Hawk Weekly
December 6th-10th
Havel Elementary
Our mission is to educate students, promote life long learning and encourage students to become productive citizens within a positive and safe learning environment.
Email: kristina.tepper@uticak12.org
Website: havel.uticak12.org
Location: 41855 Schoenherr Road, Sterling Heights, MI, USA
Phone: 586 7975200
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HavelElementary/
12-2-2021 Letter From Mr. Monroe
Dear UCS Community,
I want to share with you an update regarding our district’s continued response to the senseless tragedy at Oxford High School. Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to the students, staff and families directly impacted by this event. Specifically, I would like to address the need to maintain our school routines across the district.
As you are aware, there have been a series of threats against school security throughout our region and in our community. I want to be clear that all threats to school security are taken seriously. Every reported threat is thoroughly investigated by law enforcement and our schools – whether that threat occurred in our community or in our region. We share all information with our local police departments and work in partnership with them to immediately address the issues.
During their investigations, law enforcement provides information on whether the issues represent a credible threat to school security. This information is critical to the determination of whether to make adjustments to the school schedule. In all cases, the school sends their school community a message once we have accurate information on the incident.
Regardless of the nature of a threat, the standard procedure in our communities is to have an increased police presence during and immediately following investigations. Our local police departments and the Macomb County Sherriff’s Department already have a regular presence near our schools and conduct “check ins” with the office. Tomorrow, we will have law enforcement presence in every school in Utica Community Schools.
In addition, we recognize that any decision to cancel school will remove a critical support structure for our students. The partnerships between staff and students - and between school and our families - are key to supporting students who may be experiencing stress.
UCS staff members are skilled in providing students the tools and skills they need during this critical time. Research is clear that this loss of relationships will remove the support that students need when they experience isolation or feel disconnected. Our staff members have been encouraged to talk with our students, calm their fears and continue to build relationships at school.
Social Media does not represent an effective support system and can never replace the type of work our team does every day with students. Earlier today, we addressed an issue where several students not in attendance took the opportunity to make false social media claims regarding a fabricated threat to one of our junior high schools. It created unnecessary alarm as several parents picked their children up based on the false reports manufactured by the students.
I want to share with you again information recommended by our special services staff on how to talk with your children. Please contact your building administrators should you need additional support.
Also, I want to express my appreciation for the UCS team for their continued resilience, dedication and commitment to our students. Working together, we are continuing to make a difference in the lives of our students.
Sincerely,
Robert S. Monroe
Superintendent of Schools
Mask Requirement Update
Dear Havel Families,
I want to provide an update regarding our mitigation strategies for COVID-19. Thanks to the overwhelming support of this community, we are able to return to the layered protocols that we have been using since the beginning of the year. Beginning 12/6/2021, face coverings will not be required for staff and students. We continue to follow Macomb County Health Department guidelines by strongly recommending the use of face coverings for indoor settings.
Our district and school are committed to remaining in-person for our students. Our district will continue to closely monitor our school data and, if it is determined that the school needs to take additional mitigation strategies, we will communicate that to you directly.
Your partnership is essential. Each morning, ask these two questions:
· In the last 24 hours, has your child developed any of the following symptoms that are new/different/worse from baseline of any chronic illness: cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, new loss of smell and new loss of taste?
· In the last 24 hours, has your child developed any of the following symptoms that are new/different/worse from baseline chronic illness: subjective fever (felt feverish), measured temperature 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, chills or rigors (sever chills with shivering), headache, sore throat, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, runny nose or congestion and fatigue?
If the answer to either is yes, your child needs to stay home. Please call the absence into our attendance line at 586-797-5299.
Thank you again for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Tepper
COVID Testing Partnership
Utica Community Schools has partnered with Ascension Health to offer a daily testing option for students that have been identified as a COVID close contact. Asymptomatic close contact students may continue to report to school through the daily COVID testing option.
The school district has partnered with two specific Ascension locations from 8:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m., seven days a week, and no appointment is necessary. Students identified as a close contact will receive the daily testing form from their respective school.
Please ensure the daily testing form is complete prior to arriving at Ascension.
COVID Testing Partnership Locations:
Ascension Lakeside Urgent Care
44472 Hayes Rd.
Clinton Township, MI 48038
586-412-0890
Ascension Washington Urgent Care
7701 26 Mile Rd.
