Jag News
September 2, 2022
Blue Valley Schools
Heartland Elementary School
Email: HeartlandElementary@bluevalleyk12.org
Website: www.bluevalleyk12.org/HRT
Location: 12775 Goodman Street, Overland Park, KS, United States
Phone: (913) 239-6300
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Heartland-Elementary/1560823470802598
Twitter: @HRTJaguars
Important Upcoming Events
9/5: No School: Labor Day
9/6: No School for Students: Professional Learning Day for staff
9/6: PTO Dine-out @ Minskys (12627 Metcalf Ave)
9/7: First 5th grade Strings Practice
9/7: First Day for Lunch Visitors
9/7: New Heartland Family Picnic
9/9: Parents and Pastries
9/9: Last day to order Spirit Wear
9/13: First Day of 5th grade Drum Ensemble Practice
9/16: Spirit Day: Let’s get silly with mismatched clothing, silly hair, and silly socks!
9/20: PTO Dine-out @ Chipotle (13th & Metcalf), 5-9pm
9/24: Heartland PTO Carnival
9/26-9/29: Parent/Teacher Conferences
9/27: School Picture Day
9/29: No school for students
9/30: No school
10/5: National Walk to School Day
Kindergarteners Learn Color Words
On September 7th, Kindergarten will begin learning about Color Words. They will learn one or two color words per day. It would be amazing if the other students at Heartland joined them in their learning by wearing the color of the day. Please do not purchase anything, just wear whatever you have at home.
September 7th – Black/White
September 8th – Brown/Pink
September 9th – Red (This is also Red Friday for the KC Chiefs!)
September 12th – Orange
September 13th – Yellow
September 14th – Green
September 16th – No color on this day
September 19th – Purple
September 20th – Wear your favorite color!
Weekend Food Pack Program
We are excited to share with you a program that is available to all students in the Heartland Community. The Weekend Food Pack Program is designed to help families who could benefit from having a bag full of snacks and food to take home over the weekend on a weekly basis. Food will be comprised of mostly non-perishable food items that children can enjoy after school or in-between meals.
Even with financial stability there are circumstances where having additional food on the weekend could positively impact the well-being of our students and their families. We recognize that Heartland families could benefit from this opportunity. Attached is an example photo of a food bag. Food will vary weekly. Occasionally there could be fresh fruit or pastries included in the food bags.
How Does the Program Work?
- The Community for Kids committee will fill one food bag per student each week. Once the food bags are filled, they will be delivered to Heartland. Community for Kids will only know the number of students requesting food bags, and student’s names will remain anonymous.
- To maintain our student’s confidentiality, only pertinent school personnel will know the recipients of the food bags.
- Food bags will generally be delivered to the student’s backpack the last day of the school week (generally Fridays) during a time when students are not in the classroom (at recess, lunch, specials, ext).
If your family would like to participate in the Weekend Food Pack Program or have questions, please reach out to our school social worker, Heather Meinking at HMeinking@bluevalleyk12.org or 913-239-6328.
Giving the Basics
We are excited to share with you a program that is available to all students in the Heartland Community. Giving the Basics is an organization which provides personal care items to students at no charge. Even with financial stability there are circumstances where having access to these items could positively impact the well-being of our students and their families. We recognize that Heartland families could benefit from this opportunity.
Giving the Basics Items:
Bandages
Chapstick
Combs
Deodorant
Dental Floss
Hand Sanitizer
Laundry Soap Pods
Lotion
Maxi Pads
Mini Pads
Razors
Shampoo 2-in-1
Soap-Body Wash
Tampons
Toothbrushes
Toothpaste
How Does the Program Work?
- Giving the Basics work with the 18-21 program to place orders each month, they pick up the orders from the warehouse, divide and get them ready, and coordinate offering the supplies to kids in the building. Giving the Basics will only know the items requested and student’s names will remain anonymous.
- To maintain our student’s confidentiality, only pertinent school personnel will know the recipients of the supplies.
If your family would like to participate in the Giving the Basics or have questions, please reach out to our school social worker, Heather Meinking at HMeinking@bluevalleyk12.org or 913-239-6328.
Heartland Spirit Wear
Join our Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO)
JOIN the PTO: Membership Information
- By joining the PTO, you help us meet our school’s needs that are outside the scope of their budget.
- Parent participation is a big part of what makes Heartland such a great school. Your membership gives you the opportunity to vote on how PTO funds are used and helps support the educational goals of our community and gives you access to the student directory!
- Support our PTO by becoming a member. Membership is #25/family.
- Click HERE to create or update your account.
