October 2022 Hawk Talk

Hello Maple Hill Hawk Families! Welcome to our October Hawk Talk. This newsletter is packed with resources and information for the Month of October. Please read through this carefully.

I have had many parents ask me, "How can I get my child to tell me more about what they are doing and learning in school?" Parents share that students often have short responses that do not share much information about their day. For example, if a parent asks:

"How was your day?"

This is a very broad question that can be tough for kids to answer, especially after a long day at school. Often times you will get these answers...

"Fine."

"Good."

"I don't know.'

Elementary school students' brains are growing and learning every day. Recalling information is something they are practicing on a regular basis. In order to recall information children need specific questioning. Try asking some of these questions and see if you get more of a response:

1. Who did you get to play with today?
2. What's something new that you got to learn today?
3. What made you smile today?
4. Who did you talk to during lunch?
5. What is something interesting that you experienced today?
6. What is something that happened today that you are grateful for?
7. What are you most proud of today?
8. Who is someone that helped you out today? Or who is someone you helped today?
9. What is something you are looking forward to getting to do tomorrow?
10. What is a "glow" and a "grow" for today?

These conversations are important to your child's development and reflective abilities. People who reflect on a daily basis are more in line with their goals and tend to be more successful in life. Our goal is to develop life-long learners.

These questions might be difficult for your child when you first try asking them. If that's the case, give them an example of how you would answer that same question for your day. This models how adults are reflective and gives your child insight into your life and thoughts.

You can even frontload your child. On your way to school. For example, you could let them know that you want to know more about their school day. So after school, you are going to be asking them about one "glow" and one "grow" for the day. So you want them to think about what is one thing that was great (a glow) and one thing that they want to change or get better at (a grow). If they have this concept in their mind when they enter school for the day they are more likely to stop and think about it throughout their day. Especially if it means they will be getting more special connection time with their parent when they get home later. Children love to talk and they love it when adults in their life listen to their thoughts. Taking a few minutes each evening to connect with your child and ask them about their school day lets them know you care about what happens to them in school and most importantly you care about how that makes them feel. I hope this information helps you to strengthen communication between you and your child.

October 5 - MHCC Meeting (see below)

October 6- Early out day- TK/K dismissed at 11:30 am and 1st -5th dismissed at 12:40 pm

October 7- Fall Fundraiser Fun at Lunch (see below in our Fall Enrich Fundraiser Update)

October 10- Fire Drill

October 10 - School Site Council meeting DATE CHANGE (see below)

October 13- Early out day- TK/K dismissed at 11:30 am and 1st -5th dismissed at 12:40 pm

October 18 - Minimum Day for TK and Kinder ONLY 11:30 dismissal

October 20- The Great Shake Out Disaster Drill

October 20- Early out day- TK/K dismissed at 11:30 am and 1st -5th dismissed at 12:40 pm

October 24-28 Red Ribbon Week Activities (more information coming home this month)

October 27- Early out day- TK/K dismissed at 11:30 am and 1st -5th dismissed at 12:40 pm

October 31- Fall Parade (see below)

I have had parents reach out to me about safety in front of our school. Please be aware that it is all of our responsibility to keep our students safe when dropping off and picking up students from school. Please follow all signage and laws when driving near a school. Some of the specific concerns include:

• parking in the loading and unloading zones
• students exiting cars in the middle of the street
• adults not using the yellow-designated crosswalks
• adults walking across the parking lot and driveways
• illegal parking and blocking traffic in the parking lot at Maple Hill Park

The loading and unloading zones should only be used by families who have children who can independently enter and exit the car from the passenger side ONLY. The driver should NOT exit the car. Also please be aware that all safety rules should be followed by adults and students and that includes using the sidewalks to enter and exit campus, as well as using the yellow designated crosswalks when crossing the street. As for the Park parking lot, please follow all safety laws and be courteous to other drivers.

We will continue to educate families and help students stay safe. Unfortunately, we can not regulate drivers' decisions or manage the Maple Hill Park parking lot. If you have concerns about either of these things please contact our local sheriff's department to voice your concerns.

Please join us for our first Maple Hill Community Club (MHCC) meeting of the school year. Everyone is welcome to come and learn more about the MHCC and hear about the great things they have planned for the school year. They plan fun events for students, help our school maintain important supplies, and help to make Maple Hill a wonderful place to come to. This year we plan to hold these meetings in person as long as it is safe to do so. This is a great way to connect with other parents and learn more about how you can help here at Maple Hill. Everyone is welcome.

MHCC Meeting

Wednesday, October 5, 2022

From 8:10 am -9:15 am

In the Multipurpose Room at Maple Hill

Schedule

8:10 am - 8:25 am Light breakfast and get to know other parents

8:25 am - 9:15 am Hear from our MHCC Executive board, the principal Mrs. McNeil, and the teacher representative Theresa Rovira

Thank you to all of the families who participated in our family night out at The Habit. We earned $521.24 for our school!!

