Weekend Update!

Welcome back!!! We hope that you have enjoyed your summer! We have been busy at work here, especially with all of our staff back the past couple of days, to prepare for another successful year! In case you missed it, here is the letter I sent to families last week welcoming everyone back to school.

Not too much has changed from this past school year to now. We hired some amazingly talented new staff members, whom you and your children are going to love! Our population has increased to over 800 students this year, which is a first for Hillcrest. Keeping that in mind, for those of you driving your children to school please leave some extra time to account for traffic, and we appreciate your patience when in our parking lot.

As I have the past several years, I will continue to send newsletters out on Fridays to help keep you in the loop with everything going on in school, and to help you plan ahead. We look forward to partnering on another terrific school year with you! Go Hawks!

Our PTA was incredibly generous to treat our staff to the Silver Sands Pizza Truck yesterday to welcome back everyone to school! The food was absolutely delicious, and everyone loved it! Thank you Mrs. Commisky, and the entire PTA crew for making this happen!

Beginning this school year, parents in PK-12 will now have the ability to report full day absences, late arrivals and early dismissals via their Infinite Campus Parent Portal using the mobile app or website in place of calling the school attendance line. Please click here for more information on how to use this feature. If you need support signing into your Infinite Campus portal account please see this FAQ sheet.

If you have not done so already, please review this letter that was sent out yesterday regarding our expectations regarding cell phones.

The 24-25 school year will be special for many reasons, one of which is the pending referendum on Election Day (11/5/24) in regards to the fate of a new Hillcrest Middle School. This project, if approved, will replace the current Hillcrest building that was built in 1966. Among other factors, new schools offer instructional spaces designed for today’s instructional strategies; improved indoor air-quality; enhanced school security measures; ADA compliance; modern technology; safer traffic pattern designs; more efficient utilities (potentially net zero); more natural light; and an environmentally conscious design. While new buildings are expensive, we were thrilled that the legislative session ending on May 8, 2024, specifically identified a 44% (instead of 24.29%) reimbursement rate for our Hillcrest Project. This means that Trumbull taxpayers would be responsible for $81.7 million of the $142 million project. This presentation provides an explanation of how and why Hillcrest was selected as the first project. The Educational Specifications (EdSpecs) of the new Hillcrest can be found here. I would encourage you to stay engaged and educated on the facts and details of this prospective project before casting your vote.

Please remind your student to bring their charged Chromebook to school each day. If your charger is lost, you can purchase a new one similar to this one at your preferred online or retail store.

Chromebook insurance is offered annually and can be purchased for $25 through Infinite Campus. This program covers all accidental damage to the Chromebook, or theft of the device, subject to the following: $0 deductible for the first two occurrences per year and $50 deductible per occurrence thereafter. This coverage is effective for the duration of the school year. Sign into Infinite Campus and go to "School Store" >> "Technology" >>"1 to 1 Device Insurance Grades 5-8, 2024-2025." If a family does not elect to purchase the insurance, the family will be responsible for the full cost of replacement parts plus labor, or full replacement cost of the Chromebook. Chromebook insurance does not cover intentional damage or lost devices, chargers or cases. For a full list of costs please click here.

For additional information on the program please refer to the Board of Education 5143.2 Student One-to-One Device Insurance Program. Families experiencing economic hardship may request a fee waiver by contacting the appropriate school administrator and following the process outlined in Board of Education 5138/Pay to Participate Policy

We’re excited to welcome you back to a new school year! To kick things off, we’re thrilled to host Coffee with the Principals and fun student activities like Bowling Night. We look forward to engaging with you and your children throughout the year!

Stay connected and be in the know! Join our email system and online directory app - Membership Toolkit

Staying Connected 2024

Join the PTA and be a vital part of our Hillcrest community! Your involvement helps create a thriving environment for our students and supports programs that make a difference.

Membership Form

We're excited to offer several volunteer opportunities within our school! Please consider contributing your time and skills to support our students and enhance our HMS community.

Together We Can

Mark Your Calendar!

• Picture Day is Monday, Sept 23rd: Please consider volunteering to assist photographers in taking the best pictures they can at our HMS Picture Day Picture Day .
• Coffee with the Principals is Tuesday, Sept 24th

Coffee with the Principals - Info

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.

1.This week, our staff read this article detailing how to keep student learning at the forefront of any AI use in the classroom.

2. Mrs. Laird and I read a host of books this summer! Most recently, we read Boredom Busters by Katie Powell, which provides a number of instructional strategies on how to keep students engaged during classroom lessons.

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!

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.

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