Hillcrest Family Newsletter

We are so proud of what all of our learners have accomplished in such a short amount of time! Classes have practiced routines while already starting learning tasks and assessments. This week, most classes took a screening assessment in math called iReady to check on math skills. Next week, most grades will be taking a closer look at literacy skills.

Our school also conducted a variety of drills this week to practice different safety scenarios. These drills are required by our district and community organizations (for example, fire drills) and they ensure that students would know what to do if there was an unsafe situation. Your children did wonderful and I'm very proud of how our staff do everything they can to make sure the students feel calm and safe throughout the drills. If you have any other questions about any drill, please reach out to the office.

More fun and learning is in store next week! Have a beautiful summer weekend!

To report your child's absence, use one of the two methods:

--> Report via Infinite Campus (directions attached below)

--> Reporting absences via attendance line 262-970-1816 (New number)

Preplanned absences (especially more than one day) need to be reported via a form linked here. Copies of the form are available in Hillcrest's office as well.

There are 10 allowable days for a parent to excuse their child from school each school year. If your child has an appointment or sees a doctor for an illness, get a doctor's note from your provider. This allows us to code the student's absence as medically excused.

We are here to help! Sometimes families aren't quite sure who to reach out to for specific needs or requests. Take a look at the list below to see who to reach out to:

• Dilini Williams - Building Secretary - 262-970-1805, dwilliams@waukesha.k12.wi.us: Urgent student needs, Attendance support, After school PM dismissal changes, Infinite Campus access, School Fees
• (Madi) Joirmadith Oliveras-Borrero - Health Clerical Assistant - 262-970-1815, joliverasb@waukesha.k12.wi.us: Attendance support, After school PM dismissal changes, Medical attendance excuses, Pre-planned attendance needs, Health Room forms, Medications, Blessings in a Backpack

-Before 2:00 PM for Kindergarten to 5th grade students.

• Transportation questions or concerns, please contact First Student directly.
• To communicate with the teacher directly, please reach out via email. Phones do not ring into the classrooms during the school day and teachers find time to check their emails once or twice a day. Staff Directory
• Jodi V. has retired, pls don't email her regarding absences, we are not able to check her email

PTO Meeting: Wednesday, September 18, 6:15pm at Hillcrest Library or join us via WebEx. We will go over year end financials, our upcoming budget, and new plans. All are welcome. If you aren't able to join us in the library, here is the link to join online: Virtual PTO Meeting.

Our first big fundraiser of the year is our Hillcrest Fun Run! We are putting together a planning committee and can use help. If you are interested, please reach out to the Hillcrest PTO at: hillcresthuskiepto@gmail.com

Community Tap Yard Social: Sunday, September 29th, from 12-3pm at Minooka Park Beer Garden. This is open to the public. Bring a friend, enjoy the PACKER GAME and food, while raising money for our Elementary school!

Picture retakes will be on October 14th this fall. On this day, your child can get their yearbook photo retaken or taken for the first time. There will be an online store available for families to order packages as the day gets closer.

Many families enjoy coming early and taking pictures on the first day of school. To help keep traffic flow going and keep everyone safe, please follow these reminders:

• The drop off lane is for students who are able to leave the vehicle without assistance. Adults should not get out of their vehicles in this lane. Students should exit out of the safe side of the car at the sidewalk; not into traffic. Do not drop off students before 8:30AM and folllow the directions of the staff member who is managing the crosswalk and traffic.
• Be sure you are parked in a parking spot when dropping off your child. Don't park on the grass or at the very end of the aisles. We need to keep room for cars to drive through the lot without driving on the grass.
• When walking your child to the playground, use the cross walk that is at the playground (not the one that crosses traffic). It is very hazardous to have people walk across traffic. There will be a staff member at the cross walk helping everyone cross.
• Do not use your cell phone while driving and take your time. We would not count anyone tardy who is in the traffic lane.

All buses are routed and managed through First Student. Please continue to check Infinite Campus through the weekend to see if your child's bus times have been changed. As more students have been routed, bus route times may change and some families are still waiting on routes.

During the first few days of school, your child's bus route will most likely run late as drivers are learning routes. Be sure to use the First Student app called First View - Bus Tracker which tracks your child's bus and will tell you when it is arriving at the bus stop. If you have any questions about your child's route or the status of your child's route, call First Student directly at 262-524-0667. This is the quickest way to connect to dispatch and they can give you the location of the bus if the app is not working.

Aramark provides breakfast and lunch for a fee everyday at school. If you are interested in your child ordering and receiving a lunch and/or breakfast, be sure to discuss this with your child. Lunch and breakfast menus are found on the district website and we've linked the lunch menus for September HERE. Money can be added to your child's account through the Infinite Campus School Store. Families are able to apply for lunch assistance if the cost of purchasing a lunch is a challenge for your family. Applications for free/reduced lunch prices can be found HERE.

For any families who are navigating food allergies or specific dietary needs, Aramark has a very helpful app called School Dish. All ingredient and nutritional information is available through the app and you are able to help your child make health lunch choices from the monthly menus provided.

Please make sure you have communicated the end of day plans for your child with your child's teacher. If there are any changes to your child's end of the day plans, please contact the office at 262-970-1805. End of day changes need to be made by 2:30PM. We check all of our students off before they board the bus so end of day changes should be communicated as early as possible to ensure communication to all parties. Teacher phones do not ring into classrooms during the student day and teachers are teaching all afternoon and do not check email. Calling the office allows us to communicate to all of the needed parties.

All 3rd through 5th grade students use planners every day to keep track of their assignments, reflect on their day and communicate with families. Your child will recieve this planner on the first day of school and there is a cost to families of $4. This year, we are able to assign this cost to you in Infinite Campus and then you can pay as you normally would for school fees. Directions are linked below.

Student absences should reported in Infinite Campus this year. Directions are linked below and you can also call the office and leave a message on our attendance line: 262-970-1816. We've got the "Too Sick for School" Guidelines posted at the bottom of each newsletter as well.