Reynolds, is a great resource. You can reach her at 816 – 359 – 4390.
See our complete Health & Safety Plan HERE.
Student Medications
Nurse Reynolds Contact Information:
Phone: 359-4394
Adventure Club
Cafeteria Information
The Park Hill School District participates in the National School Lunch and Breakfast program, which is a UDSA (United States Department of Agriculture) program. Currently, the USDA has approved a 2021-22 waiver which allows all children 0-18 in the Park Hill district boundaries to receive free breakfast and lunch daily while school is in session. We have more details here.
For more information about school lunch, please visit the link below:
Did You Know?
KidGuard Insurance Enrollment
Park Hill School District (per Board Policy JHA) continues to offer all families the opportunity to enroll their student(s) (Pre-K through 12th) in a low cost, district approved insurance program.
KidGuard offers the following options:
1) 24 Hour Basic Accident Insurance Plan
2) School Time Basic Accident Insurance Plan
3) Increased Dental Accident Coverage
4) In-Hospital Sickness Benefit Option
The KidGuard Insurance Enrollment Form is to be mailed by families directly to KidGuard in Saint Louis, MO. The school district is not involved in the collection of applications or premium payments.
The application is attached below and also available on the district’s internal website - https://www.parkhill.k12.mo.us/cms/One.aspx?portalId=62500&pageId=27609199 |FORMS and https://www.parkhill.k12.mo.us/cms/one.aspx?portalid=62500&pageid=808693 | INSURANCE.
Stay Connected
Communication is very important to your child’s success at school and we want to keep you informed of what is going on at Hawthorn. Please remember communication is a two-way process and you are encouraged to get in touch with your child’s teacher or Mrs. Renton and Mrs. Bishop as needed. We will use electronic communication frequently, so if you do not have access to a computer at home, please be sure to contact your child’s teacher to let them know, so they can send you information in your child’s backpack. We don’t want you to miss important information.
Below are a few ways to stay informed about Hawthorn and the Park Hill School District.
Hawthorn Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/HawthornElementary
Hawthorn PTA Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/HawthornPTA/
Hawthorn Elementary Website: https://hawthorn.parkhill.k12.mo.us/
Park Hill School District Website: https://www.parkhill.k12.mo.us/
First Hand E-mail Newsletter
Be one of the first to know what’s going on in Park Hill. Sign up for the First Hand e-mail newsletter at www.parkhill.k12.mo.us to get the most current Park Hill news. Your address will never be shared.
Nominate a Staff Member for the Park Hill STAR Award
Our employees are the reason we are so successful here in the Park Hill School District, and we would like to recognize them for all they do for our students.
That is why we present the Park Hill Star award once a month to a pre-K or elementary teacher, a secondary teacher and a support employee. Anyone can nominate an employee for this award by using the form below. It asks you to share how your nominee demonstrates our district values of continuous improvement, high expectations, integrity, visionary leadership and student focus. You can also share how your nominee supports the goals in our district’s strategic plan.