March 29

March 30, 2012

Dear Parents,

The awards assembly for students in grades 6, 7, and 8 who made the honor roll will take place on Monday, April 2 at 8:00 AM in the multi purpose room.  Mr. Cox and I have been hosting coffee gatherings with parents on the first Monday of each month.  Since the awards assembly and the first Monday of the month coincide, we will have coffee available for all parents.  In addition, we have asked the members of the School Board to attend. Bettina Read, Nancy Gabriel, Noah Jacobson-Goodhue, and Alan Goldblatt are the present members. 

Spring parent teacher conferences are now being scheduled.  Although the official conference day is April 13, many teachers spread the conferences over a two- week period.  If you have concerns about your child’s placement or future placement, this is the time to discuss them with the teacher.  Teachers work in teams to make all placement decisions, so we do not guarantee that anyone’s requests will be granted. However, we do guarantee that all requests will be seriously considered.  K – 6 placement decisions will be made by June 1 and shared with parents at that time. 

Parents often wish to visit classrooms in the spring.  We welcome this, but ask that you first contact the teacher to set up a visitation time.  This is a simple courtesy.  Teachers should not be taken by surprise by parents just stopping in.  Thank you.

Next week is a busy one.  Deb Christie-Maples has organized health week.  Students will be served healthy snacks, learn about ticks, anti-tobacco information, CPR, immunization, and the levels of sugar in drinks.  Jump Rope for heart will involve students in grades 3 – 6.  Special presentations will take place on safery, healthy foods and nutrition, and healthy choices.

In addition to all of this, students in grade 8 will participate in Job Shadow day.  This is a day organized by Mr. Morse and the Upper Valley Business and Education Partnership.  Hundreds of students in grade 8 throughout the Upper Valley will be matched with business and organizations to give students an idea of the kind of educational preparation is necessary for a career in an area of choice. 

Students in grades 3 and 4 will present science fair projects from 8:20 – 9:40 in their classrooms.  I hope as many parents as possible can attend.

Second interviews for the Principal’s position took place this week.  I hope we will be able to announce the name of the finalist next week.

 I can’t believe there are only ten weeks left of this school year.  It has flown by.  Enjoy your weekend, and as always, give your child a hug for me.  Judy Callens

March 23

March 23, 2012

Dear Parents,

The excitement is building to see Charlotte’s Web this afternoon.  I hope that you all will be able to see it. There are three public shows; 7:00 PM tonight, and 2PM and 7PM on Saturday. 

I want to wish Jaden Sanborn, Daisy Hutt and Anyata Hamilton the best of luck as they compete in the state-wide Junior Iron Chef competition on Saturday.  They will be one of 84 teams competing at the Essex Expo center. 

This week’s spectacular weather has resulted in a few dress code concerns, especially among the girls.  Please have your children review the school dress code.  Short shorts, spaghetti straps, clothing that reveals the midriff, or low necklines are not appropriate for school.  How ironic to write this at a time of year when we are normally wearing snowsuits, boots, hats, etc. 

Speaking of winter clothing, I want to remind you to check out the lost and found racks in the slate lobby.  These will be cleaned out over April break, and all clothing will be donated to the Listen Center.

Grades for the third marking period closed today.  Although report cards will be sent home next week, parent teacher conferences will not take place until April 13.  Some teachers are contacting parents electronically to sign up for a conference. Other teachers will send home a sign-up sheet. 

If you have questions or concerns about the placement of your child, the spring parent teacher conference is the time to have this conversation with his/her teacher.  Working as teams, teachers make all placement decisions. Input from parents is considered, so please express your opinion during conference time.

Over the next two weeks, each school team (K-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8) will hold a retreat to plan for all spring events, and to begin planning for next year.  Class lists, transition meetings, planning for students with special needs, ordering of materials, and holding informational nights for parents are all being planned. 

Parents of students receiving Title 1 services are invited to a School Report Night on April 24.  You will receive additional information before April break.

We are currently trying to locate all Incoming Kindergarten Students for the 2012-13 school year.  If you know of any children who will turn 5 before September 1, please ask their parents to contact Heidi in the office.  We intend to hold our parent informational meeting for incoming Kindergarten students on Tuesday, May 1. 

On TUESDAY, the Hartland Board of School directors will meet at 5:00 PM.  Normally they meet on Mondays.  This is a reorganization meeting during which new members Alan Goldblatt and Noah Jacobson-Goodhue will be formally introduced.  Committee and Board assignments will be made. In addition, several policies will be introduced.  I hope to see you there.

I had the honor of giving six candidates for the Principal’s position a tour of the school this week.  This was an enjoyable experience. The interviewing committee consisted of parents, students, teachers, board members and central office administrators. I appreciate the huge commitment of time the team has given to this process. I also feel absolutely sure that this school will be left in good hands.  The candidates were impressive.

Have a wonderful weekend.  As I said earlier, I hope you will all see Charlotte’s Web.  As always, give your child a hug for me. 

Judy Callens, Principal

March 16

March 16

Dear Parents,

It is production time for the school play.  This time of the year is always intense for students, teachers, and especially the adults coordinating the actors, props, sets, and costumes.  Charlotte’s Web will be performed next week!  Information for performance times is found later in this newsletter.

