Cheetah Chronicles
March 3, 2024
Important Dates
March 1-8: Tracks 1 & 3 Food Drive
March 5: No School Teacher Workday
March 7: Literacy Night
March 8: Cheetah Pride Night at JTs Creamery
March 11-15: Tracks 2 & 4 Food Drive
March 13: Cheetah Pride Night @ Papa John's
March 22: HSES PTA Movie Night
March 28: Spring Individual and Class Pictures-Tracks 2 & 4
What's New
Welcome Ms. Jernigan-Baker to HSES
My first day at HSES was fantastic!!! Thank you all for welcoming me. I am even more excited to serve as your interim principal.
I am coming to HSES after retiring from WCPSS in 2022. During my 35 years in this district, I served as a math teacher and coach at Ligon Middle and Wake Forest-Rolesville High. I was an assistant principal at Green Hope High, and I served as the principal of Reedy Creek Middle, Knightdale High, and Wake Young Women’s Leadership Academy. I am a proud Wolfpack fan and graduate of NCSU with degrees in Mathematics Education and School Administration.
My other career interests have included real estate and event planning. I am currently a yoga teacher at Serasana in Holly Springs, NW Cary YMCA, Raleigh Yoga Center, and Cisco. I also teach chair yoga for seniors in Fuquay and Apex.
My husband and I love to travel, and we enjoy caring for our 3 dogs. If I am not at HSES or a yoga class, I am probably working in the yard or taking care of my house plants. As the interim principal, I will be on campus 3.5 days each week (Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays and half day on Thursdays). You can reach me via email anyday.
Again, thank you for the warm welcome. I look forward to working with the Cheetah community.
Carla Jernigan-Baker
Interim Principal, Holly Springs Elementary School
Spring Individual and Group Pictures
The Holly Springs Food Cupboard - Help Us Help Others
The Holly Springs Food Cupboard’s mission is to provide food and other assistance to those in need in the Holly Springs Community.
We need non-perishable items such as jelly/honey, boxed mac n cheese, canned tomatoes/pasta sauce, crackers (saltine/ritz), rice, peanut butter, microwave popcorn, broth, dried beans, gravy, cereal, oatmeal, packaged fruit, juice boxes/pouches, individual boxes of raisins, sandwich crackers, individualized cups of mac n cheese, kid fruit cups, individual sized canned meats, canned meals, tomato products, granola bars, pasta, toilet paper, sandwich & quart-sized plastic bag, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo
Bolded items are what the pantry is in most need of right now.
Please do not send glass or expired items.
Security Procedures Process Change
Please note that we are always looking for ways to advance security within WCPSS. We have been in collaboration with WCPSS Security/Holly Springs Police Department. Each school will use a QR code outside of the building. This will be a little tweak to our process for check in/out and visitors on campus. Please see below for the new directions and make sure you bring your cell phone and ID with you each time! This should also help with not creating a line inside the office. If you have issues, please use the buzzer to the left of the building.
Scholastic Book Fair
Our Enchanted Forest Scholastic Book Fair is coming soon! Information went home with Track 2 students on Feb. 9th and with all other tracks Feb. 23rd. Please check for important information regarding events, volunteering, donating supplies, eWallet and our online fair.
Get a sneak peak at our Book Fair Homepage:
https://www.scholastic.com/bf/hollyspringselementarysch21
We can’t make this happen without you! It doesn’t matter if you are a Human, a Book Dragon, a Reading Fairy or an Inspiring Unicorn - We need your help! Please check out our Sign Up Genius to volunteer or donate supplies:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F044CAEA92EA6FB6-scholastic
Carpool Reminder
Parents,
We want to make sure carpool parents know that it is important for staff to be in the classrooms beginning when the instructional bell rings at 9:20a.m. Carpool begins at 8:50 and staff comes in at 9:18a.m. Please make sure your child is at school prior to this time. If it is after carpool staff comes in, parents need to check their child in by ringing the doorbell and signing their child in on the kiosk. Students will be marked tardy after the bell rings. Thanks
Single Subject Acceleration
Parents interested in having their child evaluated for SINGLE Subject Acceleration (SSA): Please click HERE for the 2024 SSA Parent Information presentation. Please review the entire SSA Parent Information presentation to determine if SSA testing is appropriate for your child. PLEASE NOTE: Embedded in the presentation is the link for the required "SSA Test Request" Google form.
