HILL HAPPENINGS
#HillHasHeart Edition - October 2022
A Note from the Principal
Hello Hill Families,
We had a fantastic September! It's hard to believe that October is already upon us. This month is filled with events and activities including Harvest Day, Parent/Teacher conferences, Halloween and intersession break right around the corner!
I've included information about some of the highlights for the month to come:
Harvest Day
We are looking forward to celebrating our Annual Harvest Day on Friday, October 7th. Students participate in stations consisting of a hayfree wagon ride, games, activities, and donuts on a string. Parents/Guardians are welcome to attend. Volunteer forms were due on September 28th. According to Board Policy, all volunteers must be pre-approved. Approved volunteers will check in with PTO under the pavilion (behind the school) at the time of the session that you signed up for. Please dress for the weather as this is an outdoor event.
AM Session
1st Grade (8:50 a.m. - 9:35 a.m.)
4th Grade (9:40 a.m.. - 10:25 a.m.)
Kindergarten (10:30 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.)
PM Session
3rd Grade (1:15 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.)
2nd Grade (2:05 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.)
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Parent-Teacher Conferences are Wednesday, October 12th and Thursday, October 13th. There is no school for students on Thursday, Oct. 13 and Friday, Oct. 14. Please be sure to sign up for a conference time with your child's teacher if you have not already done so. We aim for 100% participation and look forward to meeting with our families to celebrate the academic and social emotional growth of your children!
Halloween
We will celebrate Halloween with our students on Thursday, October 27th. Students should wear their costumes to school.
In consideration of student safety, enjoyment, and school District policy, some reminders regarding costumes follow:
Toy weapons are not allowed: this includes guns, knives, swords, pitchforks, laser swords, martial arts weapons, etc.
Costumes depicting violence, blood, or scary creatures are not school appropriate
All Hill families are welcome to attend the costume parade, weather permitting. If the weather is unfavorable, the parade will be canceled. Our parade will be outside around our back track at 9:30 a.m. Please park and go directly to the back property and line the track! Our parade will last approximately 10-15 minutes, so be sure to be on time!
Activities will be scheduled throughout the day and students will celebrate with their classmates. Volunteers will be limited, teachers will communicate if volunteers are needed for specific classroom activities!
Lastly, our first intersession break of the year will begin on Friday, October 28th. There will be no school for students on that Friday as staff engage in professional development and records day for the end of the first marking period. The students and staff will then be off October 31st - November 4th returning to school on Monday, November 7th!
As always please contact your child's teacher or our office with any questions. Thank you for sharing your children with us!
Respectfully,
Mrs. Burke, Ed.S.
Proud Hill Principal
Looking for Lego Donations
Mrs. DuPrey would love to expand her Lego collection for the STEM classroom. If you have Legos that you would like to part with, Mrs. DuPrey would love to take them off of your hands! All donations can be dropped off directly to the office. If you have any questions, please email Mrs. DuPrey at lduprey@davisonschools.org.
Thank you in advance!
Holiday Assistance Forms
Birthdays
Davison Community Schools - Cardinal Notes
Attendance Line - Available 24/7
MTSS Interventionist/Coach - Mrs. Buzzell
I’m happy to report that reading interventions are under way. The MTSS (multi-tiered systems of support) team has a caseload of seventy-seven students for reading. We are confident that we will be able to give these students the extra boost that they deserve.
Many parents would like to support their child at home with their learning. Included in the monthly newsletter will be simple activities that you can do at home to help your child. We are seeing academic needs, particularly in the area of phonics. Phonics is the ability to understand the relationship between letters and the sounds they represent.
This includes:
Recognizing print patterns that represent sounds
Syllable patterns
Word parts (prefixes, suffixes, and root words)
Activities:
☐ Make letter-sounds and have your child write the letter or letters that match the sounds.
☐ Play word games that connect sounds with syllables and words. (for example, if the letters “p-e-n” spell pen, how do you spell hen?).
☐ Write letters on cards. Hold up the cards one at a time and have your child say the sounds (for example, the /d/ sound for the letter d).
☐ Teach your child to match the letters in his/her name with the sounds in his/her name.
Counselor's Corner
Be kind to yourself!
self-esteem + self-awareness = self-love.
We want to be compassionate and offer forgiveness to others, but sometimes forget to do the same for ourselves. Self-love is accepting your weaknesses and strengths. Acknowledge your mistakes, work toward changing them, and also forgive yourself rather than dwelling on them.
According to David Hamilton, PhD., here are some ways to boost your feelings of self-love: pay attention to your posture, do things you love, set clear boundaries and practice loving kindness.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Thompson
Counselor
Music Notes from Mrs. DuPrey
In music class this month we are continuing to build musical skills at all grade levels. In kindergarten, first grade and second grade we will be working on movement by moving through the beats and feeling weight and space. We will be using many Halloween songs to teach singing patterns in minor tonality and we will be working on duple meter patterns. Duple meter can be identified when you can count in pairs of two to a song and it fits! If you’d like to practice at home, go back and forth with your child creating four beat patterns, or see if they can teach you what we are doing in class.
In third grade we have been focused on music notation, specifically rhythm patterns in duple meter. See if your child can write a pattern for you and then ask them to read it as well!
In fourth grade we started our very first composition! This composition uses different patterns in music. The kids wrote their songs on staff paper, and are now working to learn the melody part on the xylophone. We will be adding their harmony parts soon and will finish with a performance in class. They are doing a great job so far!
In more exciting news, I officially have the dates for our concerts.
1st and 2nd grade is Tuesday, December 6, 2022
3rd and 4th grade is Tuesday, March 14th, 2023
All concerts will be held at Davison High School. Students are asked to arrive no later than 6:40pm and the concert will begin at 7:00pm. I look forward to seeing everyone there!
