Cheetah Chronicles

• 3-28-25 - PTA Movie Night - The Wild Robot - doors open at 5:30PM

• 4-3-25 - Class & Individual Spring Pictures - Tracks 1 & 3

• 4-4-25 - Cheetah Pride Friday - Wear HSES gear or school colors

• 4-5-25 - Make up day from 2-20-25 - Tracks 1 & 3

• 4-5-25 - Cheetah Green Team - 9:30 - 11:30 AM

• 4-11-25 - Student Council Meeting - 8:00 AM

• 4-18-25 - WCPSS Holiday - School Closed

• 4-22 & 23-25 - Talent Show Rehearsals

• 4-24-25 - Talent Show

Saturday, April 5, 2025 is a makeup day for Tracks 1 & 3

The school day will follow a normal arrival schedule:

• 8:50 AM - students may enter the building. Breakfast will be served as normal.

• 9:20 AM - tardy bell rings; students need to be in their classrooms at this time.

• Buses will be running on their normal schedule in the morning.

• Daycare centers (Hunt Center, Beyond, Active Tracks, Big Blue Marble, and Magnolia) will be closed and will NOT provide transportation. Please plan accordingly if your child usually accesses one of these transportation options.

The school day will last for 3.5 hours: 9:20 AM - 12:50 PM

There will be no recess so that this time can be focused solely on core instruction.

Dismissal will begin at 12:50 PM, and will operate as it would normally:

• At 12:50 PM, walkers will be dismissed from the media center.

• Carpool will begin at 12:50 PM - please have your carpool tag or a photo ID if you do not have a carpool number. At 1:20 PM, any students who are not picked up in the carpool line will be brought to the main office, parents will be called, and parents will need to come into the building to receive their child.

• Buses will dismiss as normal from the bus loop and the Bus Arrival & Departure Time document will be updated in real time.

• Daycare centers (Hunt Center, Beyond, Active Tracks, Big Blue Marble, and Magnolia) will be closed and will NOT provide transportation. Please plan accordingly if your child usually accesses one of these transportation options.

Any transportation changes must be communicated with your child’s teacher and/or the front office. Please communicate these changes in writing. If no communication is made, the school will place your child on their normal transportation. For example, if your child normally rides the bus, your child will be placed on the bus if the school is not notified of a transportation change.

Lunch will NOT be provided on Saturday makeup days. Please make sure your child comes to school with a heavy snack.

There will be no Before School or After School Care provided on Saturday makeup days.

Attention, Cheetah Fam! We are just a few days away from the end of our Wake Up & Read Book Drive on March 31st. With your help, we can reach our goal of 500+ new or gently used books. This is a great time to clean off those bookshelves and support our school community. Collection bins are located in the front lobby. Thank you!

~ HSES Student Council

We welcome letters from parents who wish to inform us of the needs (strengths, characteristics, etc.) of their child for the 2025-2026 school year. As we are unable to meet with each parent, this is a great way to share information about your child. We ask that you not mention a particular teacher’s name, since we will not be able to honor individual teacher requests. All letters should be provided to HSES in a sealed envelope addressed to Dr. McKinnon, Principal and/or emailed to jmckinnon@wcpss.net. Please send teacher characteristic letters by April 17, 2025. NO LETTERS WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER THIS TIME.

Parents and students will meet with their next year's teacher, in the teacher's current classroom regardless of any track or grade level changes. Classrooms will not be set up for the new school year, therefore families are asked not to bring any supplies.

Track 1: Tuesday, May 28, 2025

Track 2,3,4: Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Time: 4:45 - 5:45

Save the date for the Family and Community Engagement Summit on April 26
Join us for the Family and Community Engagement Summit on Saturday, April 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at The Summit at Capital Hills. The summit will feature a keynote speaker, breakout sessions, and more. All staff, families, and community members are invited to attend! Registrants for the Summit are invited to attend the Kick Off event at Marbles Kids Museum on April 25 from 6 to 8 p.m!

Single Subject Acceleration

Last Call - Single Subject Acceleration

Parents interested in having their child evaluated for SINGLE Subject Acceleration (SSA): Please click HERE for the WCPSS Advanced Learning Services (ALS) 2025 SSA Parent Information presentation (has voiceover). The county also created a "one-pager" of info - LINK. The same SSA info can also be found on our school's website (https://www.wcpss.net/hollyspringses) and http://bit.ly/HSESAIG (access code AIG).

Please review the entire SSA Parent Information presentation to determine if SSA testing is appropriate for your child.

