Alward Action

Hello!

Many of our grades have begun our Square Dancing Unit! Square dancing is a fantastic steady beat activity, but it has many other non-musical benefits as well. Students have to work together as a team and each member of the team has to pay attention to instructions or the team will fall apart! There are many left/right coordination aspects to square dancing, which is so good for developing brains! Square dancing also provides many interpersonal social benefits. And, maybe the best part, we laugh and have a great time learning!

To see an example of what the first graders have been learning during our square dance unit, scan the QR code! Thanks to this group of students from Mrs. VanKoevering’s class for letting me record them!

PreK - These students have been doing many different steady beat activities, learning about instruments through a video series called “Harmon in Space” and have also been creating their own class songs! Hopefully, we can share them with you soon!

Kindergarten - These kids are in the middle of a unit on composer Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Carnival of the Animals.” Saint-Saëns composed each piece of music to represent a different animal, trying to create a musical joke. The kids are following along with their own mini coloring book as we explore each piece of music; hearing poems and seeing videos of the animals the music represents! These books are already starting to come home!

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Mr. Scott Barry

Alward Elementary Music Teacher

sbarry@hpseagles.net

The PTC is looking for snacks and pop to fill the teachers lounge during Teacher Appreciation week. Sign up HERE.

Hello incoming fifth grade students and families. The 5/6 Building @ Georgetown is excited to welcome our new fifth grade students for the 24-25 school year! To help with this transition, we are planning two orientation/tour evenings for students and their parents/guardians on Monday, April 22 and Monday, April 29. On these evenings, we will have three different time slots starting at 6:00, 6:30, and 7:00. During these orientations, we will give an overview of what fifth grade will look like at 56G and then provide families with tours of the building. To help answer some questions that you may have at this time, check out this short presentation about fifth grade at 56G.

We are looking forward to meeting you all soon and welcoming you to the 5/6 Building @ Georgetown!

Melanie McClure

Principal

5/6 Building @Georgetown

8175 36th Ave.

Hudsonville, MI 49426

Office: 616.272.7100 ext. 3510

5/6G website

There is a new state requirement that requires incoming pre-k/kindergarten students to receive an oral health assessment beginning the 2024/2025 school year. If your child is a current pre-k student, this does not apply to your student.

The Kindergarten Oral Health Assessment (KOHA) can be completed by your child’s dentist, one of our HPS clinics (dates listed below), or at the local Health Department. There is no cost if the assessment is done by the local Health Department or at an HPS Clinic. The Hudsonville location of the Ottawa County Health Department will be having clinics this summer but dates are still to be determined. Individual appointments can also be made with the Health Department and can be made by calling (616)-396-5266.

The oral assessment is a very brief screening that takes just a few minutes to complete - no treatment is performed and it is simply a quick look in the mouth. If follow-up is needed, the form will list specific details regarding necessary follow-up. Assistance is available through the Health Department for any student that does not have a dentist and/or dental insurance.

For documentation, complete the dental exam section of the kindergarten health appraisal form: Link to Health Appraisal Form OR complete the separate oral health assessment form: Link to KOHA Form - either option is acceptable. Please note that the old versions of the health appraisal form say the dental exam is optional, in Ottawa County it is now required and is NOT optional. Once the assessment and documentation are complete, please submit your child’s paperwork into the health appraisal section in Powerschool or to your child’s school.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to your child’s school administrative assistants.

HPS Oral Health Assessment Clinics:

Location: Hudsonville Administrative Office - 3886 Van Buren St. Hudsonville, MI 49426

*Park in the main parking lot and use the sidewalk on the South side of the building to walk to the portables located directly to the east of the building. Follow the signs to the north portable closest to Van Buren St.

Dates:

April 25th: 4pm-6pm

May 22nd: 4pm-6pm

May 28th: 11am-2pm

Helpful Resources:

Information for Parents

Spanish - Information for Parents

Ottawa County Health Department- Dental Health

Meet our 2023/2024 Alward PTC Board!

They can always be reached with any questions via email at alwardptc.hps@gmail.com

Co-President: Audra Kotman

Co-President: Stacey VanderBent

Co-Vice President: Allie Gonzalez

Co-Vice President: Ali Westhuis

Treasurer: Marissa Zylstra

Assistant Treasurer: Tom Holmes

Secretary: Heather Kleinjans

Teacher Representative: Rachel VanKoevering, 1st Grade

A super simple way to raise funds for Alward PTC is by buying gift cards from RaiseRight to pay for your everyday shopping and spending year-round!

