Weekend Update!

I hope everyone is having a terrific weekend! We had a busy, and late, day of school Friday (cross country meet, Festival of Frights, etc) leading to a delayed Weekend Update! I had initially planned on putting this together while watching the World Series, but the Yankees were not able to provide any inspiration for me!

On Monday, our PTA will be providing an enriching experience for our 6th grade students. Interactive Theater will be presenting different social scenarios with our students, ranging from peer pressure to bullying.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, our 8th grade students will hear a variety of presentations from various high schools in the area that could provide different options for the next school year. I encourage you to ask them all about it! Thank you to Mrs. Saunders and Mrs. Wheeler for organizing this!

This coming Thursday, school will be closed. While that day happens to be Halloween, that is not the reason we will not be in school. Thursday marks the first day of Diwali, the Festival of Lights! Information on this holiday can be found here. For those of you who are celebrating- Happy Diwali!

Enjoy the rest of this beautiful weekend!

There will be two more opportunities for community members to tour Hillcrest prior to the Election Day referendum:

• 10/28 from 6-7PM
• 11/4 from 4-5PM

No RSVPs are required!

On September 25, the community came together for a forum on the "New" Hillcrest building. During the presentation we agreed to create a document that answers questions that we received at the forum and in other communications. Please use the link below to review the FAQ Document. This document provides quite a bit of information about the project and the upcoming referendum.

https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1728590654/trumbullpsorg/mfeekenwkxikfnrjwany/HillcrestReferendumFAQ.pdf

This past Friday, Hillcrest and Madison held their annual cross country meet! The first place finishers in each race were Hillcrest students! Congratulations to Charlotte Manuel and Brandon Russo on an incredible run! The Hillcrest boys won their race, and the Madison girls won theirs (by one point!). A special thank you to Coach Hall and Coach Polzello on another amazing season!

Information on the 6th grade ice cream social that is happening after school tomorrow can be found here.

We have scheduled a field trip for all 6th graders to the Hartford Stage to view a live Production of A Christmas Carol on Wednesday, December 4, 2024. We plan to leave Hillcrest at 8:30 AM and return by 3:00 PM. Transportation is by school bus. Students must arrange a ride home.

Payment is due by Nov. 1st through the Infinite Campus parent portal. The permission slip is linked there, but can also be found on the Grade 6 Google Classroom.

This trip supplements and supports our 6th grade Reading curriculum. The students will have read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens in their reading classes. This field trip gives students the opportunity to compare the decisions the author made for the book with how the director made choices within the play adaptation. Students will be able to compare and contrast author’s decisions and director’s choice and how those choices impact the audience. They will be able to identify how the director adheres to and diverts from the original story and evaluate that decision for the purpose of the production.

Students MUST bring a bagged lunch and drink (no glass bottles, no carbonated drinks).

We are recommending a semi professional dress code while attending the theater. Please encourage students to dress for the occasion: Collared shirts, khakis or jeans with no rips, blouses, skirt/dresses. This is optional, but students should adhere to Hillcrest Middle School's dress code at all times.

While on any field trip, students are representing Hillcrest and are expected to behave accordingly. Students will actively engage and participate in the programs scheduled and will treat all theater staff, actors, bus drivers etc. with courtesy and respect.

We look forward to a fantastic experience!

For 20 years, the Trumbull ACE Foundation has promoted the advancement of academic excellence and active citizenship for all K-12 Trumbull students through financial support and development of competitive academic groups and civic service clubs. ACE aims to promote the development of a “full student,” well prepared for challenges and opportunities following high school graduation. The ACE Foundation's newsletter summarizes the tremendous achievements of TPS academic groups in the academic year 2023-24. The link to our newsletter can be found here.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our annual Pink Pledge! Together, we raised over $750 for the Norma Pfriem Breast Center in Bridgeport! Way to go!!!

We are excited to announce that Red Ribbon Week this year will take place from Wednesday, October 23rd until Tuesday, October 29th and this year’s theme is: Life is a Movie, Film Drug Free. As a community, let’s commit to making healthy and positive choices. Please join in wearing RED on Wednesday, 10/23 and check out this flyer for more information on the week!

This week’s video announcements can be found here.

Calling all creative minds!!

The National Reflections Arts Program is underway, and we'd love to have some of our HMS students join in the creativity!
The 2024-2025 theme is: "Accepting Imperfection"
Students can submit their completed works in the categories of Literature, Visual Arts, Photography, Film Production, Dance Choreography and Music Composition.