As you know, students did not attend school for half of Monday and all day Tuesday due to inservice.  On Monday teachers at HES worked on analyzing the NECAP results, working in cross grade level groups to redefine expectations for students entering and leaving each grade, and preparing for the WSSU inservice day on Tuesday.  Tuesday was spent in Windsor with Jeri Thompson, a curriculum consultant.  She presented the new Common Core Standards to the entire WSSU teaching staff.  This is just the beginning of the work needed to educate the teachers, revise the curriculum and implement the practices necessary to meet the new requirements. The Common Core needs to be fully implemented in the 2014-15 school year.  It is expected that our NECAP assessments will be replaced that year with a new assessment called Smarter Balanced assessment, which will be taken online. 

Today I am off to meet with high school guidance counselors.  One of the goals set for me by the school board is to gather as much information as possible about how well our high school students are doing.  We have given surveys to students and parents in grade nine to determine how well they feel they were prepared.  We have gathered as much data from PSAT, SAT, and NECAP results.  We look at honor roll lists and plans of our students after college.  Finally, we have joint meetings with our core middle level teachers and the high school teachers from Windsor and Hartford.  I hope to present all of this information to the Board in June with recommendations for future improvements.

Candidates for the Principal’s position will have interviews next week.  The School Board reopened the search after meeting with 5 candidates last month.  Hopefully they will find the right match for the school and community.  My role in this process is to give each candidate a tour of the school.  I really enjoy doing so as it gives me a chance to promote the many aspects of the school that we are all proud of. 

Have a great weekend.  Wear green!  For that matter, wear shorts!  It is supposed to be beautiful.  As always, give your child a hug for me.  

Judy Callens, Principal

March 9

March 9, 2012

Dear Parents,

Winter? Spring?  Mother Nature is having a tough time making up her mind.  One thing for sure, we all feel better when the sun shines.

We have had a wonderful week.  Thank you for your support of the budget.  As you know, it passed by a large majority.   Voters also approved moving $379,000 of carry over funds (which included AARA money) into the capital reserve fund. This demonstrates prudent fiscal management on the part of the School Board.  The Hartland school now has a healthy reserve fund that can be used for capital improvements of the building or school campus without impacting taxes significantly in the future.

The School Board will welcome two new members this month; Alan Goldblatt and Noah Jacobson-Goodhue.  I appreciate their willingness to volunteer in the service of our children.

I have a couple of house keeping items to share with you:

·      Spring has arrived and students are more likely to want to spend time together after school at each other’s homes or at the library.  Please make sure that plans are made ahead of time.  Students should not be calling during the day to request changes in after school plans. Send in a note with your child to be approved first thing in the morning.  The office cannot handle the social lives of our students and should not be expected to manage phone calls, messages, notes, and arrangements for after school plans.

·      Please remind your children of the Acceptable Use Policy for electronic devices.  Cell phones should be kept in lockers or advisories during the day.  Use of one during the day is a violation of the AUP and may result in the confiscation of the phone. 

·      Please check out the lost and found racks in the lobby.  It is packed full of student clothing.  We will be clearing it out over April vacation, so if you are missing a sweatshirt, jacket, boots, hats, etc., please take a moment to look there.

I want to take a moment to congratulate Hannah Cox for her awesome accomplishment this past weekend.  Hannah is a member of the Upper Valley Aquatics Club.  Her team competed in the New England Swimming age 13 – 19 competition last weekend.  The Valley News described Hannah as a “one person wrecking crew”!  Hannah placed third in the 500 yard and 100 yard free style, fifth in the 200 and 50 free style, eighth in the 400 medley, and ninth in the 200 butterfly.  Out of all of the swimmers, she placed seventh and has qualified for the Sectionals in Buffalo, NY in late March.  Amazing.

Enjoy the sunshine this weekend.  I am thinking of raking the front yard! I love Daylight Savings and look forward to changing the clocks, and enough light after school to be able to take a daily walk.  As always, enjoy your kiddos, and give them a hug for me. 

Judy Callens

March 2

March 2, 2012

Dear Parents,

There is not much to report this week, given how short it has been.  It seems that students enjoyed yesterday’s snow day.  It is difficult to predict exactly how severe a storm will prove to be.  I was grateful that the high winds that were predicted did not materialize.  This was the prettiest snow storm this year.

I want to encourage all of you to attend the Annual School District Meeting on Monday at 7:30 PM in Damon Hall.  It is at this meeting that questions about the budget can be answered by members of the Board of School Directors. 

Voting to approve the school and town budgets will take place at Damon Hall on Tuesday.  Voting begins at 7:00 AM.  In addition to the budgets, new members of the school board will be elected. I urge you all to participate.

Students are celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday today.  The day started with grade 8 students reading to Kindergarten children.  Guest readers are scheduled among the classes all day. 

We will be making coffee for parents on Monday morning in the lobby.  Please stop by for a cup, take a few minutes with Mr. Cox and myself, and share your thoughts with us. 

The meteorologist on channel 3 has stated that yesterday was the first day of spring.  He looks at March – May as spring, June- Aug as summer, Sept – Nov as autumn, and Dec – Feb as winter.  Although this is not accurate, it feels nice to have someone talking about spring! 

Have a good weekend.  It doesn’t look like our snow will be lasting much longer.  Stay dry and as always, give your child a hug for me.

Judy Callens