
Hawk Highlights
July 28, 2024
Hello, Highlands Families!
The front office is up and running! We are getting ready for an incredible 24-25 school year and can't wait to see you and your kids very soon.
βοΈ 24-25 School Supply List
ππ» Check it out: 24-25 Elementary Student Handbook
π MVP Training: Interested in volunteering at Highlands during the school day?
- You will need to have a current MVP training certification (good for 5 years).
- MVP Training Date: August 14th 4:30-5:30 @ Center for Academic Achievement Board Room. No prior sign-up required - you can just show up!
Upcoming Events:
- π Class Placement: Live in Skyward on August 9th. You will receive a welcome email from your child's teacher.
- βοΈ Sneak Peek: August 12th @ 4:00-6:00
- Meet your teacher, drop off school supplies, and enjoy popsicles on the playground!
- π First Day of School Grades 1-6: August 13th
- π First Day of School Kindergarten & Pre-K: August 15th
- π Back to School Night: August 28th 5:30-7:00
It's great to be a Highlands Hawk!
Laura LaHue
Principal
Instagram: @HighlandsHawks512
Twitter: @512Hawks
π 2024-2025 Highlands Staff π
Pre-K
Lori Galloway
Kindergarten
Shelby Eberling
Tracie Nolte
Tanner Boman
First Grade
Peyton Sullivan (Clune)
Bridgette Fullington
Second Grade
Whitney Chang
Julie Skahan
Third Grade
Erin Lutz
Des Scheideman
Fourth Grade
Mimi Stopperan
Jamie Diefendorf
Fifth Grade
Erin Parrett
Jennifer Orzel
Allison Sernett
Sixth Grade
Mallory Espeset
Rebecca Durnell
Instructional Coach
Maggie Carter
Interventionist
Sara Weishaar
Educational Aide
Casey McCauley
Building Substitute
Elizabeth Crowder
Art
Nichole Gates
PE
Conner Gadwood
Library
Micaela Emmott
Music
Angie Lunetta
Social Worker
Robin Sutton
School Psychologist
Lindsay Galindo
Speech
Gabby Harrison
OT
Natalie Kaiser
Nurse
Peggy Moellers
SEEK
Sarah Jaynes
Megan Kerr
Karen Bonness
Katie Howard
Resource
Carey Dahlstrom
Kelly Nelson
Karolien Morrison
Front Office
Sloane Junge, Secretary
Monique LaBrasca, Clerical Aide
Resource Paraprofessionals
Malory Hill
Kaci Wyman
Pre-K Aide/Paras:
Blair Sedler
Ronda Stone
Custodians
Darrell Kronk
Patrick Kyle
Stoja Kojic
ππ» Welcome New Staff Members!
Back-to-School forms for the 2024-2025 school year (Online Verification Forms) are now online, and need to be reviewed and signed with an electronic signature.
Steps to fill out forms:
- Visit smsd.org
- In the top navigation bar, click on βSkywardβ and log in to your account.
- If you do not have a Family Access account, please contact Sloane in our front office to inquire about setting up account access. The guardian designated as Family 1 for a student within the Skyward system has the editing rights to complete the forms.
- Under βHomeβ you will see β2024-2025 RETURNING Student Annual Online Verification.β
- There will be directions that walk you through the entire process.
Please complete verification forms as soon as possible. It is a mandatory step necessary for student materials checkout. Students cannot be assigned a computer/device until forms are complete.
Student instructional fees for 2024-25 have been assessed in Skyward:
- These fees can be paid online through e-Funds.
- Families eligible for free or reduced meals should be encouraged to complete the Consent for Disclosure in order to have mandatory fees waived (board policy JS).
ππ» Meet Officer John Chudik
Officer Chudik is an officer with the Mission Police Department and he is passionate about being involved in school communities. When you see him up at Highlands, feel free to give him a warm welcome!
π΄ π€ Belonging at Highlands π€ π΄
βοΈ Highlands will continue the work of belonging and inclusion through the newly-adopted district Social-Emotional Resource Character Strong for grades K-12. We will kick off each theme from Character Strong at our monthly All-School Mindful Moments and continue throughout the month at Hawks Nests and daily social-emotional lessons. The school year will start with a 2-week Kindness Kick-off!
