PHT Paws-itively News

Dear Page Hilltop Families:

SPRING HAS ARRIVED! There, I said it. Now I can only hope that I haven't jinxed us and tempted fate with a late-season snowstorm. Looking for the sunshine, the birds, and the flowers all around Page Hilltop.

At this time we will be announcing the 2nd winner of this year's winter challenge contest. The question was "When will ALL of the snow disappear from the Page Hilltop school grounds?" Now many of you may think that this happened days or weeks ago. You would be incorrect in that assumption. Each day when I arrive and each evening when I leave, I drive around the school and check for any patches of unmelted snow and there have been a few.

Not anymore. It is all gone! The student winners have been identified based on their guesses. There was a tie with two students selecting the correct day. They are both from Mrs. Less' second-grade classroom: Faith Knight & Juba Aouane. Congratulations! Your class will be earning a special prize!

Next week we will announce the final winter challenge winners as the students who correctly predicted the total amount of snowfall for this past winter.

Thanks, as always, for sharing your children with us!

Fred Deppe, Principal

Matt Lutinski, Assistant Principal

• April 4th -- 5th Grade ELA MCAS Session 1
• April 6th -- 5th Grade ELA MCAS Session 2
• April 6th -- Build a Panther PTO Event @ 6:30 PM ZOOM LINK
• April 7th -- Lynch Leadership Academy Site Visit
• April 7th -- PTO Meeting ZOOM LINK
• April 11th -- Bike Rodeo on Playground @ 3:30
• April 12th -- 4th Grade ELA MCAS Session 1
• April 13th -- Early Release Dismissal @ 1:45
• April 14th -- 4th Grade ELA MCAS Session 2
• April 15th -- Wear BLUE & YELLOW for Ukraine
• April 18th - 22nd -- April Vacation
• April 25th -- 3rd Grade ELA MCAS Session 1
• April 27th -- 3rd Grade ELA MCAS Session 2
• April 29th -- Class Color Competition -- see details below

Friday, April 15th: Wear blue and yellow to support Ukraine

Friday, April 29th: Class Color Competition -- Each grade wears their assigned color, and we will see who has the most school spirit!

• Preschool -- Red
• Kindergarten -- Red
• 1st Grade -- Orange
• 2nd Grade -- Yellow
• 3rd Grade -- Green
• 4th Grade -- Purple
• 5th Grade -- Blue

5th Grader Families: Students will begin their MCAS testing on Monday, April 4th. Please ensure your student is as successful as possible by...

1. Getting a good night's sleep
2. Waking up on time
3. Arriving to school on time
4. Eating a healthy breakfast
5. Sharing positive thoughts

We hope you all had a positive experience during the Trimester 2 round of parent conferences. If you have not already had a family discussion with your child, we encourage you to do so. Recognize the areas that your child is doing well in and let them know how proud you are of their efforts. Also, take note of areas in which they may need to show some improvement. Develop a plan together that will help them to make positive progress. Please keep in mind that you are welcome to reach out to any school staff member, at any time, with your questions and/or concerns. Parents of 3rd-4th-5th graders are able to check the Parent Portal at any time.

Our PTO is sponsoring a "Build a Panther and Panther Pals" fundraiser event. Use this link to purchase your stuffed animal kit and build it together via ZOOM on April 6th! Limited quantities still remain. Kits will can be picked up on Monday afternoon, please see blackboard message that went out earlier this week.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOURS!

You can build a...

• Panther (only 18 left)
• Panda (Sold Out!)
• German Shepherd (Sold Out!)
• Black Bear (only 12 left)
• Sponsor a Kit! -- this kit will go to a deserving student

We are working to redefine PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports) for the upcoming school year. We have started by re-establishing our core values; Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe. Our next step is to develop a school motto that exemplifies who we are as a school community.

What do you think our school motto should be? Submit your family's suggestion on this GOOGLE FORM and our students will vote. Submissions are due on the Google Form by Friday, April 15th.

Are you interested in helping out in our cafeteria? Please contact Mrs. Susan Parker, at sparker@asrsd.org if interested in getting on her substitute list.

Check out our April Lunch Menu -- CLICK HERE

We are all aware that this has been a challenging school year as we have had to deal with the impact of COVID, close contacts, other illnesses, etc. I am very appreciative of all efforts that our parents/families have put forth in trying to keep your children healthy and in school.

