Hawk Highlights
May 24, 2024
Hello, Highlands Families!
Thank you for such an amazing 2023-2024 school year! We are ending our year with beloved traditions and fun: Field Day (thank you PTA for the staff Sonic delivery mid-day!), assemblies, musicals, Hawks Nests, 6th Grade vs. Senior Kickball game, end of year class parties, field trips, and of course 6th grade graduation festivities. We are so proud of these kids and we wish you as safe and happy summer!
Upcoming Events:
- 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
24-25 Staffing Updates: Welcome, New Teachers!
Tanner Boman, Kindergarten: Tanner comes to us as a recent graduate and spent his student teaching in the Shawnee Mission School District. Welcome to HI, Mr. Boman!
π 2024-2025 Highlands Staffing
Pre-K
Lori Galloway
Kindergarten
Shelby Eberling
Tracie Nolte
Tanner Boman
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
Educational Aide
Casey McCauley
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 Howard
Resource
Carey Dahlstrom
Kelly Nelson
Karolien Morrison
Front Office
Sloane Junge, Secretary
Monique LaBrasca, Clerical Aide
Resource Paraprofessionals
Malory Hill
Kaci Wyman
Caitlin Canaday
Pre-K Aide:
Blair Sedler
Custodians
Darrell Kronk
Patrick Kyle
Stoja Kojic
Kansas Assessment Program Grades 3-6
- Parents can view their childβs KAP report online through the KITE Parent Portal by following the directions below.
- Click on this link: https://parentportal.kiteaai.org/login and type in your email address. A unique code will be emailed back to you that you will enter as the βpasswordβ.
- For more information about the Parent Portal User Guide click the link below.
- https://ksassessments.org/kite-parent-portal-user-guide
SMSD Summer Lunch Bunch
Hunger does not take a vacation in the summertime in the Shawnee Mission School District. We offer free lunches for all children ages 1-18 during the summer months. These meals are funded entirely by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Shawnee Mission Food Service department will prepare and serve these lunches during the summer. This summer, meals must be consumed onsite and no take-home meals will be offered. See the Summer Lunch Bunch Flyer here. The menu can be found on the Summer Lunch Bunch website.
π΄ π€ Belonging at Highlands π€ π΄
βοΈ We had our last Hawks Nest and learned about Self-Awareness. Each group read the book Little Spot of Feelings and discussed strategies that help us to identify our feelings and those of others.
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 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.