Friday News October 11, 2019

Friday, October 11, 2019

Hillcrest Elementary School

Friday News

October 11, 2019

Dear Hillcrest Families,

It was such a treat to see so many of you here at Hillcrest for Open House on Thursday night!  Our Hillcrest students are so proud of their accomplishments and it’s such a wonderful opportunity for them to share these with you.  Thank you for finding the time in your busy schedules to join us. I also want to express my appreciation for the many community groups who joined us including the Baystate Health MIGHTY Program, Community Action, The Gill-Montague Education Fund, Greenfield Savings Bank and Friends of Hillcrest.  

Looking ahead to next week, we will be holding our first Lockdown Drill of the school year on Wednesday, October 16th.  Given the age of our students, we are especially mindful about conducting these drills in a calm and developmentally appropriate manner. Our teachers preview the drill ahead of time and explain to our students that fire drills and lockdown drills are important ways to practice “keeping safe” at school.  For example, we explain that we practice fire drills for situations when there’s something happening inside the building and we need to go outside to stay safe. And, we explain that we practice lockdown drills for situations when there’s something happening outside the building and we need to remain inside to stay safe. As part of the drill, officers from the local and state police visit each of the classrooms and offer positive feedback to our students for their good work in following the lockdown drill routines. 

A few important news items:

  • Please remember that we are a Fragrance-Free school.  Please limit your family’s use of fragranced products such as perfumes, body sprays, scented lotions, hair products, and laundry products.  This is extremely important in protecting the health of staff members who have life-threatening allergies to fragrances. 

  • There is No School on Monday, October 14th in observance of Columbus Day. 

  • Our October All School Meeting will take place at 9:00 on Friday, October 25th.

  • Picture Retake Day will be Wednesday, October 30th. 

  • Parent Conferences will be held on Thursday, November 7th and Friday, November 8th.   Be on the lookout for more information from your child’s teacher about the conference schedule. 

Wishing you a wonderful weekend --

Sarah Burstein, Principal