Hopewell's Happenings

October was a busy month at HES with many successful events thanks to our dedicated staff, students, and community members.

Back to School Night had an incredible turnout and we hope you were able to connect with your children's teachers to gain insight into the upcoming academic year.

Our first Walk, Roll, and Bike event from the Hopewell Train Station to school was enjoyed by all who participated. We loved seeing students and families on bikes, scooters, and roller blades and hope to continue this event multiple times throughout the year.

The Halloween Parade and Celebrations were a success due to the incredible support and enthusiasm of our families and staff. We enjoyed all of the creative and spooky costumes this year, as you can see below.

Educator of the Year - Each year, HVRSD participates in the Governor's Educator/Support Professional of the Year (GEOY) program to recognize the hard work of outstanding teachers and educational services professionals. Below you will find a nomination form along with the criteria that you should consider, if interested in nominating a staff member. You will be prompted to make a copy of the Google Form, or you can print and write on the pdf attachment.

Please return nomination forms directly to Dr. Brettell by Thursday, November 9th:

• Governor’s Educator of the Year Nomination (pdf)
• Governor’s Educator of the Year Nomination (Google form)
• Eligible Certification Areas for Educational Services Professionals

Support Professional of the Year - We will once again be recognizing support staff professionals from Hopewell Valley, for their hard work and dedication to the district. These individuals will be selected by a committee facilitated by Ms. Tana Smith and recognized by the Board of Education. If you know of a paraprofessional, secretary, custodian, maintenance worker, bus driver, van attendant, or technology specialist who is dedicated, inspiring, and making a difference in the lives of staff, parents, and students, please take the time to nominate this person. This can be done by clicking on the link below, completing the nomination form, and returning it to Ms. Tana Smith via email by Thursday, November 9, 2023. Administrators, staff members, parents, students, and community members are encouraged to participate.

Support Professional Nomination (pdf)

Support Professional Nomination (Google form)

HES will be providing opportunities for conferences during the following dates and times:

• Friday, 11/17: 1:40 - 4:20pm

• Monday, 11/20: 1:40 - 4:00pm; 5:00 - 8:00pm

HOMEROOM TEACHERS: Sign up by clicking on your child's homeroom teacher to access their Google Appointment Schedule.

SPECIAL EDUCATION, INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT, CST, COUNSELOR & THERAPISTS: These staff members will make every effort to attend your appointment(s) with your Homeroom Teacher(s). If, however, a scheduling conflict arises, preventing these additional staff members from joining the Homeroom Teacher during the time slot you've chosen, we will make these staff members' individual Google Appointment Schedules available after November 8th. This will enable you to schedule another appointment with them.

SPECIAL AREA TEACHERS: Between November 1st and November 8th, Special Area Teachers will contact families on an individual basis if they believe a conference is necessary due to your child's academic progress and/or behavior thus far. These teachers are seeking a conference to explore how we can provide the most effective support for you and your child during their special. After November 8th, Special Area Teachers' individual Google Appointment Schedules will be available for additional families to sign up.

EXCLUSIVELY FOR 5TH GRADE FAMILIES: Please sign-up for conferences by clicking your child's homeroom teacher ONLY. Each of your 5th Grade content-area teachers will meet with you during this appointment. Please note that conferences on Friday, November 17th, are virtual only. Monday's conferences are designated for in-person meetings.

HERE is the aforementioned sign-up document.

As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, we will partner with The Chubby’s Project to provide food baskets for families in need. Our goal is to provide food baskets for 27 families. In order to meet this goal, we will be asking families who are able to help out in the following ways:

1. Each grade will collect non-perishable items to go in the baskets.

+ Preschool & Kindergarten: stuffing

+ First Grade: corn bread mix

+ Second Grade: boxed mashed potatoes

+ Third Grade: canned peas, corn or green beans

+ Fourth Grade: cranberry sauce

+ Fifth Grade: gravy

2. Hopewell staff members will be donating turkeys to accompany the baskets. If you have a Pennington Market turkey voucher that you would like to donate, please send it in with your child.

Food donations/vouchers may be brought in from Thursday, November 2nd until Wednesday, November 15th.

Thank you so much for your support with this project. We wish you a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

Two (2) of HES's three (3) Nature Harmony Projects, the Hammock Garden and the Kinder-Garden, have been completed.

Jack Elliott, Class of '24, put the finishing touches on the Hammock Garden for his Eagle Scout project earlier last month. William DePaolo, Class of '24, refurbished our Kinder-Garden a few weeks back for his Eagle Scout project as well. Our teachers and students having been enjoying both locations during this beautiful fall weather.

Thank you to both Jack and William for all their hard work!

Someone that I am grateful for in our school community is Mr. Ryan Stingel, our Student Assistance Counselor. Read more about him and how he supports students at HES below.