Completed SSA Test Request Google forms will ONLY be accepted during your track's window.
-Track 1 + Track 3: February 21 - March 5, 2024
-Track 4: March 11-22, 2024
-Track 2: April 1-12, 2024.
The same SSA info can also be found on the school's homepage (https://www.wcpss.net/hollyspringses) and http://bit.ly/HSESAIG (access code AIG). If you have questions regarding SSA, please contact Kiersten Bashor (kbashor@wcpss.net), AIG teacher.
New Teacher Workday on March 5th
During the January 16 meeting and in response to community and staff feedback, Board of Education members approved making March 5, 2024 (Primary Election Day) a ‘Banked Day’ for all 2023-24 instructional calendars. This means there will be no school for students on Tuesday, March 5th, and the day will be designated as a workday for school staff.
EOG Testing Dates (Grades 3, 4, & 5)
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.
2023-2024 Track Change Request Form for the 2024-2025 School Year
Families of currently enrolled HSES students who prefer a different track assignment, other than the one to which they are currently assigned, should complete this form. Administration would like to grant all requests; however, state class size limits, keeping families together on the same track, and other variables must be considered when assigning students to tracks/classrooms. You will be notified of your final track assignment for the 2024-2025 school year in late spring (end of May). Thank you for your understanding and support. *Deadline to consider any track changes: March 8, 2024*
Windward Pointe Residents
Windward Pointe residents have noticed that parents with walkers have started parking at the neighborhood pool that are NOT residents of the neighborhood. There is a sign outside of the pool that says parking for “Windward Pointe Residents Only,”. If you are not a resident of Windward Pointe, they are asking that you not park in the Windward Pointe pool parking lot or on Caymen Ave. This is NOT a pick up and drop off zone. Please abide by these residential rules.
Reminder about WCPSS Volunteers and Field Trip Chaperones
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!
Click the link below to start your volunteer registration: https://myvolunteer.com/wcpss/volunteer/login
Click create new account.
Complete the online form and select all the schools that you are requesting to volunteer or chaperone for the 2023-2024 school year.
It will then say pending.
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).
If you leave the CRC background site before completing your contact information, you will have to begin the process again.
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.
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.
Kindergarten Registration for 2024-2025
Kindergarten Registration for the 2024-2025 school year opens Monday, October 16th. If you have a rising kindergartener for the next school year, you can begin registration on the 16th by going to the WCPSS website under enrollment and then under 2024-2025.
Reminder of the Student Device Agreement
Reminder of the Student Device Agreement (WCPSS issued chromebooks)
Please review the following link reminding everyone that the WCPSS issued chromebooks are to be used for educational purposes only and are the property of WCPSS.Digital Children’s Reading Initiative
Live Bus Updates
In the event that a bus is not running, Holly Springs Elementary will continue to send text and email messages through School Messenger, and post on Twitter. Text and email messages will not be sent through School Messenger if buses are running behind schedule. This is for both AM and PM routes.
Wake County Schools Transportation continually updates bus information for the Holly Springs area HERE.
Remember to refresh the page every 15 minutes in order to see the most up to date information.
If HSES is not listed, that means that all of our buses are running without any issue.
Decline Bus Transportation if Not Needed
If your student is assigned to transportation and is not a rider, please complete the information linked HERE so that WCPSS has the most up-to-date information for transportation planning. Note: Submitting this form will remove your student from both yellow bus and vendor (cab) transportation service.
Positivity Project
Click the letter below to learn more about the Positivity Project and to view the yearly calendar:
Track 1
Dear Families,
This week our school community will be focusing on the character strength of Humor. Humor means you like to laugh and bring smiles to other people.
Humor is a sense of playfulness and lightness. It is a way of looking at and describing the world that brings laughter to people. A person with the strength of humor is skilled at seeing the funny side of things, bringing smiles and laughter to others, and identifying and communicating the absurdities in life. People with this strength don’t specifically need to be joke tellers, although many are.
