From Principal Adams
We have made it to the final month of this school year! Although busy, May will still be rewarding as long as we keep a "fourth quarter mentality" and remain steadfast to "finish strong!" Of course, we must keep the excitement going so our Eagles can remain engaged until the last day of school. One way we have done so was recently hosting our Advocacy-Club Day. Staff have worked effortlessly to bring back extracurricular clubs in which students choose based upon their interest. Offerings include cooking, crocheting, robotics, reading and writing in a foreign language, drumming, African drumming, drawing, dancing, stepping, fitness, and so much more! We even had some students making cotton candy for breakfast! Shhh! 😃 All of this fun is a part of our advocacy program in which club leaders serve as students' advocate, someone they can go to for advice or to have another go-to adult on staff aside from their teacher. We look forward to continuing Advocacy-Club Day next year on the last Friday of each month. If you wish to volunteer as a club leader, please let me know as students and staff will be making new selections at the beginning of the 24-25 school year.
Please reference the upcoming events section of this newsletter as we have many promotion ceremonies. I also invite you to download the 2024-2025 school calendar from the Miscellaneous Files and Forms section below so you can note the first day of school in August and plan family vacations around instructional days. In that section you will also find a copy of the Title I parent letter that was recently provided to families via School Messenger's email feature. We have been designated as a Title I school for the 2024-2025 school year due to our poverty rate increasing to 80.6%. We will plan activities to help our students continue soaring and for families to be engaged all the more. More information will be forthcoming later this month and in August.
Continue to encourage your child(ren) to demonstrate appropriate behaviors while at school. We use the SOAR acronym as a reminder, and it is universal in all grade levels. We have seen an increase in students resorting to negative physical interactions rather than using the correct conflict resolution skills taught and reinforced by you and staff. Your support is greatly appreciated as we continue to remind our Eagles to practice integrity and seek an adult or an administrator if they need support.
S - Practice self-control. Keep hands and feet to yourself. Use kind words.
O - Remain on task in class during instruction and when assigned independent or group activities.
A - Be accountable for your actions.
R - Respect self, others, and school property.
Lastly, we have seen an increase in unsafe behaviors in the car rider line. We ask that you take a moment to review the procedures later in this newsletter to ensure safety of students, staff, and families. Vehicles that drop off children at the exit amidst outgoing traffic or at the entrance after it has been blocked will be reported to law enforcement.
Please contact me if there are questions, concerns, feedback, or ideas to help our Eagles continue soaring.
🦅 #MountUp #WatchUsSoar 🦅
- Teacher Appreciation Week & Nurse Appreciation Week - May 6th - 10th
- May 8th - Grandparents Game Day, 10:00a.m.
- May 10th - Deadline for Class Placement Input, 5:00p.m.
- May 12th - Mother's Day
- May 13th-15th - 2nd Grade Make Up Swimming
- May 14th - PTO Meeting, 5:30p.m.
- May 23rd - Preschool Promotion Ceremony at Southeast Middle School, 6:00p.m.
- May 24th - Kindergarten Promotion Ceremony at Lower Richland High School, 9:00a.m.
- May 27th - No School for Students and Staff: Memorial Day
- May 29th - Grades 1-4 Awards Assemblies at Horrell Hill Elementary School
- Grade 1 - 8:30a.m
- Grade 2 - 10:00a.m.
- Grade 3 - 11:30a.m.
- Grade 4 - 1:00p.m.
- May 29th - 5th Grade Promotion Ceremony at Lower Richland High School, 6:00p.m.
- May 31st - Last Day for Students
Below is a list of SC Ready tests for students in grades 3-5 in May. Please plan ahead to ensure your child(ren) are not absent on these dates. Ensure they are well rested, fed with a nutritious breakfast, and energized with a positive mindset each day.
Writing - May 7
Reading - May 8
Math - May 14
Science - May 16 (grade 4 only)
ELA Field Test - May 21
You are invited to provide input into the type of classroom in which your child is placed as we begin planning for the 2024-2025 school year. If you would like to do so, please send me an email that describes:
- your child’s learning style,
- the type of classroom where you think your child will be most successful, and
- the type of teaching style most suitable for your child
It is helpful for us to know from your perspective if your child needs a very structured environment or a teacher with a higher tolerance for movement and/or noise. If your child is shy, outgoing, anxious, or struggling in a subject, that is information that is important to us also as we work to make the best grouping possible. When we place children into classes, we examine their achievement, ability, and temperament, and then we work to make the best fit with an upcoming teacher. We consider the current teacher’s success with a child, and I review the parent’s input. Please note that you providing the name of a specific teacher will be considered but may not be granted, even if you have some experience with a teacher through an older sibling or a friend’s child. Each child is different, and each teacher/student relationship is different. Further, there is always the possibility that teachers will change positions or grade levels before we return to school.
Many hours and many discussions are put into creating well-balanced homerooms for the upcoming school year. Emails requesting types of teachers and sharing characteristics about your child will be accepted up until the close of business on Friday, May 10, 2024 which is an extended deadline from the last month's HillTop Times publilcation. We will not be able to consider parent input after that date. Once the school year begins, we will not switch classes. Please email your requests directly to me at shannon.adams@richlandone.org. I will keep any information you share confidential. Thank you in advance for your input and partnership!
We have seen an increase in unsafe behaviors in the car rider line. We ask that you take a moment to review the following procedures to ensure safety of students, staff, and families:
- Daily car rider line operations are 7:00-7:30a.m. The first 20 minutes has the least traffic volume.
- Keep traffic moving forward as students can get out of their vehicle at any point between both entrances as long as they are under the awning. Do not wait to stop at the gym door.
- The car rider entrance must be blocked at 7:30a.m. to complete car service in a timely manner and to allow staff to promptly begin instruction.
- Drop off cannot occur at the exit by stopping on Eagle Drive or parking on the grass after the entrance has been blocked. Students coming onto campus amidst outgoing traffic is very dangerous and should not occur as the procedure is for vehicles is to go to the front of the school to sign in.
- Vehicles that drop off children at the exit amidst outgoing traffic or at the entrance after it has been blocked will be reported to law enforcement.
In January, our Student Transportation Services department rolled out the My Ride 360 mobile app. The free secure app, provided by the South Carolina Department of Education, allows parents or guardians to have instant access to their children’s school bus transportation information through a real-time GPS tracker.
Please be advised that improvements have been made to the My Ride 360 app, and it is transitioning to a new platform called My Ride K-12. If you downloaded the My Ride 360 app, you will need to download the new My Ride K-12 app from the App Store (Apple iOS) or Google Play (Android). You must transition to the new app by Wednesday, May 1, 2024. After May 1, you will need to create a new account.
With the new app, you will use the same user name and password you used to log into the My Ride 360 app. Once you have downloaded the new My Ride K-12 app, please make sure that your children’s information has transferred over from the old app. If it is not there, delete the My Ride K-12 app and download it again. When you see your children’s information in the My Ride K-12 app, delete the old My Ride 360 app.
Note: Do not delete the old My Ride 360 app before downloading the new My Ride K-12 app.
Additional information is posted on the Student Transportation Services page on the district’s website (www.RichlandOne.org). Click on the Departments tab and go to Student Transportation Services; you will see the My Ride K-12 link on the left side of the page.
If you have any questions, contact Student Transportation Services at (803) 231-7002.
Stay Connected!
Email: shannon.adams@richlandone.org
Website: https://www.richlandone.org/Domain/20
Location: 517 Horrell Hill Road, Hopkins, SC, USA
Phone: (803) 783-5545
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hhes517
Twitter: @HHESEagles