Washington, MI 48094
586-935-4000
Curriculum Updates
Kindergarten- The kindergarten students have been making tremendous progress with their reading and writing skills! Their ability to now make the correct sounds for letters has enabled the children to sound out easy sight words. By using illustrations in early readers, understanding the content, and sounding out beginning and ending letters, has enabled them to read leveled books. Just watching their faces light up with excitement and feeling proud, brightens the day! Sound walls, Jack Hartmann, Haggerty videos, and individual sound charts has enhanced their writing pieces. The students can successfully write a complete sentence with minimal guidance. Sentence stems have accelerated this process. Recent writing pieces have illustrated the following skills: beginning a sentence with a capital letter, the use of finger spaces, accurate phonetic spelling of words, and adding a period at the end! The children look forward to sharing their writing by reading it to the class while the other students view it on the white board. We are all looking forward to the progress we see as the year unfolds.
1st Grade- December is a busy and fun month for first grade! Students will continue working on writing 3 complete sentences using proper punctuation and capitalization. Students will be learning all about reindeer this month with the help of a Kids National Geographic story. Students will be identifying parts of a non-fiction story- the table of contents, labels in a picture, headlines, etc. First Graders will be working hard on comparing different stories this month, as well as making text-to-self connections! Students will continue working on identifying if a given noun is a person, place, or thing.
2nd Grade- This week second grade has been working on poetry! We learned that poetry is written to express your thoughts and feelings. We explored many different types of poems and wrote our own poems about animals. Next week, second grade will be focusing on informational text. We will be reading several science stories and discussing the non-fiction text features, such as captions, headings, diagrams, side bars, bold words, photographs and charts!
4th grade- We have been working through our Wonders units for reading. Students have been learning about the elements of different genres (non-fiction/fiction) and text structure (how authors organize the text). We have also talked about how authors use figurative language (idioms, similes, metaphors) to create a more visual text. In addition to all of that, we have learned about different text features (heading, bold print, graph, diagram) that are included in non-fiction texts.
For writing, we have completed many different fun activities that we hung on your child's portfolio. Students wrote about their feelings entering 4th grade, they wrote a scary haunted house story, and they just finished a turkey story before break. In addition to those writing activities, students have been learning about the elements of a personal narrative and they have been working on (or finished) their personal narrative.
Grammar lessons are included daily in morning work. We have been learning about verbs and how to properly write/use the correct verb tenses.
5th Grade- Our fifth-grade writers just completed their personal narrative stories. The students focused on adding descriptive language along with transitions into their stories. Our classes will begin working on opinion writing during the month of December. The students will learn how to respectfully state their opinions to persuade the audience by adding evidence to support their opinions. We are looking forward to some classroom debates on various topics.
6th Grade- We have been reading the novel, Restart, by Gordon Korman. It is an inspiring book about an 8th grade bully who got amnesia and can't remember anything. We see our main character, Chase, transform into a better human being. During the book we have been working on figurative language like similes, metaphors, and hyperboles. The children are using text evidence to show the development of the different characters' relationships. Likewise, they are also using the textual evidence to show the increased insight the main character is learning about his past. In addition, the children have been finding verbs in sentences and identifying the direct object(s) that are receiving the action of the verb. Finally, the children are using the writing process to complete a fun holiday writing piece.
Dates To Know
December-
7th- Wear A Holiday Shirt Day
9th- Warm, fuzzy day- Wear a cozy sweater, scarf, or flannel today!
10th- Dress Like An Elf Day- Elfie Selfie Day!
13th- Team Frosty (Wear White) or Team Rudolph (Wear Red)
15th- Holiday Hat/Necklaces/Festive Attire
16th- Dress Like The Grinch or Someone From Whoville
17th- Ugly Sweater Day
20th- 1/2 Day of School
21st- PJ Day
Outdoor Recess
Please keep an extra pair of dry socks in your child’s backpack. After recess, many students come in with wet feet!
Please send a dry pair of shoes for your child to change into after playing in the snow/wet. This helps keep our classroom floor dry!
2022 Superintendent’s Scholarship
UCS graduating seniors are invited to apply for the 2022 Superintendent’s Scholarship awards program. The scholarships are funded with proceeds from the Utica Community Schools Foundation for Educational Excellence’s annual Evening of Excellence and other sources.
Online applications will go live on Tuesday, December 7, 2021. Students are required to submit a copy of their high school transcript as well as receive one recommendation from a teacher, school counselor, administrator or non-family member. The individual making the recommendation will need to submit an online appraisal.
In addition to the Superintendent’s Scholarship, there are several optional scholarship opportunities within the application – the Brett Klenow Scholarship, the Stefan’s Hope Scholarship, the Larry M. Smith Memorial Scholarship, and the Richard LaBaere Educational Scholarship.
Please encourage students to complete the online application available on December 7 at: www.UticaK12.org/SuperintendentScholarship or on the UCS home page under “Students” in the mid-menu on the center of the page. The deadline to submit the completed application and appraisal is 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, January 5, 2022.
Check Out Information From Our Parent Group!
