I hope this message finds you well. As we approach mid-quarter I want to thank you for your continued support in your child's education. Please pay careful attention to the information provided below:

• Quack, Quack! The Heart Heroes are back! We had an amazing time this past Friday kicking off our Kids Heart Challenge and celebrating National Red Day! Our students are excited to dive into heart health while making a splash for a great cause! Let’s waddle our way to raising awareness and supporting heart health together. We are determined to keep the energy and remain the #1 school in MCPSS! If you haven’t already, be sure to register your child and download the AHA App to manage your child's fundraising efforts to help kids with special hearts! kickoff!! http://www2.heart.org/goto/hutchenselementaryschool

• February 10th: 3rd Quarter Progress Reports go home (If you have any concerns or would like to discuss your child's progress further, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child's teacher to schedule a conference.

• February 14th: Students are allowed to bring a Valentine treat to their class. If you choose to send a treat, please be sure they are wrapped and enough are sent for each student. Reach out to your child's teacher for any additional details.

• February 18th: 120th day of school parade (1st grade students and parents only)

• Mardi Gras Break (March 3rd - March 7th): NO SCHOOL
• March 14th - Spring Pictures (Students may come to school in spring attire. Please pack tennis shoes for students to change into for PE).
• March 14th: Last day of 3rd Quarter
• March 17th: Teacher Work Day (NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS)
• March 18th: 4th Quarter begins (Attendance challenge begins)
• ACAP Assessments will be administered to all 2nd grade students beginning the week of March 25th. It is crucial that our students are at school and on-time every day. (see more info below)

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please call the school office (251)221-1420 or email me at bowen@mcpss.com

Sincerely,

Mrs. Owen

Principal

Important information regarding upcoming preparations for the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program (ACAP):

First and foremost, I would like to commend our students for their hard work and dedication this school year. The third quarter marks a pivotal time in their academic journey, as we focus on reinforcing foundational skills and applying knowledge in more advanced contexts. Your continued support at home is invaluable in helping your child succeed.

Academic Progress and Focus Areas

At this stage of the year, students are engaging with key concepts across all subjects. Teachers have been closely monitoring progress through classwork, quizzes, and benchmark assessments. Please take a moment to review your child’s grades and reach out to their teachers if you have any questions or concerns. Staying proactive ensures that any areas needing additional attention can be addressed promptly.

Preparing for the ACAP

The ACAP assessments are scheduled to begin in March.

• Daily Attendance: Regular attendance is critical during this preparation period. Please ensure your child arrives on time and is ready to learn each day.

• Homework and Review: Encourage your child to complete all assigned homework and spend time reviewing key concepts, especially in areas they find challenging.

• Practice Resources: We are utilizing practice materials in class to familiarize students with the test format. You can also support your child at home by accessing additional practice resources, which we will share via email and on the school website.

• Healthy Habits: Ensure your child gets plenty of rest, eats a healthy breakfast, and maintains a consistent routine to stay focused and energized.

• Send in a parent note within 3 days of a student's absence.
• Students are permitted 8 parent notes for the school year.
• Attendance is monitored closely.

Arrival Time

1st Bell - 7:40 AM

Tardy Bell 8:15 AM

Students are not allowed in the building before 7:40AM.

Student who are not in their classroom by 8:15 will be counted tardy.

Dismissal Time

3:10 PM

NO EARLY DISMISSALS AFTER 2:30PM.

Parents and guardians are able to access student grades and monitor attendance using My Power Hub. Use the links below to access the directions.

Registration for the 2025-26 school year is NOW OPEN! Register online at https://prek.alaceed.alabama.gov/

Children born between September 1, 2020 and August 31, 2021 are eligible for First Class Pre-K for the 2025-2026 school year.

Each month, you are provided a newsletter that helps connect what we are doing at Hutchens with Capturing Kids' Hearts and ways for you to incorporate our monthly character trait into your home. The February "KINDNESS" Newsletter is available below in English and Spanish.

What is Kindness?

Kindness is the ability and willingness to express care and compassion for others. Kindness is a choice to use our time, talent, and resources to better the lives of others and the world through genuine acts of love, compassion, generosity, and service.

Why focus on Kindness?

• Kindness boosts positive emotions. Acts of kindness create neural pathways that enhance feelings of well-being and the natural flow of feel-good endorphins and neurotransmitters.
• Kindness is self-replicating. When we perform an act of kindness, it is likely to encourage others to act in a similar way.
• Kindness reduces stress and anxiety. Kindness promotes positive relationships with other people. Anything that helps you to build bonds with other people helps decrease anxiety.

