Heights Happenings

Heights Mission: Heights Elementary IB World School is dedicated to developing balanced, lifelong learners through educational excellence, a global perspective, reflection and action.

Heights Vision: To Be A World Class School.

Heights PBIS Statement:

We strive to be a school that models positive behaviors which develop the whole child and social skills. We have a common culture and language which supports student growth and high expectations to empower our students to become well-rounded global citizens through teaching and recognizing positive behavior.

School Hours: 7:55 am—2:10 pm

Doors open: 7:30 am

Breakfast: 7:30-7:45 am

Heights Contact Information:

Address: 15200 Alexandria Ct. Ft. Myers, FL 33908

Telephone: 239.481.1761 Fax:239.481.3154

Website: het.leeschools.net

Twitter: @HeightsIB

Facebook: Heights Elementary

After School Program: Lisa McElyea

504 Accommodations: Bryanna Van Helden

Contact information Changes: Jennifer Kurowski

Transportation: Suzi Loughren

Gifted testing: Lisa Alexander

Clinic: Zuri Galvan or Nurse Carey

School Counselor: Kathy Morrow

IB PYP Coordinator: Lacey Davis

Reading Coach Kg-2nd grade: Katie Bocchino

Reading Coach 3rd-5th grade: Dodie Lytle

Math Coach: Natasha Edinger

We hope this message finds you and your family safe following Hurricane Helene. Our thoughts have been with everyone in our community during this time, and we are relieved to be back together again. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if your family needs any support as we continue to recover and move forward.

It’s hard to believe that we’ve already reached the end of the first quarter! Our students have been working incredibly hard, and we are proud of their progress. At Heights Elementary, our dedicated staff remains focused on fostering the academic, social, and emotional growth of every student as we continue to build a strong foundation for the year ahead.

Thank you for your continued support. Together, we are making Heights a wonderful place for our students to learn and thrive.

Oct. 2nd: Rock Your School Day

Oct. 3rd: Rosh Hashanah (Schools Closed)

Oct. 8th: Picture Day

Oct. 9th: Enrichment Clubs start

Oct. 9th: House Color Day

Oct. 11th: End of the 1st quarter

Oct. 11th: College Day - Wear your favorite college shirt to school

Oct. 14th: Professional Duty Day (Schools Closed)

Oct. 16th: House Color Day

Oct. 17th: 1st quarter report cards available in FOCUS

Oct. 18th: 2nd grade field trip (Farmer Mike's)

Oct. 23rd: House Color Day

Oct. 25th: PTA Trunk or Treat (6:00)

Oct. 26th: Heights Choir at the Everblades Game (6:00)

Oct. 28th: Early dismissal day (12:10- No Heights After School Care available)

Heights Elementary is excited to present an opportunity for students to enrich themselves after school. The Heights Enrichment Clubs are for students enrolled in Grades K-5. Studies have shown that after school enrichment activities are important tools for strengthening students’ self-esteem, learning of new abilities, and encouraging lifelong learning.

Enrichment clubs will be held on Wednesdays from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm. From dismissal, 2:10 pm, to 3:00 pm the students will be provided recess time with a snack and will be under the supervision of an adult. Clubs will start on Wednesday, October 9th and end on Wednesday, December 18th. Clubs are open to all students in Grades K-5 with tuition being $100 for 10 sessions.

Sign up for clubs will be online only this year. The online registration forms will be on the Heights Elementary website (https://het.leeschools.net). A School Messenger communication will be sent to all Heights parents once the registration has been opened.

Heights Elementary will try its best to accommodate your child. In order to hold an enrichment club, we must have a minimum of 10 students registered. Clubs are limited and will be filled on a first come first serve basis. Registration for each club will close when the club is full.

Important Dates to Remember:

• Clubs start on October 9th and will be held every Wednesday thru December 18th from 3:00 - 4:00 pm.

• Registration for clubs will be online on the Heights Elementary website on October 1st, and a School Messenger will be sent to all parents to inform them that the registration is open.

