It's hard to believe that we are already at the start of the Fourth Quarter! As we continue to work with you to ensure that our students receive a high quality education at HMES, please know that continued communication between you and your child's teacher(s) is imperative to their success. Research shows that students of parents that are engaged in their child's education are much more successful all around!

We are very excited to share that we will have a Family Engagement Night on Wednesday, April 26th (time TBD but it will be after school). There will be information for parents to help their child in the content areas, activities for students, and more! This will coincide with the Family Book Fair Night too! More information coming soon!

To be concise, I am including some updates below!

• April is Month of the Military Child. We will be doing various activities throughout April to recognize and celebrate our military-connected children. These amazing students are strong, brave, proud and kind! We invite everyone to Purple Up by wearing purple every Wednesday this month!
• April is also Autism Acceptance Month. Thanks to our autism team, we will be providing valuable information to our students to continue the acceptance of our valuable Cubs. We will be emphasizing acceptance, celebrating differences, and ensuring we are working towards more and more inclusivity towards individuals with autism.
• Report cards will be available in ParentVue on Wednesday, April 19th
• New security camera and wiring installation is finishing up this week. A special thank you to Risk Management for working with myself, our Security Assistant Mr. Brown, and our TSSPEC Mr. McMaster for ensuring proper placement and installation.
• Kindergarten Promotion Date/Time: Friday, June 9th at 10:00am (followed by a K picnic)
• 5th Grade Promotion Date/Time: Monday, June 12th at 6:00pm
• 5th Grade Picnic/Celebration: Tuesday, June 13th at 12:00pm

Thank you for your continued support!

Catch a Rainbow STEM Challenge

This is an optional activity to do at home. Students who wish to participate should upload a picture or video to the HMES STEM Flipgrid using this link https://flip.com/hmesstem. Students who complete the challenge before Friday 4/28 will have their name entered for a raffle to win a science prize.

Students should complete the activity with nominal help. The object is to allow students the opportunity to work through the engineering design process and to practice applying science in a real-world application.

Have you ever tried to catch a rainbow? It’s hard to do because light BENDS and moves when we move! But, what if YOU could make light bend and move where you wanted?

Challenge: Can you create a way to take sunlight from a window in your house and move it or bend it to where you want it to land? Bonus if you can make the light shine as a rainbow!

Science notes: Shiny surfaces like mirrors will make light bounce (reflect) off. If you play with the angles of the mirror, you can change where the light shines (like hitting a ball against a wall). Also, white light, like sunlight, breaks into a rainbow when it goes through glass or water (which is why we see rainbows in the sky after it rains). There are lots of resources out there to help you with this challenge…. Generation Genius and EPIC! would be a good place to get you started! Please note that shining sunlight through glass can make heat…please be careful and never leave light shining through glass for long periods of time.

When you are finished, post a video or picture of your experiment using the Flipgrid link above to let us know what you find at the end of your rainbow!

Dear Parents and Families:

Get ready! The Scholastic Book Fair is coming our way (YAY!). Choosing their own books empowers kids and inspires them to become Bolder, Prouder, and Stronger Readers. AND—as always—every book they buy earns rewards for our school.

Here’s what you need to know about the Fair, which will take place from April 24th-April 28th at Haymarket Elementary.

This year, say goodbye to cash and hello to eWallet—your child’s digital payment account. Before the Fair, set up eWallet for worry-free, cash-free purchases. Anyone can contribute! Share each child’s eWallet so friends and family can add funds and give your kids more books to enjoy. Please note that for each book fair you need to create a new eWallet account. If you created an account for the fall book fair, please create a new eWallet account using the same email address. You will then be able to transfer any remaining funds from the fall to the spring.

If you can’t make it to the Fair, then shop at our school’s Online Book Fair. All orders ship directly to your home, and shipping is free for book orders over $25. Your online orders will also benefit our school.

