Hillcrest Happenings
August 16h, 2022
August 29, 2022
Message from Principal
Thank you parents for attending the grade level meetings. We still have a few more grade levels this week and next week. If you haven't joined the Remind group for your child's class, please do so as soon as possible. Teachers are sharing important information on Remind.
Our TEA Accountability Rating report is available. I encourage you to view our school rating and profile at this link: TXschools.gov. We are excited to announce we are B (83) which is one letter grade better than our 2019 Accountability Rating, C (71). Our goal for this year is to elevAte our B to an A rating. We hope you will join us as we work to accomplish this goal!
A few reminders:
1. Beginning Sept. 6th, if your child arrives after 7:50am, parents will have to come inside to sign them in. Also if you arrive after 4:00pm to pick up your child, you will have to come inside to sign them out. To show Hillcrest Best, students are here and on time!
2. If your child brings a lunch and needs milk from the cafeteria, it costs $0.50. Please send money with your child to purchase milk if needed. Water is available for all students.
3. Our first CDMC (Campus Decision Making Council) meeting is Monday August 29th at 5:30 in the library or you can access via Zoom. CDMC members include campus administration, teachers, parents, and community members. If you would like to join CDMC either in person or Zoom, please email me.
Thank you for sharing your children with us. It is going to be a great year at Hillcrest PDS!
Haley Dean, Principal
#elevAte
Counselor's Corner
Prekindergarten
Our theme for the next three weeks is My School and Me. This week we are focusing on our body.
Wonderful Word of the Week: awesome
Letters of the Week: Letters in the students name
Math: Spatial Relationships- using location words such as above, below, and next to
Phonological Awareness: Listening skills
Please plan to attend our Pre-K Parent Meeting on August 30th at 5:30pm
We encourage you to come without your child but understand if you are unable to find childcare.
If you haven’t already, please join your students class on Remind:
Mrs. Martinez: @hpdsmtz
Mrs. Campbell: @4663b9
Kindergarten
This week in Kindergarten:
Reading Workshop- We will identify the parts of a book, practice selecting text that interest them, and provide an oral and/or pictural response to text read aloud.
Word Study- We will identify and sort letters and printed words.
Writer’s Workshop- We will plan a writing piece by generating ideas as a class (family, school, holidays, things I like to do).
Math- We will create a set that is 1 less than a given number. We will also read, write, and represent numbers 0-3.
Social Studies- We will identify authority figures in our school and why they are important.
Science-We will identify and explore our 5 senses.
Please check take home folders and return them daily.
Stay connected by adding yourself to our classroom Remind 101.
Rabine (Remind): @rabine22
Whatley (Remind): @whatley22
Whitley (Remind): @24kh7d
1st Grade
We have made it through the first two weeks of First Grade! We have learned about the different things scientists do, we have had our first spelling test, used math materials and met our new Baylor friends!
Social Studies: We are focusing on using Respect with our friends and our teachers by using the Character Strong curriculum. It has really been fun!
Reading: We will be reading books about making new friends and how we are alike and different.
Math: We are using math tools, such as 10 frames, to learn about all the ways to make 10. Be on the lookout for a math homework page this week!
It will be due on Thursday.
Spelling: Our spelling words this week include short ‘e’ words. In addition to that, we have three high frequency words and a bonus word to spell. As you practice at home, please encourage your child to use lowercase letters. That way when we start using proper nouns, they will see a difference.
Spelling List: pet, wet, net, ten, men, leg, beg, look, see, the
Bonus: friend
Science: We will be talking about Science Safety and the tools that scientists use to protect themselves. Later in the week we will do our own experiment!
***Please remember to SIGN your child’s blue folder every day. This is our best way to communicate with you in a timely manner.
2nd Grade
This Week in 2nd Grade:
RLA - [Phonics] We are learning all about the floss rule! Double the final consonants l, f, s, & z when they appear after a short vowel (for example, sniff, fall, mess). We call this the floss rule because the word floss follows this rule and includes the letters f, l, and s to help us remember the rule. First graded spelling test is this THURSDAY (no school Friday). [Reading] Continuing to learn about “just right books” and the reader’s purpose for reading. [Writing] practicing punctuation (. ? !)