• Payment-$100 per student-must be sent in as cash or check by October 4th to save your student’s spot in the club you chose. (Checks to be made out to Heights Elementary-Please add student name to check)

Do you have questions about registration? Please contact Dodie Lytle at dorothykl@leeschool.net

Sports Club 3rd - 5th only

https://forms.gle/AaLAZHTqyazRkbeCA

Build It Club Kindergarten only

https://forms.gle/srEZddh3L6gzfUJN9

Arts & Crafts 2nd - 3rd only

https://forms.gle/1dSQ5hkX8fKtJpCf9

Cooking Club 1st grade only

https://forms.gle/5xNeTPPPHiRsNjrj6

Drawing Club 2nd - 3rd only

https://forms.gle/QiV18x8dPdeTrJ9A9

Games Club 2nd - 3rd only

https://forms.gle/gSdHTfcTYZo2PuzU7

Glee Club 3rd - 5th only

https://forms.gle/UQetZ1r9GAUPmqNx6

Garden Club 3rd - 5th only

https://forms.gle/ZSzyGpqShpSiyTzA9

Lego Building Club 1st - 3rd only

https://forms.gle/bBQjyoE3i5i3sehA9

Karaoke Club 2nd - 5th only

https://forms.gle/DNe3ajrRv6hEHDH5A

During Red Ribbon Week, youth and adults around the nation pledge to making good choices that will impact their life.

Heights Elementary School is pleased to announce the achievement of Level 1 certification in Marzano High Reliability Schools™. Level 1 certification means Heights Elementary School has created a “Safe, Supportive, and Collaborative Culture,” which is the foundation for every level that follows. Without such a culture, student achievement will be compromised. Day-to-day school operations are addressed and evaluated in Level 1. The high reliability school (HRS) program was created by Marzano Resources to help transform schools into organizations that take proactive steps to ensure student success. Using a research-based five-level hierarchy, along with leading and lagging indicators, educators learn to assess, monitor, and confirm the effectiveness of their schools. This framework, based on 50 years of educational research, defines five progressive levels of performance that a school must master to become an HRS—where all students learn the content and skills they need for success in college, careers, and beyond. “As you move through the levels, it represents a complete transformation in how schools are run,” says CEO Robert J. Marzano. Schools must collect data and validate their performance to climb each level of the hierarchy. Certification is determined by Marzano Resources analysts in cooperation with school data teams. Using the HRS framework and indicators, schools can drive sustained, positive, and significant impacts on student achievement.

About Marzano Resources:

Built on the foundation of Dr. Robert J. Marzano’s 50 years of education research, Marzano Resources supports teachers and administrators through customizable on-site professional development, educator events, virtual coaching, books, videos and online courses. Our associates and authors are thought leaders in the field of education and deliver research-backed guidance for all major areas of schooling, including curriculum development, instruction, assessment, student engagement and personalized competency-based education.

This survey was designed to gauge your school’s status on the second level of the Marzano High Reliability Schools (HRS) framework. The levels of school effectiveness and high reliability are based on Dr. Robert J. Marzano’s research and practical experience working with teachers, schools, and districts in all 50 United States and internationally over the past four decades.

Level 2 has six leading indicators that address factors considered foundational to developing and maintaining effective instruction in every classroom. When a school reaches this level of high reliability, it can guarantee that quality teaching occurs in every classroom.

• All responses are completely anonymous. All results will be reported to your school in terms of an aggregate summary of responses from all parents/guardians who completed the survey. Individual responses will not be reported to your school.
• As you respond to each item, focus on your thoughts and feelings based on your own personal experience with the school, as well as your perceptions of your child’s experience as a student.
• There are no right or wrong answers – this is not a test. We just want to know how you feel. Your responses will provide school leaders with important information to help them determine what is already working well and identify areas in need of focused attention.
• The survey should take about 7-10 minutes to complete. Please try to respond to all items. Please note: you must click "Done" when you reach the end of the survey to have your responses included in the school's aggregate report.

The Heights Elementary school day begins at 7:55 am. One of the most valuable life skills a student can learn from their parent/guardian is the responsibility of arriving at school every day on time. This skill can easily be accomplished and will transfer as a valuable asset for the future. One of the most important times of the school day is the morning. This is the time when important school news is announced, teachers define the plans for the day, and instructional goals are reviewed and set. The whole tone of a child’s school day is set in the first part of the day. Please help support your student in learning habits that will help them be successful at school and throughout life.

