HILL HAPPENINGS
#HillHasHeart Edition - September 2021
A Note from the Principal
Hello Hill Families,
It's hard to believe we have been in school for nearly three weeks. We are off to a great start at Hill School. We can't thank you enough for all of your support as we have started another unique school year. Our students have settled in amazingly well. I'm really proud of all of them!
Parent drop-off and pick-up is running smoothly and we appreciate everyone's patience and cooperation! in the morning, it would be helpful if your child was ready with their backpack, mask, and unbuckled, ready to get out of the car to keep our line running smoothly. As a reminder, we ask that you do not get out of your vehicle in the pick-up/drop-off line. This slows the process down. Lastly, I really need your help with making sure that we are not blocking our neighbors' driveways on Aloha Street and Second Street. Thank you for using our car signs, it certainly helps with our process. Kudos to our Hill School Families!
As you know, wearing masks is a requirement for all staff and students in K- 6 school buildings in Genesee County. If you have questions about the order, please contact our Student Services office at 810-591-0913. Students will not have to wear their masks while eating breakfast, lunch or snack. They will still be allowed to take their masks off while outside for any activity. Additionally, students will have short 'mask breaks' throughout the day at times when the teacher takes students out for a short walk or break outside. It is important that students have a clean mask each day. It is also a good idea to have a 'back up' mask in your child's backpack. If at any time throughout the day a mask is broken or becomes wet or too dirty, we have extra masks here at school for them. I would also like to add that I am very proud of how well our students are doing with wearing masks and being responsible with them.
I am happy to announce that we are partnering with 'The Positivity Project' for the second year. This program helps us teach students about the importance of using our character strengths to become our best selves and build positive relationships with others. Please check out the letter below for more information.
I sincerely appreciate all of your support as we embark on a wonderful school year! Even with it's challenges, it has been a wonderful start to the year!
Respectfully,
Mrs. Burke, Proud Principal
Hill Family Check-In
ALICE Drill and Training
Davison Community Schools has implemented a federally endorsed safety protocol called ALICE to train staff and students in what to do in the unlikely event of an armed intruder. This training encourages staff and students to respond based on their situation, rather than rely on centralized instructions in dynamic times of crisis.
ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate:
● Alert – inform people of the threat, giving as much information as possible.
● Lockdown – Students and staff can choose to lockdown and barricade the room that they are in if they determine that it is not safe to evacuate.
● Inform – pass on as much information as possible to others and to First Responders, including calling 911.
● Counter – an effort of last resort, if an armed intruder is able to get into the space they are in, individuals can counter with distraction or other tactics. Staff are being trained to use every effort, instead of relying on the traditional lockdown and hide response.
● Evacuate – If it is safe to do so, all are encouraged to evacuate the building, and remove themselves from the threat.
ALICE is not intended to be a checklist of things to do. It is a list of choices, with accompanying strategies that are options for our staff to help themselves and students stay safe in the highly unlikely event of an armed intruder. We believe that all of our school buildings are the safest place for our students to be. Just like practicing what we should do in a fire, we want to be sure that we will know what to do if an armed intruder is in the school. All of Davison schools are equipped with a number of safeguards, some seen and others unseen, to keep our students safe. Hill staff and students are scheduled for a Lockdown (ALICE) drill on September 14th. State law requires all schools to conduct three lockdown drills a year. The first drill of the school year is always announced. Davison Community Schools Liaison Officer, Matt Giguere assists in conducting these drills at Hill. Staff will share what they have learned with our students in an age appropriate way, and teach them the ALICE procedures through the course of the year. We want our children to be prepared for everything, including if an unsafe person was to enter our school. Teachers and staff will take the principles and tactics taught in the ALICE training and present the information in non-fearful, empowering ways. We will take into account a children’s developmental readiness to ensure that students feel safe and have opportunities to talk about their feelings and reactions. There is no plan to have simulated shooters in our buildings while students are learning about ALICE. All learning will be staff directed and student-centered. It is our recommendation that parents engage in age appropriate conversations with their child or children following all safety drills. Should a parent have a specific question please contact your child's building principal.
Attendance Line - Available 24/7
Transportation Tags
Recess
Trading Items
Fall Intersession Registration Information - Registration deadline is on September 22nd!
Positivity Project - P2
Counselor's Corner
Are you feeling stressed?
Here are some healthy habits suggested by Dr. Oz:
Meditate: just taking 10 minutes a day to sit quietly and focus on your breathing
Exercise regularly: aim for 150 minutes of moderate activity per week
Get enough sleep: 7-8 hours for adults and an hour more for children/adolescents
Having healthy routines will help you manage daily anxieties and enable you to deal with major setbacks. If you think your or your child’s stress is out of control, talk to your doctor, who can recommend a mental health professional or specialist to help.
