Jaguar Families,

I hope it wasn’t too much to get back in the swing of things after vacation week. It was a little tricky for me but I managed.  This month is our long stretch of schooling (no vacations and no days off).  With that being said, we will be conducting a few different “theme” weeks.  This coming week is Read Across America Week and Spirit week will follow.   

Read Across America

This coming week (3/1 – 3/5) Silver Hill will be celebrating Read Across America Week.  We will be commemorating this with a different theme each day.  They are: “Monday-Be Influential day, Tuesday-Hat day/100th day, Wednesday-Cozy Up Author Study day, Thursday-Celebrate Diversity day and Friday-Book Character day.  

Picture retake information

The picture retakes will be conducted on March 9th for Cohort A and C from 9:30-10:30 with 10:30-12 for RLA.  March 11th from 9:30-10:30 for Cohort B and C along with another 10:30-12:00 session for any RLA students unable to make it on Tuesday.  Parents must order online prior to the retake day and provide a printout of the confirmation number. If your child is doing a ‘retake’, please make sure they bring the original photo to return to the photographer. 

For the RLA students, please drive up to the front of the school and a staff member will meet you at the front door. Your child will be brought back out to you directly after pictures are taken.  

Access code 0034378AR

https://hockstudio.com/onlineorders.php#orderbox

Parent Coach

Caitlin Silva, parent coach from Beacon Parent Coaching, is going to be putting on workshops geared to specific topics you have requested. She is currently generating a schedule for the workshops to be held in a 4 part series. Once the dates and times have been confirmed, she will be reaching out directly to those of you that have filled out the survey last month. 

Technology

Just a friendly reminder about the Haverhill Public School issued Chromebooks and Ipads. Lately, there are students/families who are using school technology as if they were their own personal devices. These technologically educational tools are for school use only.  Please use your parental judgement when your son or daughter are on line.  We have been having many students going onto different websites other than assigned school work or assignments during the school day.  Please keep in mind, if needed, staff and Admin can log in at any time to monitor where and what sites students are logging into.  Thank you for your help with this. 

A very special ‘Shout Out’ to our upcoming Birthdays:

3/1: Jadiel S.M
3/4: Ryan M., Kalia P, Israel R
3/5: Helloisa B.S
3/6: Gianalys B, Javieous L, Josiah P

Thanks so much and I hope you have a great week!

-Mr. Parker

Afternoon Jaguar Families,

I am so excited to share some great news…  This coming week (3/1 – 3/5) we are celebrating Read Across America Week. I hope everyone can enhance your love for books and dive a little deeper to explore a good read. We will be commemorating this with a different theme each day.  They are, “Be Influential day, Hat day/100th day, Cozy Up Author Study day, Celebrate Diversity day and on Friday, Book Character day.  

Attached is the explanation of next week’s calendar of events.  If you would like to participate, we can’t wait to see all of your hard work.  

Have a great day.

-Mr. Parker

Evening Jaguar Families,

I hope you are enjoying this Pink and Red day and the start of our vacation week (2/14 – 2/21).  If you were unaware there will be no school this coming week. This is a good time to recharge your batteries and hit your own reset button.  We are coming into a long stretch of strong schooling for the month of March.  

Attendance Contest Winners

As you may be aware, the district attendance coordinator Ms. Marchant in conjunction with Silver Hill has been running an attendance contest from Jan 1- the end of Feb.  We have been tracking students with 100% attendance.  Their names have been put into a lottery to win a $25 Amazon gift card. Silver Hill’s winners are Evalee D. from Ms. Scherback’s Kindergarten Class and Jose P. in Mrs.Wezesa’s RLA classroom. Congratulations to both of you.  

Food Distribution update

The Farmers to Families Food Box Program is available for pick-up during the food distribution times this coming week.  These food boxes contain a variety of fresh produce, meat and dairy products. This program is open to the public. No registration or ID required. Please limit one box per family. Normal FFFB pick-up will resume on Wednesdays at our Grab & Go sites from 11-1 PM and Haverhill High School from 1-4 PM. Please contact Anna Perracchio, RD, LDN with any questions at anna.perracchio@haverhill-ps.org or by telephone at 978-374-3416.

A very special ‘Shout Out’ to our upcoming Birthdays:

2/15: Joseph C.

2/17: Jenaliz H and Jared Martin O.

2/18: Kingston P, Madison Q.A and Daniel Q

2/19: Brookelyn B

2/20: Deacon S

2/23: Evan M

2/24: Jameson D, Marcus H and Cohen W.

