HIGHCREST HEADLINES
October 20, 2023
A Message from the Administrative Team
At this week's Committee of the Whole meeting Dr. Kristin Swanson gave an overview of the work that has been going on across the district with our Foundations behavior teams. At Highcrest, our team, known as the HAWK FORCE, is a team of teachers and administrators, who have been working for the past two years at revising the expectations for common spaces in our school.
This year our primary focus has been on the hallways at Highcrest. We started the year with lessons for each of our one-liners to explicitly teach students the expectations for our halls. This included practice, video examples, and instruction from multiple teachers during their day. We have seen the success of this approach in our halls this year, and want to share with you the one-liners we use to help you reinforce these at home with your child! Enjoy!
SLOW YOUR ROLL: Walk in the halls.
TO THE RIGHT, TO THE RIGHT: Travel on the right side of the hallway.
WALK AND TALK: Instead of stopping and talking (blocking the hallway) walk and talk together.
KEEP IT KIND: Use kind words and gestures with one another.
BODY CHECK: Hands and feet to yourself.
Have a great weekend!
Kelly, Linda, and Susie
FREAKY FRIDAY IS HERE!
We are looking forward to the Freaky Friday celebration happening tonight from 5:00 - 6:30 PM. Tickets are available for $25 at the door. If you pre-ordered a ticket, your child received a bracelet today in their homeroom. They must have their bracelet on for entrance into the event.
This event takes place ENTIRELY OUTSIDE on the fields behind the school. Students are permitted to wear their costumes, but please keep in mind that there will be inflatables, games, and a dance area. Everything is outside. If the ground is wet, or there is a muddy area, this could create an issue for the costume. Dress accordingly! Please also keep the costume limited to clothing only. Props such as fake weapons, canes, wands, etc. should remain at home so they don’t get lost!
During the event it is expected they will stay in the party area on the fields. If students are found outside of the event area during the event, we will call home and have them picked up. This is necessary to ensure everyone’s safety during the event. Thank you for helping us to reinforce this with your child.
Students may only arrive and be dismissed to the Freaky Friday Event by walking or by car. Bike racks will not be available so bike riding is not permitted.
FOLLOW THE IMPORTANT INFORMATION IN THE SECTIONS BELOW FOR ARRIVAL AND DISMISSAL INFORMATION.
ARRIVAL AND DISMISSAL INFORMATION *** IMPORTANT ***
The FIFTH grade DROP OFF AND PICK UP is in the upper lot off of Hunter Road.
**THIS IS INDICATED WITH GREEN ARROWS AND A STAR ON THE MAP BELOW**
Please enter the lot in the north driveway, drop off your child at the top of the steps, and then exit via the south driveway. See green arrows on map included for the path.
Please ask your child to exit the vehicle quickly to keep the line moving.
There will be adult volunteers there to help guide your child to the check in table. Students arriving prior to 5:00 PM will wait on the playground (not on equipment) to be let into the event.
The SIXTH grade DROP OFF AND PICK UP is in the main parking lot.
**THIS IS INDICATED WITH RED ARROWS AND A STAR ON THE MAP BELOW**
Please be aware that the parking lot will be marked off to allow space for the party, so the drop off spot will be at the corner on the north side of the building (see picture).
Follow the cones and drop your child off at the check in area.
Please ask your child to exit the vehicle quickly to keep the line moving.
Once out of the vehicle, your child will be directed to proceed down the sidewalk to the check in table.
There will be adult volunteers there to guide and check in your child.
Both grades will drop off and pick up in the same location. Please review this with your child so they know the procedure for after the party.
**NOTE IF YOU HAVE MORE THAN ONE CHILD, DROP THEM OFF WITH THE OLDEST.
The party ends promptly at 6:30 PM, and we ask that families be patient in the car line during pick up to prioritize safety. It may start to get darker around that time, so we want to be sure that if you are picking up your child by car, you are following the traffic patterns and waiting patiently for them, while staying aware of the other cars and students. Car pooling is highly encouraged. Please make these arrangements ahead of time and confirm with your child before the party.
6th Grade: MATH COUNTS CLUB
Are you in 6th grade? Do you like math competitions? Do you want to represent HMS at the regional MathCounts competition on Saturday, February 3rd, 2024? Then try out for the MathCounts team.
