Hillside News Brief
September 24, 2021
Important Dates for You
Friday, September 24: 6:00-8:00 p.m. Hillside Family Picnic (outside on the Hillside grounds). Bring your picnic basket and a blanket! KONA ICE will be there to sell frozen treats! Since this event is outside, masks are optional.
Tuesday, September 28: 5:30-6:30 p.m. is Westside's Unified Event Fishing at Towl Park
Thursday, September 30: One School, One Book Family Activity Night
Tuesday, October 5: Picture Day at Hillside. Say cheese!
Wednesday, October 13th: 4:00-8:00 p.m. -- Parent Teacher Conferences
Thursday, October 14th: 8:00-4:00 p.m. -- Parent Teacher Conferences (no school)
Friday, October 15: No school (Teacher Comp Day)
Monday, October 16: No school -- Professional Development Day for Teachers
Friday, October 29: 2:00 p.m. is the start of the Halloween Parade at Hillside. We will start inside then will come outside to show our costumes to families. Families, please stand outside so you can witness the parade! Parties will be indoors in classrooms after the parade. We will be limiting parent attendance to parent helpers (there are 2 designated parent helpers per classroom). If you wish to help in a classroom this school year, please email Mrs. Bailey's administrative assistant, Mrs. Griffith, at griffith.barbara@westside66.net. Please let her know your student's name and classroom teacher. Community Club will be in touch with you regarding being a parent helper for this school year. Thank you!
Please see below for Halloween costume guidance.
Friday, October 29: 6:00-8:00 p.m. Trunk or Treat Event at Hillside. See below for details.
Friday, October 29: 2:00-3:15 An alternative to Halloween festivities is the Fall Festival for students who do not celebrate this event. We will offer an alternate activity for those who wish to opt out of Halloween.
Wild Robot Literacy Night at Hillside
Halloween Costume Guidelines
- Please be sure costume is simple and can be put on quickly and with little help from an adult
- Please do not send anything that could resemble a weapon to school
- Please do not send your child in makeup or expect that they will be able to apply makeup at school
- Please do not include the face/eye/head covering with the costume (children will already need to wear their regular mask/mouth covering during the school day)
- Please use judgement when choosing a costume; very scary costumes can frighten our youngest children. Please save the scary costume for your Halloween night fun!
- If your child needs a costume, please contact our school counselor, Mr. Maloley at maloley.zachary@westside66.net
Results of the latest Tik Tok challenge
Hillside Families:
We are aware of a new trend on social media encouraging students to vandalize school bathrooms and other school property and post it on TikTok. Unfortunately, we, like many other districts across the country, are seeing the negative effects of this in our district buildings, including damage and the required closures of some bathrooms to prevent additional problems. Here is more information in a story shared by WOWT this week: https://www.wowt.com/2021/09/14/trending-tiktok-challenge-encourages-omaha-metro-students-steal-various-school-items/
We encourage you to talk as a family about making poor decisions with social media. Students caught damaging school property or otherwise causing harm/disruption online will face severe consequences. We also hope you can join us at our Digital Citizenship Forum next Thursday, September 23 at Westside High School at 6:30pm. We will have detailed information for families about Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, and warnings on important topics and behaviors to watch for like sexting, cyberbullying, and dangerous trends like this current ‘challenge’ on TikTok. We will provide this event live for those who cannot attend on our district Facebook page: Westside Community Schools – District 66. This is open to all staff, parents, and students.
We want to constantly reiterate to our students that 5 seconds of attention on social media or through a text is not worth the long-lasting consequences that could result.
We are seeing the results of the latest Tik Tok challenge at Hillside. We could really use your help and support.
Homecoming Parade Information
It is time to start planning for homecoming! This year the parade will take place on Wednesday October 6th at 6:30. Westside High School would like to have as many groups as possible participating. They encourage any school club, sports team, or community group to participate.
If you have a group that would like to participate in the parade please fill out the form below. You can have a float or you can walk in the parade.
Link to form: https://forms.gle/BarRJK1cGciEZuw7A
If you have questions, please contact Mrs. Bailey or Mrs. McGuire, and they will find answers for you!
Cafeteria beverages
Please be aware that beverages purchased in the cafeteria (milk and water) will be expected to be consumed inside the cafeteria. The water bottles available for purchase in our cafeteria are flimsy, and we often have water spills when students exit the cafeteria carrying water purchased at lunch.
We also have many students who, upon leaving the cafeteria with one of the aforementioned water bottles, use the contents inappropriately. This is disappointing, and certainly not every student. In order to avoid water spills (which create a slipping hazard), we are asking all students to consume their water before leaving the cafeteria. We have always had this policy for milk cartons; we are now including water bottles as well.
Any sturdy water bottle brought from home will be exempt from this policy. Thank you for understanding!
PBiS Skill of the Week for Next Week
Hillside announces daily the social Skill of the Week. This is the skill we are focusing on as a building for the entire week. Next week's Skill of the Week is: Getting the Teacher's Attention. When you get the teacher's attention, you:
- Look at the teacher
- Raise your hand and stay calm
- Wait until the teacher says your name or acknowledges you
- Ask you question (or make your statement)
This is a great skill to practice any time you need to get someone's attention in class.