2/25: GeAnna A

2/26: Davian D

2/28: Elizabeth F and Murilo N

Enjoy your break… We all deserve it…

-Mr. Parker

Asst. Principal

Morning Jaguar families,

Not sure if you are aware yet.  Students are going to be remote today, February 9, due to the dismissal forecast.  Please make sure students are logging into their meets and completing assignments while working remotely.  

Progress reports

Today, progress reports were slated to be distributed for Cohort A .  Due to the weather conditions and school being remote today, we will be distributing all progress reports (Cohort A, B, C and D)  on Thursday 2/11.  

Hope you enjoy the weather as best you can and have a great Tuesday. 

-Mr. Parker
Assistant Principal

Jaguar Families,

I hope you all have had a great week and are gearing up for the big game. As you can imagine, we have a busy week ahead of us as usual at Silver Hill.  This week we are looking at more pool testing, progress report distribution, family coach survey to be completed as well as the most important part, a ton of teaching and learning. With that being said, the following week (2/14 – 2/20) is vacation week.  How time flies.

Progress reports

They will be distributed on 2/9 for Cohort A and 2/11 for Cohort B.  Grade 5 Progress Reports – info will be sent out via SchoolBrains.  K- 4 Progress Report will be sent home and based on the outcome of our iReady diagnostics.

Parent Coach Survey

As a school, we continue to monitor and provide emotional support to our staff regularly.  This task is performed in conjunction with the school’s clinical team. The pandemic has also placed responsibilities onto parents that may have significantly impacted their routines at work and at home.  In recognizing this, we have teamed up with Caitlin Silva, a Licensed Parent Coach, to offer workshops on a variety of topics that may be of interest to you and may provide some additional support as we all navigate the pandemic together. Please take a moment to review each workshop and rate them as your 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th choice. Then answer the remaining questions about days of the week available and then hit submit. Thank you and we look forward to receiving your feedback.   

English

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScKKVQbDCCnDfY36c_YfYJRn-FVksb1t6E3Ui25v9EQuLMJsw/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0

Haitian Creole:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSckSZfWuXugUVYXuFgWWUm57vG4Y7PB5Wn2s31eAk4UxgzCIQ/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0

Spanish: 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScy5RQZQ3SdPOzoy3YhpCRGa8bddULlASh0EE9PtGqvCu71zw/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0

Vietnamese:

https://forms.gle/jCoq6s8yaWxUD6fP9

Portuguese:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1eTe7p5HknXYit4wOU4bfdYJcb093PoytjPfhvMDWRic/edit

Arabic:

https://forms.gle/3djHLAL4BUyCGMQG7

A very special ‘Shout Out’ to our upcoming Birthdays:

2/9: Colin D.

2/10: Marcy D, Braden R.

2/11: Benicio D, Ryan T.

2/12: Naelani B, Armando C, Sean S.

2/13: Quincy G, Brandon and Ryan Q.

2/14: Angelina C. F. 

Happy Birthday Kiddos.  

-Mr. Parker
Assistant Principal

Jaguar families,

Wow, January is behind us and February is knocking at the door.  I want to apologize for the incorrect links sent to us about the Learning Pods last week.  

As educators, we see on a daily basis, the impact that COVID-19 has had on our students, whether they are remote or in-person learners.  Despite the pandemic continuing to place a significant strain on school systems, our educators continue to strive to perform their daily tasks of not only providing an education to the students but also providing support, motivation, and encouragement.  As a school, we continue to monitor and provide emotional support to our staff regularly.  This task is performed in conjunction with the school’s clinical team.The pandemic has also placed responsibilities onto parents that may have significantly impacted their routines at work and at home.  For some, this has meant changing their employment  or employment hours to accommodate their child’s schedule, dealing with behaviors at home that they may not have seen before due to student’s being more isolated from their friends and family members, and generally feeling overwhelmed as a parent.  

In recognizing this, we have teamed up with Caitlin Silva, a Licensed Parent Coach, to offer workshops on a variety of topics that may be of interest to you and may provide some additional support as we all navigate the pandemic together.  This coming week we provide you with a survey based on these topics. Stay tuned… 

i-Ready

Along with direct instruction taking place, students will be continuing to take their mid-year i-Ready diagnostic. Please keep in mind that i-Ready is an adaptive test which means that the difficulty changes depending on your child’s answers. Remind your students that they may see questions they don’t know the answer to but to choose the best answer and move on. Again, I would like to stress that this is NOT a high stakes standardized test. This diagnostic is a way to guide instruction and give children the best opportunity for learning from now until June. 

Please see the slides below if you would like more information to share with your student. 

