A Note from the Principal’s Desk – 9.17.2021
Dear Hillside Parents/Caregivers:
Here’s to a great almost full week of school!!
Hispanic Heritage Month began Wednesday and runs through October 15. The Hillside Social Justice Committee (HSJC) has been working to create lesson plans, a collection of resources, a school-wide event, and family participation to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. Lesson plans and resources have been shared with teachers and lessons will be delivered over the next few weeks. On October 1st we will host an after school celebration activity, more information to come in the coming days.
Surge Protectors:
Your support is paramount to our success. We are VERY excited to be a 1:1 school with devices. Every kid has a Chromebook, however, we are expressing a challenge with regard to charging the Chromebooks. We do not have charging stations and are in need of surge protector strips, so that we can charge multiple devices at the same time. We are looking for donations…If you are able to, then please send in a surge protector strip with your child. Thank you for your support!
Mask Reminder:
Please make sure you are sending an extra mask to school with your child in their backpack.
Add/Drop Period for Cycle 1 (4th and 5th Grade ONLY):
The Add/Drop Period for Cycle 1 will open the morning of Tuesday, September 21st. All 4th and 5th grade families will be sent an email with directions and a Google Form to complete their add/drop requests. Requests will then be processed during the week.
4th & 5th Grade Aesthetic Classes:
- On Monday, 9/13 we will begin our traditional three day A-DAY & B-DAY rotation.
- Mon., 9/20 – Tues., 9/21: B-DAY aesthetic classes
- Wed 9/22- Fri 9/4: A-DAY aesthetic classes
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 every 3 days.
- 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.
- The schedule was created to reflect the first few weeks of Cycle 1.
- 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.
- Please view the rotation here: 3rd Grade Rotation for Parents 2021-22.pdf
School-wide News…Be in the Know:
Hillside PTA/SATp Meeting – 9/24 @ 9:30am, Zoom
All are invited to join our first PTA/SATp meeting of the year on Friday, September 24, 2021 at 9:30am. Dr. Anglin and Mr. Adamo will be in attendance! Register in advance for this meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Vaccination Clinic for Teens (ages 12 and older)
Montclair Public Schools in partnership with St. Barnabas Medical Center/RWJ Barnabas Health is pleased to offer a vaccination clinic for teens, their families, staff and community.
Walk-ins are welcome, but we strongly encourage you to pre-register.
Date: Friday, September 17, 2021 (3:00pm-5:00pm)
Location: Montclair High School George Inness Annex Atrium, 141 Park Street (Entrance is on No. Fullerton Parking Lot)
ALL CALL for Class Liaisons
Attention Hillside grownups. We are looking for 1-3 volunteers per class to sign up to serve as class liaisons. Our teachers keep this train running, but they can’t do it alone. Please consider supporting our Hillside community by volunteering for class liaison. Use the form to express your interest and we’ll be in touch.
Monthly SEPAC Parent/Caregiver Meeting
All parents are invited to attend the monthly SEPAC Parent & Caregiver Meeting on Monday, September 27, 2021 AT 7:00PM via Zoom.
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4206600639 Meeting ID: 420 660 0639
Hillside SATp & Social Justice Committee
The Hillside SATp & Social Justice Committee are looking forward to celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 – October 15! The term Hispanic means “related to, characteristic of, or derived from the Spanish language or from Spanish-speaking populations.” As part of our school-wide activities, we are inviting families to share some stories about their Hispanic Heritage through a FlipGrid Project.
We will be collecting short videos on FlipGrid, featuring Hillside Families, celebrating the diversity and richness of our Hispanic community members. Do you, your family or your ancestors speak Spanish? Would you like to tell your classmates about different foods you eat to remind you of your family’s roots? Do you have art or clothes in your house that tell a story about your Hispanic Heritage? Does your family celebrate certain holidays or traditions to stay connected to your Hispanic Heritage? We would love to hear your story!
If you are interested in learning more, please contact HSJ at jenndilullo@gmail.com.
Shoes for Scholarships
Turn your gently used sneakers & athletic shoes into scholarships for Montclair students! The Kiwanis Club of Montclair is collecting gently used athletic shoes & sneakers — NO tears or holes — NO metal cleats — NO street shoes, sandals, high heels, loafers, or dress shoes. ALL SIZES ACCEPTED! Please tie donated sneakers/athletic shoes together to keep as a pair. Please tie donated sneakers/athletic shoes together to keep as a pair.
Hillside please leave your gently used sneakers and shoes in the bin outside Door K
Calling all Grant Writers!
National PTA offers grant funding for local PTAs who are interested in implementing a National PTA program in the areas of STEM, literacy, digital citizenship, healthy minds and the arts. Grants are need based to provide extra support to PTAs in running their program or making their program accessible to all students. The deadline to submit applications for this round of grants is September 27, 2021 at 8pm. Please see the Hillside FB page for the application link.
Message from Ms. Scott (School Counselor):
Hello Hillside Families!!!! Happy Friday! Congratulations to the children and their families on finishing the first “real” week of the new school year! It is so nice to be back in the building!!! I really missed starting my day at Door K and being able to see all the little faces (or at least half of them lol) as they file into the building. Hearing morning announcements, specially written homeroom songs, and daily affirmations are all things I didn’t realize I missed until I heard them again for the first time. It would be remiss to say I don’t feel some angst being back in school while still facing a pandemic. I think it’s expected that we will all feel that way from time to time. We can also expect that there may be challenges that arise throughout the year. (For example, trying to memorize the names and EYES of 400+ students is no easy task but I’m getting better at it each day