Page Hilltop Paws-itively News
January 16th, 2022
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Aqui está como!
No lado direito desta newsletter existe um botão de tradução, clique e escolha o seu idioma e a newsletter será transformada!
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En el lado derecho de este boletín hay un botón de traducción, haga clic y elija su idioma y el boletín se transformará.
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នេះជារបៀប!
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Principal's Thoughts
Dear Page Hilltop Families:
As we continue to endure these difficult Covid-related times, life can pose frequent challenges for our students, parents, and school staff. For myself, I have chosen to remain optimistic about our future. When I think back on all that we have overcome these past couple of years, I am often reminded that the strength of our school community comes from the partnership between our school and our homes. We are all here to do what is best to support our students / your children.
I would like to share 3 messages of inspiration to hopefully help you all when you are struggling:
The first message comes from humorist Erma Bombeck: "Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere."
The second message comes from that lovable bear, Baloo, of Jungle Book fame: Forget about your worries and your strife and the bare necessities of life will come to you."
The third message comes from my dear friend & colleague, Barbara. She was also godmother to my son and we worked together in NH until her untimely passing at an early age. Her spirit remains with me always and I live by her favorite phrase often: "This too shall pass."
Covid will pass and we will get through it together. Lean on each other, support each other.
If you have any questions or confusion regarding Covid-related issues, I ask that you share them directly with either myself of assistant principal Matt Lutinski. Please do not send any questions to teachers or school staff directly as we don't want to risk you receiving any misinformation due to changing DESE / CDC protocols. Please do not accept what you may view on any social media platforms as current & accurate.
Stay healthy! Stay Safe! Stay Strong!
Fred Deppe, Principal
Matt Lutinski, Assistant Principal
ASRSD 2021 - 2022 School Calendar (revised - December 15th, 2021)
Revisions include additional early release days on the following dates...
- Wednesday, February 9th
- Wednesday, March 9th
- Wednesday, April 13th
- Wednesday, May 11th
**Early Release Days -- Dismissal @ 1:45 -- Lunch is Served**
JANUARY DATES TO REMEMBER
- Monday, January 17th -- MLK Day -- No School
- Friday, January 21st -- 1/2 Day -- Dismissal @ 12:15 -- NO LUNCH SERVED
January's Lunch Menu
Monday -- MLK Day -- NO SCHOOL
Tuesday -- Chicken Nuggets
Wednesday -- BBQ Rib on WG Bun
Thursday -- Personal Pizza
Friday -- 1/2 DAY -- NO Lunch
ROUTINE COVID SAFETY CHECKS (POOL TESTING)
Wednesday is the cutoff for enrollment to be in next Monday's pool testing.
Directions to provide consent for pool testing...
- Go to https://www.cic-health.com/consent/ma?district=null
- Click "Consent Now"
- Select your school district "Ayer Shirley School District"
- Select your school "Page Hilltop Elementary School"
- Click "Sign Consent Form for a Minor"
- Follow the following prompts
Page Hilltop's First Snow Day of 2022
ACADEMICS AT HOME
Please find the links to these online tools below...
Students should have their usernames and passwords written down in their folders. If not, please email your child's teacher for this information.
PARENTS SUPPORTING PARENTS
SOCK DRIVE
PREDICT HOW MANY PAIRS OF SOCKS we will have collected by January 31st. Write your guess down on a piece of paper, with your name and homeroom, and send it to the office. The student(s) who come closest to the correct number of socks will win a prize from our school store.
Thank you everyone for your support. We will update you on our final collection totals at the end of the month.
CLASSROOM SHOWCASE
GREAT KINDNESS CHALLENGE
MEET OUR SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER
A School Resource Officer is often referred to as a SRO. What is a School Resource Officer? An SRO is a fully trained police officer who has gone through further training to become a certified School Resource Officer both within Massachusetts and on a national level. “NASRO developed the “triad” concept of school-based policing. It divides the school resource officer (SRO) responsibilities into three areas: teacher, informal counselor, and law enforcement officer. By training law enforcement to educate, counsel, and protect school communities, the men and women of NASRO continuously lead by example and promote a positive image of law enforcement to school children and school communities.” NASRO, National Association of School Resource Officers.
An SRO usually will work during school hours and be just that, a resource to the school community. An SRO will be a liaison between the school, the police department, and other agencies. An SRO will work with DCF and the court system to be a support to families in need.
Officer Jennifer Bigelow, from the Ayer Police Department, has been the SRO for the Ayer Police Department for approximately eight years. During that time she has assisted in the District’s Planning of Safety procedures, has planned Bike Rodeos, Halloween Safety talks, Car Seat Safety, and many other projects with the school to include D.A.R.E.
GRADE 5 D.A.R.E PROGRAM
The D.A.R.E. curriculum for the fifth-grade students is a ten-week program. Each week, Officer Bigelow will meet with the class for approximately one hour for a lesson. The curriculum is focused on helping the students make good choices by utilizing a Decision-Making Model. The lessons will include education about drugs and alcohol which will help them make better choices when faced with the opportunities to make a choice to use or not. The curriculum also allows the students to learn about themselves and their own stresses and how to handle them best. Officer Bigelow appreciates the time spent each week with the students while engaging them in these important topics. Officer Bigelow and Page Hilltop are working together for each student to be the best citizen they can be.
This year's D.A.R.E program will on the week of February 2nd and end in the middle of April. There will be a graduation celebration held after April vacation. We are fortunate to be able to involve all of our fifth graders in this program. Most of the lessons will be held on Wednesdays / Thursdays of each week. We encourage parents to talk with their children about what they learn each week during D.A.R.E.
PAGE HILLTOP CLOTHES CLOSET
SCHOOL STORE RE-OPENS THIS WEEK
MLK DAY
On January 17, 2022, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday will mark the 27th anniversary of the national day of service. This day was established to honor the life and legacy of Dr. King, and to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities. Americans celebrated the first official Martin Luther King Day, which is the only federal holiday commemorating an African-American, on Monday, January 20, 1986. In 1994, Congress designated the holiday as a national day of service, and marked the third Monday in January every year as the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service - a "Day On, Not a Day Off."
How might you volunteer, in some way, to help make your community a better place?