Dear HCE Families,

Welcome to those new families joining our Hillcrest school family and those returning members of our community. I hope this letter finds you rested, relaxed and ready for another school year. I hope these past months have provided quality time with your friends and family. For me, it has been a busy summer! Personally, I have enjoyed time traveling to beautiful Italy and relaxing with my family and friends. Professionally, I have been steadily preparing for the upcoming school year. I am looking ahead to this school year with great enthusiasm and anticipation.

On Monday, August 19th, class assignments will be open in HAC @ 9AM. I encourage you to visit HAC to learn your child's classroom teacher. Thank you for your cooperation in not requesting changes and for the understanding, trust, and support you bestow to our staff to place your child in the best setting for success. Much time, effort, and collaboration goes into placement for each student; including the parent input that you had an opportunity to provide last spring. Please know that the teachers and staff always have your child's best interest at heart!

Below is some important information regarding staffing updates & important upcoming dates/events.

I'm looking forward to an awesome school year!

Nakia Jones-Tate, Principal

At times, staffing changes occur within a school for a variety of reasons: organizational/personal growth; ever-changing student needs; life changes (i.e. retirement), etc. Concurrently, student needs are always kept as a top priority when making such changes.

Fond Farewell

Debbie Grant- Instrumental Music/Band-retirement

Donna Dallas- Instructional Assistant- retirement
Marge Pero- Instructional Assistant- retirement
Anne Braverman- Instructional Assistant- retirement
Bonnie Schramm- Instructional Assistant- retirement

Michelle Rayher- Title 1 (district re-organization)

Welcome

Michelle O'Donnell- Cafeteria Aide

Kelly Dougherty- Instructional Assistant
Clarissa Garvey- Title 1 Assistant
Wayne Bishop- Instrumental Music- Band Teacher

Welcome Back

Teresa Mazzella- Cafeteria Aide 3.5 hours

Judith Young- Clerk Typist

Lynne McHale- Instructional Assistant

Cat Hopkins- BCIU OT- Congratulations on Baby Girl Hopkins!

Position Changes

Danielle Brisgone from Title 1 to Instructional Assistant
Jennifer Jainnini from clerk/typist to Instructional Assistant

We thank you for your patience as we continue to update our teacher webpages. Please keep in mind that new teachers may not have a CRSD email address or webpage yet. However, the IT department is working to get these activated as soon as possible.

NO RSVPs Needed

Families have an opportunity to take a self-guided tour of our beautiful building

Meet your teacher, specialists and fellow classmates

Meet our PTO

Bring those heavy school supplies to drop off in the classroom OR pick up your 1st Day of School Supplies from the PTO (more information from PTO to follow)

Reminder: this is not an appropriate time to conference with teachers as the classroom will be filled with other parents and students. Should you need to speak with your child's teacher, please schedule a meeting for another time/date.

Open House Ends at 10 AM

Dear Parents/Guardians,

If your son/daughter will require prescribed medications or additional medical supplies during the school day, please stop by the school on Tuesday 8/26 or Thursday 8/29 from 9:00 am-3:30pm. If you are unable to make this drop-off time; please contact the school nurse to make an appointment at stentilucci@crsd.org or 215-944-1609.

- Medications must be delivered by a parent/guardian or responsible adult; will not be accepted without physician orders/action plans signed by the physician & parent; must be in the original pharmacy labeled container; and must not be expired in accordance with our medication policy.

- Extra copies of all forms may be found on our district website under Department/Special Services/Health Services-Medications/Medical Procedures in School.

Susan Tentilucci

Certified School Nurse

stentilucci@crsd.org

215-944-1609

As many of you know we take great pride in celebrating students who are caught following the ROAR RULES. Be on the look-out for more information about our ROAR RULES and our Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS). One component of our PBIS plan is our ROAR STORE. Students visit the ROAR STORE periodically throughout the year, when they fill in a line on the Principal's 100 Board (think BINGO). Students LOVE to select GIFT CARDS for their prizes during this time.

Here's how you can HELP:

Bring a $5 Gift Card to BTSN!

There will be a GIFT CARD DROP-OFF for donations in the main lobby on September 4th.

Gift Cards should be child-friendly (i.e. Rita's Water Ice, Chick-fil-a, Wawa, Dairy Queen, etc.) Some of our older students have suggested Sephora, Ulta, and Claires; so feel free to seek advice from your kiddo beforehand:)

We THANK YOU in advance for your support!

