PHT Paws-itively News

Dear Page Hilltop Families:

I am not telling you anything you don't already know when I say we have some really amazing students at Page Hilltop. In recent weeks I have been approached by students in various grades asking if we can do something to show support for all of the children who are involved in the tragedies that are taking place in Ukraine.

Students asked if we could get a Ukrainian flag to hang with all of the other world flags we have in our cafe. This past week the flag arrived at Page Hilltop and is now hanging in our cafe.

We will also be holding a "Coins of Compassion" school activity from Monday, March 28th - Friday, April 15th. All Page Hilltop students, staff & families are invited to consider donating any coins you may like for this cause. We will accept any and all coins that you may wish to donate, beginning with a single penny. We ask that you make this a family project and discuss it with your children. As adults, you may choose to go without your morning cup of coffee on a certain day and instead donate that amount of coins. If students happen to receive a weekly allowance, perhaps they choose to donate a portion of that amount. If they don't currently receive an allowance, perhaps they can do a special family chore and earn a few coins to donate.

There will be a collection jar outside the cafeteria where all donated coins may be placed. This will allow students to view the "Coins of Compassion" collection each day as they go to breakfast/lunch.

All donations received by April 15th will be sent to the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) who will use the funds to help provide support for the families of Ukraine.

On Friday, April 15th we will tally the donations and make a school announcement. All students and staff are encouraged to wear "Blue" and "Yellow" on that day.

Thanks, as always, for sharing your children with us!

Fred Deppe, Principal

Matt Lutinski, Assistant Principal

• March 28th -- Trimester 2 Report Cards Issued
• March 31st -- 1/2 Day (Preschool - 5) for PTC Dismissal @ 12:15 -- Lunch offered
• April 1st -- 1/2 Day (Preschool - 5) for PTC Dismissal @ 12:15 -- Lunch offered
• April 1st -- Wear BLUE to recognize Autism Awareness Day
• April 4th -- 5th Grade ELA MCAS Session 1
• April 6th -- 5th Grade ELA MCAS Session 2
• April 7th -- Lynch Leadership Academy Site Visit
• April 7th -- PTO Meeting via ZOOM
• April 11th -- Bike Rodeo on Playground @ 3:30
• April 12th -- 4th Grade ELA MCAS Session 1
• April 13th -- Early Release Dismissal @ 1:45
• April 14th -- 4th Grade ELA MCAS Session 2
• April 15th -- Wear BLUE & YELLOW for Ukraine
• April 18th - 22nd -- April Vacation
• April 25th -- 3rd Grade ELA MCAS Session 1
• April 27th -- 3rd Grade ELA MCAS Session 2
• April 29th -- Class Color Competition -- see details below

Friday, April 1st: Wear blue to support World Autism Awareness Day which will officially take place on Saturday, April 2nd with the worldwide observance of "Light It Up Blue" Day.

Friday, April 15th: Wear blue and yellow to support Ukraine

Friday, April 29th: Class Color Competition -- Each grade wears their assigned color, and we will see who has the most school spirit!

• Preschool -- Red
• Kindergarten -- Red
• 1st Grade -- Orange
• 2nd Grade -- Yellow
• 3rd Grade -- Green
• 4th Grade -- Purple
• 5th Grade -- Blue

The preschool team participated in creating our Down Syndrome Awareness window. Preschool students colored colorful socks during class. A few students wore socks in recognition of The Rock Your Socks campaign on Monday, March 21st.

The preschool team will also be decorating our window for Autism Awareness Day on April 2. We will be celebrating it on April 1 by wearing blue that day. Please wear your blue to show your support of Autism Awareness Day!

Our PTO is sponsoring a "Build a Panther and Panther Pals" fundraiser event. Use this link to purchase your stuffed animal kit and build it together via ZOOM on April 6th! Limited quantities still remain.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOURS!

You can build a...

• Panther
• Panda (Sold Out!)
• German Shepherd (Sold Out!)
• Black Bear
• Sponsor a Kit! -- this kit will go to a deserving student

On April 3rd the Ayer Shirley Regional Middle School will be hosting a blood drive to benefit a school community member who is in need. See poster below:

On Friday, March 25th, 27 3rd graders from Page Hilltop Elementary put on a performance of Munchkin Mediation for their families and classmates. The play was organized by Mrs. Bezerra and her daughter, Sabrina Bezerra, as part of a high school community service project. Donations were collected in order to help raise money for the upcoming field trip to Plimoth Plantation in June of 2022.

It was fantastic to see everyone back in the Cultural Arts for our first live performance in two years. Great job third graders, you all did phenomenal.

MEET THE CAST -- CLICK HERE

Special "Thank You" to Mrs. Bezerra, Mrs. Reeves, Mrs. Newman, Mrs. Richter, Mrs. Cowley, and show producer / choreographer Sabrina Bezerra.

Our friends from APAC were in attendance to videotape the show. We will let you know when that video is ready for release.

ASRMS proudly presents Annie Jr. Tickets will be sold for $7/adults, and $5/children.

