Hillcrest Elementary Newsletter
May 2023
Welcome May!!
Greetings Hillcrest Families…
It’s hard to believe that we are down to the last few weeks of school!! Winter has been unpredictable this year, but hopefully May will bring us warmer and pleasant weather!
State Testing has been completed at Hillcrest. In fact, students from Grades 3-5 were able to take their bowling field trips as a reward for all of their hard work!
A special All School End of Year Party is being planned for the afternoon of Friday, June 2nd by the Hillcrest PTO. Watch for information from the PTO who will be looking for volunteers to help out with this special event. It will be held rain or shine with activities shifting or moving indoors, if needed. Volunteering will be a great opportunity for parents to come and enjoy the afternoon at Hillcrest.
The week of May 8-12 is Teacher Appreciation Week. Please feel free to reach out with kind words to show support for our wonderful Hillcrest Teaching Staff!!!
As always, thank you for supporting your students, our staff, and all members of our Hillcrest community!!
Go Mini Cardinals!
Mrs. Hebert
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No School
There will be no school for students on:
May 29 (Memorial Day)
The last day of school for students is Tuesday, June 6
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Dates to Remember
May 1: 4th Grade Forward Celebration @ Falls Bowl
May 2: Last Day to Save at RCU
May 9: 4th grade to Beaver Creek Reserve
May 9: RCU Team Member Party
May 9: PTO Meeting
May 11: 1st grade Grandparents' Day & Kindergarten Sing
May 11: Kindergarten Spring Sing
May 11: 3rd Grade @ Past Passed Here
May 16: 5th Grade Track & Field Day (Rain Day May 17th)
May 18: final student checkout (students will be encouraged to keep books at school)
May 19: Safety Patrol Field Trip at Action City
May 19: 4th Grade Living Wax Museum
May 22: Wear Hillcrest gear
May 23: Wear sunglasses and/or bright colors
May 24: Dress your best
May 25: Wear college apparel or your favorite college's colors
May 25: 3rd Grade @ Irvine Park
May 25: all student library materials due
May 26: Dress like what you want to be when you grow up
May 29: No School (Memorial Day)
June 1: KG to Christenson Florist
June 2: End of Year Party @ School
June 6: Last day of school for students
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Elementary School Report Card
Report cards for all elementary school students will be available in Infinite Campus on June 8, 2023. Paper copies will be sent home to families on June 8, 2023 as well.
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All School End of Year Party
Our Mini Cardinals will be celebrating the end of the year with an all-school party! It will be held on Friday, June 2 at Hillcrest.
There will be different stations that grade levels will rotate through.
The Hillcrest PTO will be organizing volunteers. More information to come!
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Yearbook Order
On June 1st, the Strawbridge online portal will reopen for any parents/guardians who forgot to order a yearbook.
Enter code: YB27101 to order a Hillcrest yearbook. These will be shipped directly to your home. Yearbooks are $10. The shipping charge is $10.
This link won't be active until June 1st so please don't attempt beforehand.
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End of Year Nursing
If your child takes a daily medication at school, please send only enough doses to get your child through the day on June 6rd, 2023. Any extra medication will need to be picked up on or before the last day of school by a parent or it will be disposed of.
If your child has an emergency medication at school, (ex. EpiPen, Diastat) arrangements will need to be made to pick up. Reminders to get them will be sent home before the end of the year. Inhalers will be sent home in your child’s backpack if they are not picked up before the last day of school.
If your child has any medication at school that is not taken on a regular basis, (ex. Tylenol, Motrin, cough drops, cough syrup), please make arrangements to pick up this medication before the end of the school year. Any medication left in the health office at the end of the last day of school will be disposed of.
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Library End of the Year
Important dates:
Thursday, May 18: final student checkout (students will be encouraged to keep books at school)
Thursday, May 25: all student library materials due
Students will receive a slip regarding any fines for missing materials. Let's avoid fines and get missing books turned in!
Thank you!
-Mrs. Vergin
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Planning Ahead for the 2023-2024 School Year
Please fill out this form to alert the school to any changes in your child’s attendance area for next school year as soon as you are aware of changes (upcoming moves, parochial school, etc.)
We are starting to create class lists for the 2023-24 school year and need to know of changes that will affect our student count.
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Readathon Update!
Hillcrest Elementary students read 95,000 minutes and raised nearly $10,000 during the Readathon in April!