Important dates and reminders:

• Dates:
  1. July 21, 2023 - Daycare request form deadline
  2. August 21, 2023 - Bus information is live in HAC
  3. September 5, 2023 - First Day of School for Grades K-6, 7 & 9
  4. September 6. 2023 - All Students Report
  5. August 21, 2023 to September 15, 2023 - black out period for busing changes
• Reminders:
  1. Durham's Bus Tracking App, BusZone, will be available for the 23-24 School Year!
     • A flyer with more information is available [here]
     • StopFinder use will be discontinued after ESY 2023.
  2. If your student will attend a daycare next year, please use the Day Care Transportation Request (Also) located under Resources on this page.
     • Current list of daycare providers to which the district provides busing.
     • If you do not see your daycare, email Transportation to find out if we bus to that location.
     • Bus info is live in HAC as of August 21, 2023
  3. Check your student's bus information as soon as available in HAC, AND again just before school starts as changes do occur.
  4. Similar to prior years, a black out period for changes will be in place at the beginning of the school year.
     • No change requests will be processed or implemented during that time frame unless it is an urgent safety concern.
     • During the blackout period, Durham is given final routes, completes dry runs, and drivers take the time to learn & acclimate to routes without frequent changes.
     • Only urgent safety concerns will be evaluated during this period.
  5. Changes are implemented on Mondays and Thursdays
     • Updates will be implemented on the next available implementation day with at least 2 days lead time to ensure communication reaches the driver
  6. Students should arrive 10 minutes prior to stop time in HAC.
     • Pick-up time may differ slightly from the time noted on HAC as stops or the order of bus stops may need to be changed.

We ask parents to be patient during the first few weeks each new school year. Drivers need time to settle into routes and adjust to the needs of their passengers. We are especially mindful of the kindergarten and first-grade students during this time. Additionally, individual schools may extend the time for loading each bus to ensure all students are placed on correct buses.

While afternoon drop off times are provided, these times are estimations. We make every effort to honor schedules; however, traffic, construction, and road conditions can impact routes. Keep in mind, each bus has multiple tiers each morning and afternoon. Tiers begin with high school, then middle or non-public school, and finally elementary school. Delays in one tier can impact following tiers.

We appreciate the community's understanding that pick up and drop off times fluctuate with ever-changing road conditions.
If we become aware of delays, we communicate information via text and/or email to impacted bus routes.

The first few weeks of school are understandably very busy for the Transportation Department. The volume of requests is far heavier than any other time of year.
We request that you use email as the primary means of contacting the department for routine requests, and only use one method of communication.
Avoid contacting the department multiple times. All requests are logged and processed as quickly as possible. Multiple requests cause duplication of effort and delays response time. Every effort is made to respond timely to each request.

TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT CONTACT INFORMATION

Hours: 6:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Phone: 215-944-1010
Email: transportation@crsd.org
TRANSPORTATION STAFF CONTACT INFORMATION

DURHAM CONTACT INFO

Phone: 267-523-2701
Option 1 - Newtown Dispatch
Option 3 - Newtown Supervisor
Option 7 - Durham General Manager

Hours: 5:30 AM to 5:30 PM

Wrightstown Depot: 267-523-2701
Option 2 - Wrightstown Dispatch
Option 4 - Wrightstown Supervisor

Hours: 5:30 AM to 5:30 PM

Lost Item? Contact Newtown or Wrightstown Dispatch!
267-523-2701 option 1 or 2

For more information please visit the CR Transportation Webpage under the Transportation heading.

• Monday, August 29th- HAC OPENS (Teacher Assignments)
• Thursday, August 29th AM- HCE Open House GR. 1-6 (9AM-10AM)
  
• Thursday, August 29th 1 PM- AM Kindergarten Orientation
• Thursday, August 29th 2 PM- PM Kindergarten Orientation
• Monday, September 2nd- Labor Day (No School for Students)
• Tuesday, September 3rd - First Day of School (K-6)
• Wednesday, September 4th- Back to School Night (Grades 1- 6) NEW 1 NIGHT SCHEDULE!
• Thursday, October 3rd-Friday, October 4th- No School (Rosh Hashanah)
• Friday, October 11th - Early Dismissal (AM Kindergarten Attends)

Students 1st. Always!

Website: www.crsd.org
Location: 420 East Holland Road, Southampton, PA, USA
Phone: 215-944-1600
Facebook: facebook.com/Hillcrestcr
Twitter: @HCErock