SSA Test REQUEST Window: Tracks 2 + 3 + 4: March 10 - March 28, 2025

Please go to the WCPSS ALS SSA page (LINK), for your track's SSA Test Request Google form. Completed SSA Test Request Google forms will ONLY be accepted during your track's window. No forms will be accepted after 5pm on your track's last test request day.

If you have questions regarding the SSA presentation, please contact Kiersten Bashor (kbashor@wcpss.net), AIG teacher.

Click on the photo above to be taken directly to the Wake County Public School website to enroll.

The 2025 spring HSES Soccer Club season will be held for 6 weeks on the following Thursday’s from 4:15 – 5:15 pm. March 20th, March 27th, April 3rd, April 10th, April 17th, and April 24th. On April 24th, we will have a season celebration by playing a parents vs. students game.

Enbridge Gas Construction Lane Shift & Detour

A detour and lane shift will affect drivers and pedestrians on Holly Springs Road between Raleigh Street and Bass Lake Road for an Enbridge Gas project. The company, formerly Dominion Energy, is upsizing its gas main along the road frontage.

For a couple of weeks during the first phase of construction, which could begin in late February at the earliest, drivers traveling from Main Street toward Sunset Lake Road will be detoured onto Raleigh Street, Earp Street, and Bass Lake Road between 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. on weekdays. Drivers on Holly Springs Road traveling toward Main Street will switch lanes to the opposite side of the road during these hours. Access to the school and nearby homes and businesses will remain available throughout construction.

The sidewalk between Raleigh Street and Bass Lake Road will be closed in sections during the project’s entire construction, which is expected to last several months. The sidewalk section between Raleigh Street and Cayman Avenue is expected to close first. Pedestrians should find an alternate route. The crosswalk from Johnson Street into the school entrance is expected to remain open throughout the project.

Additional lane shifts and detours are expected during the several-months-long project. Watch for signage along the road, which will announce lane closures and detours closer to the construction date.

For questions about the gas company’s project, contact Enbridge at (919) 819-1325.

Parents/Guardians - The HSES EOG dates have been finalized and can be found here and on the HSES website. It is important that every effort is made for your 3rd, 4th, and/or 5th grade child to be present during EOG testing days. Please plan vacations/trips, doctor appointments, etc. accordingly.

A reminder that when parents visit the classroom, students CANNOT leave with their parents until the parents have signed the student out in the office.

Likewise, parents need to wait until after an event to sign their child/children out. All parents must sign their child/children out in the front office.

WCPSS K-12 Math Parent Resource

https://sites.google.com/wcpss.net/k-12mathematics/home

Even if you were approved as a volunteer last school year you must be approved again this year. Many field trips are coming up and we do not want you to wait or miss out as it takes a while for volunteers to be approved. Follow the steps below carefully:

Register as a WCPSS Volunteer

All WCPSS parent and community volunteers are required to register through the new MyVolunteer system. Please complete your registration on a computer at home or school. It is very difficult to complete using a mobile phone. It can take several weeks for your registration to be approved so don’t wait until field trips to try and register. Register now so you are ready and able to volunteer in the classroom, volunteer for school events, or chaperone at any time this school year!

1. Click the link below to start your volunteer registration: https://myvolunteer.com/wcpss/volunteer/login

2. Click create new account.

3. Complete the online form and select all the schools that you are requesting to volunteer or chaperone for the 2024-2025 school year.

4. It will then say pending.

5. Soon after you will receive an email with a customized link for you to complete next steps for your background check. This link expires 10 days from the day you receive the email. Follow the instructions in that email. You will fill out all items in red boxes and then you will review and digitally sign four documents (Summary of Rights Under the FCRA, Disc & Auth, NC Security Freeze Notice, and WCPSS Volunteer Agreement).

6. If you leave the CRC background site before completing your contact information, you will have to begin the process again.

7. You must include your social security number to register to volunteer. If you do not have a social security number, please contact volunteers@wcpss.net or call 919-694-8233.

8. Great news is that this year you will be notified by the MyVolunteer system if you are approved to volunteer!

Please Note: If you are a WCPSS Employee seeking to volunteer/chaperone in the schools, you do not have to complete a criminal background check. However, employees will still need to register in the MyVolunteer system (https://myvolunteer.com/wcpss/volunteer/login) and complete the Wake County Volunteer Agreement and other required forms. Employees must select the “Current Staff of WCPSS” link on MyVolunteer to complete the volunteer registration process and must use their WCPSS email address to complete the registration.