Create a free fundraising account on the RaiseRight mobile app or at RaiseRight.com.

Enroll Code: WWJZU5516X2B

https://www.raiseright.com/enroll?enrollCode=WWJZU5516X2B

Our hope with Raise Right is to utilize the funds directly to enrich and impact our children’s classrooms. Raise Right will help fund Class Cash, a program that enables teachers to request financial support to purchase various classroom items, like flexible seating, books and manipulatives to improve hands on learning!

Due to the number of food allergies in the school, we ask that you please bring in non food items for birthday treats. Please see examples below.

• Breakfast will be served starting at 8:35.

• Breakfast consists of cereal, milk, juice, fresh fruit, and a cookie/cracker bar.

• Students that eat breakfast at school will eat breakfast in the cafeteria. Once students are done eating, they will be sent back to class.

• If your child will be eating breakfast at school, please contact your classroom teacher so that we know to send them down to the cafeteria the first week of school.

2023-24 School Year: Michigan Public School Students Prek-12 will receive Breakfast and Lunch at NO CHARGE.

Michigan approved Healthy School Meals for All. The budget will fund FREE school meals for all public K-12 students in Michigan for the 2023-24 School Year.

**** Districts MUST still collect Free/Reduced Meal Applications. We still need to verify eligibility levels for proper accounting of meals. ****

New! Family Portal: https://hudsonville.familyportal.cloud/

• Apply for Free and Reduced Price Meal benefits! Free and Reduced Meal Benefits are based on household size, income amount (gross), and income frequency. GOOD NEWS: any family that qualifies for Reduced Price Meal benefits will receive breakfast and lunch at NO COST.
• You will need to register a new account to monitor accounts or deposit online; Send Money to School accounts no longer exist. You will need your students ID to create an account. You will receive your students ID on their student profile sheet at the open house. Please make a note of it!
• Regardless of benefits status, Milk-only purchases remain at $0.50 per carton. Milk is included as part of the whole MEAL benefit. If your child(ren) qualify for free or reduced price meals and all they want is a carton of milk, their account will be charged 50 cents.

Our website www.jenhudfood.org is loaded with information. Please click on any of these links for more information:

• Digital Menus by Nutrislice (look for updates in August to Nutrislice)
• How Meal Service Works and Depositing Money
• Meal Charge Policy
• Follow us on Social Media!!

Contact us:

Email: foodservice@hpseagles.net

Phone: (616) 457-2400

Hello HPS Families!

In 2022, federal legislation created a new program to fill hunger gaps during summer break, called Summer EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer). The program is being administered by Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and Michigan Department of Education (MDE). A household can receive $40 per month per child in June, July, and August 2024 (for a total of $120 per child). Benefits will come in the form of preloaded cards that families can use to purchase groceries.

Summer EBT benefits will be issued to students who have a completed and approved Application for Meal Benefits on file as of February 14, 2024.

If you already have an approved application, automatically receive Free or Reduced Meal Benefits, or already receive EBT Benefits, you do NOT need to re-apply.

Completion of the form does not automatically qualify your student for the summer benefits. These benefits will be based on annual incomes and household size as noted by you on the form.

If your address has changed this year, be sure to update it with your school to ensure your benefit card is sent to the right address.

This WILL NOT impact your student receiving free breakfast and lunch at school.

Click HERE for Income Guidelines to see if you might qualify.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY FOR BENEFITS!

If you have any questions, please contact Food Service at foodservice@hpseagles.net or 616-457-2400.

Please check out our website for important information on Health Services.

PLEASE DO NOT SEND MEDICATION TO SCHOOL WITH YOUR CHILD! MEDICATION CAN BE DROPPED OFF BY PARENTS FOR AN OFFICE STAFF MEMBER TO ADMINISTER.

Please send us an email if your child will be late or absent aesattendance@hpseagles.net.

You are still welcome to call our office 616-669-6700 option 1 if you would like to speak with one of our Administrative Assistance or have any questions.

• NEW email address aesattendance@hpseagles.net to report your student absent or late.

• If your student will not be attending school due to illness or other reasons, please call or email the office before 9:15 am. Students who are not called in by a parent/guardian will be marked with an unexcused absence.