Math - locating missing numbers on a number line (1 to 1,200) and
continuing to review place value
Science - continuing to learn about rock characteristics
Social Studies - continuing to learn about communities and how to be
A good citizen in our classrooms, at home, and in our community
Stay Connected! Please add yourself to our messaging platforms:
Holt (Remind): @Holt22-23
Ronnenberg (Remind): @missronne
alexandra.ronnenberg@wacoisd.org
Whyburn (Class Dojo): link here
3rd Grade
Week 3! Last week was a fun one, the first 5 day week of the school year. Your students did great! We’re seeing hard and thoughtful work in every classroom. The 3rd Grade Team loves seeing the creativity, kindness, and helpfulness these students show as they represent the Character Strong trait of Respect! We hope you came to the 3rd Grade Parent Meeting last Thursday, but if you were unable to attend the following link will provide you the important information. If you were there, you are welcome to view the information again, and if you have any questions please let us know.
What’s going on in the classroom?
Math: We are looking forward to comparing numbers! Comparing numbers? You know, are they greater than or less, or even equal to? You students should be able to look at numbers in standard form and decide which, if any, is bigger all the way up to the hundred thousands place!
Reading: We are starting on Author’s Purpose and craft. Why did the author write this story and how?
Writing: On your mark, get set, go write in cursive! That’s right, we’ve already started a bit on cursive, but we’re taking a week to hit some of those common letters so that the 3rd graders can start writing in cursive.
Social Studies: This is a Social Studies week! We are working on timelines. Who needs those? Everyone, so that you can see how something has changed over time, even if it’s just an assignment at work!
Science: This week is a Social Studies week.
4th Grade
This week we will continue our first units of study.
ELAR: Launching Strong Literacy Habits
Math: Place Value of Whole Numbers and Decimals
Science: Investigating Natural Resources
Social Studies: Thinking Like a Geographer
Our first Unit test will be in math on September 1st this test will cover place value of whole numbers and decimals, comparing numbers, and modeling decimals.
Mark your calendars! We will have our grade level parent meeting on September 6th at 5:30PM in the cafeteria. This will be an opportunity to learn a little more about 4th grade, procedures and ask any questions that you may have. We hope to see you there!
Make sure you have signed up for Remind notifications by texting your class code to 81010.
Mrs. Braswell @gd7662a
Mrs. Hall @bhall4
Ms. Reeves @he9b73
5th Grade
Our 5th Grade information session is coming up fast!
Thursday, September 1 from 5:30-6:30
This week we are learning about:
Math: Division with whole numbers
Science: Circuits and Electrical Energy
Reading: Author’s Purpose
Please read 20 minutes every night!
Feel free to contact us through remind or email us!
~The fabulous fifth grade team~
Mrs. Land holly.land@wacoisd.org
Mr. Dossey lenard.dossey@wacoisd.org
Ms. Hardin tracey.hardin@wacoisd.org
Specials
There’s nothing quite like opening up new supplies in the art studio, and new desks and chairs were the icing on the cake this year! We are all so grateful to be back together again creating in such a wonderful space! I have missed our returning artists and have relished getting to know our new Hillcrest dolphins!
Our 3rd through 5th graders have been busy at work on an individual piece that will later be a part of an art installation on campus. We were gifted discarded books that were taken out of circulation from our library by Mrs. Telep, and we have transformed those beautiful pages into ART! Each upper elementary artist created a blackout poetry flag to illuminate their own light but also ELEVATE the sense of belonging and visual aesthetics of the Art/Library hallway. Inspiring bunting flag banners that gently scream “WELCOME!” as if boasting the grand opening of a gallery will soon adorn our ceilings!
Our Kinder, 1st and 2nd graders have become sculptors! This past week we have been diving into our first Element of Art: LINE. But rather than drawing or painting lines, we BUILT THEM! Check out our fantastic paper sculptures depicting 3-dimensional lines like the looped line, wavy, straight, zig zag and more! Overlapping, “feet” and other new sculptural terms were mastered this week in the creation of our Line Sculptures.
Pre-K learned about how each of us is unique, but individually the picture is incomplete. We need each other to see the full beauty in its entirety! We read one of my favorite poems by Shane Derolf about a box of crayons that learns to appreciate one another. We then practiced our craftsmanship creating our own crayon, which will become an integral part of the whole box of “Mrs. Weatherly’s crayons” this year.
Showtime Peformance
PTA Membership
The PTA has created a Google Form that allows you to sign up for membership from home. Please click on the link below and fill out the membership form if you are interested in joining the HPDS PTA. If you have already filled out a paper form to join this school year, there is no need to complete this online form.
Thanks!
School Lunch Accounts
4225 Pine Ave
Waco, TX 76710