Blackhawk Newsletter

Thank You!

As I'm writing this, I'm amazed we only have 20 days left of the 2021 school year. I am continually impressed with what I see from the young people, teachers, and staff. Thank you all for the support you have shown the school all year. We know this school year has challenged everyone. I do consider this year a success even with the adversity we overcame and were able to do a lot more than other places in the state and country. We are ending the year with plans of a normal start next year.

Staff Appreciation Week:

Next week, May 3 - May 7, is National Teacher Appreciation Week and we are looking forward to celebrating our staff and showing our appreciation for all they do. We will start the week off on Monday with a staff appreciation breakfast. Please join me in applauding our staff for a job well done. They have stepped up to the challenge of providing education while trying to stay safe.

Next year:

As we close this year, it means we will be preparing for the next school year. I am looking forward to being Hinton's full-time superintendent and leading this great team. Our team will be analyzing our data from this year and making academic plans for next year. We will be looking for community input in the future on different school-related items such as our facilities.

School Improvement Advisory Committee:

On May 18, at 5:30 pm, we will have a School Improvement Advisory Committee meeting. This will be in the high school library and prior to the regular board meeting at 7:00 pm. Those on the Advisory Committee will be receiving an invitation and agenda next week.

Assessing Growth

Preschool students are currently finishing their final IGDI assessment and teachers are finalizing their GOLD assessments. TK-6 students will participate in their final FAST literacy assessment of the year during the week of April 26 - 30. They will take their final FAST math assessment the week of May 3 – 7. Results will be shared shortly after we complete those assessments. Thanks for all you do to partner with us by reading daily at home a having students practice flash cards to help your child achieve at a high level.

Field Day

Several members of the elementary staff will be organizing the TK-3 field day this year so it will be a little different. Stay tuned to hear the plans. They will be shared by teachers with their weekly newsletter and/or through Seesaw.

Summer Enrichment

Summer enrichment will be held in the mornings from 8:30-11:30, Tuesday – Thursday from June 15-July 22 for students meeting the requirements in grades TK-3. Permission slips have been sent home with qualifying students and should be returned by May 14. Students will enter and exit through the preschool doors. If you believe your child would benefit from summer enrichment and did not receive a permission slip, please contact your child’s teacher to see if this program is the right placement. Transportation is not provided for summer enrichment by the school district.

Does My Child Need a Jacket at School?

We use 60 degrees as a general guideline for determining if students need jackets outdoors. At times, students will need a jacket when the temp is a little higher due to the wind or moisture. Mornings are often a little chilly, thus, even if it is predicted to be warm, it might not have reached that temperature by the time we have first recess. Please send a jacket with your child so they have one available when it is needed.

Flip Flops

Please DO NOT send your child to school in flip flops. They are fun “at home” shoes, but not safe for school. School shoes must have a strap or some type of fabric that wraps around the back of the heel. Our students go out for recess 2-3 times per day and need a safe sturdy shoe to safely run and play. Asking students to change their footwear each time we head to PE or recess is not an efficient use of our time.

Hy Vee Receipts

Preschool continues to collect the Hy Vee receipts from Sioux City and South Sioux City Hy Vee stores. The last dates that can be on the receipts for this year is April 25th and they must be turned in at school by April 30. The receipts can be given to your child’s preschool teacher or sent to the elementary office.

Three Ways to Prevent Summer Slide

From www.scholastic.com

Many children, especially struggling readers, forget some of what they've learned or slip out of practice during the summer months. Try these strategies to help your reader improve her reading during the summer and beyond:

1. Six books to summer success: Research shows that reading just six books during the summer may keep a struggling reader from regressing. When choosing the six, be sure that they are just right — not too hard and not too easy. Take advantage of your local library. Ask for help selecting books that match your child's age, interests, and abilities. Libraries often run summer reading programs that motivate kids to read, so find out what's available in your area. Also check our book lists for recommendations at http://www.scholastic.com/browse/search?isParent=Y&is Browse=Y&N=2078.

2. Read something every day: Encourage your child to take advantage of every opportunity to read. Find them throughout the day:

o Morning: The newspaper — even if it is just the comics or today's weather.

o Daytime: Schedules, TV guides, magazines, online resources, etc. For example, if your daughter likes the food channel, help her look for a recipe on the network's Web site — then cook it together for more reading practice.

o Evening: End the day by having your child read to you from the book he is currently reading (one of the six books, above). Have him rehearse a paragraph, page, or chapter before reading to you. Rereading will help him be more fluent — able to read at an appropriate speed, correctly, and with nice expression.

3. Keep reading aloud: Reading aloud benefits all children and teens, especially those who struggle. One benefit is that you can read books your child can't, so she will build listening comprehension skills with grade-level and above books. This will increase her knowledge and expand her experience with text, so that she will do better when she reads on her own.

It's hard to keep up a reading routine in a season packed with distractions and diversions. These suggestions will fit into a busy schedule and make reading fun!

