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Hillcrest Newsletter
April 2024
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Farewell...
As I sit down to pen this letter, I am filled with a bittersweet mix of emotions. After three years of serving as Principal of Hillcrest, it is time for me to bid adieu to this wonderful school community and all those who have made it feel like home.
To my dear students, you have been the heartbeat of our school. Your laughter, curiosity, and achievements have made each day an adventure. I have watched you grow, learn, and evolve into remarkable young individuals, and it has been an honor to be a part of your journey.
To the parents and guardians, I extend heartfelt gratitude for your support and trust over the years. Your involvement in your child's education has been instrumental in fostering growth within our school.
As I embark on a new chapter in my professional journey, I leave behind a piece of my heart at Hillcrest. While I may be bidding farewell to my role as Principal, the memories and relationships forged here will remain in my heart forever.
Wishing you all continued success, happiness, and fulfillment in the journey ahead.
Go Mini Cardinals!
Mrs. Hebert
Before School
A reminder that playground supervision starts at 7:15 a.m. Please have your child(ren) head directly to the playground unless it's an Indoor Recess day. Students should not be left waiting out front unattended until the bell rings.
Thank you!
Dates to Remember
May 1: Forward Bowling-3rd grade
May 2: 4th/5th Grade Concerts
May 6: 4th Grade to Beaver Creek
May 8: Forward Bowling-5th grade
May 9: 1st Grade Grandparents Day Concert @ 9:00 a.m.
May 9: Kindergarten Spring Sing @ 1:00 p.m.
May 9: 3rd Grade to Past Passed Here
May 10: 4th Grade Wax Museum
May 15: Forward Bowling-4th grade
May 17: Safety Patrol to Action City
May 21: 5th Grade Track & Field (May 23 rain date)
May 21: 2nd grade to Pioneer Village
May 22: 3rd Grade to Irvine Park Zoo
May 27: No School, Memorial Day
May 29: HC Carnival Day
May 29: NEW LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
May 30: NO SCHOOL, Staff Professional Development Day
Ms. Heidi's Last Day in the Office
Nicole Pierson-Francis will be taking over as the Administrative Assistant. Her email is: piersonm@chipfalls.org
Important Update: Change in Last Day of School for Elementary Students
We wanted to inform you of a change in the last day of school for elementary students. The new last day will be on May 29, 2024, instead of the previously scheduled May 30, 2024. Please note that this change is only for our K-5 students. 4K, MS, and HS students will still have school on May 30th.
This adjustment is necessary to provide teachers with dedicated time to begin training as mandated by the state under Act 20 for all public schools. Act 20 initiates a statewide adherence to science-based early literacy instruction to address low reading proficiency across the state.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out.
Susan Kern, Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction
Katie Coppenbarger, Director of Curriculum and 4K
Elementary School Report Cards
Report cards for all elementary school students will be available in Infinite Campus on June 4, 2024. Paper copies will be sent home to families on that day as well.
All School End of Year Party
Our Mini Cardinals will be celebrating the end of the year with an all-school party! It will be held on Wednesday, May 29.
There will be different stations that grade levels will rotate through.
The Hillcrest PTO will be organizing volunteers. More information to come!
Yearbook Order
If you ordered a yearbook, it will be handed out to students the last week of school.
On June 1st, the Strawbridge Online Portal will reopen for any parents/guardians who forgot to order a yearbook.
Enter code: YB29472 to order a Hillcrest yearbook. These will be shipped directly to your home. Yearbooks are $10. The shipping charge is $10.
This link won't be active until June 1st so please don't attempt it beforehand.
Library End of the Year
Important dates:
Thursday, May 9: final student checkout (students will be encouraged to keep books at school)
Thursday, May 23: all student library materials due
Students will receive a slip regarding any fines for missing materials. Let's avoid fines and get missing books turned in!
Thank you!
-Mrs. Vergin
Are You Moving?
Please fill out this form to alert the school to any changes in your child’s attendance area for next school year as soon as you are aware of changes (upcoming moves, parochial school, etc.)
We are starting to create class lists for the 2024-25 school year and need to know of changes that will affect our student count.
Bowling Field Trips
To celebrate completing the Wisconsin Forward Exams, 3rd-5th grade classes will be going to Falls Bowl. The cost of the field trip and bussing are covered.
Students will leave school around 8:50 a.m. the day of their trip. They will bowl for around two hours and will be back in time for lunch. There is not enough bowling shoes to go around, so please have them wear tennis shoes that day.