Take Stock
As an alternative to having kids sell stuff multiple times throughout the school year, we ask parents to Take Stock and make a one-time donation to fund our Operating Budget. Without this money, we would be forced to cut some of the programs that our students, teachers, and parents have grown to appreciate and enjoy. In the past, Take Stock has paid for …
- Admission and bus fees to class field trips.
- Funds given to each teacher for classroom needs
- Multiple grants awarded to teachers to enrich the classroom learning experience
- Shaved Ice at Field Day
- Operating expenses of school clubs
- Back to School Ice Cream Social
- Teacher Appreciation and Recognition
- and more!
Shop Amazon Smile
- You can now support HRT by shopping on AmazonSmile! When you choose Heartland Elementary PTO as your charitable organization, Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible Amazon purchases to our PTO. Happy shopping! Click here for more info.
Heartland Babysitting Options
Heartland Owned Businesses
If you have a family owned business and would like to be included on the Heartland Family Owned Businesses list please complete this form. This list will be shared with Heartland families through future Jag News.
Birthday Book Club News
Thank you to all families who donated to Heartland Library’s Birthday Book Club. Your donation helps to library to purchase new library books for all students to read and enjoy. Not familiar with our program? Read below for more information.
Students at Heartland have a wonderful way to have their special day recognized for years to come. Our library’s Birthday Book Club is available to students in all grades. By donating $15 to the Library Media Center, your child will be able to choose a special book to be placed in our library collection and be the first student to read the new book.
Here’s how it works. Prior to your child’s birthday, he/she can come to the library and select a Birthday Book from our cart of brand new books in all different genres. A nameplate will be placed in the front of the book and your child’s picture will be taken and displayed with the book in the library. This program is optional but it does provide our library with exciting new titles throughout the school year. The average cost of a library bound book is $17.30!
You can make your donation anytime during the year by paying through this Heartland link: https://bvpo.bluevalleyk12.org or send in a check made payable to Heartland Elementary to the front office.
Nut-Safer Snacks at Heartland
Daily Snacks: Thank you for your support of our nut-safer snack plan at HRT. As a reminder: we ask that ALL daily snacks (i.e. snack time) for ALL students must come from the nut-safer food list as we have a significant number of students with life-threatening nut allergies. (click below for the link) If a student’s snack is not from this approved list, it will be sent home (and an alternate snack will be provided the first time) so we can help increase the safety for our students as a whole. Our continued focus this year, as an entire school, is to remain consistent on the daily snacks for student snack time in the classrooms—following the nut-safer list.
Please click HERE to access the Nut-Safer food list.
Birthday Treats at Heartland
Heartland Elementary’s policy for birthday treats prohibits students and parents from bringing birthdays treats from home—edible or non-edible. This is due to several factors including health, safety, and the preservation of instructional time. Birthdays are a special time for each child and as such, the school will provide recognition throughout the day and throughout the school through announcements, birthday book club from the library, classroom celebration routines, and more. If birthday treats are sent to school during the 2022-23 school year, they will not be distributed and will be sent home. Also, if you send it invitations to birthday parties, please include all students in the class, or they will not be distributed. Thank you for understanding and complying to this policy.
Game day atmosphere - Football Season
Blue Valley high schools are excited to have your families come to support their high school activities and athletics this school year. We are asking our parent community to partner with us as we work to encourage a positive atmosphere for our high school games or events. Sportsmanship/officials: We want to give our student athletes the opportunity to play as many games as possible and we need officials to make those games happen. With a local and national shortage of officials, we want to make sure officials continue to choose to work Blue Valley events. The number one way we can create a welcoming environment is for spectators, coaches and student athletes to be courteous and respect the official’s decisions. Tailgating: Tailgating before games has become a tradition for many students and families. We love to see our community gathering together to enjoy food and tailgate games in our parking lots. As a reminder, alcohol and tobacco are not allowed on district property including parking lots. Elementary and middle school students: We are asking that all elementary and middle school students enter the game with an adult and sit with that adult throughout the game. Please do not drop your child off at a district event without supervision as they will not be allowed to enter. It is challenging to monitor and keep all students safe without the help of our parent community. Thank you for your help in making our district events a great experience for all who attend. We hope to see your family cheering for our Blue Valley teams this school year.
Volunteer Hours - Keep Track on PTO Website
Thank you for volunteering and taking the time to record your volunteer hours. Please don't enter hours volunteered in WHRT, Safety Patrol, or Heartland Helpers. Those hours will be entered by the school. In addition, though we appreciate all hours parents volunteer, only students are eligible for awards and therefore, their hours are the only ones needed to be entered here.
Once again, thank you. The time that you have given is appreciated. Click here to record student hours. Students will be recognized in May 2023.
Questions?
- Call the HRT office at 913-239-6300
- Email HeartlandElementary@bluevalleyk12.org