We hope that things will be better for this last trimester and that we will finish strong for the last 3 months.

We have noticed a slight increase in the number of students who are arriving late for school. While it may only be a few minutes if does have an effect on the student's smooth transition to the beginning of the school day. They may miss morning announcements. They may miss some important daily reminders from teachers. They may not have enough time to enjoy their breakfast. They may be starting their day in a frantic state.

Daily arrival times run from 8:25 - to 8:40 (with an optimum time between 8:25 - 8:35). If you are having a difficult time meeting this "arrival window", please determine the reason why and make some adjustments to your morning schedule.

• Set your alarms 5-10 minutes earlier
• Plan to leave your house 5-10 minutes earlier
• Make sure the television/computers are turned off in the morning
• Have your child prepare more in the evening (pack their bag, pack their lunch, decide on clothes to wear, take a shower, have all notes signed before leaving)

This is a reminder that students are assigned to one bus only. They are not allowed to ride a different bus to go to a friend's house, etc. Those transportation needs must be taken care of by the parents themselves.

Dayna Kendall, who is the Restorative Justice Interventionist for the ASRSD, recently visited with all of our fifth grade classes. Dayna led the students in a restorative circle discussion. The students shared their thoughts and feelings on the power of words as they explored the impact of language in their lives. We are very proud of our fifth graders who were respectful, insightful and compassionate during their circle discussions.

As part of our PBIS initiatives this year we recently implemented the "Golden PAWS" program. Each month, homerooms will collect their "Golden PAWS" in a classroom collection bin. On the last day of each month, all homerooms will dump their Golden PAWS slips in a bin outside Mr. Lutinski's office. We will then hold a drawing to select a winning homeroom for the monthly class incentive. The more PAWS tickets your homeroom earns each month, the better chance your homeroom has at winning the monthly drawing.

This month, Mrs. Crutchfield's first grade class earned the March Golden PAWS incentive. The winning PAWS ticket was from her student Joao Dias. As a reward for winning the Golden PAWS, Mrs. Crutchfield's students enjoyed an ice cream social on Friday, April 1st. Good job, Mrs. Crutchfield's class, keep up the good work! Who will be our lucky winners next month? Thank you, Emerson and Gannon, for drawing our first winner!

On Friday, April 1st the students and staff at Page Hilltop wore blue from head to toe to bring awareness to World Autism Awareness Day, which was officially be celebrated on Saturday, April 2nd.

All students in grades K-2 have recently been learning about the importance of deep breathing during their classroom guidance lessons with Ms. Ahlquist! Some major benefits of deep breathing include:

• Relaxing the body and mind

• Strengthening the ability to focus and learn

• Helping with self-regulation and controlling your emotions

Students were given time to decorate and practice four different breathing strategies. Take a look at some of our amazing student samples below, and try them for yourself! How do you feel after taking 3 big deep breaths?

ASRMS proudly presents Annie Jr. Tickets will be sold for $7/adults, and $5/children.

April 8th and 9th @ 7:00 pm

April 10th @ 2:00 pm

CHECK OUT THE 2022 SUMMER OFFERINGS FROM THE AYER PARKS AND REC. -- CLICK HERE

If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Jeff Thomas @ parks@ayer.ma.us

Our school had the honor of being selected as one of six elementary schools across the nation that would participate in the "John Lennon Real Love Project". This project was sponsored by the John Lennon Foundation. It involved all of our fifth graders learning about John Lennon and them working with Scott & Beth Bierko, professional musical composers from New York. The Bierkos spent a day at Page Hilltop, working with the fifth graders, as the students wrote new lyrics to go with Lennon's last song - Real Love. Scott and Beth then returned to New York, with lots of photos from Page Hilltop, to work on the new song composition. You may enjoy it by clicking on the link below.

https://www.theatrewithin.org/real-love-hilltop

Mrs. Arsenault's Classroom: Mrs. Perwak visited our class to plant peas that will be used in our Kindness Garden in the courtyard. The students loved planting and learning about the Kindness Garden. Thank you for visiting our classroom, Mrs. Perwak.

Mrs. Colello's Class: Mrs. Colello's class took part in a hands-on science experiment titled Weathering and Erosion Exploration...

The steps of the experiment were

• Observe the "rock" (cookie) and draw what you see
• Use tools to show weathering of the rock (break it apart)
• Blow "wind" with a straw to show how erosion moves the weathered rock around
• Add water to the new landform and observe to see what changes or forms.