According to Lifehacks.org, one of the absolute best things you can do for your child and his success in school is to read out loud together every day (or almost every day). Here are some advantages: The time you spend together helps your child settle down from a busy day. Speaking from experience, my children and I always enjoyed reading together before bedtime. Another advantage is that you can gauge his abilities and help him pronounce or identify new words. Read a few pages and ask him to predict what will happen next. Using an “I read, you read” technique, alternating pages helps to make reading a whole chapter much more doable.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Thompson
Hill/Hahn Counselor
Music Notes from Mrs. DuPrey
Welcome back to a wonderful school year! I know my own children are so excited to be back in school, and I hope your school year has gotten off to a great start! For those of you who have not heard, we became a family of five on June 21st! We had a baby girl!!! Her name is Charlotte Lee DuPrey and she has been the best addition to our family!! While I am still home with Charlotte for a few more weeks, Miss Wilson has been teaching music and STEM. As some of you may remember, Miss Wilson was my student teacher last year. She is a WONDERFUL teacher, and I know the kids are in great hands. They have been playing all sorts of games with music to engage their singing voices, and to help everyone learn the names of all of the students in their classroom. I will be back in the classroom on September 13th.
Sincerely,
Mrs. DuPrey
Fitness Fun with Mr. Whitman
Welcome back. My name is Mr. Whitman, and I’m excited to be at Hill Elementary for a 8th year teaching Physical Education.
The first few weeks have been spent establishing routines and reviewing our Cardinal Code. First and foremost, I always ask the kids to give their “best effort.” We have spent a lot of time these first few weeks talking about what trying their “best” means and what may cause it to be different from day to day. We also talked a great deal about safety, and what students can do to keep themselves and others safe in the classroom.
Speaking of safety, for the safety of your child and others around them, gym shoes are required for PE class (see class schedule at bottom). Gym shoes are classified as those with either laces, velcro, or some other way that keeps the shoe securely on their feet. Casual slide on shoes or crocs, even if they have a rubber bottom, are not allowed. We hope the students are able to have a shoe that both supports and doesn’t mark the floor up. This has always been a district policy at Davison, so I appreciate your support on this simple matter.
This fall you can expect to hear your child talk about football, soccer, ultimate frisbee, and golf since those are the sports we are focusing on while we can still go outside. I’m excited to be working with your child this school year! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at any time.
2021-2022 PE SChedule
Mrs. Galbreath- Mon/Tues
Ms Robertson- Wed/Thurs
Ms Fulcher- Mon/Tues
Mrs. Wright- Wed/Thurs
Mrs. Schaepkens- Mon/Tues
Mrs. Buzzell- Thurs/Fri
Miss Richards- Mon/Tues
Mrs. Halverson- Thurs/Fri
Mrs. White- Mon/Tues
Ms Turkovics- Thurs/Fri
Go Cards!
Mr. Whitmanjdwhitman@davisonschools.org
Library Corner
I hope everyone in our Hill family had a restful and enjoyable summer break. As we start to settle into our school routine, our library is now officially checking out books. What that means for you--books will be coming home soon, if not already! Kindergarten and first grade can check out one book per week to start and second through fourth grades can check out two books.
During the next few weeks our students will be learning about book care, the Dewey Decimal System, beginning with what is the difference between fiction and non-fiction, and also practicing the cardinal code.
I am so looking forward to getting to know your readers this year! From recommending books to teaching library skills, it will be a great year in the Hill Elementary Library.
Happy Reading!
Mrs. Jacobs
The Scholastic Book Fair is Coming!
October 8-15
Congratulations to our raffle winners of the open house book fair! The following students will receive a certificate the week of book fair:
Christian Colwell - Ms. Robertson
Marley Dillon - Ms. Robertson
Chase Bachman - Mrs. Fulcher
Leo Bandur - Mrs. Wright
Samantha Nowak - Mrs. Buzzell
Hadley Dipzinski - Mrs. Buzzell
Aiden Bruce - Mrs. Halverson
Zachary Wenzel - Miss Richards
Elijah Eastridge - Miss Richards
Ethan Newton - Ms. Turkovics
Sincerely,
Mrs. Jacobs
FREE PARENT LITERACY RESOURCE for Kindergarten Parents
Earlier this month, the Michigan Department of Education released the following press release regarding a wonderful free literacy opportunity for kindergarten parents. Check it out:
LANSING – A new public library service for families, called “TALK: Text and Learn for Kindergarten,” will help build early literacy skills for young children, the Library of Michigan announced today.
TALK sends two text messages each week suggesting early literacy activities that parents and caregivers can easily incorporate into daily routines with their children.