Humor plays an important role in helping groups of people rise above difficult circumstances and boost morale. It removes us from our present difficulties by easing tension and making life more fun. This is why athletic teams often need a jokester to help them get through tough losses and early morning fitness sessions. On a larger societal level, humor often helps downtrodden groups to find cohesion and strength. This is why Simon Wiesenthal said, “Humor is the weapon of unarmed people: it helps people who are oppressed smile at the situation that pains them.”
To practice and encourage the character strength of humor with your child, please visit the Positivity Project’s P2 for Families (password: P2) where together you will watch a video, read a quote and talk about the answers to three questions.
Have a wonderful week!
Track 3
Dear Families,
This week our school community will be focusing on the character strength of Social Intelligence. Social intelligence means you are aware of other people’s thoughts and feelings. You understand why they do things.
Social intelligence refers to a person’s ability to understand and manage interpersonal relationships. It is distinct from a person’s IQ or “book smarts.” It includes an individual’s ability to understand, and act on, the feelings, thoughts, and behaviors of other people. This type of intelligence can take place “in the moment” of face-to-face conversations but also appears during times of deliberate thinking. It involves emotional intelligence and self-awareness.
Social intelligence helps individuals build relationships -- and is important to numerous aspects of a person’s life. It allows an individual to form friendships and alliances. And it assists a person against being taken advantage of. People with social intelligence can “read” other people’s faces and know what motivates them. Social intelligence builds over time and as a person ages. In this sense, it is similar to the character strength of perspective.
To practice and encourage the character strength of social intelligence with your child, please visit the Positivity Project’s P2 for Families (password: P2), where together you will watch a video, read a quote, and talk about the answers to three questions.
Have a wonderful week!
Track 4
Dear Families,
This week our school community will be focusing on the character strength of Prudence. Prudence means you plan for the future and achieve your goals by making careful everyday choices.
Prudence is the ability to do the right thing for the right reason, at the right time. It’s a future-oriented way of thinking that helps a person set goals, make plans, and have the discipline to accomplish them. It is cognitive -- more a strength of the head than of the heart.
Prudence supports effective individual self-management. Whether aspiring for an athletic record, academic grade, or purchasing a car, foresight and planning are necessary. However, even with a plan, long-term goals can only be obtained by overcoming those impulses and desires that steer you away from your goals. Prudence provides the wisdom to know which character strength to leverage, at which time, to achieve your desired end state.
To practice and encourage the character strength of prudence with your child, please visit the Positivity Project’s P2 for Families (password: P2) where together you will watch a video, read a quote and talk about the answers to three questions.
Have a wonderful week!
Counselor Connection
Tips to Help Your Child Cope with Anxiety
1. The goal isn’t to eliminate anxiety, but to help a child manage it.
None of us wants to see a child unhappy, but the best way to help kids overcome anxiety isn’t to try to remove stressors that trigger it. It’s to help them learn to tolerate their anxiety and function as well as they can, even when they’re anxious. And as a byproduct of that, the anxiety will decrease over time.
2. Don’t avoid things just because they make a child anxious.
Helping children avoid the things they are afraid of will make them feel better in the short term, but it reinforces the anxiety over the long run. Let’s say a child in an uncomfortable situation gets upset and starts to cry — not to be manipulative, but just because that’s how they feel. If their parents whisk them out of there, or remove the thing they’re afraid of, the child has learned that coping mechanism. And that cycle has the potential to repeat itself.
3. Express positive — but realistic — expectations.
You can’t promise a child that their fears are unrealistic—that they won’t fail a test, that they’ll have fun ice skating, or that another child won’t laugh at them during show & tell. But you can express confidence that they’re going to be okay, that they will be able to manage it. And you can let them know that as they face those fears, the anxiety level will drop over time. This gives them confidence that your expectations are realistic, and that you’re not going to ask them to do something they can’t handle.
4. Respect their feelings, but don’t empower them.
It’s important to understand that validation doesn’t always mean agreement. So if a child is terrified about going to the doctor because they’re due for a shot, you don’t want to belittle those fears, but you also don’t want to amplify them. You want to listen and be empathetic, help them understand what they’re anxious about, and encourage them to feel that they can face their fears. The message you want to send is, “I know you’re scared, and that’s okay, and I’m here, and I’m going to help you get through this.”