• If your student will be late, arriving after 8:50 am, please call or email the office in the morning. Any students arriving after 8:50 am must be signed in by a parent/guardian.

• If your student will be late and needs a hot lunch, please let us know when you call. Hot lunch needs to be ordered by 10 am.

• Planned absences of more than 3 days require a vacation request form to be filled out. Forms can be picked up in the office or emailed to you. Please turn in vacation request forms at least 5 days prior to the planned absence.

All volunteers and visitors are required to have a background check on file. Background Checks must be completed every school year. Please complete the background check now so you are all set for the school year!

Change in Transportation Home At the End of the School Day

If your child is going to have a change in transportation home at the end of the school day, please contact the main office to let them know of the change prior to 3:00 p.m. We want to ensure that the classroom teachers are notified in a timely fashion prior to end of day dismissal procedures.

Student drop-off and pick-up are very busy times during a normal school year in the school driveway and hallways. If you are dropping your child off in the carline, please remain in your vehicle and follow the procedures below.

Car Line Drop-off Procedures:

1. Please place the placard sign, pictured below, in your passenger side window of your car with your child/ren's names and teacher's name listed. You will receive two car signs at open house. Additional signs can be picked up in the office if needed. If you can, please put a name tag on your child along with his/her classroom teacher's name to help us get students to their correct classroom.

2. Use the car loop on the west side (office side) of the building.

3. Stay in the right lane and drop off your child in the drop-off zone. Zone will be marked with cones. Please pull all the way to either the stop sign for the unloading zone or to the car in front of you.

4. Students will exit the cars on the passenger side of the car in the unloading zone. (Do not allow students to exit the car on the driver’s side for safety reasons!) Staff will help child/children get out of the car and direct them to the door that they will go in.

5. Parents remain in their vehicles.

6. Do not pass cars in the car line. Stay in a single file line until the cars move in front of you.

7. If you want to walk your PK/K child to their line up spot, you must park in the parking lot and cross at the crosswalk. Parents will need to say their goodbyes at the line up spot.

To Keep Our Line Moving Tips:

1. Follow the procedures noted above.

2. Say your goodbyes and give kisses prior to dropping off in the car line. :)

3. Have backpacks/supplies ready to exit car with students.

4. Parents need to remain in their vehicles.

5. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding with our system and procedures. Safety is our number one concern for our students and their families.

Car Line Pick-up Procedures

PK-4th Grade Students

3:45 p.m.

1. Please put the placard sign, pictured below in your passenger side window of your car with your child/ren's names and teacher's names listed. You will receive two car signs at open house. Additional signs can be picked up in the office if needed.

2. Use the car loop on the west-side (office side) of the building.

3. Stay in the right lane and pull up to the orange cone on the far west side of the parking lot or behind the cars in front of you.

4. Students will be walked out in groups to the car line and must enter cars on the passenger side of the vehicle.

5. If you need to help your child buckle his/her car seat, please pull forward with the flow of traffic, park in a parking spot, and help your child buckle his/her car seat.

To Keep Our Line Moving Tips:

1. Follow the procedures noted above.

2. Parents need to remain in their vehicles.

3. Please be patient with this system for the first few weeks of school. Once students, staff, and families get used to the process, the line moves efficiently and is safe for all of our students!

4. Based on last year’s car line data, the car line takes 4-5 minutes to load 60 cars!

• Visit Our Website: Our school website will be updated on a regular basis as it will be the main source of information for our parents and community members. Past newsletters will be linked under NEWS.

• School Messenger: Regular communication (Alward Action) from school messenger will be sent out via email, phone calls, or text messages to keep you in the loop on what is taking place at Alward!
  

• Social Media: Follow our story by liking us Facebook

• facebook.com/AESEaglePride

• Google Classrooms: Teacher google sites are linked under staff members. Teachers will be updating their Google Classroom Sites on a weekly basis.

Website: https://www.hudsonvillepublicschools.org/alward/index
Location: 3811 Port Sheldon Street, Hudsonville, MI, USA
Phone: 616-669-6700
Facebook: facebook.com/AESEaglePride

You Can Register HERE!

As you are cleaning out those closets, hang onto any Eagle Gear that you might be ready to part with! We will be collecting all used spirit gear at all school buildings after Memorial Day to resell at a pop-up shop at a later date!

All proceeds will support the Class of 2025 All-Nighter.