Weekend Update!

I hope all of our Hillcrest families who were/are observing Rosh Hashana enjoyed the time with your families, and that everyone enjoyed a day off yesterday! For those of you that enjoy this time of year (it is unquestionably my favorite), fall has arrived!

We have another busy week coming up! By Monday afternoon, all gradebooks on Infinite Campus will be completely up to date with your child's grades. It may be a good opportunity to talk about how their year is going, and what adjustments need to occur (if any) in the coming weeks. Additionally, we also have the book fair, signups for parent-teacher conferences, and a PTA meeting. Keep checking back here to stay up to date on everything going on at school. Enjoy your weekend!

Last week, the Town of Trumbull and the Trumbull Board of Education hosted just under 300 people at the Hillcrest Community Forum. This event provided important information regarding the upcoming referendum on the construction of a new Hillcrest Middle School. In case you missed it, here are some important highlights from that evening:

• The video of the community forum on 9/25 can be found here.
• A copy of the presentation slides can be found here.
• The referendum will be on November 5th (Election Day), and the question will appear on your voting ballot;
• The project has a one-time reimbursement rate of 44% from the state of Connecticut, representing an approximately $60 million dollar savings for Trumbull taxpayers;
• Hillcrest is the only school without sprinklers;
• Hillcrest is currently approximately 80 students over capacity, with that number expected to grow to 100 in the next several years;
• This project represents the first step of a larger plan to address all of the buildings in our district. Information about the district’s master plan can be found here.

Our school’s PTA will be reaching out to you directly with more information.

Every year, Trumbull Public Schools proudly take part in the Pink Pledge to raise awareness for Breast Cancer. This important initiative culminates in the annual Pink THS Football Game on Friday, October 18th, at 7 PM at McDougall Stadium. We encourage everyone to wear PINK on this day to show support for the cause!

Hillcrest students can contribute by bringing in $1 or making a donation online. PINK PLEDGE - PINK OUT

As a special incentive, all Hillcrest students who wear pink on October 18th will be entered into a raffle for a chance to win a gift card!

Let's come together and make this year’s Pink Out a success!

Please click here to see a letter with information regarding our upcoming Parent-Teacher Conferences at Hillcrest. We look forward to seeing you there!

Our Scholastic Book Fair will take place in the media center next week, October 8th – 11th. eWallet accounts can be set up here for cashless, stress-less shopping. We also accept Apple Pay, Google Pay, cards, and cash. Purchases can also be made online. Pre-orders for the new Wimpy Kid book are only available online: click here for details and a code for free shipping to your home. For questions about eWallets, click here. To shop online starting Monday 10/7, click here. Grade 6 students, and Mrs. Edwards’ & Mrs. Doran’s 6th period classes will visit the book fair on Tuesday, Oct. 8th. Grade 7 students will visit on Wednesday, and Grade 8 students will visit on Thursday. Thanks for supporting our library!

This past Monday, we began running late buses to accommodate extra help and after school activities. Please click here to see the routes for our late buses. If your child is staying after school and plans to take a late bus home, please make sure you review that document to determine where they will be dropped off.

Join the Hillcrest PTA and be a vital part of our Hillcrest community! Your involvement helps create a thriving environment for our students and supports programs that make a difference.

Membership Form

We're excited to offer several PTA volunteer opportunities within our school! Please consider contributing your time and skills to support our students and enhance our community.

Together We Can

For the safety of our students and to avoid any overcrowding issues, students should only ride the bus they are assigned to unless issued an exception by the transportation department. Drivers are instructed not to admit any student to their bus that is not assigned or has not been given an exception from Transportation. Exceptions should be for child care reasons or emergencies and not used for playdates. Using a school bus for anything other than home to school transportation is prohibited.

Don’t miss out! Order your 2024-2025 Hillcrest yearbook now to lock in our lowest price of the year, $35.00. The price will increase to $40.00 next Saturday, October 12th, so don’t wait! Click here to order.

1.This week, our staff read this article which provides strategies on how to help multilingual students.

2.We are currently reading Smarter Budgets, Smarter Schools by Nathan Levenson, which is timely for our budget season preparation!

Join us in earning cash for HMS by using the Box Tops app. It’s an easy way to make a difference. All you have to do is buy Box Tops participating products (like Cheerios!) and scan your grocery receipt. The homeroom that earns the most for each trimester will win a Box Tops Prize Pack!
Get started today at BTFE.com. Use referral code GZ3U8TZ9 when you sign up.

I know this was shared in our Welcome Back letter, but I would like to reiterate the importance of following our procedure. For the beginning and end of the school day, students may ONLY be dropped off or picked up in the back of the building at Door 13. As you are waiting to drop your children off, please do not park in a staff, yellow parking space. Each space will be used in the back of the building and if a family member is parked in a yellow space, staff will not be able to get into the building on time. Thank you for your patience and cooperation!

The traffic in the back parking lot has steadily increased throughout the week, which I am guessing is a result of the delays we have seen with buses. If you are dropping your children off, I would ask that you please remember the following:

1. Please be patient and drive at a slow speed to be mindful of pedestrians in the parking lot,

2. Please keep the traffic flowing by dropping your kids off and pulling through the rest of the line,

3. Please maintain one line of traffic, not two, as to not inadvertently block teachers from parking in their assigned spaces.

4. Please stay to the right with your vehicles, as to not block the driveway.

As a reminder, Agriscience cannot be used a place to drop off or pick up students. Students who are walking home from school are not permitted to cut through the Agriscience campus.

We strive on a daily basis to provide a safe environment for all students, and to promote safe practices with them as well. We will continue to educate students about what safe behavior looks like and what our expectations are for safe behaviors. We see this as a partnership with our families. I ask that you please remind your children to be kind to each other, to keep their hands to themselves, and that there is never an acceptable time or moment to use slurs of any kind. This article from the American Psychological Association gives families tips on how to potentially address way to have these discussions.

Beginning this school year, parents in PK-12 will now have the ability to report full day absences, late arrivals and early dismissals via their Infinite Campus Parent Portal using the mobile app or website in place of calling the school attendance line. Any parent absence requests should be submitted by 9:00 a.m. on the day of the absence. Known absences may be submitted in advance. The absence request feature is ONLY available to parents via the Parent Portal. For specific directions on how to report an absence via the Infinite Campus Portal click here.

Did you know that Hillcrest has its own Instagram page and Twitter feed? Follow us on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/hillcrestmshawks/. Follow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/HMSTrumbull/ . This is a great resource for families to get a glimpse of day to day life at Hillcrest!

If you think you may be interested in volunteering at some point this year for a Hillcrest event, please fill out this form and return it to the main office. Thank you!

If you are interested in using the Durham Bus tracker app, directions can be found here.

Please see this flyer on helpful tips to navigate the Parent Portal of Infinite Campus.

Principal

Email: brickert@trumbullps.org
Website: https://hms.trumbullps.org/
Location: Hillcrest Middle School, Daniels Farm Road, Trumbull, CT, USA
Phone: 203-452-4466
Twitter: @HMSTrumbull