Mrs. DuPrey
Fitness Fun with Mr. Whitman
I hope everyone had a wonderful homecoming a few weeks back. This month, I wanted to touch base on some of the daily routines that we have in PE class. Since I have a daughter in the school I’ve gotten to know more and more parents. One of the first things I hear way too often is “Johnny comes home and says all you do in gym class is make them run.” That, obviously, couldn’t be further from the truth. Yes, we do run but we typically only run for 3-5 minutes each class as a part of our warmups. During those warmups we also practice locomotor skills like skipping, hopping, and galloping that are important to develop at the elementary level.
After we finish warmups, we spend 15-20 minutes working on whatever unit we’re on. Currently we just switched from soccer to football. The next few weeks we will work on overhand throwing skills, catching, and punting. If your child ever comes home and says “all we do is run,” I invite you to flip the narrative around. Running is just one small thing we do out of numerous things we do in class.
Exercise in general is very important to your overall health and fitness. The CDC recommends that children get at least 60 minutes of active play time a day in order to maintain a healthy body. I encourage everyone to take your kids for a walk, play outside, and be active. It’s a great way for families to spend time together.
If you have any questions regarding your child’s progress in class, feel free to reach out to me!
Thanks,
jdwhitman@davisonschools.org
Library News
It is hard to believe October is already here. It has been wonderful seeing all our kids settle into the library and check out books. September was filled with learning about book care, parts of a book, alphabetizing books, and the Cardinal Code. We became acquainted with fiction books and nonfiction books.
During October, our kids will continue to learn how to alphabetize books by 1st, 2nd, and 3rd letter, correct placement of books on the library shelves, and story elements. We will also celebrate autumn with books about pumpkins, apples, season colors, and friendship.
The Hill Elementary Fall Book Fair is almost here! Book fair dates are Monday, October 10 - Thursday, October 13. We will host the book fair in the Hill Library and also online. There will be a great selection of books to purchase for our K - 4th grade students. All purchases made at the book fair will help support our library book collection.
Students are able to purchase books when they attend the book fair with their classrooms Monday, October 10th - Wednesday, October 12th.
Books can also be purchased online, or during these times at Parent/Teacher conferences:
Wednesday, October 12th: 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, October 13th: 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Online shopping dates are October 7th - October 20th.
Please visit our Hill Book Fair Homepage https://www.scholastic.com/bf/hillelementaryschool2
Denise Crystal
PTO NEWS
PTO has funded the Science Alive program that came to the school on September 28! Save the Date! October PTO Meeting will be held Wednesday, October 5th at 5:30pm in the Hill Library. Harvest Day will be Friday, October 7. Volunteers are needed to assist in running stations. Please complete and return the form if you’re interested! Next Popcorn date: Friday, October 21st We are excited to bring back the Pancakes with Santa event on Tuesday, November 29th! Chris Cakes of Michigan will be at Hill serving up a FUN pancake dinner from 5:00-7:00. Information will be coming home soon. Thank you to Hill families for helping us raise $14,493.23! 1st Place: Lochlyn Swenor (IPAD) 2nd Place: Chase Bachman (Rollhaven Pizza and Party Package) 3rd Place: Henry Francis (Rollhaven Family package) Mrs. Schaepkens class earned an Ice Cream Social and a selected a $50 Amazon gift card to use towards classroom needs! Over 50 students earned a limo ride to a Pizza luncheon with Mrs. Burke that will take place on Friday, September 30. All students won a free skating pass from Rollhaven for their participation prize.
22/23 PTO Officers
Danielle Wenzel
Lindsay Brandon
Autumn Spears
Haily Willford
PTO email: Hillptogroup@gmail.com
Mark your calendar:
Oct. 7: Harvest Day - Wear Farm Clothes/Jeans, overalls, flannel
Oct. 10 - 13th Book Fair - Look for Flyer
Oct. 11 - 2nd Grade visits Davison Fire Hall
Oct. 12 Parent Teacher Conferences 4:30-7:30 (Appointments Only)
Oct. 13th No School for Students, Parent Teacher Conferences 10:00-2:00 & 3:30 - 7:30 (Appointments Only)
Oct. 14th No School for Students
Oct. 21st: Popcorn Friday (Free for all students)
Oct. 26th: Table of Honor, Stranger Awareness Assemblies
Oct. 27th: Halloween parade @ 9:30, End of first marking period
Oct 28th: No School for Students
Oct. 31-November 4th: Intersession Break
Nov. 7th School Resumes
September Table of Honor
Congratulations to our September Table of honor students! These students were recognized by their classroom teachers for being leaders of Cardinal Code in their classrooms and throughout the building. They sat at a special table during lunch and I was the lucky one who got to eat lunch with them! Congratulations to the following students: Deacon Arthur, Loklan Freeman, Kisnley Adams, Cayson Reed, Sadie Hillier, Alexis Newsome, Monroe Hitchcock, Violet Odom, Carson McClanahan, and Paige Oliver. Our October Table of Honor is on Wednesday, October 26th.
2nd Grade Table of Honor
1st Grade Table of Honor
Kindergarten Table of Honor
3rd Grade Table of Honor: Violet Odom & Monroe Hitchcock
4th Grade Table of Honor: Carson McClanahan & Paige Oliver
Fundraiser Prize Winners!
Mrs. Schaepkens' Class
Top fundraisers: Henry Francis, Lochlyn Swenor, Chase Bachman
Homecoming Parade!
Positive Office Referrals
Science Alive
Walk-A-Thon
Limo & Lunch
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