Highview Happenings

Dear Highview Families,

We had a short yet productive week of school. Many thanks to the Nanuet Elementary PTA for an amazing basketball game with the Harlem Wizards last Saturday. It was an incredible event, and I loved that both Nanuet elementary school communities were able to come together and enjoy good fun and many laughs. Thank you to our families who came out to support this incredible fundraiser - it was the perfect event for a chilly, rainy Saturday in March!

There is a rapid dismissal on Monday, April 8. All dismissal times will be 15 minutes earlier than usual. Walkers will dismiss at 3:05 p.m., and bus riders will dismiss at 3:20 p.m. Additionally, during this time, the Solar Eclipse will take place. We plan to lean into the Solar Eclipse as a learning opportunity throughout the day. Teachers have a number of exciting activities planned for our students. As a school, we will provide industry-approved eclipse glasses for all students to wear as they dismiss from the building. They are from a reputable manufacturer and are verified to meet the ISO 12312-2 international standard. Students will bring these glasses home with them.

On Wednesday, April 10 and Thursday, April 11, we will administer the New York State ELA Test. The school day will begin at its regularly scheduled time. The assessment administration will begin promptly at 9:30 a.m. Please note that our students are not under any time constraints during these assessments. Our teachers have created a calm, quiet environment for students to work. The purpose of this assessment is to provide us with another snapshot of our students' progress as readers and writers.

I hope you and your loved ones enjoy a relaxing, well-deserved Spring Recess. As a reminder, there is no school tomorrow - Friday, March 29. Additionally, all Nanuet Schools will be closed from April 1-April 5. We look forward to welcoming our Highview Knights back to school on Monday, April 8!

Sincerely,

Matthew Lutz

Principal

mlutz@nanuetsd.org

On a rotating basis, classroom teachers nominate two students from their classes to receive a Charter Shout-Out. The class charter is a RULER anchor tool used in all classrooms to help students develop expectations for success as learners and members of the community. The Charter Shout-Out gives teachers the opportunity to highlight students who are living up to their classroom charters.

This week, students from the following classes received shout-outs and were recognized over morning announcements: Mrs. DeGennaro and Mrs. Cooney. Congratulations to Emma (3PD), Aiden (3PD), Victor (4LC), and Jason (4LC). See their proud picture below!

Being the Principal of Highview Elementary School brings me a tremendous amount of joy and pride. I am beyond lucky to be able to work with such incredible students, staff, and families.

Today, I'd like to give a shout-out to the students in Class 3-4 AM. They created AREA ROBOTS to supplement a unit on Area during Math Workshop. At the time of the activity, students were learning how the total number of unit squares represents the area and that they could use the side lengths to help them figure out the area of a rectangle. They also learned that shapes can look different but still have the same area. In this activity, students had to design their own robots. They had to find the area of each robot's body part, and then add the parts together to find the total area of the robot. The students were able to take charge of their own learning and also demonstrate their knowledge of area. It was interesting to see their creativity shine and how each piece not only reflected their knowledge of the concept, but also their personality. Take a look at some photos of their work.. Well done, Class 3-4 AM, and thank you to Mrs. Mitlof, Ms. Colon, Ms. Martucci, and Mrs. Giraudin for inspiring our young mathematicians on a daily basis!

Your child will be taking the NYS ELA test on April 10 and April 11. Testing can sometimes be stressful and seem overwhelming. Students should know that what matters most is they do their best. However, for some, testing can sometimes be stressful and seem overwhelming. It’s important we equip our students with strategies to help relieve some of this stress. Below are some breathing exercises we practice at school which also may be helpful to practice at home.

During arrival and dismissal, the safety of our students is our top priority. Please review this document, which outlines our arrival and dismissal procedures for the 2023-2024 school year. We thank you in advance for your partnership in following these procedures each day.

2023-2024 Arrival and Dismissal Procedures

Please read this document about Caring for Your Chromebook. Nanuet School District provides a Chromebook, charger, and sleeve (case) for each student. Currently, the district fixes and/or replaces devices when necessary but unfortunately, the district does not provide replacement chargers or sleeves to anyone that damages or loses a charger or sleeve. Any student that requires a charger or sleeve after the initial provision will need to purchase a replacement.

The Board of Education is committed to providing a safe and orderly school environment where students may receive and district personnel may deliver quality educational experiences without disruption or interference. We ask that you read and review the Code of Conduct for Grades K-4 with your child. Our goal is to ensure students are engaged in learning while making positive contributions to our school community.

Each week, documents will be loaded to our Digital Backpack, which is linked to the bottom of the Highview homepage. We encourage you to check the Digital Backpack, which is updated every Friday, to ensure you have updated information on important dates, events, and opportunities being offered to students and families.

In early September, our School Counselor, Ms. Lipson, and School Social Worker, Mrs. Weiss launched a monthly Eat-and-Play Challenge for our students. The goal is for classes to work together to follow the Eat-and-Play rules during the lunch/recess periods. They have the opportunity to color in a "square" on an incentive chart. The class with the most "squares" colored at the end of the month gets to shop on our FABULOUS prize cart! There will be at least one winner each month in both grade levels.

For the month of March, Mrs. Merz's class won the third-grade challenge. Mrs. Cooney and Mrs. McGuire's classes won the fourth-grade challenge. Congratulations 3JM, 4LC, and 4KM! We look forward to seeing which classes will win for the month of April!

We are fortunate to have a wonderful Parent-Teacher Association (PTA). We encourage our parents to get involved with the PTA. If you have questions, you can always reach out to our PTA via email at nanuetpta@gmail.com. Additionally, please check out the PTA's Facebook Page and NEW website for more information on how to join this amazing group! Thank you to our fabulous PTA for all you do to support the students, staff, and families in the Nanuet School District!

Nanuet Elementary PTA Facebook Page

Nanuet Elementary PTA Website

As you know, the safety of our students and staff is our top priority in the Nanuet Union Free School District. In an effort to ensure our building is safe and secure, we have made some revisions to our visitor policies and procedures at Highview School during the 2022-2023 school year. The protocols are outlined in the document below.

2023-2024 Safety and Security Protocols - Highview School

Friday, March 29

Good Friday

All Nanuet Schools Closed

Monday, April 1 - Friday, April 5

Spring Recess

All Nanuet Schools Closed

Monday, April 8

School Resumes

Rapid Dismissal Day

Students dismissed 15 minutes early.

Walkers dismiss at 3:05 p.m.

Bus riders dismiss at 3:20 p.m.

Wednesday, April 10-Friday, April 12

NYS ELA Test Administration for Highview

Email: mlutz@nanuetsd.org
Website: highview.nanuetsd.org
Location: 24 Highview Avenue, Nanuet, NY 10954

Phone: (845) 627-3460

Facebook: www.facebook.com/NanuetPublicSchools

Instagram: @nanuetschools

X (Formerly Twitter): @nanuetschools