Good afternoon Owls,
I hope that you had a wonderfully relaxing Thanksgiving break! The time away gives us all an opportunity to rest and recharge so that we can go into the next three and a half weeks with a renewed focus on learning. The holiday season can be a stressful time for our kids and for us with the potential for unpredictable weather, changing schedules at home, visitors, house guests, and the like. Please take time to check in with your kids, each other, and yourself in the coming weeks so that we can all go into the winter break with smiles on our faces. As a reminder, as you make your winter break plans we will be in school through 3:30 on Wednesday, December 21.
Thanks for your continued support,
Jen
Quick Updates
· Principal Albright from Deal MS will be at Hearst from 5:00-6:00pm on December 14th, prior to the 6pm PTA meeting that evening. He will share information about Deal, describe their approach to academics and student growth, and then have a panel of 6th graders (alumni from Hearst) take questions from our community. If you’re considering Deal for your child, please attend the information session.
· The Parent Chat scheduled for Thursday, December 1, has been moved to Friday, December 9. It will be held in Mr. Herrera’s room from 8:45-9:15.
PTA Corner
Hello Owl Families! We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and long weekend!
-Scholastic Book Fair: It’s time for the annual Hearst Scholastic Book Fair. Volunteers are needed over the course of the fair, which will run from Monday, Nov. 29 through Tuesday, Dec. 6. There are plenty of spots open and we would love it if parents could volunteer for hour-long shifts. Volunteers will keep the book fair stocked, help students and parents locate books, use the cash register, staff the raffle, and tell all their friends and neighbors to come out and buy the fabulous books we have on offer!! Click here to volunteer: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040f4dabae2ca02-scholastic.
Please contact Ms. Vandivier in person or by email ([email protected]) if you have questions.
-Share your skills or special knowledge with our young Owls. We are looking for parents to teach after-school enrichment classes. Parents are welcome to come up with their own class (kickball, cooking, chess, sewing, origami, etc.) or teach one we have a curriculum built for (Crazy 8s). If you have a hobby or want to teach something related to your profession, please reach out to Keri Sikich at [email protected]. The commitment would be for eight, one-hour classes on the day of the week of the parents’ choosing at either the 3:30pm or 4:30pm timeslot. The PTA can reimburse materials needed for the class. It would be great to get some new volunteers!
-Winter Enrichment Update: Registration will open for all winter enrichment programs on Monday, Dec. 5. Winter enrichment classes will begin Monday Jan. 9, with most classes ending Thursday March 9. Will soon the release the schedule and additional registration information.
Upcoming Events:
• The PTA will hold its next meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 14 at 6pm in the library. Pizza and childcare will be available for all potty-trained kids. Please check the listserv and school website for sign-up information.
-Congrats again to the PreK classes for coming out on top in our “second chance” contest for Owl Fund donations. Seventy-three percent of PreK families have donated to the Owl Fund and both classes will receive some extra recess. Please remember to think about the Hearst PTA as you make choices for your charitable contributions this holiday season. The PTA is a 501(c)3 and anyone can contribute. For more information, please go online at: https://hearstelementary.nationbuilder.com/support
News and Announcements from Outside Organizations
Hearst Park and Pool Survey
Dear Hearst Community:
We extend thanks to those of you who have taken time to complete the Hearst Park and Pool Survey.
Please accept our sincere apologies for the error in the format that requires a respondent to select a concept option for a pool and pool house, even if the respondent chose the option of no pool and pool house at Hearst Park. It was not our intention to skew the results toward any one answer – it was an honest error.
Your votes for or against the pool are not impacted in any way by the answers selected for the pool concept questions. Each question is tabulated independently.
However, as a demonstration of our commitment to ensuring that we have heard your concerns about the fairness of the survey, we will not tabulate the results of the question related to selection of a preferred concept for the pool and pool house. We will instead garner feedback from the community about concepts at the next community meeting.
We also highly encourage residents to complete the survey. If you have started but not completed the survey, please do so. Below is a link for the DPR/DGS Hearst Survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QHZJJ7K
The survey is available until November 30, 2016 and is open to the public.
Thank you for your continued participation in the Hearst Park and Pool project.
Sincerely,
Jackie Stanley
File attachments:
Hearst Survey Announcement - rev2(3).pdf