βοΈ Below are the monthly themes (in chronological order) for the year:
π πΈ Rain Dismissal/Front Carline Update
βοΈ βοΈ We will continue with an alternate dismissal plan for inclement weather (heavy rain, sleet, extreme cold, thunder/lightning).
π A message will be sent to parents via email during the day (as time sensitive as possible) to provide notification when the alternate dismissal plan will be used.
π This method is used sparingly and only when student/staff safety is compromised by weather. It will likely take a bit longer than normal, but we will get the hang of it. Your patience and understanding are very much appreciated β€οΈ.
Alternate Dismissal Plan:
- βοΈPlease go through the carline to pick up your child.
- βοΈDo not park in the parking lot and cross the crosswalk as this delays dismissal for all students and creates confusion for both staff and kids.
- πΆπ½ββοΈββ‘οΈIf you do park and walk up to the circle drive, your student is considered a walker.
- π If you are in the carline, your student is considered a car rider.
- ποΈStudents will be dismissed from their classroom as they are called from the walkie in the carline (the walkie calls are transferred to a shared google doc on the projector of each classroom).
- πΆπ½ββοΈββ‘οΈWalkers will be dismissed last.
π Attendance Routines
π«Άπ» We want your children here! Chronic Absenteeism is 10% - or 18 days - of school missed. That comes out to being absent 2 days a month throughout the year.
Chronic Absenteeism in Kindergarten, or even Pre-K, can predict lower test scores, poor attendance and retention in later grades, especially if the problem persists for more than a year.
If your child is struggling to get to school, please reach out to your classroom teacher, Mrs. LaHue, or Mrs. Sutton (social worker) and we work together to provide wraparound support. β€οΈ
Per the SMSD student handbook (reference the "Attendance" section), the Highlands Attendance team will be reviewing chronic absenteeism weekly by proactively communicating with families (via email) when students have reached 7 absences, 10 absences, and 10 tardies.
After 10 absences, documentation will be required for all future absences/tardies. For illness and appointments, a doctor's note will need to be provided to document the reason for the absence.
Highlands 23-25 Chronic Absenteeism Rate: 8.3%
π¨ Safety Drills
Schools are required to have state-required safety drills per Senate Bill 128:
- Four fire drills (one per quarter)
- Two tornado drills (one will be on the state-wide drill in March/April)
- Three emergency procedure drills (one each):
- Code Red β Schools must notify students and parents prior to the drill (stay tuned!)
- Lockdown β No need to notify prior to the drill
- Evacuation - No need to notify prior to the drill
π± β¨ Highlands Wildly Important Goals (WIGs)
HI WIG #1: Implement a system-wide monitoring process that utilizes collaborative instructional teams who meet regularly to review student data from screening, progress monitoring, and common formative assessments (CFAs) to identify next steps for instruction. (Intentional Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 instruction)
- β Lead Measures (to get us there):
- Intentional Core Instruction: Students are doing the talking (thinking); teachers are asking questions to encourage students to think and generalize what they know to new situations.
- Intentional Core Instruction: Teacher teams will use information from CFAs and real-time observations during core instruction to strategically target skills that will accelerate achievement
- Educational Equity: How will we get EVERY student there? A collective responsibility to provide students with what they need, when they need it, and with an urgency to master essential outcomes.
- IXL: students will engage in personalized learning plans using the IXL app to master skills for each priority standard with an 80% proficiency in both ELA and Math.
HI WIG #2: Prioritize social/emotional personalized learning through explicit instruction, modeling, classroom norms, school rituals/routines, and caring attention.
- β Lead Measures (to get us there):
- Character Strong SEL Curriculum: Tier 1 daily instruction.
Attendance Team: The office attendance team will monitor excessive absences by proactively sending out 7-day & 10-day absence letters and excessive tardy letters (10+ tardies) each week.
Chronic Absenteeism rate will be communicated each month via school parent newsletter, as well as grade-specific rates through individual classroom newsletters.
Mindful Mornings: 8:00-8:30 daily, building-wide. Students know they can softly enter the school day through friendship and connection. Device-free.
Schoolwide System of Mentorship: all-school monthly Mindful Moments, Class Buddies, Hawks Nests, StuCo
BIST + PBIS: building-wide system of grace, accountability, and positive reinforcement
Weekly student SOAR tickets
SOAR student store
Quarterly PBIS assemblies + Highlighted Hawks
BIST continuum: Implement buddy pass system and monitor usage/efficacy of buddy intervention