All $10,000 will go back into Hillcrest classrooms through the Hillcrest PTO Stipend Program and also cover field trip transportation. The stipend program supports purchases like accessible seating, science experiment supplies, student incentives, and other important learning opportunities for our students.
Fifth grader Leo Girgen read 2,191 minutes as the top reader and 1st grader Lauren Gangl was the top reading fundraiser with $460.
Mrs. Sarauer’s 5th grade class read 17,318 minutes as the top reading class with Mrs. Downey’s 2nd grade class bringing in nearly $2,000 as the top fundraising class.
Hillcrest Elementary thanks our generous community and is ecstatic to keep the
love of reading rolling!
Celebrating our top readers and raisers throughout the Readathon would not have been possible without the generous donation from the Chippewa Falls Kiwanis Club, tubs of ice cream from Olson’s Ice Cream, and movie passes from Micon Cinemas. Special guests included Jeff Holmes, Superintendent of Chippewa Falls Public Schools and Jessi Peterson, Youth Librarian from the Chippewa Falls Public Library, who joined in celebrating classes
throughout the two weeks.
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Incoming Kindergarten Information Session
In early August (date TBD), we will hold an in-person Kindergarten Meet & Greet. With fluctuating numbers and late enrollments, this will give all kindergarten families a chance to see the school early. This will be separate from the August Open House.
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Hillcrest Happenings
Hillcrest Happenings is produced by 5th grade students, along with Mrs. Kjelstad and Mrs. Vergin. The news crew has both behind the scenes and on-screen roles. The behind the scenes roles include set design, script writer and teleprompter. The on-screen roles include the anchor and special reporters.
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Congratulations Mrs. Martineau!
This by far is the best staff and community I have had the pleasure of working with. We plan on visiting and doing more therapy work outside of school, learning new things, and enjoying time with the people we love. Thank you for allowing us to be part of your child's education! Please say "hi" if you see us out and about! I heard that the district hired an amazing speech-language pathologist starting in August.
Thank you again for the love you have shared with us!
Chewy and Mrs. Martineau
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Office Procedure
Arriving Late?
- Parents do not need to enter school
- Students report to the office to sign in
- Call or email Ms. Heidi if running late or have appointment
Picking up early?
- Call the office beforehand
- Guardian will need to come into the office to sign out
Keeping Your Child Home?
- Call the Main Office before 8:45 a.m. or an automated dialer will be sent out. If you do not call in, your child will be marked unexcused.
- Please let the office know and don't rely on the teacher to relay the message
715-726-2405 or email solinhm@chipfalls.org to report absences.
Transportation Changes
- Call ahead (by 2:15 p.m.) if you have a transportation change for the day.
- For the safety of your child, unless it's an emergency, we ask that you do not make changes after 2:15 p.m.
- Contact Chippewa Yellow Bus more than 24 hours in advance at 715-726-2454 if you have any bus changes or requests.
- Hillcrest can't authorize bus changes.
ALL changes need to be called in to the Main Office and not to the teacher in case there is a sub in the room that day. That number is 715-726-2405.
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Parent Communication
Parents/Guardians should set up an Infinite Campus Parent Portal.
Gives You Access To:
- attendance
- report cards
- schedules
- homework assignments
- pay fees/lunch
If you are a split household, you can have two accounts.
Please keep your information updated in case of emergency! You can update your address, phone numbers, email addresses in Infinite Campus.
Need help? Call our help desk at 715-726-2413 for assistance.
Breakfast/ Lunch
Meal prices for 2022/2023
Elementary Breakfast: $0.35
Elementary Lunch: $2.25
Classroom Treats
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Cardinal Community Learning Center
Spring Family Connections Directory
Board of Education Update
May RCU School Sense!
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Coke Rewards for Hillcrest
Hillcrest is collecting Coke bottlecaps that have codes on them! For each cap, Coke donates 5 cents to our school!
For more information:
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District Notice
Upon request to the building administrator, submitted twenty-four (24) hours in advance, the District shall make reasonable accommodation including the provision of informational material in an alternative format as necessary for a disabled person to be able to participate select activities.
About Us
Email: solinhm@chipfalls.org
Website: https://cfsd.chipfalls.k12.wi.us/hillcrest/
Location: 1200 Miles Street, Chippewa Falls, WI, USA
Phone: 715-726-2405