Entries are due December 20th and can be turned into the main office

Entry form (turn into main office): Reflections Paper Entry Form
Digital Entry form: Reflections Digital Entry Form
Reflections Guidelines: Reflections Guidelines 2024

Questions? Contact Lisa Malin at lisabethmalin@gmail.com

Boon Fundraiser - The countdown is ON! There are less than 10 days left to register, share your link, and sell those Boon Supply Bags and awesome gift items!

Let’s make these last few days count! Every sale helps our students and staff, and we’ve got some prizes up for grabs. Sell, share, and win big!

Sale ends November 3rd!

BOON FUNDRAISER

Get involved with the PTA! Your involvement helps create a thriving environment for our students and supports programs that make a difference. Membership has its perks! Be the first to receive updates, help support our operating budget, have your voice heard at meetings, and enjoy member exclusive events.

Membership Form

Please ask your students to check the lost and found for any missing items. We will be donating all items in the lost and found to the Bridgeport Rescue Mission after school on November 1st.

For the safety of our students and to avoid any overcrowding issues, students should only ride the bus they are assigned to unless issued an exception by the transportation department. Drivers are instructed not to admit any student to their bus that is not assigned or has not been given an exception from Transportation. Exceptions should be for child care reasons or emergencies and not used for playdates. Using a school bus for anything other than home to school transportation is prohibited.

The Trumbull High School Athletic Department has asked us to remind our families that any middle school student who is attending the home football games at THS must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to enter the game. We all appreciate your attention to this important detail.

1. This week, our staff read this article sharing strategies on how to effectively use formative assessment.

2.We are currently reading Smarter Budgets, Smarter Schools by Nathan Levenson, which is timely for our budget season preparation!

Join us in earning cash for HMS by using the Box Tops app. It’s an easy way to make a difference. All you have to do is buy Box Tops participating products (like Cheerios!) and scan your grocery receipt. The homeroom that earns the most for each trimester will win a Box Tops Prize Pack!
Get started today at BTFE.com. Use referral code GZ3U8TZ9 when you sign up.

I know this was shared in our Welcome Back letter, but I would like to reiterate the importance of following our procedure. For the beginning and end of the school day, students may ONLY be dropped off or picked up in the back of the building at Door 13. As you are waiting to drop your children off, please do not park in a staff, yellow parking space. Each space will be used in the back of the building and if a family member is parked in a yellow space, staff will not be able to get into the building on time. Thank you for your patience and cooperation!

The traffic in the back parking lot has steadily increased throughout the week, which I am guessing is a result of the delays we have seen with buses. If you are dropping your children off, I would ask that you please remember the following:

1. Please be patient and drive at a slow speed to be mindful of pedestrians in the parking lot,

2. Please keep the traffic flowing by dropping your kids off and pulling through the rest of the line,

3. Please maintain one line of traffic, not two, as to not inadvertently block teachers from parking in their assigned spaces.

4. Please stay to the right with your vehicles, as to not block the driveway.

As a reminder, Agriscience cannot be used a place to drop off or pick up students. Students who are walking home from school are not permitted to cut through the Agriscience campus.

We strive on a daily basis to provide a safe environment for all students, and to promote safe practices with them as well. We will continue to educate students about what safe behavior looks like and what our expectations are for safe behaviors. We see this as a partnership with our families. I ask that you please remind your children to be kind to each other, to keep their hands to themselves, and that there is never an acceptable time or moment to use slurs of any kind. This article from the American Psychological Association gives families tips on how to potentially address way to have these discussions.

This past Monday, we began running late buses to accommodate extra help and after school activities. Please click here to see the routes for our late buses. If your child is staying after school and plans to take a late bus home, please make sure you review that document to determine where they will be dropped off.

Did you know that Hillcrest has its own Instagram page and Twitter feed? Follow us on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/hillcrestmshawks/. Follow us on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/HMSTrumbull/ . This is a great resource for families to get a glimpse of day to day life at Hillcrest!

If you think you may be interested in volunteering at some point this year for a Hillcrest event, please fill out this form and return it to the main office. Thank you!

If you are interested in using the Durham Bus tracker app, directions can be found here.

Please see this flyer on helpful tips to navigate the Parent Portal of Infinite Campus.

Principal

Email: brickert@trumbullps.org
Website: https://hms.trumbullps.org/
Location: Hillcrest Middle School, Daniels Farm Road, Trumbull, CT, USA
Phone: 203-452-4466
Twitter: @HMSTrumbull