highland highlights - manchester public...
TRANSCRIPT
Principal’s newsletter
Important Contacts
Principal
Dr. Joanna Ali
Secretary
Mrs. Francine Harrell
Nurse
Mrs. Mary Cohen
School Psychologist
Mrs. Alicia Dignazio-Drost
Family Resource Center Coordinator
Mrs. Jill Morey
Attendance Hotline
860-647-3337
Letter from the Principal, Dr. Joanna Ali Dear Highland Park Families,
In the past few months, we have welcomed a few new staff members. Angela Gei-
ger-Flanagan has joined our staff as our Building Substitute. Maria Kincheloe is our
new Instructional Tutor and Gabriella Tujak-Weiss has joined HPS as a STEM teach-
er while Mrs. Klemonski continues on maternity leave. Speaking of Mrs. Klemonski,
her family grew by two, TWINS!!, a boy Cody, and a girl Brielle. We are very excit-
ed for her and hope she is enjoying this very special time with her family.
January proved to be a very special month at Highland Park School. Madelyn Spina
was a Martin Luther King Award Recipient due to her outstanding achievement for
being a positive role model, good sport and a great friend to all. We also had The
Connecticut Science Center come to Highland to do a “Bubble” presentation which
students learned the science behind making bubbles. All students and staff had a
great time making so many different shapes and sizes of bubbles, while learning at
the same time!
I look forward to February, and all the activities coming up this month. There will
be a PTA meeting tomorrow night, February 7th, at 6:30 pm, at the East Side Family
Resource Office at 153 Spruce Street. I hope to see many of you there! HPS will
welcome moms, grandmas, aunts and others on February 14th at 9:30 am, for
Muffins for Moms. Toward the end of the month, February 23rd, our Variety Show
will take place. It is always such a treat to see the students perform their talents in
front of an audience of their parents/guardians, educators, and peers. They always
do such an incredible job, and I am sure this year will be no different.
Please enjoy the days staying lighter, longer and always feel free to contact me
should you have any questions or concerns. —Dr. Ali
January /February 2017
Highland Highlights Highland Park Elementary School
397 Porter St
Manchester CT 06040
Important Dates!
February 7th—PTA Meeting at 153 Spruce St
February 8th—Early Dismissal 1:17 pm
February 14th—Muffins for Moms
February 15th—Parent Math Chat
February 20th and 21st—No School
February 23rd—HPS Talent Show
Jill Morey, Family Resource Center Coordinator
[email protected] (860)647-3337 ext. 70258
It’s never too late to sign up for Lunch Bunch! Come share a story and activity during lunch once a month. This program is for students in kindergarten through 3rd grade and a parent or guardian. Fourth and Fifth grade lunch groups have been participating in activities that focus on the benefits of working as a group. We have also been learning more about our friends by playing “Never Have I Ever”. Our All Abilities Alliance Lunch Groups went on a Braille walk, decoding Braille throughout our school. We also practiced lip reading and learned how difficult it can be! Do you have a child 5 years old or younger, who’s not in school yet? Come to playgroup! We meet every Thursday from 10:00am - 11:00am at 153 Spruce St. Please call Jill Morey with any questions or to register. The Family Resource Centers support and uplift the school-family-community partnership, by providing a broad base of educational and supportive programs. Our success in ful-filling our mission hinges on positive and healthy community and family relationships. In delivering our services, we work closely with schools, social service agencies, and our com-munity partners.
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more plac-es you'll go.” - Dr. Seuss
Check It Out!
Highland Park Family Resource Center
Saturday February 4th is Take
your Child to the Library
Day! If you can’t make it on
Saturday, why don’t you set a
goal to visit the public library
during the month of February?
If your child doesn't have a
library card this would be a
good time to get one.
Check out what the library has
to offer the entire family!