Kindness in Action:

• Celebrate small things. Start each day with Good Things as a class. Publicly and privately affirm kind and thoughtful actions and attitudes.
• Create opportunities for students to regularly affirm each other. Once a week, dedicate time for students to write notes of affirmation to classmates and school staff members.
• Model Kindness. Be mindful of body language, tone, and mindset. Kindness is learned by example.

January's theme was "Honor Me. Honor You" Throughout the month of January, we focused on RESPECT!

At the end of the month, classroom teachers selected one student who best represented the character trait RESPECT. Staff members also nominated two employees who exemplify respect. A character breakfast was held to recognize and celebrate these students. A very special THANK YOU to MAX3 Martial Arts - Dawes for sponsoring our character breakfast. We would also like to extend gratitude to our amazing guest speaker, Cory Williams. Thank you for encouraging us to embrace respect in our daily lives and to treat others with kindness and understanding. We appreciate the time you took to share your experiences and wisdom. We greatly appreciate Max3 and your ongoing support to #ourhut.

February 22 - Emily Goff (SPED Teacher)

February 23 - Jessica Calametti (ESL Teacher)

February 26 - Amani Alloul (Kindergarten Teacher)

We LOVE sharing "GOOD THINGS" each day! In addition to sharing GOOD THINGS during our live morning announcements and classroom morning meetings, we are now displaying GOOD THINGS in our school foyer.

If you would like to share a GOOD thing happening in your life, inside or outside of school, please write a brief description and upload a photo at the link below. We look forward celebrating and displaying all the GOOD things happening in our Hutchens community!

We’re excited to introduce a valuable new resource to help schools support families in fostering foundational reading skills beyond the classroom. Our Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, and Fluency Family Video Companion Guides are now available as part of our Family YouTube Series. These videos offer an engaging way for families to actively participate in their student's literacy development, creating a sense of community and strengthening the partnership between home and school.

Click the button below to explore these family literacy resources.

"The Alabama Literacy Act was passed in 2019 to help improve reading in Alabama public schools to ensure students are reading on grade level by the end of the third grade. Reading is the gateway to lifelong achievement and the students of Alabama deserve a strong start on their path to success."

"By third grade, students must be proficient in foundational reading skills in order to comprehend texts. If they are unsuccessful, they will have difficulty understanding grade-level reading material. Students also need strong reading skills in order to learn other school subjects such as science, social studies, writing, and even math." (ARI/The Alabama Reading Initiative)

Watch this three-minute video to learn more!

February is the month of love, and AMSTI loves math! The Early Numeracy Calendar for February is ready to share (in English and Spanish) to support our families with activities and much more! Everyone is a math person; math is all around us, and math starts early!

As safety is our top priority, we are asking that students refrain from hanging out of the car windows while in car line. We are so thrilled to see them in the mornings and love their enthusiasm for coming to school. We just want them to do so safely. Thank you so much for complying with all road rules in car line.

Our students are doing a great job learning their car tag # and listening for their # to be called.

Please continue working with your child on how to buckle/unbuckle independently. Until then, please pull over to a designated parking area to provide assistance to your child. We ask that you do not get out of your car as this creates a safety concern and causes a disruption to our dismissal procedures..

All faculty and staff members have designated areas inside and outside of our campus to assist students with their morning arrival routine.

Please be familiar with our daily schedule outlined below:

6:30am Before School Care Begins

7:40am Before School Care Ends - Teachers on Duty (First Bell Rings)

7:40am Students enter building and report to cafeteria for breakfast

7:55am (Second Bell Rings) Students report to classroom and begin morning routines

8:05am Breakfast ends (students who enter the building after 8:05 will report directly to class)

8:15am Tardy Bell rings

3:10pm Staggered dismissal begins (Teachers on Duty)

3:25pm Teachers off duty

After School Care begins

6:00pm After School Care ends

All drivers are asked to follow the directions of teachers on duty and be respectful to those assisting and directing traffic. When pulling into the carlines, please remember to observe all safety regulations. Parents are asked to remain in their cars during drop-off/pick-up. Staff will assist your child in getting in and out of their car. No person is allowed to walk between vehicles. Please utilize the crosswalk at all times.

Arrival and Breakfast:

Students are not to unload from their vehicles until 7:40 a.m when teachers are on duty and have given the unload signal. Supervision is not available until 7:40 a.m., and doors will be locked.

Car riders, bus riders, and van riders will enter through the main lobby and report directly to the cafeteria for breakfast. At 7:55 a.m, all students are dismissed from the cafeteria/gym to their classroom.

Breakfast is served from 7:40am-8:05am. We encourage all students to be at school by 8:05am as this allows students to eat breakfast and complete all morning classroom routines before the tardy bell rings at 8:15am.

