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Hawk Highlights
May 14, 2024
It's Bike Season at HI!
Our Hawk dutifully on the lookout at arrival.
Look at all of those bikes!
Hello, Highlands Families!
We are down to last two weeks of the 24-25 school year! Our staff is soaking up our final days with your kids. The coming days will be filled with wrapping up end-of-the year testing (π so much growth to celebrate!), schoolwide community-building and connections, and final learning of grade level standards so your child is ready to rock for the next grade level.
π Field Day is on May 24th:
- Thank you to Coach Gadwood for organizing this event!
- Field Day is an opportunity for our 6th grade students to exercise and implement their leadership skills while running each Field Day station. This is a time for our students to connect with one another throughout grades K-6, and they are so excited to spend time with their class buddies and Hawks Nests groups.
- While this event is reserved for students and staff, families are welcome to view the Field Day events from the outside perimeter of the fence if you would like to swing by and check it out!
Upcoming Events:
- π Field Day: Friday, May 24th
- π 6th Grade Graduation: Tuesday, May 28th
- π Last Day of School K-6 (Early Dismissal @ 12:30): May 29th
π Looking ahead
- 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
β¨ Teacher Appreciation Week: Thank You, PTA! β¨
24-25 Staffing Updates: Welcome, New Teachers!
Allison Sernett, 5th Grade Teacher: Allison comes to us as a 5th year teacher, previously teaching 4th grade in the Kansas City, Kansas School District. She is a SME alumna and is excited to be coming "home"! Welcome to HI, Allison!
Lori Galloway, Pre-K: Lori comes to us with 20 years of experience teaching Early Childhood Pre-K, most recently in the Olathe School District. We are so excited for Lori to join the Hawk Family! Welcome!
π΄ π€ Belonging at Highlands π€ π΄
βοΈ This week, Mrs. LaHue facilitated a "Words Matters: Diversity, Kindness, & Respect" conversation with 3rd, 4th, 5th, & 6th graders. Click here for the framework of the dialogue. Grades K-2 will also engage in a modified version of this conversation, and we are so excited to create our "You Belong" mural in the MPR for next year!
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. Below are themes for each month:
π 2024-2025 Highlands Staffing
Pre-K
Lori Galloway
Kindergarten
Shelby Eberling
Tracie Nolte
Open Position
First Grade
Peyton 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
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 Thomas
Resource
Carey Dahlstrom
Kelly Nelson
Karolien Morrison
Front Office
Sloane Junge, Secretary
Monique LaBrasca, Clerical Aide
Custodians
Darrell Kronk
Patrick Kyle
Stoja Kojic
π πΈ Rain Dismissal/Front Carline Update
Thank you for your flexibility and patience on our Rain Dismissal Days this week! We will continue with this alternate dismissal plan for inclement weather (heavy rain, sleet, extreme cold, thunder/lightning). An 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.
Alternate Dismissal Plan:
- Please go through the carline to pick up your child.
- Do 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.
- Students will be dismissed from their classroom as they are called from the walkie (the walkie calls are transferred to a shared google doc on the projector of each classroom).
- Walkers will be dismissed last.
- If you park and walk up to the circle drive, your student is considered a walker.
- If you are in the carline, your student is considered a car rider.
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):
- Student absenteeism: monitor student absenteeism and create a plan to help students be at school consistently. Students that miss 10% of school days are defined as chronically absent.
- Mindful Mornings: Each morning from 8:00-8:30 will be a time for face-to-face (device-free) connection and friendship. Students know they can softly enter their school day.
- Schoolwide system of mentorship: all-school mindful mornings each month, Hawks Nests each month, classroom buddies, and 6th grade jobs.
- Positive behavior system: of grace and accountability through our PBIS and BIST programs.