Mary Cheney Library, 586
Main Street, Manchester, CT
06040, 860-643-2471
Whiton Branch Library, 100
North Main Street, Manches-
ter, CT 06042, 860-643-6892
2
PTA News
Join us at the next PTA meeting on
Tuesday, Feb. 7th, from 6:30-7:30
p.m., at the East Side Neighbor-hood Center on
Spruce Street (old fire house).
--HPS Variety
Show on Thurs-day, Feb. 23rd, begins at 7 p.m.
No admission fee. Food donations are welcome for
Manchester Food Pantry.
--Dine-out at Pas-
trami on Wry, Monday, Feb.
27th.
--Family Bowling Night at Silver Lanes in East
Hartford, Satur-day, March 4, 5-7
STEM News
We welcome Ms. Bella Tujak-Weiss as the long term substitute
for STEM grades 3-5.
Here is what students are learning about by grade level :
K-Living Things
1- Structure and Function of Living Things
2- Nutrition
3- Physical Changes and Properties of Matter
4- Electricity and Magnetism
5- Light Optics & the Eye
Our Highland Park Science Fair is Thursday, March 16th, 2017.
We have 54 eager participants and hope that our entire HPS
community will come from 6-8 pm to see the projects and par-
ticipate in activity stations by the CT Science Center. Our first
place winners in each category will move on to the District Sci-
ence Fair taking place at Illing Middle School on March 25th,
2017. 3
Reminder!
Dear Parents, Please help your child remember to wear or pack sneakers to school everyday. Even if it is not a scheduled PE day, your child might have indoor recess in the gym and sneakers are necessary for their safety
and to protect our gym floor. Students in MELC use the gym daily and having sneakers will maximize your child's important physical activity
time. Thank you.
Sue Larson Physical Education Teacher
Highland Park Elementary School
HPS Spirit!
Science of Suds Assembly
On January 25th, HPS students
enjoyed learning about the sci-
ence of suds! Check out our
Twitter page to see a video!
Crazy Sock Day!
Mrs. Blume, Mr. Pearce, and Mrs.
Gillis wear red for ed day! Staff recognized at our January pep rally!
Mrs. Kilgus’ class did a unit on gingerbread
people! Guest reader in Mrs. Ruff’s class teaching stu-
dents about the Chinese New Year!
MELC News
At MELC we always work to bring an aspect of fun into our enrichment and Power Hour activities. For example, one of February’s activities is our annu-al Super Bowl party. Our party not only includes lots of good food but also includes trivia games. Students will be quizzed on historical facts about the states of Georgia and Massa-chusetts, math questions per-taining to passing and rushing yards, as well as, other fun edu-cational trivia. These games are geared to the various ages in our program, so everyone has the ability to take part. In the past this has been the top pick for the best activity of the year for both students and staff.
Kim Churchill, MELC Coordinator
Parent Leaders Needed!
The Office of Family and Community Partnerships is
recruiting parents across the district to get involved
in parent leadership training sessions. These ses-
sions are designed to develop personal leadership
skills, discover ways to be more involved in your
community, as well as learn how to drive decisions
and improvement in our schools. Our goal is to
include parents in leadership roles throughout Man-
chester. There are two course offerings: People
Empowering People beginning March 6th and Par-
ent Supporting Educational Excellence beginning
February 16th. To learn more or to register, please
contact Angela Geiger at [email protected] or
call the Office of Family and Community Partner-
ships at 860-645-6041.
Muffins for Moms
Dr. Ali is inviting all moms, grandmas, aunts, etc. to come and enjoy muffins, coffee
and fun activities led by parent volunteers who recently attended Anti-Defamation
League Training. The work of the ADL focuses on the development of an inclusive cul-
ture and respectful school climate by addressing bias and bullying.
When: Tuesday February 14th from 9:30 am to 10:30 am
Where: HPS Cafeteria
DADS! We need some volunteers to help us with this activity! Please contact Jill Mo-
rey to help out.
Please return the forms sent home to RSVP by February 10th. Hope to see many of
you there!