October 7-Monday-Picture Re-Take Day

October 11-Friday-Early Release Day-Students Dismiss at 11:38 am

October 15-Tuesday-Family Engagement Night at Hillcrest 5-7 pm

October 31-Thursday-Halloween Costume Parade

November 8-Friday-Early Release-Students Dismiss at 11:38 am

November 13-Wednesday-Late Start-School Begins at 11:38 am

We had another great learning week at Hillcrest! Just a reminder that next week is our first Early Release day of the year. Students will be dismissed at 11:38 am.

Each week we have a different focus for our ROARS:

This week, our focus was on ROARS in the hallway. These signs are posted up around the building to help remind students of our expectations.

This Friday is our first Early Release of the year. Please note that all Hillcrest students will be dismissed at 11:38 am. Thanks in advance for having transportation arranged for your student and make sure that the student knows how they are getting home.

Students will have the opportunity to eat lunch in school before they leave.

Thanks to the PTO and for everyone that attended for the first graders. What a great turnout!! It is estimated that we had close to 200 people this morning!

If you are planning on attending the 2nd and 3rd grade event on October 18th, please make sure you register using the QR code or the link.

We are excited for this event coming up on October 15th! There will be chances to win a $100 gift basket, other prizes, along goodie bags to take home!

If you or someone you know is in need of child care for your 2.5-4 year old, we still have spots available. Click the picture to begin enrollment or contact Kimberly Hamad at 989-466-7593 for enrollment information.

Spots are still available for our tuition-based preschool for 4-5 year olds. Open House is September 5, and school begins September 9. Contact Kimberly Hamad at 989-466-7593 for enrollment information.

We have a few spots available for K-5th grade students who are in need of before and after school care. Contact Kimberly Hamad at 989-466-7593 for enrollment information.

We have a tradition at Hillcrest of wearing our theme shirts on Tuesdays! It can be any form of camping shirt, such as camo colors, fishing, from a State Park, or whatever camping is to you!

On Fridays in Alma, we wear orange and black, or anything PANTHERS to show off our school spirit!

APS will once again have Late Start and Early Release Days about once a month. For both days, the time to remember for Hillcrest is 11:38 am. Our Late Start days are on Wednesdays and our Early Release days will be on Fridays this year.

October 11-Friday-Early Release-End at 11:38 am

November 8-Friday-Early Release-End at 11:38 am

November 13-Wednesday-Late Start-Begin at 11:38 am

December 11-Wednesday-Late Start-Begin at 11:38 am

January 10-Friday-Early Release-End at 11:38 am

February 28-Friday-Early Release-End at 11:38 am

March 12-Wednesday-Late Start-Begin at 11:38 am

April11-Friday-Early Release-End at 11:38 am

May 14-Wednesday-Late Start-Begin at 11:38 am

Thanks in advance for planning transportation for your students on these day!

At Alma Public Schools, we teach students to follow their ROARS. We focus on a positive approach and help them to understand the expectations and what following their ROARS looks like, sounds like, and feels like in all areas of the building.

As a way to promote positive behavior and as an incentive to follow their ROARS, students can earn Panther Paws.

Please make every effort to have your child at school every day! We want to see them and their classmates miss them when they are not here! It is so critical to their education process that they in school!

In all of our classrooms, we teach positive expectations for behavior so students know what to expect. We use the acronym MAC (Movement, Activity, Conversation) to help student understand those expectations. The M stands for movement so students know what the expectations are for moving. The A lets the students know the activity they will be coming and the C is the conversation so the students know what volume level they can be at.

Over the last few years, APS has worked very hard at developing and implementing systems to help all students be successful. This flyer helps to give more details regarding our progress.

Make sure to download the APS App on your phone. This year we will be using this app for all parent communication from teachers and coaches. At Open House, you will receive more information on how to connect the app to your student's classroom.

We greatly appreciate and welcome volunteers and chaperones in our classrooms and events. Your involvement in our students' activities and classrooms offers a valuable opportunity for teachers and students, enhancing the safety and enrichment of the learning experience. If you’re interested in volunteering this year, please review our volunteer and chaperone guidelines on our district website under “Parents and Community” and complete the volunteer form. This form will remain on file for one school year.

Click on the link to open the form.

Families are such an important part of their child's education and we want to make sure families are connected to APS! Please seek ways you can be a part of our schools!

Don't hesitate to reach out to the office or to your child's teacher to see what we can do to make this a great experience for your students!

If you need to make a transportation change for your student, it must be communicated to the office before 2 p.m. The end of the day is very hectic at an elementary school and messages are not always able to get to teachers after 2 pm.

Thank you for being so understanding in this situation!

Our buiding uses Second Step to help support our students and their Social-Emotional Learning. Each class does weekly lessons to teach a variety of different skills and techniques.

We have officially begun our ELA program called Bookworms! Our classes have done a great job and we are excited to see their progress throughout the year! Each student will receive three different blocks of reading and writing instruction a day.

One of the Bookworms blocks is called DI. Every student is placed in a group based on their skill and needs. They work on lessons geared toward progress in their reading skills and move up the staircase as they gain the necessary skills.

For all of our K-5 classes, we are using a six-day rotation for our specials, which we call A-F day. All of the students in grades 2-5 have STEAM, Art, Music, Social-Emotional Learning, and two days of PE. Students in first grade will not have music this year, but will have two days of Art class instead.

We are very fortunate to have so many offerings for all of our students that are taught by certified teachers!

Here is a link to all the Camp Hillcrest Happenings for the 2024-25 School Year.

Camp Hillcrest Happenings for 2024-25

Email: jhelinski@almaschools.net
Website: www.almaschools.net
Location: 515 East Elizabeth Street, Alma, MI, USA
Phone: 989-463-3113
Facebook: facebook.com/almahillcrest
Twitter: @almahillcrest