Principal's Weekly Message
February 5th, 2016
Week in Review
Wednesday was the 100th day of school. Many of our faculty and staff and a few of our students dressed up as 100-year-olds to celebrate.
Apex Fun Run is off to a GREAT start. Thank you for the many pledges of support we have received. This fundraiser provides many opportunities for our students, including technology improvements such as iPads.
From our student news correspondent, Caden Lane - Recently, we had author and illustrator Jason Chin at our school! He was a Non-Fiction author, and taught us about islands. He taught us about when he visited the Galapagos islands himself! He had real pictures of him at all of the islands. He demonstrated his illustration skills by drawing a picture for us. Jason Chin even told us how he got the idea to write the book. Thank you Jason Chin!
PTA Executive Board Nominations
It is time to select the PTA Executive Board for the 2016 - 2017 school year. We invite all Hidden Forest parents who are interested in serving on the board to fill out an Officer Interest Survey. All potential Executive Board Members must be current PTA Members. The deadline for all entries is Tuesday, February 16th. If you have any questions, please contact Kelley Polansky, Nominating Committee Chair, via email at kspolansky@gmail.com.
SPARK Announcement
Hidden Forest Elementary School is one of four schools in NEISD selected to turn its school playground into a community/school park, called a SPARK (School Park Program). We are very excited to announce that our SPARK park is complete!
The SPARK a joint effort between NEISD, the PTA, the San Antonio City Council, and San Antonio Sports. On February 12 at 8:30am, we will host a ribbon-cutting event to officially open the park and welcome the community.
Once complete, the SPARK park will be open to the public from sunrise to sunset on Saturdays, Sundays, and school holidays. The park will also be open during the week after school at 6:30 p.m. until sunset. The SPARK park will be closed when school is in session or when use of the SPARK school ground is necessary for school purposes.
The new park features a brand new track and grassy field. Students and families will have lots of room to play and have fun.
Thank you for your support and patience during this transformation. If you see any suspicious activity after hours at the SPARK park, please call our North East Police Department at 407-0911.
Apex is HERE!
5K Red Dress Fun Run
Wear red or your favorite red dress and join us for the Red Dress 5K Run/Walk around the campus of Methodist Stone Oak on Saturday, February 27th to honor those affected by heart disease. As an added bonus Methodist Stone Oak Hospital will donate $1000 to the PTA of the school who gets the most people to register. The entry fee is $20, all of the proceeds go to the American Heart Association.
Registration is available online at SAHealth.com/HeartandSoul. Simply add Hidden Forest Elementary to the "Name of School" on the second registration screen and we'll get credit. Plan a fun and meaningful Saturday for your family!
Habit of the Week: Habit 5 - Seek First to Understand then to be Understood
Quote of the Week: "We have but two ears and one mouth so that we may listen twice as much as we speak." -Thomas Edison
Home Connection: You can’t understand someone who’s talking if you don’t listen carefully. Most people do not know how to truly listen well. We are usually too busy preparing a response or judging. We need to use good listening skills. To become a better listener, try these key strategies:
*Listening with your eyes, heart, and ears: Make eye contact, try to sense how they might be feeling.
*Stand in their shoes: Try looking at something as if you were them.
*Mirroring: Genuine listening involves responding in way that makes the speaker feel understood. Repeating what they are saying with your own words like… Do you mean…..
Hidden Forest Elementary
Email: cmille1@neisd.net
Website: http://www.neisd.net/hidden/
Location: 802 Silver Spruce Street, San Antonio, TX, United States
Phone: (210) 407-4000
Facebook: facebook.com/hiddenforestes