Dear Hillside Parents/Caregivers:
We hope your children have enjoyed their first full week of remote learning. We look forward to seeing you at Hillside’s Virtual Back to School Night on Wednesday, September 23rd at 7:00pm. Please see the Back to School Night (BTSN) attachment for details.
ZOOM Bombings:
It has come to our attention that there have been several “Zoom Bombing” attempts across the district. The following protocols are in place to ensure students are not exposed to inappropriate interruptions.
- Please be advised that students are prohibited from sharing links to their assigned Zoom classes.
- Be advised that students are required to sign-in using their MPSDNJ.US accounts. Names that are not recognized will not be admitted into the meeting.
- The “Waiting Room” feature is activated to prevent outside intruders from causing disruption within the meet. Teachers will be paying close attention to the participants in their waiting room. Attendance / roll call should be taken prior to admitting anyone into your classroom.
- If for some reason, an unauthorized participant is admitted and attempts to disrupt the class, the teacher will immediately remove the participant.
- All attempts will be reported to the building administrator and district IT department. A new zoom session & password for the class will be created for the next day.
We cannot emphasize enough how important it is to not share the meeting passcode, please emphasize this with your children.
In-person Events:
In-person events on school grounds ARE not permitted. All requests must be presented to the building principal.
CI/Aesthetic Add/Drop Period for 4th and 5th Graders:
The Add/Drop period will open next week on Thursday, September 24th. It will remain open until the end of the day on Tuesday, September 29th. You will receive a link to the Add/Drop Google Form on Thursday morning with instructions on how to complete your requests.
4th & 5th Grade Aesthetic Classes:
- Week of Monday, 9/21: A-day aesthetics for 4th & 5th graders
3rd Grade Aesthetic Rotation:
The 3rd grade rotation schedule for related arts is attached. This schedule is based on your child’s homeroom teacher as listed on Genesis. Please note the following:
- Your child will have 2 related arts courses a day- one during period 3 and one during period 7.
- Be sure to take note of the dates at the top of the chart. Homerooms will rotate to different courses each week.
- You will see that for some related arts courses, the homeroom will be split into two groups. This is indicated by Group 1 and Group 2 on the chart. Your child’s homeroom teacher will alert you as to which group your child is a part of.
- Each related arts teacher has a Google Classroom dedicated to your child’s homeroom and group.
- The schedule was created to reflect the weeks of the first cycle. The rotation will repeat after Week 7. Cycle 1 ends on December 11th.
- To help keep this organized, I recommend printing the chart, finding your child’s homeroom teacher, highlighting the row, and hanging it on a refrigerator or bulletin board.
A Message from the Hillside PTA:
La Asociacion de Padres de Familias y Profesores de Hillside le decean a nuestra comunidad Latina un Feliz Mes de la Herencia Hispana (9/15-10/15)! The Hillside PTA wishes our Latin community a Happy Hispanic Heritage Month (9/15-10/15)!
Our next PTA/SATp meeting will be on Friday 9/25 @ 9:30am EST, via zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87057830616?pwd=VEQvMWVjNFYzdVdBN1dKVHFUK1ZyUT09
Meeting ID: 870 5783 0616
Passcode: 33p93z
Class Liaisons Orientation Meeting 9/25 is postponed, new meeting date TBD.
We are looking for volunteers to be Class Liaisons/Partners. In the past, we have had (2) Class Liaisons/Partners per Homeroom Class. All are welcomed to sign up to volunteer.
The general responsibilities of a Class Liaison/Partner include:
● Supporting communications between teacher and parents/caregivers.
● Facilitating communication between Hillside PTA and parents/caregivers.
● Coordinating involvement in the classroom and on field trips (virtual will change this a bit).
● Issuing “Call for Volunteers” emails when the PTA needs helping hands.
The support you bring the teachers is priceless. Even in this virtual environment your help will be greatly, if not more so appreciated.
If you are looking to be more involved in your child’s classroom and to help out, this is for you.
Please send your requests to Obie Woodley at woodleys.home@gmail.com
Include your child’s name and their homeroom teacher and Obie will be in touch with next steps.
Hillside Elementary School PTA Membership: Thinking about how you can support your Hillside Elementary School? Become a member! As a member, our goal is to support and advocate on behalf of our students in school and in the community. We provide parent education and support many school activities that strengthen the home, school and community partnership. It’s easy and we’d love to have you be a part of what makes our Gifted and Talented magnet so great. Join us today!
https://hillsidepta.new.memberhub.store/store?category=Memberships.
New website: montclairpta.org/hillside/
Private Facebook group: Hillside Elementary School – Montclair, NJ
Email: ptapres@hillsidepta.org
A Message from Ms. Scott:
Happy Friday!!! Congratulations to the children and their families on finishing the first week of the 20201-21 school year! This time last year none of us could have predicted we would be opening school remotely but here we are, doing just that. If ever there was a lesson about living in the moment, this is one. None of us know what tomorrow will bring. So, instead of stressing out or feeling anxious about how the rest of the year will play out, make a decision to move through one day at a time. Knowing that in each moment of the day you will give, be, and do your very best. Move through each day with the confidence of knowing that, when you are giving your best, you’ve left it all on the table. This way it won’t matter what tomorrow brings because today was the best it could be!
Please know I am here to support our Hillside families in any way I can. In addition to email (sscott@montclair.k12.nj.us), I can be reached via call or text at (908) 671-1163 during remote learning. Please feel free to contact me if you have any concerns about your child’s social-emotional well being.
I wish you an absolutely amazing year!