Dates
May 1st-3rd grade
May 8-5th grade
May 15-4th grade
From the Hillcrest PTO
The next PTO meeting will be Thursday, May 16 at 6:00 p.m. in the Hillcrest Library. This is for any Hillcrest parent, guardian, or teacher. Join us whenever you are able! On the Agenda: School Carnival Planning, Hillcrest New Playground Project Sub-Committee, Increasing 2024/25 Teacher Stipend Grant.
- Volunteer for the School Carnival: Sign-up form coming soon! Keep an eye out for the volunteer form coming later in May to volunteer during the end of year carnival. Save the date for May 29th, the last day of school.
- Can you help with a certain project? The PTO Needs You. We need your skills, experience, for an hour or two each month. Let us know if you can help out with a certain project: Holiday Store, Hillcrest New Playground Project, Read-a-thon, or Family Entertainment Nights.
Staff Volunteered at Agnes' Table
On April 22nd Hillcrest staff volunteered their time to cook and serve a meal at Agnes' Table. Our students and staff held two hat days to help reach our $200 goal that helped make our volunteering possible! We are so thankful for all of your support!
Readathon Update
Hillcrest Elementary Students read 105,000 minutes and raised over $14,500 during the Readathon held March 18 - 27, 2024.
Second grader Aliyah Rude read 2,165 minutes as the top reader and fourth grader Tiegan Custer was the top reading fundraiser with $500. Mrs. Afton Sarauer’s fifth grade class read 14,659 as the top reading class with Mrs. Colleen Kunsman’s second grade class brought in $1,940 as the top fundraising class.
All $14,500 will go back into Hillcrest Classrooms through the Hillcrest Parent Teacher Organization Stipend Program, help pay for field trip transportation for every single classroom, and support a kickoff donation to the Hillcrest New Playground Project. The stipend program supports purchases like accessible seating, science experiment supplies, student incentives, and other important learning opportunities.
Hillcrest Elementary is so thankful for our generous community and is ecstatic to keep the love of reading rolling!
Special guest readers volunteered their time to inspire Hillcrest readers. We are thankful to the Chippewa Falls Fire Department, Jessi Peterson, Youth Librarian from the Chippewa Falls Public Library, and Joe Niese, local author and Director of the Chippewa Falls Public Library.
Upcoming Concerts
Door #6 (gym door) will be open 15 minutes before each concert!
Energy Competition
The “Electricity Cardinals” from Hillcrest won the 2024 spring Renew Our School statewide energy conservation competition!
This was the youngest team in competition history to win the overall competition. Three 2nd grade classrooms of Mrs. Kunsman, Ms. Kupzcak and Mrs. Downey collaborated with the High School’s Environmental Club to form the Electricity Cardinals team.
The competition is a joint project between Resource Central, the UW-Stevens Point KEEP program, and Focus on Energy. The goal was for students to learn about energy consumption and energy conservation at Hillcrest Elementary School through a variety of tasks and challenges over a six week period.
The students completed an energy audit of the school to determine how much energy was used by lighting, heating and appliances. The Electricity Cardinals acquired the tools necessary for the energy audit with donations from KEEP and by previous fundraising efforts of the Environmental Club.
The team used data to establish energy conservation goals and then worked on communicating with students and staff about ways to conserve energy. The high school students' role was to facilitate discussions, create lesson plans and utilize KEEP activities to teach the 2nd grade classes on how to monitor energy use and reduce energy consumption. As part of the competition the school received an eGauge device to track electricity use in ‘real-time’ at the Elementary School.
During the six-week competition, the Electricity Cardinals completed a variety of energy conservation and education challenges and actions that earned points for the group. Ellie Crosby, Chloe Johnson and Zoey Eckwright wrote a KEEP grant for $700 to buy advanced power strips that conserve energy from ‘vampire’ electronics. They anticipate saving over $1000/yr in electricity costs by using these power strips with the classroom Smartboards.
Overall, this student-led team effort earned the Electricity Cardinals 590 of the 600 possible points! They had the highest score statewide! Their efforts earned Hillcrest $2,000 to use towards future energy conservation projects.
From the Nurse
From the Nurse
If your child takes a daily medication at school, please send only enough doses to get your child through the day on May 29th, 2024. Any extra medication will need to be picked up on or before the last day of school by a parent or it will be disposed of.
If your child has an emergency medication at school (ex. EpiPen, Diazepam), arrangements will need to be made for pick up. Reminders to get them will be sent home before the end of the year. Inhalers will be sent home in your child’s backpack if they are not picked up before the last day of school.
If your child has any medication at school that is not taken on a regular basis, (ex. Tylenol, Ibuprofen, cough drops, cough syrup), please make arrangements to pick up this medication before the end of the school year. Any medication left in the health office at the end of the last day of school will be disposed of.
