Hamilton Happenings
Thank you for your partnership and trust!
Hamilton continues to be strong!
This is my sixth year as principal of Hamilton and I continue to see the impact our investment has on students. You are getting your children to school! You are supporting our staff with wanting kids to make positive choices. Our staff demonstrates care for the needs of students. We teach to empower students to overcome challenges through the power of learning! Together we are making a difference in their lives to show our students they truly are Valuable & Capable! There is a sense of pride our students now carry into school as they know THEY BELONG at Hamilton! I invite you to come visit Hamilton, stay for lunch, and volunteer, we are proud to showcase what's happening at school through our partnership... we're not perfect... but we NEVER quit when it comes to kids!!
Meet our Office Team
We have a new office space and have added a new office team member, Beth Olson! We are excited to welcome Beth who came from Anoka Middle School. Beth lives in the Blaine community and loves to spend time with her family, especially when it comes to watching the Blaine football games!! I share that Beth is new to the Hamilton community so you are aware of her asking a few more questions while she gets to know you.
Safe & Welcoming
This week we began our safety talks in classrooms. This is in support of the Anoka-Hennepin strategic priority to create safe and welcoming school environments. We want our students to know what we expect. Every day we teach and model what it means to be safe and kind. When we are outside of these expectations it impacts student achievement. By learning what's expected, and being accountable to these expectations, we build a stronger and more successful community! For more information go to AHschools.us/support.
Focus on Four
Our 2024-2025 Focus on Four is determined by criteria that both staff and families partner to create. This year's areas of focus are Leadership, Planning & Resources, Culture for Learning, and Instruction.
Title I funds will be used to provide additional staff to support reading and math, and resources that impact learning. Areas of professional development that staff will participate in include Catalyst, Character Strong, Building Thinking Classrooms, and Engagement.
- What will you see? Classroom spaces where students are actively collaborating vs. just sitting at desks all day, you will see our theme days where we use tools that are familiar to your children, such as LEGOS, to solve math equations, you will notice activities to get students connected as a classroom and school community, and you will see students being celebrated for demonstrating our monthly core character values.
- What does this mean? Increased student achievement. Last year we saw an increase of 10% in our Math and Reading MCA scores in grades 3-5 and likewise mirrored in our primary grades with early learning assessments. WE look forward to continuing this success in the year ahead!
Save the Date: Saturday, October 12th for our annual Hamilton Hoopla!!
It's our first PTO family event of the year where we get to know our Hamilton community members!! If you would like to join in the fun, it's $5 per family but no one will be turned away! There will be games and prizes, candy and horses!! Yup... Mrs. Bowman brings her horses for you to meet!!
We invite everyone to join our Hamilton PTO. Our first meeting is on Thursday, September 26th at 6:00pm in the media center!! Hope to see you there!