Visit our Book Fair homepage to learn more and get started with eWallet and online shopping:

https://www.scholastic.com/bf/haymarketelem

If you are interested in volunteering for our Spring Book Fair, please contact Mrs. Zenoniani at zenonire@pwcs.edu. Thank you!

Happy Reading,

Mrs. Zenoniani and Mrs. Fisher

Show dates are May 18th, 19th and 20th at 7 pm.

There are 70 students in the cast, representing every class in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade.

The students have worked very hard rehearsing this musical adaptation of the beloved book,

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

"Come with me, and you'll be... In a world of Pure Imagination!"

There will be a limited number of tickets available for each performance, to maintain capacity guidelines. Tickets can be purchased during the pre-sale until Friday, May 12th. Tickets will also be available at the door for each performance. The cost of admission is $5 per person. Children under 2 are free. Tickets are to be used for one show only. (Note: the running time of the show with an intermission is about 2 hours. The show is recommended for school-age children and up)

Tickets are purchased via check (payable to HMES) or cash (exact change required). No credit card payments will be accepted. Tickets purchased via pre-sale are non-refundable, even if they are not used for any of the performances.

Minors MUST be accompanied by an adult to the performance. Students should not attend the show alone. Students need to stay with their adult throughout the performance and intermission.

Doors will open at 6:00 pm. Entrance will be through the front doors. There will be ushers stationed around the audience to give etiquette reminders and answer any concerns.

Thank you for supporting The Arts here at Haymarket Elementary! We are so excited to perform for you! Get your Haymarket Golden Ticket, Think Positive, and you will see...Kindness can change the world, and with Pure Imagination... you can be anything you wish to be!

"So shines a good deed in a weary world."

-Willy Wonka

Given that Kindergarten has encore at the end of the day, please let your child's teacher know ahead of time if they are being picked up between 2:45pm and 3:30pm so your child can bring their things to encore (instead of having to go back to the class and then up front). This allows the Kindergarten Instructional Assistant engage and assist in encore longer too! Thank you!

Congrats to Luna for representing Haymarket ES proudly at the Regional Spelling Bee!!

Thanks to our PTO, our "blacktop" space has been upgraded to include some fun and visually engaging opportunities for students to play with at recess! Shhh...don't tell your children so they are surprised tomorrow!

Ms. Lelito, our Instructional Technology Coach (ITC), shared a very comprehension Digital Citizenship/Internet Safety presentation at our last Advisory Council Meeting. Click below to see the presentation...there are resources that you as parents can quickly and easily use for free!

https://www.canva.com/design/DAFccIuFyqo/QTyhOk8YaGBaiQ2LR6zNAA/view?utm_content=DAFccIuFyqo&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink

PWCS seeks to shape students into digital citizens using information technology to better the world around them. This includes using digital tools to explore and exchange ideas safely and responsibly. In support of this, many parents and families have asked PWCS for potential solutions to monitor children’s online activity on personal devices. PWCS has robust monitoring in place within the PWCS network on PWCS-provided devices to keep students safe and identify potential concerns. Through a partnership with Bark, PWCS is pleased to provide a potential solution for families who may wish to monitor personal devices provided to their children.

Through this partnership with PWCS, Bark is now offering all PWCS families Bark Jr for free (normally $5 per month) and Bark Premium for 20% off full price (now $80 per year). Using Bark Jr, parents and guardians can manage screen time, block websites and apps, and get location alerts. Bark Jr works on Apple, Amazon, and Android devices. Bark Premium monitors texts, email, YouTube, and 30+ apps and platforms, web searches and saved photos & videos. Parents will receive parental monitoring alerts for issues like cyberbullying, online predators, suicidal ideation. Bark Premium can also help manage screen time, block websites and apps, and get location alerts and check-ins. Parents/guardians can get the discount via this link or sign up using J4S5MQ3 as the referral/promo code when signing up via Bark website.