Parents are welcome to join their child for lunch at school. To ensure a smooth experience, please note the following guidelines:

Pre-arrangement: Lunch visits must be scheduled in advance with your child’s teacher.

Location: Due to limited space in the cafeteria, parents and their child will need to enjoy lunch at the picnic tables in the courtyard or in the reading garden.

No Friends: Lunch visits are just for you and your child, so friends won't be able to join.

Procedure: Parents will meet their child at the front office and return them to the front office after lunch. Don't forget to check out at the office before leaving.

If you have any questions or need more information, please feel free to reach out to the school administration.

Check out school menus in Mealviewer

Menus will now be available on our interactive website, MealViewer. Monthly school meal menu PDFs will no longer be posted on the district website.

The purpose of this section is to provide updated information to families about the use of personal devices which aligns with district policy - smartwatches, cell phones, etc. on school grounds. Board Policy 3225 Technology Responsible Use states:

Students are expected to comply with the Code of Conduct and the applicable “Rules for Use of Technology Resources” set forth in this policy when students use a personal device on school property, at school-sponsored events, on school-based transportation, or anytime a personal device is connected to school system technology resources. As an example, students using a personal device on school property, at school-sponsored events, on school-based transportation, or when the device is connected to school system technology resources, shall not engage in creating, intentionally viewing, accessing, downloading, storing, printing or transmitting images, graphics (including still or moving pictures), sound files, text files, documents, messages or other material that is obscene, defamatory, profane, pornographic, harassing, or abusive.

Recently, more and more students are wearing Smartwatches or similar items to school. Smartwatches are allowed only if put on Airplane mode in order to disable text messages and phone calls from being received by the watch/device. The watch is considered a cell phone UNLESS airplane mode is activated. Cell Phones should also be in Airplane mode and in student backpacks. If a student's cell-phone is out after the teacher has asked for it to be put away, the cell phone will be placed in the school office for a parent to pick up. The school system assumes no responsibility for personal technology devices brought to school.

o DCRI Literacy at Home One Pager (English)

We would love for you to come and volunteer this school year at HSES and/or as part of PTA!

Register to volunteer HERE

Click the letter below to learn more about the Positivity Project and to view the yearly calendar:

P2 Family Information Letter

Tracks 1, 2, & 3 - Humor

• Belly Breaths: Sit or lie down and place a hand on your belly. Take a slow breath in through your nose, feeling your belly rise. Exhale slowly through your mouth and feel your belly fall. Repeat five times.

• Five-Finger Breathing: Hold up one hand. Use the pointer finger of the other hand to trace each finger up and down, breathing in as you trace up and out as you trace down

Do you have a different home language other than English? Are you willing to volunteer at the school? If you answered “yes” to these questions please continue reading. We are looking for HSES parents who are willing to help translate for some of our English Learning parents during school events such as curriculum night, Literacy night, etc. Currently we have a need for the following languages. Spanish, Amharic.

If you are interested or want more information please contact the ESL teacher, Sarah Rodgers (at srodgers3@wcpss.net.

Final Movie Night 3/28- The Wild Robot (PG) Doors open at 5:30p movie begins at 6pm. The PTA will be providing a FREE "SNACK PACK" for each movie goer. Attendees will each receive a ticket to redeem for 1 drink, popcorn, and a candy for our final movie night! (We will not be selling any additional concessions) **Parental supervision is required at this event - NO DROP OFF!**

Calling All 4th Grade Families! Help us make the 5th grade celebration unforgettable!

The 5th grade parade and celebration is a special day, but it's also a hectic one for 5th grade parents. To ensure they can focus fully on celebrating their students, we're asking 4th grade families to step in and assist with decorations. This partnership will set a wonderful tradition—each year, 5th grade parents can enjoy the festivities stress-free, knowing their 4th grade neighbors have their back!

Join us in making this day magical for the graduating class. Your help will not only make an impact this year but will also contribute to a lasting legacy of community support.

Link to Sign Up

NOTICE: The time has been changed from 9:30 - 11:30 AM.

Click on image above to sign up to help.

Click on the photo above to access the PTA Board Nomination Application

Proceeds from sign sales help to fund the 5th Grade Celebrations!

Click on the signs below to order!

BECOME A PTA MEMBER!

Ever wonder what treats to get the wonderful staff of HSES? Well wonder no more!

Click on Teacher Favorites to see, well, the teachers' favorites!

School Store SignUp Genius