Late arrival/Tardies: Research has proven a direct correlation between school attendance and student achievement. Please make every effort to have your child at school by 8:15am. Students arriving at school after 8:15am are considered tardy. If a student is tardy, a parent or guardian must walk the student into the building and sign them in at the front office. Please strive to have your student at school, on time, every day for maximum learning. Classroom instruction and routines are disrupted when students are tardy,

Early Dismissals:

An early dismissal prior to 11:45am is considered an absence. If a student arrives to school after 11:45am he/she is marked absent for the entire day. There will be no early dismissals granted after 2:30pm. Early dismissals will be granted prior to 2:30pm only to a parent/guardian or a designated person listed as an emergency contact. Parents and emergency contacts must always present identification to the office. It is highly encouraged to make all medical and dental appointments after school hours for students to receive maximum daily instructional time. Students will be allowed no more than 3 early dismissals or tardies to be considered for Perfect Attendance. Excessive absences, tardiness, and early dismissals are also reported to MCPSS Division of Student Services and the District Attorney’s Office.

Change in Transportation: ALL changes in a dismissal routine must be made in writing and sent to your child’s teacher the morning of or day before the necessary change. Changes in dismissal are not taken over the phone, text, or email. We cannot guarantee that a text/email will be checked prior to dismissal. We understand emergency situations arise, but we will not allow constant day to day changes through the office. Please help us with this policy and plan accordingly.

Student Safety is our top priority. A visitor is anyone who is not employed at Hutchens Elementary School. All visitors should ring the bell at the front entrance, report to the main office, show identification, and state the purpose of the visit. All visitors must be listed on the student’s contact information, secure a visitor’s pass, and comply with school policies and procedures while on campus. Volunteers coming to assist at the school are also required to sign in and wear an identification tag. Visitors/volunteers who fail to maintain behavior that enriches the educational environment are subject to restriction from all school facilities, activities, and events. All school facilities are smoke/vape free. Use of profanity is also prohibited (verbal, written, or gestures).

The following procedures are expected to be followed to ensure a safe and positive lunch experience for all students in the school.

• Lunch guests are required to report to the main office to sign-in and show identification.
• Adults visiting for lunch must be listed as a contact to visit the student at school.
• The student’s teacher must be notified BEFORE arriving on campus.
• Visitors must wear a badge/sticker provided by the office staff during check in and it must be visible at all times while in the building.
• Adults may purchase the school lunch ($4.75) or bring one from home. Outside food must be packed inside of a lunch box. No restaurant food bags are allowed.
• Visitors must return to the office after the student’s lunch period has ended to sign out.
• Cafeteria visitors may not visit other areas of the campus without prior approval from the principal.
• Any questions or concerns must be directed to an administrator.

*Please do not attend lunch with your student if you know it will cause your student undue stress when you leave campus.

Personal property (i.e., money, clothing, jewelry, etc.) is the responsibility of each student. These articles should always be kept in the student’s possession. Students should not bring large sums of money or valuable personal property to school. Please label all outerwear, lunchboxes, and water bottles with first and last name.

We LOVE to celebrate our students; however, classroom birthday parties are not allowed. District policy allows two parties per year: Christmas and End of Year.

Students will receive a birthday shout-out during our live morning announcements and also a birthday treat from the office.

With the classroom teachers prior approval, parents/guardians may send a treat/special snack for the child's class. Be sure to check with the classroom teacher for any specific allergies as well as provide a snack for each child in the classroom. If you wish to distribute birthday party invitations, please send an invitation for each student.

Please remind your child about good behaviors on the bus.

1. Always listen to and obey the bus driver.
2. Stay seated the entire time.
3. Never extend your hands, arms, head, or any object out of the window.
4. Keep the aisles clear.
5. Do not jump seat to seat.
6. Always keep hands and feet to yourself.
7. Speak in quiet voice. No yelling!
8. Bottom to bottom, Back-to-Back, Bookbag on lap.

Electronic devices are not allowed during the school day. Students should avoid disrupting classroom activities by not displaying, using, or activating wireless communication devices during the school day. Cell phone usage by students during the school day causes a major disruption to the learning environment. Cell phones have become a distraction to student learning and are the cause of many disciplinary infractions, ranging from bullying to cheating. Should a student bring a cell phone to school, the phone will be securely locked away in a collection box and returned to the student at the end of the school day.

Email: bowen@mcpss.com
Website: hutchenselementary.org
Location: 10005 West Lake Rd. Mobile, AL 36695
Phone: 251-221-1420
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HutchensElem
Twitter: @HutchensElem