Please see the PWCS website for additional resources for digital citizenship, internet safety and media literacy.

I recently had some inquires about class placement for the 2023-2024 school year. Given we are at the start of the 4th quarter, this information will be coming out in May. Below is some preliminary information about placement input from parents (same as the previous 5 years):

• Input from parents will focus on learning style of their child as you know them best!
• Our admin team know the teachers and their styles best and will be matching them up based on collective information
• No teacher specific requests will be guaranteed unless another one of your children had a teacher in the past that you have a good relationship with (same goes the other way around if you don't want a specific teacher another child had)
• Groupings of students will be based on needs, services, pairing teaching/learning styles, etc.

This process if not taken lightly as it takes hours of admin/teacher work to set up for the next school year!

Watch DOGS was initially cutoff before Spring Break due to not having end of year testing dates. We now have them and have opened up Watch DOGS volunteer opportunities until Friday, April 21st. Click below to sign up dads, grandfathers, uncles, etc.!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0f4ea9a629a3fcc70-haymarket1#/

Do you have a kindergarten student to enroll? Registration is required for all new students. Students who are five years of age or older by September 30 are eligible for enrollment in kindergarten. Begin your online registration now. To register, please visit: https://www.pwcs.edu/departments/student_services/registration__new_students_and_transfers_/kindergarten_registration/index

¿Tiene un estudiante de kindergarten que necesita inscribir? Se requiere la inscripción de todos los nuevos estudiantes. Los estudiantes que tienen cinco años de edad o más, antes del 30 de septiembre, pueden inscribirse en kindergarten. Comience la inscripción en línea ahora. Para inscribirse, por favor visite: https://www.pwcs.edu/departments/student_services/registration__new_students_and_transfers_/kindergarten_registration/index

Looking for something new to read ? Can’t make it to the library? Come visit our Free Little Library at HMES. There are a variety of books to choose from!

Here’s how it works:

• Bring a book to donate...take a book to read. It's that easy!

This is a fun way to share the love of reading!

Mrs. Fisher and Mrs. Z

Dear Haymarket Parents,

Haymarket Elementary is happy to be participating in Reading Makes Cents, a statewide reading program for children in kindergarten through eighth grade focusing on personal finance concepts.

Through this year’s selection of books, students will learn financial concepts such as the value of working to earn money, the importance of saving, the idea of prioritizing wants, and being good decision-makers. These are valuable life lessons that will benefit students as they grow up.

Our school also will earn 3 free books for our library, which I’m very excited to share with my students. Plus, if our school has the highest student participation rate within our region at the program’s close, we will earn an additional $500 worth of books. With your child’s participation, I know we can do it!

To participate: Encourage your child to read (or listen to, or watch a video!) 5 books as explained on the attached Reading Challenge form. Full information and details are available at ReadingMakesCents.com.

Every child who submits a completed Reading Challenge form, certified by a parent or guardian, is entered into a drawing to win one of 14 Invest529 college savings accounts from Virginia529 with an initial balance of $529, to grow year over year. (Entries are due May 15, 2023.)

As you know, education after high school is more important than ever before, whether it’s a degree from a 2 or 4-year college, an industry certification, or some other credential. As sponsors of the program, Virginia529 and the Virginia Council on Economic Education aim to help families start saving early for higher education expenses. Setting this expectation has been proven key to pursuing higher education.

Your signature on the Reading Challenge form is needed for Virginia529 to contact you if your child is a $529 savings account winner. Also, you may be provided additional information on saving for higher education, but can opt out at any time. Your information will not be sold or used for any other purpose.

If you have any questions, please contact Ryane Zenoniani at zenonire@pwcs.edu.

We’re thrilled to participate in this exciting program and pleased to offer your child the opportunity to learn alongside us. I personally can’t wait to see your student involved, engaged and, most of all, reading!

Sincerely,

Ryane Zenoniani

Haymarket Elementary Librarian