The service also notifies parents of free activities and services at their local public libraries. TALK is available to parents and caregivers in Michigan with children ages 5 and under. Parents can sign up by texting TALK to 75547 or visiting www.texttolearn.com.
“The more parents and caregivers speak positively, read, and listen to young children, the better prepared children will be in their emerging literacy when they begin school,” said State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice. “TALK is another support we can provide for our families to help meet the state’s Top 10 strategic education plan goal of improving early literacy achievement.”
“TALK is a great resource for all parents, but it’s really designed to reach parents who may not have a lot of free time or resources” said Jodi Krahnke, the head of youth services at the Ypsilanti District Library. “We’re excited to provide parents ideas for quick and easy things they can do to help their children be ready for school.”
The service is funded in part by a national leadership grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The grant allows TALK, originally created by libraries in Washtenaw County, to be used by all public libraries in Michigan to support early learning in their communities.
State Librarian Randy Riley said, “TALK is a great opportunity for libraries to engage and encourage families to practice simple activities each day with their young children, such as singing and playing, which then helps to develop the cognitive and language skills they need to do well in school and beyond.”
TALK is derived from the research-based program Every Child Ready to Read, which promotes five practices to build essential pre-reading skills: reading, singing, talking, writing and playing. Each message begins with one of the five practices and details an activity that parents can use to help their child develop early literacy skills. The content goes beyond literacy and helps parents build other important skills such as pre-math and social emotional skills.
While the service is available and valuable to every family, the goal is to reach parents who may not otherwise have the time or the ability to attend library programs. It is available in English and Spanish.
This project is led by the Ypsilanti District Library (YDL) and any requests for additional information can be made to YDL’s head of youth services, Jodi Krahnke, at TextAndLearn@gmail.com. The technology platform to distribute the messages is being developed by the Midwest Collaborative for Library Services, and materials to promote the service will be available to libraries through the Library of Michigan. HighScope Center for Early Education Research and Evaluation helped ensure messages were aligned to a child’s development and will be conducting an evaluation of the project.
This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services [LG-246434-OLS-20] with support from the Library of Michigan.
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The Library of Michigan is an agency within the Michigan Department of Education and is dedicated to providing the people of Michigan and their government one perpetual institution to collect, preserve and provide access to the story of the State, and to support libraries in their role as essential community anchors. To learn more, visit www.Michigan.gov/LibraryofMichigan.
Safety Patrol
Safety Patrol is an important leadership role for our 4th grade students at Hill School. In order to be selected as a member of safety patrol, students must be a model of Cardinal Code behavior. They need to keep up on their school work, have good attendance, lead by example, maintain a positive attitude, show respect to others, and follow directions the first time. Congratulations to our first group of students who have been selected as safety patrol for the first marking period:
Caleb Bean
Abigail Luna
Kaylen Tallmadge
Rocco Henry
Lydia Smith
Eloise Bird
Mason Welch
Skylar Polovina
Emmerson Riley
Jackson Wright
Positive Officer Referrals
Penelope Maples
Josie Rogers
PTO NEWS
As a parent or guardian of a student at Hill Elementary, you are already a valued member of the Hill Parent-Teacher Organization. Whether you are new to Hill or have a returning student, feel free to join in the excitement of planning activities and events for the coming year. This first meeting will be an opportunity to regroup and continue to explore and entertain new ideas on how this important parent led organization can assist teachers. Traditionally, the PTO has provided funds to purchase classroom items, Chromebook and iPad carts as well as giving each teacher a personal classroom account for items needed throughout the year.
Our Hill Hikers Walk-A-Thon fundraiser forms went home last week. The deadline for turning it in is on Wednesday, September 8th! A lot of fun prizes for students are included. Parents are welcome to join us for the walk-a-thon during your child's grade level scheduled time. We ask that you check in at the basketball courts and then go directly to the track. We hope to see you there!
PTO email: Hillptogroup@gmail.com
21/22 PTO Officers
Jill Lobban
Drianna Keltner
Lindsay Brandon
Danielle Wenzel
Mark your calendar:
Friday, September 3rd - No School
Monday, September 6th - Labor Day
Wednesday, September 8th - Walk-A-Thon fundraiser forms and money are due
Friday, September 10th - Walk-A-Thon
Monday, September 13th - PTO Meeting @ 5:30 in our media center
Wednesday, September 15 - Table of Honor
Friday, September 17 - Popcorn Friday
Wednesday, September 22 - Early Release Day Dismissal @ 1:28 PM, Intersession registration ends!
September 27 - October 1 - Homecoming Week
Connect with Hill Elementary
Email: jburke@davisonschools.org
Website: https://www.davisonschools.org/
Location: 404 Aloha Street, Davison, MI, USA
Phone: 910-591-0839
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavisonCardinals/
Twitter: @proud_principal