On October 24th, November 7th, and November 14th, students will take 3 school contests. The 12 top scoring students will be chosen to represent HMS at the regional competition. These 12 students will continue to practice for the regional competition on November 28th, December 5th and 19th, and January 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th.
Students who do well at the regional competition may be invited to the State Competition in March. The four top scoring students from the Illinois State competition will be awarded an all expense paid trip to the National Competition in May.
If you are interested in trying out, please fill out this Google Form.
AUTHOR VISIT!
Highcrest is excited to have local author Wendy Parris visit our school on Tuesday, Oct 24. Her book "Field of Screams" was chosen as a Junior Library Guild gold standard selection and is the perfect spooky cornfield, empty farmland ghost story to read this Halloween season.
You can order an autographed copy of "Field of Screams" for your student and have it delivered to Highcrest on the day of Wendy's presentation. Deadline to order is Oct 19.
https://www.thebookstall.com/wendy-parris-visits-chicago-area-students
Scenes from this Week at HMS
CLUBS SCHEDULE
Below are some club descriptions to help you and your child discuss which clubs they might attend! There are not sign ins or attendance lists for clubs - all clubs are drop in, so there is flexibility if they decide they don't like something or want to try something else at the same time.
WHMS LIVE...MONDAY BROADCAST!
Tune in Monday, September 11th for our first student-led LIVE broadcast of the school year. Every Monday (or the first day of the school week) at 8:52 am Highcrest students put on a live morning news broadcast. Each week a new homeroom is responsible for writing, producing, directing, filming and starring in WHMS News. Want to catch all the action? Please visit our WHMS News YouTube Page and subscribe to get alerts when we go live!
SEL NEWS
October is National Bullying Prevention Month. From research, we know that a reduction in bullying behaviors comes from strong, connected, classroom communities where all students feel that they belong.
The District 39 Social-Emotional Learning objectives for students at the middle school level directly address how to prevent bullying, and support students as they develop the skills to be Upstanders when faced with situations involving conflict.
As they experience the social-emotional lessons from our Responsive Advisory curriculum, students at Highcrest learn and practice expressing themselves respectfully when disagreements arise, they understand how who they are impacts their work and interactions with others, and they learn and begin to use strategies to include others and stand up for oneself and others when mistreatment or bullying situations occur. You can see your child’s grade level specific objectives for learning HERE. Through the use of these lessons at Highcrest, our District 39 students are developing the essential skills they need to prevent bullying at school and in the community.
DISTRICT 39 UPDATES
Parent Education Events
Mark your calendars for our next Parent Education event titled “How Identities are Impacting Students Today.” This will be an in-person only, evening event on Wednesday, Nov. 8 at 7 pm at Romona Elementary. Please register online to reserve your spot and visit our Parent Education page for our full schedule of events, registration links, and archived recordings.
Additionally, District 39 is excited to be a co-sponsor as the Family Action Network (FAN) welcomes Devorah Heitner, Ph.D., educator, consultant, and author of “Growing Up in Public” and “Screenwise” for a virtual event on Nov. 6 titled “Growing Up in Public: Coming of Age in a Digital World.” Please register online to reserve your spot.
District 39 and the Wilmette Public Library Welcome Grace Lin
District 39 and our member PTA/Os are proud to partner with the Wilmette Public Library to welcome award-winning author Grace Lin for an all-community event on Monday, Nov. 6 at Wilmette Junior High School. Ms. Lin will also be visiting our four elementary schools to present to our students! Online registration is open to reserve your spot now. We are grateful for the work done by our school PTA/O to help bring Grace Lin to Wilmette to present to our community.
CRC Membership
Our District 39 Community Review Committee (CRC) is seeking 4 additional at-large members to join their team! The CRC is a focused group of parents, staff and community members who serve in an advisory capacity to Wilmette Public Schools District 39 Board of Education to research specific topics that will lead to improvements in teaching, learning or managing the District’s operations. This year’s CRC research topic will focus on supporting the neurodivergent learner at school, play to support education, and/or educator stress and burnout. The CRC is currently seeking at-large members from any school community. For more information about the CRC and its work, please visit the CRC website. If interested, please contact the CRC President for 2023-24, Najah Musaccio, at najahmusacchio@gmail.com.