April 8th and 9th @ 7:00 pm

April 10th @ 2:00 pm

All Page Hilltop students are invited to participate in our annual "Kindness-Theme T-Shirt" contest. All you have to do is to create a t-shirt design that has words/symbols/graphics of anything having to do with "kindness". Draw a picture of your t-shirt design and send it to the office. All designs should be black & white (no colors). Please send your design to the office by Friday, April 15th. PH staff will review all of the entries and vote on their favorite. The winning design will then be printed on t-shirts which will be on sale to all PH families.

CHECK OUT THE 2022 SUMMER OFFERINGS FROM THE AYER PARKS AND REC. -- CLICK HERE

If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Jeff Thomas @ parks@ayer.ma.us

Officer Bigelow has requested that we change the date of the bike rodeo, due to the fact that she will be involved in some APD training on the original date. The new date is Monday, April 11th @ 3:30 with a rain date of Thursday, April 14th. Parents will be allowed to drop off students' bikes at any time during the day. A sign-up form will be sent home the week before the event.

On Tuesday, April 5th we will be observing "Good Manners Day" during all lunches. Now I think we all agree that good manners should be used every day and I know we have very polite students at Page Hilltop. We are just going to have a little fun competition to say how many "Please" and "Thank You"s we hear as students go through the lunch line.

Members of our Panther Power team will have two meetings to look forward to in April. On April 11th the 4th and 5th-grade team members will be involved in a community service activity as they assist Officer Bigelow and Mr. Deppe at the bike safety rodeo. On April 25th we will have a special guest attending our meeting as we discuss the roles of a leader.

Remember to wear your t-shirt to school on these two days.

Dr. Lance's Class: In these photos, students are reading a Scholastic Storyworks article and then answering questions about the article. Students had the choice to partner read the article, read it by themselves, or listen to the audio of the article online. They also had the choice to answer the questions on a Google Slide deck in Google Classroom, or hand write the answers on a paper worksheet.

Dr. Lance's Class: In this science lesson students were learning about watersheds. After creating a landscape by crumpling a piece of paper and then spreading it out on a tray, students marked the ridges with one color and predicted the path of runoff water and where the water would pool. They then made it rain on their landscape and saw where the water washed out as it ran down the mountainsides. They were then able to identify the different watersheds in their landscape!

Mr. Whittemore challenged his fifth-grade students to demonstrate kindness & respect each and every day. Each time his students received an "unsolicited compliment" from some PH staff member, Mr. Whittemore would write a single letter of his name on the class whiteboard. Starting with a "W" his students have been collecting compliments and letters and this past week made it to the final "e" in his name. Mr. Whittemore rewarded all of his students with a pizza party!

Mrs. Colello's Class: Mrs. Colello's class was very busy this week. Below are some pictures of the class working on Fundations literacy centers and creating their landform maps for Social Studies.

Page Hilltop is looking for people interesting in providing coverage for classroom teachers and paraprofessionals (on an interim substitute basis). Interested applicants must submit a copy of this application. Applicants, if hired, will need to complete a CORI in the main office and also be fingerprinted. Please email Fred Deppe, at fdeppe@asrsd.org if you have any questions.

Current Employment Opportunities can be found on SchoolSpring -- CLICK HERE

Preschool and Kindergarten registration is now open for the 2022 - 2023 school year. Check out our website -- CLICK HERE

Preschool Registration Slide Deck -- CLICK HERE

Preschool Registration Packet -- CLICK HERE

Kindergarten Registration Slide Deck -- CLICK HERE

Kindergarten Registration Packet -- CLICK HERE

To opt into this new testing program use the link to this Google Form -- CLICK HERE

Testing kits will be sent home with students every other Tuesday. Students will need to test at home by 6:30 pm every Tuesday and report positive cases only using the QR code to the Google Form provided with testing kits.

All parents of 3rd, 4th and 5th-grade students should have received a copy of the spring MCAS testing dates. We ask that you do your best to avoid scheduling any appointments on those dates.

ELA MCAS:

• Grade 5: April 4 & 6
• Grade 4: April 12 & 14
• Grade 3: April 25 & 27

MATH MCAS:

• Grade 4: May 10 & 12
• Grade 5: May 16 & 18
• Grade 3: May 17 & 19

STE MCAS (5th-Grade Only)

• Grade 5: May 23 & 25

NEXT PTO MEETING: Thursday, April 7th @ 7:00 PM via ZOOM

PTO Website -- LINK

PTO Facebook Page -- Link

Are you an Amazon shopper?

Did you know just by shopping with smileamazon.com you can help support PH!?

Create a FREE SMILE ACCOUNT and link it to Page Hilltop.

Share with family and friends so they can help support PH too!

BOX TOPS
YES, Page Hilltop can still earn with Box Tops!
Here is a video on how to Scan with the Box Tops Mobile App YOUTUBE BOXTOP

SCRIPS YEAR ROUND
The PHT PTO scrip program is a simple and effective fundraising program.
Please email Amanda Lewis at alewis@asrsd.org with any questions regarding the Scrip Program.
Go to: https://www.shopwithscrip.com/how-to-enroll and click Join Your Existing Program
1. Enter the Enrollment Code: 298736BL13535
2. Complete the Family Registration page
3. Start Shopping!