Hillcrest Academy South Campus

Be well,

Dr. B.

Ms Cioffi has been an English teacher at HAS for the past 12 years. Since she is the oldest of five children, teaching just came naturally to her. What some people may not know is that one of her favorite hobbies is to cook and bake, which at times her students and fellow coworkers get to benefit from! Aside from baking, she loves country music and cheesy holiday Hallmark movies, which she admits are a guilty pleasure. When not indulging in movies, Ms Cioffi indulges in coffee and has a knack for creating new latte recipes.

HAS recognized Women's History Month in a hallway display that included notable women that have impacted our world in a variety of fields. From Audrey Hepburn's "Nothing is impossible" to Dolly Parton's "Find out who you are and do it on purpose" and RBG's "Women belong in all places where decisions are being made." The quotes by the 32 women displayed have inspired HAS students all month long.

Every month, HAS provides a movie incentive so students can watch movies not just for entertainment value, but also for perspective. This month being Women's History Month, the movies chosen for this incentive all have the perspective of women overcoming challenges set before them simply because they were women.

Selena - The story of singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez and how she broke through the male dominated Tejano music scene

Wonder Woman - How Wonder Woman was raised on an island with strong women leaders and then navigates in her new life in the outside world during WWI and becomes the superhero she was born to be

Barbie - Barbie is a tale of her adventure of self-discovery due to an existential crisis that is happening simultaneously with Barbie herself and the human connected to her.

Brave - A young woman facing the challenge of an arranged marriage and her fight for independence and the right to choose who and if she wants to marry

Ximena is an amazing student who has overcome so many hardships in her life. She is always happy, upbeat and willing to help others. Ximena continues to persevere both academically and in her personal life. Last year, Ximena lost credit for the school year due to excessive absences and was unable to graduate. Some students would have been discouraged and thrown in the towel. However, Ximena was determined to graduate and returned in September ready to tackle her senior year. Not only did she make the honor roll first marking period but Ximena continues to show up and earn high marks in all of her classes. Ximena’s teachers all praise her for her strong work ethic and leadership in the classroom. She always completes her work on time and with perfect detail. Ximena always takes a chance and is not afraid to raise her hand even if she's not 100% positive about the answer. She continues to be amazing and we are super proud of how far she's come. We look forward to seeing all Ximena accomplishes in the future!

Pi Day happens every year on March 14th (3/14) as the first three digits in pi is 3.14. Of course, HAS math teachers Ms Fern and Ms Ferrari took over this "holiday" with tips and treats. Ms Ferrari explained the idea of pi in her Algebra 1 and Geometry classes while Ms Fern went over the historical significance and origin in her Algebra 2 and Probability & Statistics classes, with connections to class topics. Then students got to color in an activity page and enjoy a personal apple or cherry pie to celebrate. Of course, no "holiday" is complete without Ms Fern's costume of choice. This year, she dressed up as a Pi-lot (pilot) where all of her accessories were decorated with golden pi's. Ms Fern even made pilot wings with the symbol of pi. Since Pi Day came after the NJGPA state testing, the students enjoyed a nice fun break participating in the day.

During the month of March, HAS conducted a food drive to collect non-perishable foods to be donated. Students brought in a total of over 400 food items which were then donated to St. Agnus Church located in Clark, NJ. The food drive was orchestrated by HAS Security Monitor, Mr DiOrio, who was then assisted by a group of seniors to bag items and move them to the vehicle that was used for transport to St. Agnus.

This may seem like a scene from a movie, or maybe an idea for a video game, but this really happened here at HAS. One day, random ducks started popping up in the school; on a windowsill, on a counter, on a desk, and so on. The following day, signs were posted letting students know that they should be collecting the ducks as each color will earn them points; so began the Duck Hunt Contest! The yellow ducks were 1 point, pink and blue ducks were 2 points, green and white ducks were 3 points, and the very rare purple duck was valued at 5 points each. Students were then instructed to return ducks to Ms V who kept track of the points and was revealed to be the Contest Master. In the end, the winner won a DD breakfast of their choosing for the last day of the month before leaving for Spring Break.

Perseverance - continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition

Prevail - prove more powerful than opposing forces; be victorious

In the past 4 years, HAS has been through its fair share of difficulties that could have easily turned into failure. It all started when the world shut down due to a rising pandemic; CoVid-19. Schools were closed and turned to virtual learning which for HAS was until June of 2021. September 2021 was when students were supposed to come back into the building, but Tropical Storm Ida had different plans. The school was flooded which damaged everything teachers used to teach and electronics like Chrome Books, calculators, and SmartBoards. Damage was also done to the building which led to HAS being virtual yet again for four more months. Then from January 2022 through December 2022, HAS temporarily relocated to Lord & Taylor in Westfield. The empty department store was adjusted to create a proper atmosphere, adhering to the regulations needed for a school. Getting used to an environment not traditionally used as a school has its challenges. There was no gymnasium for Physical Education, no cafeteria, temporary walls where each class can hear the other classes all teaching simultaneously, etc. Finally in January of 2023, HAS was able to return to its home at 1571. Of course through all of this, teachers still followed consensus maps, taught effectively with minimal tools and/or through a computer screen. Students were asked to do work for classes even though they were behind because of CoVid and to be socially distanced in a school setting after losing about two years of working in person.

In this year's bulletin board contest, with the theme being Persevere and Prevail, HAS depicted a phoenix rising from the ashes of these mentioned trials. The pictures in the background depicted all above issues and the burnt edges implied that the fire the phoenix emerged leaving the old life in the ashes and has risen into its new life as HAS has done. HAS has proven that we will persevere and prevail no matter what comes our way!

Hillcrest Academy South is an alternative high school for students from the Elizabeth Public School District. Students are referred to HAS by their Elizabeth Academy guidance counselor and administration for an interview at HAS. We provide a small educational learning setting with opportunities to make up courses through our Credit Retrieval Program in a caring environment in order to meet Elizabeth’s graduation requirements.

Website: www.ucesc.org

Instagram: ucesc_has

Facebook: Hillcrest Academy South
Location: 1571 Lamberts Mill Road, Westfield, NJ, USA-Door 3B
Phone: 908-233-9317