Powerpoint to show students how to get prepared for the next diagnostic (K pages 2-21, grades 1 and 2 pages 22-42 and grades 3-5 pages 43-93)

• iready-getting_students_ready_for_a_subsequent_diagnostic-ppt-grades-k-8-spanish-2020-v3_lk.pptx, 
• iready-getting_students_ready_for_a_subsequent_diagnostic-ppt-grades-k-8-2020-v1 (1).pptx

A very special ‘Shout Out’ to our upcoming Birthdays:

       2/1: Anthony G, Kaleigh N, Anna D, Parker C, Joshua and Justin R.R.

       2/2: Shannon L

       2/3: Samuel M.

       2/4: Vivienne S.

       2/5: Jayko A.L, Dillon C.

       2/6: Xylmairy P

       2/7: Marianna M.R.

Pool Testing:

Reminder that Pool Testing will continue this week. Cohort’s A and C will be tested on Tuesday 2/2/2021 and Cohort B will be tested on Thursday 2/4/2021. Below is the link to the consent forms that will need to be brought to school if you would like your son/daughter to participate in the pool testing. 

English Form: https://forms.gle/WYJP5Hduk5RZatRo9

Spanish Form: https://forms.gle/ih5RBLQUoVofkN179

PORTUGUESE : https://forms.gle/oRDvDuJZhQLSANww9

ARABIC: https://forms.gle/3qMLgQmzbnU3JvdNA

VIETNAMESE https://forms.gle/XPYP8jLadMKPmAmCA

HAITIAN CREOLE  https://forms.gle/CB3UJNzb8fa5KYRN9
 

Thirsty students…

Friendly reminder- Please have your child bring in a refillable container / bottle for water. We are not having students use the faucet with their mouths (Thank you Covid). However, we do have water bottle refill stations they can use throughout the day to refill their bottles.  A hydrated student is a happy student.

Stay safe and I hope you all have a great week.

–Mr. Parker 
Asst. Principal

Jaguar families,

It’s here, the week we see more of our little cherubs. As of the School Committee Meeting on 1/14/21, our Cohort A/C will be coming in on Monday, 1/25 and Tuesday, 1/26 to conduct their in-person learning. On Wednesday we will continue to be remote and deep clean the building.  Our Cohort B/C will be in person Thursday, 1/28 and Friday, 1/29, we can’t wait.   Please have your students’ bus pass and pick up tag numbers ready to go. I know it has been a long time since they have been back in the building but these two items are going to keep the flow of traffic moving smoothly. 

Student and Social Emotional Assistance

As your students transition back to school, our school adjustment counselors have been compiling a great deal of resources to help you and your child navigate this overwhelming time.  Feel free to take a peek at the following links and perouse our Silver Hill Counseling page. 

https://sites.google.com/haverhill-ps.org/silverhillcounseling/home

A very special ‘Shout Out’ to our upcoming Birthdays:

1/18   Paris F. & Sincier F.
1/19   Mason B
1/24   Esther C., Denali M. & Kaylee C
1/25   Evan S & Cameron K
1/26   Avianna S
1/27   Divina C
1/30  Amelia G & Ranvir B.
1/31   Keira W.

Pool Testing

This past week, I have tried to jump on as many google meets as possible but it has been tricky with our district wide Pool Testing being conducted for Cohort C.  Moving ahead, for Cohort A and B students there is attached information you will need if you would like your children to participate in the weekly pool testing.  Shortly, I will be sending out Mr. Gray’s email explaining the pool testing along with the needed consents.  If you are able to print them out, please fill them out and return them to school.  If not, we will be providing the consents here at school on Monday and Thursday for each coinciding Cohort. 

Consent Form 1 -Pool Testing – ALL students and adults – final (1).pdf Consent form 2.pdf 

Consent form 2.pdf 

Pool Testing Consent 1 -Spanish.pdf 

Consent 2- Spanish.pdf 

Pool Consent -Portuguese.pdf 

Consent 2 Portuguese.pdf 

Pool Consent 1 Arabic.pdf 

i-Ready

Along with direct instruction taking place, students will be taking their mid-year i-Ready diagnostic. You and your children may feel anxious or nervous when you hear the words “diagnostic test” or “assessment”. I am writing to let you know the purpose of this assessment is to celebrate what our students have learned, understand what they are ready to learn, make the best use of their learning time (both in person and remote), know progress toward their individual goals, and get new i-Ready lessons that are just right for them.

Please keep in mind that i-Ready is an adaptive test which means that the difficulty changes depending on your child’s answers. Remind your students that they may see questions they don’t know the answer to but to choose the best answer and move on. 