Ski Club
Who: All students and families interested in joining us on
FRIDAY NIGHTS
at Pine Knob for skiing and snowboarding
(Students Ages 7-18)
Student Membership cards cost $25.00 but you get that back in credit for lessons. The $25.00 credit can be used as follows: 2 ski lessons or 1 snowboard lesson or $25 towards the cost of a private lesson if you choose.
**Parents who want to ski with their kids are eligible for the discounted lift tickets and rental with purchase of an Adult Membership card for $25.00. Parents only get the discounted rate on our club night.
Once you have purchased your membership card for our club, you will buy lift tickets/rental every Friday you attend. ALL purchases will all be online this year. You will only see us at the table Friday Night to pick up what you ordered this includes the membership cards. Pine Knob has eliminated sponsors collecting money. Weekly costs to ski are as follows:
Lift Ticket...... $25.00 (admission to be out on hills)
Rental.......$25.00
Helmet rental.......$10.00
Lessons are provided through Pine Knob Ski School. They start beginner up to expert. After the first beginner lesson, students start to earn patches for each lesson passed. (Ski lessons start at age 7, Pine Knob recommends age 10 for snowboard lessons)
Please know this a great opportunity to take advantage of the club discount. If you went to Pine Knob on Friday night on your own to ski the lift tickets are $60 and rental equipment is $40 and helmets are $10.
Please email fridayskiclub@yahoo.com if you are interested.
Havel Elementary Is Hiring!
Ever thought of joining the team at Havel?
Our school has a variety of positions now open for parents who may be interested in working here with a family-friendly calendar. It is an opportunity for you to be even more involved in your child’s school and have a direct impact on the students in this community.
Positions we have available at our school include:
Daily Classroom Substitute Teachers
Daily Health Aide
Special Education Para Professionals
Lunch Supervisors
Office Aide
Openings across the district for positions that provide an important service to Havel include:
Food Services
Transportation
Child Care
Skilled Trades
We hope you will take advantage of this opportunity. If interested, the district will be hosting a job fair on Wednesday, November 10 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at the Community Education Building at Walsh, 38901 Dodge Park Road (at 17 Mile Road), Sterling Heights, MI 48312.
More information is available at: https://uticak12.org/ucsjobs
Lunch Room Helpers Needed
We have openings for lunch supervisors at school daily. The lunch supervisors work both inside the lunchroom (helping students open lunch items, handing out napkins, etc) and supervising at recess (indoors or out), and typically work between 1 and 1.5 hours daily. Accommodations can be made for those wanting to work less than 5 days per week as well!
Those interested - please call the school office to request information on how to apply.
Attendance Policy
Your child will be excused from class for illness, bereavement, recognized religious holidays and medical or dental treatment that cannot be scheduled after school or on weekends.
Your child is responsible for makeup work.
Homework requests may be made for an absence of two or more days in the case of both excused and pre-excused absences.
Homework requests require 24 hours to process.
VACATION POLICY
Absence for family travel during scheduled school days is discouraged.
However, should family travel be necessary, parents must submit a written request to the teacher for a pre-excused absence at least one week in advance.
Arrangements to complete classroom assignments can be made with the teacher.
You can arrange for home study through the school principal should your child be absent from school for an extended period due to physical disability or illness.
LATE ARRIVAL
If a student arrives late to school, the parent must accompany the student into the office, and the student must be signed in before he or she can go to class.
Truancy officials will be contacted in the event of a student having excessive tardies or absences.
Birthday Celebration Reminder
All teachers and staff at Havel support and encourage the recognition of a child’s birthday during the school day. It is an annual milestone in every child’s life that should be celebrated! While there are many wonderful and creative ways to celebrate a child’s birthday in school, birthday celebrations at Havel will not include food treats or items delivered to the school. As adults, we will certainly acknowledge children who are celebrating a birthday in the same way as usual (for example: a crown, a sticker, a visit to the Principal). Some possibilities for recognizing the day in a variety of special ways that do not include food treats include:
· Class sings “Happy Birthday”
· Happy Birthday Recess gift to class from child
· Morning “Happy Birthday” PA announcement
· Parent makes a donation of book to class library/read to class
· Student reads favorite book to class
Your child’s teacher will have more information on how birthdays will be celebrated in the classroom. As educators, caregivers and loved ones we all want the best for our students. Thank you for joining us in giving students healthy opportunities to celebrate important events and achievements.
Covid Exposures & Quarantining Process
Critical to our keeping kids in school is knowing when to keep your student at home. Whether you’ve been exposed to COVID or not, anyone who is sick should stay home. Whether it is COVID, the flu, or other ailments, if you have more than one of the minor symptoms (headache, runny nose, fever, etc.) or ANY of the major symptoms (including cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, or loss of taste or smell, your student MUST stay home. That and following Macomb County Dept. of Health Mitigation Strategies will help keep our students safe, well and in school!