Wisconsin Immunization Requirements for the 2024-2025 School Year
FOR INCOMING KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS:
Wisconsin state law requires students to be immunized within 30 days from the start of school. Below are Wisconsin immunization requirements:
● 4 doses of DTaP, DTP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis/whooping cough) or DT(diphtheria, tetanus) vaccine. A dose may be needed for children entering kindergarten if one of the DTaP doses was not given after the fourth birthday.
● 4 doses of polio vaccine
● 3 doses of Hepatitis B vaccine - at least one dose must be after 6 months old
● 2 doses of MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine
● 2 doses of Varicella (chickenpox) vaccine
ATTENTION SOON TO BE 7TH GRADERS: The Wisconsin Student Immunization law requires a Tdap, the adolescent combination vaccine that protects against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (whooping cough). Please get these immunizations updated during the summer and turn in your immunization record to the health office at the Middle School. Immunizations must be completed within 30 days of the start of school.
From the On-Site Chiropractor
Wrapping up the school year can cause extra stress. Neck pain, muscle tightness, headaches and fatigue are all symptoms of stress, even in children. Chiropractic adjustments help the spine release the tension held in muscles, which relaxes the body, reducing stress.
Contact us at onsitechiroinfo@gmail.com if you’d like us to help your child wrap up the school year with chiropractic care.
Did you know that we offer care to students during the summer months as well? Our team of doctors have specific hours over the summer to continue care for all our school chiropractic students. Let us know if you have any questions by emailing or call 715-382-6864.
Chi-Hi Football Camp
All questions should go to Owen King (kingoc25@chipfalls.org), a high school student in charge of organizing the camp.
Parent Communication
Parents/Guardians should set up an Infinite Campus Parent Portal.
Gives You Access To:
- attendance
- report cards
- schedules
- homework assignments
- pay fees/lunch
If you are a split household, you can have two accounts.
Please keep your information updated in case of emergency! You can update your address, phone numbers, email addresses in Infinite Campus.
Need help? Call our help desk at 715-726-2413 for assistance.
Treats in the Classroom
Treats brought in to school should be:
- store bought with a clear nutrition label
- be mindful about choosing treats that may contain tree nuts and/or peanuts (can ask teacher or health office if classroom is nut free)
Why?
- certain students and staff with health conditions that may require dietary accommodations
- important that they are able to review a food's nutrition label before choosing to omit or consume certain foods.
Office Procedures
Arriving Late?
- Parents do not need to enter school
- Students report to the office to sign in
- Call or email Ms. Heidi if running late or have appointment
Picking up early?
- Call the office beforehand
- Guardian will need to come into the office to sign out
Keeping Your Child Home?
- Call the Main Office before 8:45 a.m. or an automated dialer will be sent out. If you do not call in, your child will be marked unexcused.
- Please let the office know and don't rely on the teacher to relay the message
715-726-2405 or email solinhm@chipfalls.org to report absences.
Breakfast/Lunch
Meal prices for 2023/2024
Elementary Breakfast: $0.35
Elementary Lunch: $2.25
**If you qualify for free or reduced price lunches there is no charge for breakfast or lunch.
**You can use the Infinite Campus Parent Portal to put money onto your child's lunch account or you can send exact cash/check to the Main Office.
Transportation Changes
- Call ahead (by 2:15 p.m.) if you have a transportation change for the day.
- For the safety of your child, unless it's an emergency, we ask that you do not make changes after 2:15 p.m.
- Contact Chippewa Yellow Bus more than 24 hours in advance at 715-726-2454 if you have any bus changes or requests.
- Hillcrest can't authorize bus changes.
ALL changes need to be called in to the Main Office and not to the teacher in case there is a sub in the room that day.
Hillcrest: 715-726-2405
Cardinal Community Learning Center
Cardinal Community Learning Center has programming opportunities to meet the needs of our students, families, and community!
School Board Update
May RCU School Sense!
The last day to save at school before summer break was Tuesday April 30th. However, don’t take a vacation from your great habit of saving money. Royal student savers can deposit at any Royal office at any time, and they can even continue to earn stamps on their Super Saver Card.
District Notice
Upon request to the building administrator, submitted twenty-four (24) hours in advance, the District shall make reasonable accommodation including the provision of informational material in an alternative format as necessary for a disabled person to be able to participate select activities.
About Us
Email: solinhm@chipfalls.org
Website: https://cfsd.chipfalls.k12.wi.us/hillcrest/
Location: 1200 Miles Street, Chippewa Falls, WI, USA
Phone: 715-726-2405