We understand some parents may feel overwhelmed about students taking an assessment the day they return to in person learning. However, after much consideration we felt the diagnostic would be more accurate in person. We also know how difficult remote learning has been for many and felt students would feel more successful taking the diagnostic in person therefore, leading to a more successful outcome. As a school, we have to be cognisant that not all children have the same support for distance learning whatever that reason may be. Again, I would like to stress that this is NOT a high stakes standardized test. This diagnostic is a way to guide instruction and give children the best opportunity for learning from now until June. 

Please see the slides below if you would like more information to share with your student. 

Powerpoint to show students how to get prepared for the next diagnostic (K pages 2-21, grades 1 and 2 pages 22-42 and grades 3-5 pages 43-93)

• iready-getting_students_ready_for_a_subsequent_diagnostic-ppt-grades-k-8-spanish-2020-v3_lk.pptx, 
• iready-getting_students_ready_for_a_subsequent_diagnostic-ppt-grades-k-8-2020-v1 (1).pptx

Stay safe and I hope you all have a great week. 

–Mr. Parker 
Asst. Principal

Dear Silver Hill Families,

We are excited to be implementing our winter i-Ready diagnostic the next couple of weeks! This will be a chance for our students to celebrate their growth and hard work this year. Below, you will find information about the program and how we will be using it in the classroom.

What is i-Ready?

i-Ready is an online program that will help us determine your child’s strengths and areas for growth, personalize their learning, and monitor their progress throughout the school year. i-Ready allows us to meet your child where they are and provides us with data to inform instruction.

The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions to suit your child’s needs. Each item a student receives is based on their answer to the previous question. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier ones. The purpose of this is not to give your child a score or grade but to determine how to best support their learning. 

We will be splitting up the diagnostic into multiple weeks so your child will never be sitting at the computer for longer than 40 minutes. 

i-Ready Instruction provides students with lessons based on their individual strengths and areas for growth. These lessons are interactive and provide strategic supports to keep your child engaged as they learn.

What can I do to help?

To help prepare your child for the i-Ready Diagnostic, encourage them to:

• Get a good night’s sleep and eat a full breakfast the day of the assessment (HPS provides breakfast)
• Try their best on each question and try not to rush.
• Try not to worry about questions they do not know—remind them that it is expected they will get only about half of the questions correct.
• Be respectful of other students who take longer to finish.

To support your child’s learning in Online Instruction, you can:

• Discuss your child’s progress on their i-Ready lessons.
• Celebrate your child’s learning and growth.
• Encourage them to use i-Ready at home.

Thank you for your continued support and for being a partner in your child’s learning! We look forward to sharing i-Ready information with you. If you have any questions about i-Ready, please do not hesitate to contact us or the school. You can also learn more about i-Ready by visiting i-ReadyCentral.com/FamilyCenter.

Sincerely,

Jessica Todd, Reading Coach 

Tiffany Corcoran, Math Coach

Jaguar families,

Here we go. Week 3 of 2021…  

As of the School Committee Meeting on 1/14/21, there was no change in plan for the Cohort C students to come back as of Tuesday, 1/19/21. Our Cohort A and B will be coming back the week of 1/25/21. Yeee haw! We can’t wait to see you in the halls and working hard in the classrooms.  As of now, I’m sure you have heard the buzz about “Pool Testing”.  The district will be piloting additional pool testing over the next few weeks. Prior to any testing there will be parental consents sent home that will need to be signed if you are willing to move forward with the testing.  No student will be allowed to pool test without signed written consent. 

A very special ‘Shout Out’ to our past January Birthdays:

2nd – Andy C and Andrew S

3rd – Jacob T and Charlotte F

4th – Annaly G and Jaleidys T

5th – Hudson M

6th – Hailey C, Jackson K and Patrick O

7th – Genevie G, Natalie P and Abigail P

8th – Esra B and Jose P

9th – Kaysen M and Kaed V

10th – Coltin G, Rosa L and Noah P

11th – Tianna G

12th – Peyton C and Mckinley

13th – Emma B

14th – Annemarie S, Elias S and Michael S

15th – Alexis X, Angelique X, Noah V and   Luiseira L

16th – Joseph R, Anthony M, Orion D and Ileana G.G.