I am so excited to announce that our Fall Enrichment Fundraiser was a huge success! Our families raised over $57,000! That is a record!!

The students at Maple Hill have earned all of the schoolwide incentives. We have already enjoyed our extra recess, pajama day, and schoolwide popsicle party. Next up, we are looking forward to a fun Friday at lunch this week. Students will be enjoying some extra fun during lunch recess. Our community club is also busy planning a schoolwide assembly for all students. More information will be coming out about the assembly soon.

Also, our community club will be organizing individual prizes for our fall fundraiser very soon. If you would like to volunteer to help organize prizes, put plaques up on our giving tree, or volunteer to help during our community club events please come to our Maple Hill community club meeting this Wednesday. If you are unable to come to the meetng, but would still like to help please email the community club at maplehillcc@gmail.com and let them know you would like to volunteer.

Thank you again for making this the most successful fundraiser we have had at Maple Hill to date. We have the best families around!

Our School Site Council meeting is open to all parents. The School Site Council reviews and develops the School Plan for Student Achievement and the comprehensive school safety plan. At our first meeting, we will be reviewing the bylaws and roles, and responsibilities of all the School Site Council members. Please join us to meet other parents and guardians and learn more about Maple Hill. Below is the information for our first meeting of the school year:

Monday, October 10th, 2022

3:00 pm -3:30 pm

Location: Maple Hill Multipurpose Room

As of now, we are planning to bring back our school-wide Fall Parade this year. During this parade, students are welcome to wear costumes of their choice that are school appropriate. Please make sure costumes meet the requirements of our school-wide dress code, and do not have fake blood or fake weapons of any kind.

Also, parents and guardians are welcome to join us for the parade. On that day students will enter campus the same way they do every day. If a parent or guardian is planning on staying for the parade, please wait outside the front of our campus until our 8:10 am bell rings. At that time all gates will be closed until all students are safely inside the building. Once teachers have accounted for all students and taken attendance the gate will be reopened for parents to join us outside for the parade. We will be sending home more information later this month.

Due to the changing regulations from the CDC WVUSD will no longer be providing COVID testing at this time.

Families will be receiving an at-home COVID test kit. Your child will be bringing home their test kit this week.

Please remember our goal is to keep everyone safe and healthy as we enter the fall and winter seasons. If your child displays any symptoms or is not feeling well please keep them at home and contact our front office. They will help guide you and let you know when your child is cleared to return to school.

Our SEL enrichment lesson this month will be on having a growth mindset. We will be learning about fixed vs. growth mindsets. Our lessons will include engaging activities and thoughtful discussions such as learning about the power of the word “YET” and setting goals for ourselves. My hope is that your child will develop a growth mindset throughout the unit and beyond. I would love for you to talk with your child about and encourage having a growth mindset at home.

Here are some strategies you can try at home to support your child’s growth mindset:

• Find ways to keep situations positive and find a way to make a negative thought a positive one.
• Discuss goals your child has at home and at school.
• Share your own goals with your child and how you plan to achieve them: both big and small.
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Family Book Guide:

Reading books about growth mindset is a great way to have discussions with your child. It’s a meaningful way to see that your child can relate to others and how it is okay to not be great at something, but still try anyways.

TK/K: How to Catch a Star: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpyR6hJPxiw

1st-3rd: Whistle For Willie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tI_ne9HE5g

4th-5th: The Most Magnificent Thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy3JCNBgb94

• Discuss the way the characters are showing a growth or a fixed mindset in the book.
• Find a character showing one of the mindsets and discuss how it’s making them feel throughout the book.
• Discuss different goals a character in a book may have according to what you have read.

Family Growth Mindset Activity:

Thoughtful Messages: Write positive, motivational messages and place them around the house for someone else in the family to find. You can also do this with friends too!

Forward Thinking Goals: Discuss what it means to have goals. Have your child write down or draw a goal they have and then the ways that they will work to achieve that goal.

Respectfully,

Mrs. Derry

Maple Hill

School Counselor

lderry@wvusd.org

I would like to introduce our new Speech and Language teacher, Miss Cruz. This is her first year at Maple Hill. Her specialty is working with students who need extra support in the area of speech and language development. She has created a resource for families to use. This resource has strategies for helping students develop strong language and articulation skills. She also has included information on when students should be able to properly pronounce specific sounds.

Email: kmcneil@wvusd.org
Website: www.maplehillschool.org
Location: 1350 Maple Hill Road, Diamond Bar, CA, USA
Phone: 909-861-6224