Hopkins Elementary School Update

• August 26th - First Day of School - Half Day
• August 30th - No School
• September 2nd - No School - Labor Day
• September 4th - Picture Day!
• September 20th - Homecoming Football Game & HOPE Tailgater at 5 PM
• October 4th - Vike Hike (Oct 7th is the make up date)
• October 15th - Picture Retakes
• October 22nd & October 24th - Elementary Conferences

My name is Sarah Bender and I am joining the Hopkins family as the Instructional Coach. You are most likely to see me within the two elementary buildings within the district. Hopkins is invested in providing individualized professional development to their educators. As a result, the instructional coach position was created. Although my primary role is supporting the teachers, students will also see me in and out of classrooms possibly modeling lessons, co-teaching, or observing. This year will be my 17th year in education. I have had the privilege of coaching educators for the majority of those years. For the past two years, I was an independent consultant which allowed me to support educators nationwide. It was a wonderful opportunity, however, I missed the family feel of being in a school. That is where Hopkins came into play. I accepted this position because of the passion I could see and feel during my interview process. For educators to stay so long in one district, there must be something special happening here, and I want in!

When I am not at school, I am usually hanging out with my husband, Brandon. We've been best friends for twenty years. We have two amazing mini humans who are anxiously awaiting the start of 5th and 7th grade at TK Schools. In my spare time, I love to be outdoors. As a family, we enjoy boating, "mountain" biking, and playing sports (tennis is my current rekindled fav.). I can also be caught hurkle-durkling with a good book or binge-watching tv.

As we start the new school year, you may notice a familiar face at Hopkins Elementary School. We're excited that Mrs. Nylaan will be our new Media Center/Technology Specialist at HES! To get to know Mrs. Nylaan a little more, we asked her a few questions:

• My husband and I both graduated from Hopkins. We stay busy with our 3 children - Chloe (14), Lenox (9) and Zane (5).

• My hobbies include traveling, reading and making things using my Cricut.

• To my future students: I’m looking forward to meeting you all and working with you. I hope to share my love of reading with all of you in the library and help you learn about new technology in our computer lab.

• One interesting fact about me is that I recently fought and beat breast cancer!!

• We chose Hopkins because we grew up here. We love how close knit the community is.