Mark These Dates

May 3-7 – Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week

May 3-7 - Spring Math FAST Assessments

May 10 - 9:00 3rd Gr. Learning Experience Hillview (Bring cold lunch)

May 12 – 2 hour early dismissal for staff professional development

May 13 - 8:45 Kindergarten Learning Experience at Sioux Falls Zoo

May 18 - 7:00 School Board Meeting

May 19 – 9:00 2nd Gr. Learning Experience at Hillview (Bring cold lunch)

May 20 - – 9:00 1st Gr. Learning Experience at Hillview (Bring cold lunch)

May 21 - Preschool Graduation; last day of preschool

May 24 – Preschool Summer Program Begins

May 25 - May SOTM Awards: Wear PBIS Shirt

May 26 – TK-3 Field Day (Bring cold lunch)

2 hour early dismissal

Last Day for students

May 27 – Professional Development day for teachers

Blackhawk Nation,

It is hard to believe that this year has come and gone. What a challenging year we faced and it will be a memorable one at that. I want to take the time to thank all the teachers and support staff for the work they did all year. Everyone went above and beyond to make the best of the situation we were thrown in and performed like rock stars. I am hoping when the fall rolls around we can resume to some normalcy.

In addition a big thank you to our athletic coaches and participants. You were thrown curve balls all year and hit it out of the ballpark. We have some huge events coming such as state track, golf, and summer sports around the corner. We all need to continue to follow the COVID guidance and try to get through the seasons without any issues.

I hope everyone has a great summer and can get a chance to vacation and enjoy family. I am also looking forward to seeing everyone back in the fall.

Winding Down the School Year

We can celebrate quite a bit this year knowing how unusual it was and yet how normal it appears we are finishing our school year. To think, we had a large number of our students quarantined at least once in the beginning of the year to now where most of the time we don’t have any students doing distance learning due to symptoms or exposure. This level of consistency in attendance allows us to keep going forward in teaching and learning. It allows us to have our regular school days followed by our extra-curricular activities. It saves staff time and energy in trying to come up with multiple plans to accommodate all learners. It gives hope to our students as they plan ahead for big events that occur at the end of the year like prom and commencement.

This year started off with the themes and mindsets of: flexibility, grace, and patience. Although these themes were necessary for the times, we noticed quickly that the situation we were all in created gaps in student achievement and accountability. It created uncertainty and anxiety for staff, families, and students alike. Fortunately for our school district, the latter half of the school year has been closer to what “normal” is in a typical school year. Yes, we’re still wearing masks until the end of the school year, but everything else suggests normalcy in the day-to-day routines and expectations. This normalcy has created the consistency all of us need to maximize learning and produce desired results. It has allowed us to test all of our students in-person on first semester exams , chapter or unit assessments, and given us the ability to administer the state exams (ISASPs) to all of our 3-11th graders. The results of the ISASPs will give us the opportunity to analyze and disaggregate the data to see where students are at educationally, if they’re on pace or not, and give staff the opportunity to adjust their curriculum accordingly to fill in the gaps if needed.

In addition to the normalcy in learning, I’m proud to announce that we’ve been able to bring in a presenter for a school assembly, had dodgeball tournaments for junior high as well as senior high, had prom, an outing for junior high to go to Hillview, and we’re planning on having typical high school commencement and junior high and senior high awards programs at the end of the year. Thinking about what we’ve been able to do or accomplish compared to other schools or other states, it has been quite a successful year for our students and staff!

Seniors - Please turn in your top 3 scholarships to Mrs. Clausen to be announced on awards day. The scholarships should be to the school in which you will be attending in the fall. The deadline to submit is Monday, May 10.

April PBIS Students of the Month

PK-3 Building:

Landon Taggart, Tillee Harson, Tegan Barry, Lucas Jensen, Aria Fay, Abby Harris, Nora Hunter, Clara Vickery, Grace Vondrak, Owen Schoenherr, Asher Langley, Kendalynn Harson, Henry Renken, Brody Felts, Brody Hill, Birklee DeRocher

4-6 Building:

Kinley Keegan, Jacob Oelke, Mesa Zellmer, Joey Gordon, Faith Kennedy, Kylie Koopmans, Hunter Copenhaver, Piper Woods, Jensen Davidson, Chloey Geddes, Alex Lindberg, Breckin Sharp

Power School Registration Information

Registration for the 2021-2022 school year will be online via PowerSchool’s registration for parents to enroll their student(s) who attended Hinton Community School in 2020-2021.

Hinton’s registration will be accessed through the parent/guardians’ PowerSchool accounts, which every family with student(s) enrolled in the Hinton Community School District needs to have set up. If you have not set up a parent/guardian PowerSchool account, please contact Val Kovarna at 712-947-4329 or Janet at 712-947-4428 to obtain more information on how to do so.

Be on the lookout for more information regarding 2021-2022 fall registration coming out in late June.

End of Year Balances

All monies owed to the school must be paid in full...lunch, 2020-2021 registration fees and all other fees/fines. Payments can be made through SchoolPay.com or payment can be sent to the Superintendent's office. Please contact the Superintendent's office with any questions at 947-4329.