PARENTS - if you have had a child absent from school - YOU MUST SEND IN A NOTE/DR. NOTE WHEN THEY RETURN LETTING US KNOW WHY THEY WERE ABSENT.

This is the only way you can excuse an absences. Please read your Code of Conduct or call Mrs. Kurowski to see what is considered excused or unexcused.

All campus visitors will need to show their ID at the door and also to receive a visitor pass. Based on the School District of Lee County safety procedures, we are ONLY allowed to accept physical forms of ID when you show up on campus. Unfortunately, we are unable to accept picture IDs on a cell phone or from the Florida Real ID website. Thank you for your understanding and helping to keep our campus safe.

As IB learners, we strive to be thinkers. We exercise initiative in applying thinking skills critically and creatively to recognize and approach complex problems, and make reasoned, ethical decisions.

This IB learner profile is one of 10 attributes recognized and valued by IB World Schools. We believe these attributes, and others like them, can help individuals and groups become responsible members of local, national and global communities.

1. Encourage your child to engage in pretend play, children are naturally curious and imaginative.
2. Pause and wait...give your child time to think for him/herself, be patient.
3. Don't intervene immediately, it's okay to let your child explore on their own.
4. Ask open-ended questions.
5. Help children develop hypotheses.
6. Encourage critical thinking in new and different ways.
7. Encourage your child to retell stories, put on plays with story props.
8. Leave time for unstructured play.
9. Encourage your child to play and explore outside.
10. Encourage Creative Thinking.
11. Let your child experience failure, and then let him/her figure out how to turn their failure into a positive learning experience.
12. Provide opportunities to visit Children's Museums and Libraries.

Kindergarten:

In Kindergarten, our students are learning about Who We Are in the community. As their first action project of the year, they collected donations to make gift baskets for our Bus Drivers as part of a Bus Driver Appreciation event. Students also received their IB Portfolios and learned about how this special binder will travel with them all the way to fifth grade and hold all of their most important IB work.

First Grade:

Our first graders learned about Rules and Laws in their first IB unit of inquiry. They hosted guest speaker, Judge Gill to learn what he does to enforce laws in our community, and then also completed their first action project. Students collected cookies and coffee gift cards to put together baskets for our Lee County Law Enforcement officers. They hosted their second annual Cookies and Coffee with Cops in which 7 different divisions of law enforcement visited our school to teach the students about what they do to enforce laws in our community. Members of the SWAT team, Crime Scene, Robot Dog, detectives and K-9 units were just some of the visitors we had.

Second Grade:

Second Grade enjoyed participating in several different Peace Day Rotations to learn about how communities strive to live peacefully. Students learned about mindfulness and yoga as well as conflict resolution strategies.

Third Grade:

Our Third Graders were learning about cultures around the world and hosted a Culture Fair based on an area they had researched. Students enjoyed sharing their cultures with first graders who will be learning about culture in a few months.

Fourth Grade:

Fourth grade was researching regions of the country and decided to write letters to students at other IB schools around the country.

Fifth Grade:

Students are starting their Exhibition Projects, which is a year long process in which students pick a topic of local or global interest to research, act upon and present their findings to the community at the end of the year.

Shop to Give is a program offered by our PTA portal Givebacks. Shop to Give provides passive donations to the PTA while shopping at your favorite stores and brands. Sign up by scanning the QR code below, securely link your card, and download the web browser extension. Then shop as usual and support the Heights PTA. Anytime you use your card at any of these retailers or restaurants, a donation will be given to Heights PTA.

Those school supplies at Walmart, up to a 5% donation to the Heights PTA, at no cost to you. That dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, a 2% donation to Heights PTA, at no cost to you. Thousands of local and national companies work with Givebacks to help support our Heights community. Each and every small donation helps to continue our objectives to keep Height Elementary a top tier school.

Display or use of a personal electronic or telecommunication device during school hours. Students may possess cell phones and other personal electronic devices (including, but not limited to, cell phones and/or auxiliary/ancillary devices such as watches and earbuds) while on school grounds during regular school hours. However, they must be turned off at all times, unless utilized for an approved activity. Possession of all personal electronic devices, including cell phones, is at the student’s own risk, and the school assumes no responsibility, legal or otherwise, with regard to these items. As of 7/1/23, the following meet the criteria for prohibited applications as established in Section 112.22(1)(f)*, F.S.: QQ, TikTok, WeChat, VKontakte, Kaspersky. See Board Policy 5136.