Principal Appreciation Month
October is Principal Appreciation Month and we are very proud to honor our building leaders in District 39. Being a school administrator is both rewarding and challenging. It is one of the toughest jobs in education and, yet, our leaders rise to the challenge every day. The principals, assistant principals and grade-level administrators in each of our buildings are dedicated to caring for and assisting our students and staff to reach their full potential. We thank them for their hard work, expertise, dedication, care, flexibility and perseverance. Please take a moment to thank your child(ren)’s building administrators for all they do.
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Our fall parent-teacher conferences will take place on Nov. 15-17, immediately preceding Fall Break (Thanksgiving week). Families received an email yesterday with details on the Meet the Teacher platform that we will be using district-wide this fall as well as a link to their support page to help answer any questions. A reminder that the sign-up window opens on Monday, Oct. 30 at 9 am and closes on Monday, Nov. 13 at 11:59 pm. Families will receive an email next Friday with their sign-up code.
D39 Educational Foundation Trivia Night
Reserve your table now for the District 39 Educational Foundation’s annual Trivia Night on Saturday, Nov. 4 at St. Joseph’s School. Each year parents, friends and neighbors form teams, come dressed in their “table theme” and put their heads together to show off their knowledge. This is an adult event (21+) and tons of fun! All proceeds go to the D39 Educational Foundation, which raises funds for projects that expand, enrich, and complement educational opportunities for the students, staff, and community in District 39. Visit the D39 Educational Foundation’s website for more information and to register.Freaky Friday is Tonight: 5pm-6:30pm
Freaky Friday is tonight from 5pm-6:30pm. If you didn’t buy a ticket yet, you can purchase it at the door for $25. Click here for details on pick up, drop off and event protocol.
D39 Trivia Night
Join us for the D39 Educational Foundation annual Trivia Night on Saturday, November 4 at St. Joseph’s! All proceeds from Trivia Night help fund District 39 Educational Foundation’s many initiatives benefiting the students of D39. Purchase tickets here.
The Book Fair is Coming 10/23 - 10/26
The Scholastic Book Fair will take place in the Learning Commons 10/23-10/26. The committee needs volunteers to help set-up, work the food truck event (10/23 from 5-7pm) and work the bookfair when classes come through. Click here to sign up.
The committee is also looking for parents to shadow the event and take over planning for next year. Please reach out to Heather Metz if interested: hmetz630@gmail.com
Book Fair Hours for Parents to Attend:
Monday 10/23: 5-7pm, Food Truck Event
Tuesday 10/24: 3:30pm-5pm
Wednesday 10/25: 3:30pm -5pm
Students can pay for books via cash, credit card or the Scholastic cashless e-wallet. You can set it up here.
6th Grade Night Sky Viewing
Bring your 6th grader to view the night sky on Monday, October 23 at 7:15pm on the fields behind Highcrest. While you’re there, grab some grub from the Book Fair Food Truck (available until 7:30pm).
Designed to complement their astronomy unit, 6th graders will be given the chance to look through special large telescopes set up by Mark Schneider, Solar System Ambassador for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Hear Mark talk about the moon and planets visible and get your burning questions answered!
Any questions? Email enrichment@highcrestpto.org
CRC Representative for Highcrest
The District 39 Community Review Committee (CRC) is seeking to fill their committee with one representative from Highcrest. The CRC advises the District 39 Board of Education by researching a relevant topic that will lead to improvements in the district. The position requires attending monthly meetings October through June to develop a topic and recommendations to present to the district. Meetings are scheduled from 7:00 pm to 8:30 p.m. on the first or second Tuesday of each month. You can learn more about the CRC here.
PASS39 Parent Night
Join us for the PASS39 parent connect night at Valley Lodge on October 25 from 7-9pm.
Volunteer Opportunities
There are so many ways to get involved at Highcrest! See links below to sign-up:
Outdoor Classroom: Enjoy time outside with the kids during lunch
School Store - Hawk Hut sign-ups are available on Wednesdays during lunch
Lunch Duty - Volunteer to help with lunch on Tuesdays, Thursdays or Fridays
Order Your Yearbook!
Yearbooks are available to order now. Click here to order your 2023-2024 HMS yearbook!
HMS Spiritwear
Your Highcrest PTO is thrilled to announce our new spirit wear partnership with humanKIND, locally owned by a D39 Alum! Order featured items OR create your own! Local pickup available at no additional cost. Check it out by scanning the QR code below or click here.