When asked what the class learned about weathering and erosion, the responses were...

• "Water can form rivers and lakes in land"
• "Wind can change the shape of rock"
• "Wind and water can break down rock"
• "Water can make rock soft"

Mrs. France's Class: On Thursday, March 31st, Ava T. and Abby W. read Pig the Pug and Peanut Butter and Cupcake to Mrs. France's students. Ava T. and Abby W. are former students of Mrs. France and she was so happy to welcome them back to her classroom to read to her current 1st-graders!

Mrs. McKillop's Class: Mrs. McKillop's first graders have been learning about various animals and their habitats, as part of their science curriculum. They have just finished learning about walruses and were anxious to share all of the interesting facts that they learned. They also wanted to demonstrate their reading skills to some of the adults that they work with. Great job, first graders!

On Tuesday, April 5th we will be observing "Good Manners Day" during all lunches. Now I think we all agree that good manners should be used every day and I know we have very polite students at Page Hilltop. We are just going to have a little fun competition to say how many "Please" and "Thank You"s we hear as students go through the lunch line.

Officer Bigelow has requested that we change the date of the bike rodeo, due to the fact that she will be involved in some APD training on the original date. The new date is Monday, April 11th @ 3:30 with a rain date of Thursday, April 14th. Parents will be allowed to drop off students' bikes at any time during the day. A sign-up form will be sent home the week before the event.

Page Hilltop is looking for people interesting in providing coverage for classroom teachers and paraprofessionals (on an interim substitute basis). Interested applicants must submit a copy of this application. Applicants, if hired, will need to complete a CORI in the main office and also be fingerprinted. Please email Fred Deppe, at fdeppe@asrsd.org if you have any questions.

Current Employment Opportunities can be found on SchoolSpring -- CLICK HERE

Preschool and Kindergarten registration is now open for the 2022 - 2023 school year. Check out our website -- CLICK HERE

Preschool Registration Slide Deck -- CLICK HERE

Preschool Registration Packet -- CLICK HERE

Kindergarten Registration Slide Deck -- CLICK HERE

Kindergarten Registration Packet -- CLICK HERE

To opt into this new testing program use the link to this Google Form -- CLICK HERE

Testing kits will be sent home with students every other Tuesday. Students will need to test at home by 6:30 pm every Tuesday and report positive cases only using the QR code to the Google Form provided with testing kits.

All parents of 3rd, 4th and 5th-grade students should have received a copy of the spring MCAS testing dates. We ask that you do your best to avoid scheduling any appointments on those dates.

Helpful Hints for a successful MCAS testing experience:

* Children are encouraged to try their best at all times. Children should keep in mind that MCAS testing has nothing to do with their report card grades or with promotion to the next grade.

* Parents should keep students on a typical schedule during MCAS times.

* Students should be getting lots of good sleep during MCAS times.

* Students should eat a good breakfast on testing days.

* Students MUST be on time for all MCAS test days. Students arriving late for school are not allowed to enter the classroom after the test has begun at 9:00am.

ELA MCAS:

• Grade 5: April 4 & 6
• Grade 4: April 12 & 14
• Grade 3: April 25 & 27

MATH MCAS:

• Grade 4: May 10 & 12
• Grade 5: May 16 & 18
• Grade 3: May 17 & 19

STE MCAS (5th-Grade Only)

• Grade 5: May 23 & 25

NEXT PTO MEETING: Thursday, April 7th @ 7:00 PM via ZOOM

PTO Website -- LINK

PTO Facebook Page -- Link

Are you an Amazon shopper?

Did you know just by shopping with smileamazon.com you can help support PH!?

Create a FREE SMILE ACCOUNT and link it to Page Hilltop.

Share with family and friends so they can help support PH too!

BOX TOPS
YES, Page Hilltop can still earn with Box Tops!
Here is a video on how to Scan with the Box Tops Mobile App YOUTUBE BOXTOP

SCRIPS YEAR ROUND
The PHT PTO scrip program is a simple and effective fundraising program.
Please email Amanda Lewis at alewis@asrsd.org with any questions regarding the Scrip Program.
Go to: https://www.shopwithscrip.com/how-to-enroll and click Join Your Existing Program
1. Enter the Enrollment Code: 298736BL13535
2. Complete the Family Registration page
3. Start Shopping!