Board Policy 5136 Wireless Communication Devices: The principal has the authority to determine where and when ECDs are permissible. Teachers have the authority to require them to be turned off and stored away (in a bookbag or in another area of choosing).

We want to wish Mrs. Curry a happy retirement. She has been the information specialist at Heights Elementary since 2008.

Heights Elementary prides itself on the appearance of the facility as well as the students and staff. The responsibility for the personal appearance of the student rests with the parent/guardian and the student. Personal appearance shall not detract from the educational process. The following establishes the minimum acceptable standards for student dress to interpreted and endorsed by the Principal or designee.

Students are required to wear closed-toe sneakers or tennis shoes in a daily basis. No other footwear is permitted. Shoes shall be secure on the student’s feet and worn at all times. Croc style shoes are not permitted as well.

Students may wear:

• Any pants or jeans, fastened at the waist when needed.
• Any shirt except see-through, open-sided, or those that advertise drugs, tobacco, alcohol, or have any profanity, obscenity, graphic violence or gang insignia.
• Apparel shall be adequate in both length and coverage to be considered appropriate for school. Shorts must be fingertip length or longer in order to be appropriate for school.
• Girls may wear skirts or dresses (below the fingertips with the arms held at the sides).

Students wearing any of the following are prohibited:

• Oversized apparel, including baggy pants, overalls with unfastened straps and pant legs worn below the shoe NOTE: Florida Statute requires schools to adopt dress codes barring clothes that “expose underwear or body parts in an indecent or vulgar manner.”
• Costumes, capes, gloves, or character masks of any type. (unless on designated days).
• Tank tops (must be 2-3 inches), halter tops, bare midriff, strapless tops, low necklines, sun dresses, or pajamas.
• Backless dresses or tops.
• High heels, platforms, flip flops, slides, croc style shoes, or slippers.
• Make up, glitter, body paint and/or body writing, or fake fingernails.
• Intentionally altered or ripped clothing.
• Apparel such as hats, hair nets, excessive/large jewelry.
• Any articles of clothing or jewelry that could cause injury, such as belts, chains, bracelets, rings, chokers with or without spikes or studs. Wallet chains of any length.
• Apparel, emblems, insignias, badges, or symbols that promote the use of alcohol, drugs, tobacco or any other illegal activity or that discriminates against race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, or religion.

This list is meant as an example and is not intended to be all inclusive. According to Florida State Statute, the principal has sole discretion over what is or is not appropriate attire for school functions. Any items of clothing that are deemed as interfering with the educational process will be dealt with in accordance with procedures set in the Student Code of Conduct. The school administration shall have the right to appraise any current fashion or fad and determine whether it is appropriate for school wear.

It's time to order your Heights yearbook for $25. Go to BuyTheYearbook.com and enter the school code 384204.

Ice cream cups are on sale every Friday during lunch time. Each student will be limited to one ice cream cup during their lunch. The cost is $1 per cup. Money collected from ice cream sales goes to the Principal's Discretionary Fund. This fund is used to celebrate a variety of events and activities for our students and staff throughout the school year

Florida State Statute 1012.42 recognizes that teachers at times must be assigned duties in a class outside the field in which the teacher is certified. The following teachers at Heights Elementary are certified, but may be assigned one or more classes outside their areas of certification and are required to take appropriate steps to comply with the statutory regulation: Madison Barker (ESE)

In addition, the following teachers are engaged in training to add the endorsement, English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), to their certificates: Nicole Berry, Nicole Driscoll, Courtney Sleeper, Jennifer Kee, Gina Celej, Melinda Melendez, Stephanie Bovinett, Reagan Potter, Jamie Leach, & Libby Davis.

District 1 - Samuel Fisher, Board Chair

District 2 - Melisa W. Giovannelli

District 3 - Chris N. Patricca

District 4 - Debbie Jordan

District 5 - Armor Persons

District 6 - Jada Langford-Fleming, Board Vice Chair

District 7 - Cathleen O'Daniel Morgan

Superintendent:

Kenneth A. Savage, Ed.D.

School Board Attorney:

Kathy Dupuy-Bruno, Esq.