Hilltop Parent Council Minutes
November 10, 2020
Good News!
HALLOWEEN
○ appreciation for Halloween celebration
○ kids enjoyed being able to go to school dressed up
○ fun to see the classroom costume FlipGrid videos of the “school costume
parade” during At-Home Extension
○ enjoyed the virtual Pumpkin Decorating Contest hosted by the HSA
SCHOOL-WIDE VIRTUAL DAY - 11/3/2020
○ positive feedback from the school-wide virtual day last week
○ even though there were some connectivity issues that the District
continues to work through, was great having teachers live on screen
compared to virtual learning last spring
New Business
2nd Grade - Open PC Position Available
- 2-year term would be for the remaining of this school year and next
- Mr. Heller will be sending an email to 2nd-grade parents for volunteer
- interested should send their names via email to Chair, Taryn Cottonmultiple candidates’ names will be put in a hat and picked randomly
- deadline Wednesday, November 18, 2020
School Day Schedule
● A question was presented from a parent regarding the ability to maintain curriculum standards with the current schedule
○ Mr. Heller detailed preparedness, focus on skill mastery in the curriculum
and review of the plan to restore full school day
■ current curriculum and school day schedule is beyond what most
school districts have done
■ a lot of preparation has gone into creating curriculum class
schedule that prioritizes the mastering of skills in the areas of
math, language arts, reading, and writing in order to minimize
learning gaps if another state shutdown were to require full Virtual
Learning or a further limited schedule
● focus on these subject areas continue to be on track - are
not negatively impacted in the current schedule
○ some sacrifice in the areas of social studies and
science, especially in the younger grades, however we
have now begun to catch up
● implementing increased diagnostic programs (such as IXL),
in-house assessments, pretests, and end of module exams
to help collect more data to measure success in priority
subjects
What's being missed? Not Much
Our traditional schedule would have a 30 minute lunch, 30 minute recess, a 2nd related arts class. This would take us from 1:00-2:40. Our current schedule provides daily learning from 1pm-3:15pm
● 30 minute lunch, 30 minute recess, a 2nd related arts class
until 2:40pm
Lunch Plans - discussion regarding what lunch will look like when full 8:30 am-3:15 pm school day is restored. There will be one grade for each session, with 3 sessions in the cafeteria and 2 sessions in the gym. There will be no more than 3 children per table, with table-top barriers for each child. When eating masks will be removed - when students finish, their masks will be worn. We are working with The Pomptonian foodservice distributor to hand-deliver meals to students based on weekly orders of easy, popular meals.
■ The District polled parents about full school day school (in-seat 8:30-3:15). About 170 families have responded. A decision will be made and shared as necessary.