Ryan Stingel is Hopewell's K-12 Student Assistance Counselor for the 2023-2024 academic year. He will work alongside Ms. Ashley LaRose at Hopewell Elementary, offering one-on-one and small group counseling to support students academically and emotionally. His credentials include National Certified Counselor, Licensed Associate Counselor, and Student Assistance Counselor. Ryan will focus on helping students with emotion regulation, anxiety, depression, peer conflict, and other challenges while aiming to teach children to identify their feelings and develop coping strategies. Students are typically referred to him by their School Counselor or classroom teacher. He'll collaborate with the School Counselor to provide comprehensive support. Ryan can be contacted at ryanstingel@hvrsd.org with any questions or concerns.

As always, please reach out if you need any assistance via phone at 609-737-4007 x1 or email at ashleylarose@hvrsd.org

Mark your calendars, Life Touch will be here on December 5th for Picture Day make-ups. Thank you to all the parents who volunteered and helped during our October picture day!

Library Volunteers - Calling all parents! We need your support in the HES Library. Join our team of dedicated volunteers to shelve books and organize the library. Your help ensures our students have a well-organized and inspiring reading space. Let's work together to maintain an enriched learning environment. Sign up today to be a part of our library volunteer team! Contact Mrs. White at leawhite@hvrsd.org.

If you are interested in volunteering please view the HVRSD letter for district protocol.

PTO Meeting:
The November PTO Meeting is Friday the 3rd from 8:45 am - 9:45 am in the Faculty Room at HES. If you can not attend in person click here for a Zoom Link.

Are you in the directory yet?
Did you know HES has a free, secure directory for families to find contact information to schedule playdates, send out birthday party invites or contact a parent in a pinch? Sign up for the school directory to manage the information you want to share and choose whether to receive important PTO announcements about upcoming events such as the school T-shirt giveaway and the book fair. The Membership Toolkit portal is secure, so your information will never be shared outside of our school community, and it gives you control over what you want to share. If you have any questions about the directory, reach out at hesdirectory@gmail.com.

HES PTO Fundraising:
The HES PTO is the volunteer organization behind many fun events and special things for our kids during the school year. Please view our link to the Frog Flash: Fall Fundraising.

Griggstown Farm Pie Pick up:
Pick up will take place on the afternoon of Wednesday, November 15th from 3:30-6:00pm at the HES cafeteria. Pies arrive frozen and are perishable.

Spiritwear Sale:
Deadline is November 10th - We have an exciting lineup of spirit wear for the HES community. Each purchase will not only be a contribution toward the PTO, but help build the unity within this school! The ordering window closes on Novemeber 10th , so make sure to order now.

Click HERE to purchase items.

Minted.com:
Support the HES PTO while you shop at Minted. Holiday Cards, Wedding Stationary, Birthday party Invites...you get 20% off and we get back 15% of your purchase directly to our account. It's a win-win!

Also, you can share the code with family and friends (they don't have to live in Hopewell!). Anyone who uses our code can take advantage of 20% off. Feel free to post on your social media! The Hopewell code is FUNDRAISEHOPEWELLELEM.

Photography Partnership:

Looking for Fall Photos? We've partnered with Kris Renee to receive a benefit back from her holiday mini sessions. See the opportunity below:

Booking Link: https://krisreneecreative.pixieset.com/booking/HolidayMiniSession

• November 1st - Princeton Symphony Orchestra's BRAVO Percussion Assembly for 4th Grade
• November 3rd - PTO Meeting (8:45am)
• November 5th - Hopewell Feeds Neighbors 5K Walk (10:00am)
• November 6th - Fire Safety Education Day (Rescheduled from 10/13)
• November 9th - School Closed (NJEA Convention); Deadline GEOY Nominations
• November 10th - School Closed (Observation of Veteran's Day)
• November 13th - School Spirit Day (Wear HES Gear/Colors); Whole School Meeting
• November 17th - Early Dismissal; Parent-Teacher Conferences (1:40-4:20pm)
• November 20th - Early Dismissal; Parent-Teacher Conferences (1:40-4:00pm & 5:00-8:00pm)
• November 21st - Early Dismissal
  
• November 22nd - Early Dismissal; SEL & School Spirit Day (Dress Like Someone You Are Grateful For); Whole School Meeting
• November 23th & 24th - School Closed (Thanksgiving Holiday Break)
• November 28th - Princeton Symphony Orchestra's BRAVO Brass Assembly for 5th Grade

HES Dismissal Waiver Form

HES School Calendar

HVRSD District Calendar

HES School Times

HES Lunch Info

This section of our monthly correspondence is dedicated to posting our older community newsletters so that you can refer back to previous HES communication. We also recommend that you regularly visit our school's website to stay informed with the latest events and happenings at HES.

Previous Newsletters:

• October Edition
• September Edition
• Back to School Edition