It is already time to think about getting ready for the 2021-2022 school year and be ahead of the summer rush. What do you need for your child for Nurse Tina?

Incoming tk/k- roundup medical papers that you were given in February. This includes a physical, lead level, vision, dental and update immunizations.

Incoming 3rd grade-a vision form which was sent home with your child and your teacher sent you an email from me explaining.

Incoming 7th grade-immunizations to include a Tdap and Meningitis vaccine. Reminder, there is no grace period and it has to be turned into me prior to your child starting. Your child only took home a form if I did not have these on file.

Incoming 9th grade- current dental form. These were mailed to you.

Incoming 12th grade-a 2nd Meningitis vaccine after the age of 16. Your child brought this form to you if I did not have one on file. There is no grace period and has to be turned in prior to your child starting their senior year.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

The Hinton Junior High held the district speech contest Siouxland Speech on Tuesday, April 13. Three eighth grade students represented Hinton along with three students from Mater Dei and Blessed Sacrament in Sioux City. The student speeches centered around Historical Landmarks and their importance. Prime Bank of Le Mars, Iowa sponsored this event. First place winner, Abby Demers of Blessed Sacrament, received a $100 Prime Bank card. Second place winner, Olivia Muchrawth of Blessed Sacrament, received a $50 Prime Bank card, and third place winner, Haylee Jarvis of Hinton, received a $25 Prime Bank card. Congratulations to all students who participated in the 2021 Siouxland Speech contest.

Pictured Hinton Participants:

left to right back row: Gus Stevens, Maria Ernesti, Haylee Jarvis, Rachael McGaffey, Abbey Demers

left to right front row: Olivia Munchwrath, Conan Kirkpatrick, Ruby Harper, and Joy Bishwokarma

Here’s what’s happening in the Spanish classrooms!

In Spanish 1, we’ve just started to study food words (which the students are very interested in) and describing food. We made menus to practice these food words and we’ve watched a lot of videos about people going shopping to help practice the words. The students are doing very well learning new words.

In Spanish 2, we are studying sports words. They just finished a video project in which they had to film a sporting event and be sportscasters describing the event. We had a few basketball games, a soccer game and even some wrestling matches. Needless to say, they were very entertaining to watch! It’s very rewarding for me to watch the students be creative.

In Spanish 3, we are studying restaurant vocabulary and eating traditions. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to take our annual field trip to a restaurant this year, but we are working on alternatives. The students researched traditional foods and dishes of various countries and they also look at McDonald’s menus from other countries. Did you know a Happy Meal in Spain comes with gazpacho which is a tomato soup?

In Spanish 4, we just started a new chapter about television and shows you might see on television. There are a lot of news words and words to describe dramas. Pretty soon, they will be writing and filming their own news story. I can’t wait to see what they come up with!

Congratulations to Hinton FCCLA members Megan Ream and Madalyn Fox!! Megan was elected to be the 2021-2022 Iowa FCCLA state President. Madalyn was selected to represent Iowa as a National Officer Candidate. We wish Megan the best as she spends her year helping lead Iowa FCCLA into new directions. Best of luck to Madalyn as she competes against many other candidates for a spot on the FCCLA National Executive Council at the end of June.

Pictured: Megan Rean (left), Madalyn Fox (right)

We had a great time a couple of weeks ago with dissection. This year we had both 7th and 8th grade doing dissection. The 8th grade didn’t get to enjoy dissection last year because of covid. This year we dissected a frog, worm, and crayfish. A couple things the students really enjoyed included the attachment of the frog’s tongue and the process of systems working together in each specimen.

We have had a great year in science. The students did a great job early in the year with hybrid learning but did realize they do better being here everyday. Good luck to the 8th grade as they continue their education in high school.

Current juniors and parents—it’s not too soon to start thinking about what you want to

do for senior pictures and the photographer or photography studio you want to use.

This summer and coming fall are typically the best times to take senior pictures. If you

plan to use a photography studio (such as Genelli Studios or Bobier Portrait Studio),

some offer early bird specials. No matter who you intend to use, now is a good time to

call around to find the best offers and make your reservation. Below are some studios to

consider and some photographers who have Hinton ties.

Senior pictures (digital version) are due to the Yearbook Staff by March 1, 2022. We need

them as early as possible to create the senior picture pages in the yearbook as they take

a long time to design. If you have any questions about senior pictures, please feel free to

call or email. Sometime in May, you should receive a letter with more information about

senior pictures and the items seniors are required to submit to the yearbook staff.

Thank you,

Chad Sussex

Outgoing-Yearbook Adviser

chad.sussex@hintonschool.com

Tabitha Banks

Incoming-Yearbook Adviser

Several, if not all, have either a website or a Facebook page.

Dan Brouillette Photography: (712) 224-3443

Gene Knudsen: (712) 204-4487

Genelli Studios: (712) 277-4433

Bobier Portrait Studio: (402) 494-5192

Website: hintonschool.com
Facebook: facebook.com/HintonSchool
Twitter: @HintonSchool