5. Don’t ask leading questions.
Encourage your child to talk about their feelings, but try not to ask leading questions— “Are you anxious about the big test? Are you worried about the science fair?” To avoid feeding the cycle of anxiety, just ask open-ended questions: “How are you feeling about the science fair?”
6. Don’t reinforce the child’s fears.
What you don’t want to do is be saying, with your tone of voice or body language: “Maybe this is something that you should be afraid of.” Let’s say a child has had a negative experience with a dog. Next time they’re around a dog, you might be anxious about how they will respond, and you might unintentionally send a message that they should, indeed, be worried.
7. Encourage the child to tolerate their anxiety.
Let your child know that you appreciate the work it takes to tolerate anxiety in order to do what they want or need to do. It’s really encouraging them to engage in life and to let the anxiety take its natural curve. We call it the “habituation curve.” That means that it will drop over time as he continues to have contact with the stressor. It might not drop to zero, it might not drop as quickly as you would like, but that’s how we get over our fears
8. Try to keep the anticipatory period short.
When we’re afraid of something, the hardest time is really before we do it. So another rule of thumb for parents is to really try to eliminate or reduce the anticipatory period. If a child is nervous about going to a doctor’s appointment, you don’t want to launch into a discussion about it two hours before you go; that’s likely to get your child more keyed up. So just try to shorten that period to a minimum.
9. Think things through with the child.
Sometimes it helps to talk through what would happen if a child’s fear came true—how would they handle it? A child who’s anxious about separating from their parents might worry about what would happen if a parent didn’t come to pick them up. So we talk about that. If your mom doesn’t come at the end of soccer practice, what would you do? “Well I would tell the coach my mom’s not here.” And what do you think the coach would do? “Well he would call my mom. Or he would wait with me.” A child who’s afraid that a stranger might be sent to pick them up can have a code word from their parents that anyone they sent would know. For some kids, having a plan can reduce the uncertainty in a healthy, effective way.
10. Try to model healthy ways of handling anxiety.
There are multiple ways you can help kids handle anxiety by letting them see how you cope with anxiety yourself. Kids are perceptive, and they’re going to take it in if you keep complaining on the phone to a friend that you can’t handle the stress or the anxiety. I’m not saying to pretend that you don’t have stress and anxiety, but let kids hear or see you managing it calmly, tolerating it, feeling good about getting through it.
Child Mind Institute
Parent Teacher Association
Cheetah Pride Night - Papa Johns
Movie Night - Friday, March 22nd
Cheetah Pride Night at JTs Creamery - Friday, March 8th 3-9pm
School Store Help!
School Store will be open on February 6th (K-2) and February 13th (3-5)! If you are able to lend a hand from 8:30-9:30am, please sign up HERE! Thank you!
For our Cheetah-rific 5th Graders!
Save the date! 5th Grade Committee Meeting - Tuesday, February 20th at 4:30pm\
Yard Signs
Yard Sign (Without Name): https://hsespta.memberhub.com/store/items/962394
OR
(Personalized): https://hsespta.memberhub.com/store/items/962395
T-Shirt Donations
T-Shirt Donation: https://hsespta.memberhub.com/store/items/964567
Order Your 2023-24 Yearbook!
Yearbook Photos!
Cheetah FamilyFest (summer kickoff)
CheetahBlast (formerly O'Holly Night)
Fall Movie Night (Mario Movie)
Rent the Spirit Rock!
YES, you read that right! We have a NEW SPIRIT ROCK! Our new rock is directly behind our Carpool rock & sits facing the Bus loop. Now our bus and van riders will have a front row view of even more celebrations! Please pay close attention to CARPOOL or BUS LOOP when making your reservations. Choose either the CARPOOL LOOP or BUS LOOP. We cannot guarantee that your week will be available if you rent the wrong rock.
https://app.memberhub.gives/hsesspiritrock
The HSES Spirit Rock is a great way to send a message for all to see! Congratulate your favorite student on an accomplishment, wish a student a Happy Birthday, celebrate a team win or let everyone know how much you love our school. Reserve the Spirit Rock HERE ($25/week).