17th – Alexander P

Hope you all had a great day celebrating you!

iReady Testing

In the upcoming weeks we will be conducting iReady diagnostics and some of the google meets could be interrupted.  Staff will be providing assignments and other creative forms of lessons to ensure learning continues. Your cherubs will be tested in both Math and ELA.  Math will take place the week of Jan. 25 and ELA will be Feb. 1.  On another note, it’s imperative for our students to understand the importance of iReady diagnosis.  We would appreciate it if you would reinforce what our teachers are currently emphasizing, the purpose of why we are doing this.  Without purpose, students may rush or not put forth their best effort. Here are some tips to help students excel, PowerPoint® presentation. You can also use i-Ready Pledge Sheets to encourage effort and engage students before they begin testing.

District wide Attendance Contest 

100% Attendance competition school wide from 1/11/21-2/12/21.

Attendance Winter Contest 2021.pdf 

Student and Social Emotional Assistance

Our school adjustment counselors have been compiling a great deal of resources to help you and your child navigate this time.  Feel free to take a peek at the following links and perouse our Silver Hill Counseling page. 

https://sites.google.com/haverhill-ps.org/silverhillcounseling/home

No School Tomorrow-

1/18/21- Martin Luther King / Civil Rights Day

F & P / Letterland Assessments

F&P reading assessment and letterland assessments have been conducted remotely over the course of the past weeks.

Please reach out to our literacy coach Ms. Todd if you have any questions regarding these assessments- Jessica.Todd@Haverhill-ps.org

Hope you have a great day off tomorrow and stay safe.  We look forward to seeing you soon. 

–Mr. Parker 
Asst. Principal

Hello Jaguar Families,

The start of the 2021 calendar year has been off to an odd start and there have been none like it in history.  Here at Silver Hill, it has been full steam ahead from our teachers, aides and specialists doing their best to shape the little minds in front of them.  Your cherubs are our top priority and I hope they continue to work hard to better their education.  We know there are perplexities with how your cherubs are progressing.  Surely, it is different than in years past and they are not alone.  Almost every student across the country is in the same boat.   They are resilient and strong.  They will bounce back and our little ones will only be stronger for it.  So will we…

The lines of communication are always open here as Silver Hill and we will continue to address any and all concerns you may have.   We understand that many of you are looking forward to getting back into the school and we are too. Please know Mr. Gray and I are doing our best to meet all of your needs. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us at any time.  

Attendance Contest

Attendance Winter Contest 2021.pdf   100% Attendance competition school wide from 1/11/21-2/12/21.

Student and Social Emotional Assistance

Our school adjustment counselors have been compiling a great deal of resources to help you and your child navigate this time.  Feel free to take a peek at the following links and perouse our Silver Hill Counseling page. 

https://sites.google.com/haverhill-ps.org/silverhillcounseling/home

No School –

1/18/21- Martin Luther King / Civil Rights Day

IT / Technology information

Just a heads up, when a student needs to return or swap out a Chromebook, the power cord needs to be returned with it. The district wide IT department is now applying charges to families for missing and/or damaged equipment.  It is becoming harder and harder for us to order extra equipment for students that need it. Also, many students are returning damaged Chromebooks for one reason or another.  Families are now being invoiced between $160-$200 for Chromebook damages and other monetary amounts for missing power cords.

I would encourage you, if you haven’t done so already, to get the HPS Device Usage Policy signed and send in the associated $20 equipment insurance for your cherub’s device.  I have done it with my own children at home. This is going to save you money in the long run.  Please turn it into the office as soon as possible. 

 If you are having IT related issues, please reach out to our technology gurus Mrs. Richard- crichard@haverhill-ps.org and Mrs. Zylkuski- lzylkuski@haverhill-ps.org.  

F & P / Letterland Assessments

F&P reading assessment and letterland assessments will be conducted remotely over the course of the next few weeks.

Please reach out to our literacy coach Ms. Todd if you have any questions regarding these assessments- Jessica.Todd@Haverhill-ps.org

Nurse Notes:

All children age 6 months and older must receive the influenza vaccine for the current flu season (2020-2021 school year) by February 28, 2021. Call your pediatrician to ask about getting your child vaccinated.  Additional options may be found at all major pharmacies and urgent care clinics. Mary Connelly, the City of Haverhill’s Health Department Nurse, has a limited supply of doses for uninsured children or those insured by Mass Health and will administer by appointment only: 978-374-2390, ext 3915.  If your child has already been vaccinated, please send documentation to kfetty@haverhill-ps.org, fax to 978-374-3461 or mail a copy to the school.  For more information, visit https://www.mass.gov/news/flu-vaccine-now-required-for-all-massachusetts-school-students-enrolled-in-child-care-pre

Thank you for your donations of gently-used clothing! 

Additionally, thank you for your hard work and as always, please feel free to reach out to Mr. Gray and myself at any time.  
 

–Mr. Parker 
Asst. Principal