Dear Silver Hill Community,

I hope you all are having a nice weekend. Very glad the Pats defeated the Jets! 🙂

We are all settling into our school patterns, including the Kindergarten students! It is clear they are learning the routines of their classrooms and the school. We are so proud of them! And also of grades 1-4, who have been doing a wonderful job being good models for their K friends!

Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions.

Sincerely,

Donna Martin, Principal

UPCOMING EVENTS/INFORMATION

Drop Off and Pick Up – Please be sure you are driving slowly and carefully while on school property. We have had a couple of near misses and we want to be sure everyone is safe during arrival and dismissal!

Bus Passes – Please help to remind your children they should always have their bus passes with them. If they are looped to the backpack, they are less likely to be left at home. Also, no stickers should be placed on the passes, and no additional toys or trinkets on the lanyards. Thank you!

Chromebooks and Chargers – The chromebooks will be staying at school and need to be charged overnight. If you have a charger at home, please have your child return it to the classroom teacher – thank you!

Lost and Found – Our Lost and Found is already growing rapidly! Please be sure to LABEL EVERYTHING – water bottles, lunch boxes, backpacks, jackets, hats, etc. That way if they are misplaced, we can return them right back to your children. Thank you for your help with this!

Attendance – If your child is tardy, please walk them into the office to be signed in. If your child is going to be absent, please call the school at 978-374-3448 or email us at silverhillabsences@haverhill-ps.org.

Thank you!

September is Attendance Awareness Month! – The Attendance Awareness Breakfast Contest is on! The classroom with the best attendance for the month of September will be honored with breakfast at school to thank them for making getting to school a priority in their home. We will have a “Special Guest” at our breakfast. The winning homeroom will be announced on Sept 29th!

The Silver Hill School Site Council is a representative, school building-based committee established by the school pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 71, Section 59C. Teachers, parents/caregivers, and community members can become more committed to improving the school and more supportive of the public school system when they enjoy the opportunity to serve or be represented on a school council that has a role in shaping the goals and programs of the school. School councils enhance site-based decision making because they expand the participation of the school community in its schools’ decision making. The involvement of different groups on the council — teachers, parents, and non parent community members — provides the school with different and mutually complementary perspectives on its improvement goals and plans. In addition, by involving people who work in and support the school in the development of the school’s improvement plan, the likelihood will increase that the plan will be successfully implemented.

Site Council meetings will be held monthly on the second Tuesday of the month. The first meeting will be Tuesday, October 10th. All meetings will be at 6:30 pm and they will be held virtually.

Get Involved! – Please send me an email at donna.martin@haverhill-ps.org if you are interested in serving on the Silver Hill Site Council or if you have any questions.

A stuffed jaguar friend – who many call Jag – has recently joined us at Silver Hill! The Jaguar is going to travel around the building each week with his journal. Every Friday afternoon she will be moved into a different classroom for a Monday morning surprise! During the week, students will be writing in the journal about her adventures that week in their classroom, i.e. what was learned, what they played, what they are excited about. I’m hoping they will enjoy reading about past adventures and learn from practicing their writing in the journal.

This past week, Jag had a wonderful time in Ms. Kornachuk’s second grade classroom! The week before, Jag was in Mr. Corriveau’s fourth grade classroom, where he was dressed by the students! (see photo below) Where will he turn up on Monday morning?

For Elementary/PreK/K School Parents:

Showing up matters for R.E.A.L because it is an opportunity to:

• Build Routines
• Increase Engagement
• Provide Access to resources
• Support Learning

Routines: Daily attendance routines can reduce stress, increase your child’s self-confidence, and lay a foundation for good attendance in later grades.

Engagement: Participation in school helps your child connect with other children and adults and get excited about learning.

Access to Resources: Schools can give you access to meals, physical and mental health care and other supports, and fun enrichment activities (sports, clubs, music, afterschool, and summer programs, etc.).

Learning: Children learn best from hand-on activities and through meaningful interactions with their teacher and other students.

A reminder that it is very important for your child to be on time to school each day! Please reach out to your child’s teacher or school adjustment counselor if you need any support with getting your child to school.

Mr. Murphy, PE Teacher, will be doing the “Jaguars on the Prowl” bulletin board again. He would like students to bring a photo of them being active and healthy outside of school. This could include anything from sports, organized activities, dance, martial arts or just walking, bike riding, or hiking with friends and family.

If students do not have the photo printed, please email him at (kevin.murphy@haverhill-ps.org) and he will print it for the students!

i-Ready dates

1. Grade K: 9/28 Math start
2. Grade K: 10/5 Reading start

Wednesday, September 27 – Early Release Day for Students 11:35 am

Thursday, September 28 – Picture Day

Monday, October 2 – PTO Meeting 6:00 pm

Thursday, October 5 – Haverhill Public Library here for Grade 3

Monday, October 9 – NO SCHOOL

Tuesday, October 10 – School Site Council Meeting (virtual) 6:30 pm

More information above.

Tuesday, October 10 – Discovery Club begins before and after school (Grades 1-4)

Wednesday, October 18 – 2nd Annual Trunk or Treat – 5:00-6:30 pm (more information soon)

Arrival

• Please do not begin to line up for Car Drop Off before 8:30 am due to the new Consentino Traffic Patterns.
• Students may be dropped off beginning at 8:45am. Unless they attend the YMCA program before school, students should NOT be dropped off before 8:45 am as there is no supervision at that time. Thank you for your cooperation with this.
• 8:45 am – Students enter the building and proceed to their classrooms. Breakfast is available (free of charge) for all students.
• 9:00 am – Instruction begins
• Students arriving after 9:00 am will be considered tardy and MUST be signed in at the office by a Parent/Caregiver.

Morning Drop Off

• For safety reasons, we are asking parents to pull to the right side of the road once entering the parking lot. Cars will drive around to the back of the school and will be met with school staff to escort students into the building. Please be mindful of staff that are helping to direct traffic – their priority is student safety!
• Reminder – ONLY buses pull through the bus loop – no exceptions. Please remember that buses have the right of way.
• Drop off is a moving line, please no parking.

After School Car Pick Up

• You will NOT be able to line up for Car Pick Up before 3:00 pm due to the new Consentino Traffic Patterns.
• Pick up students and walkers get dismissed starting at 3:15 pm. Walkers are dismissed from the front of the school. Kindergarten will be dismissed first and then all other grades. Please make sure to check in with one of the teachers that is supervising so they know when a student is picked up.
• Our parking lot is a busy place and your child’s safety is our top priority. Please be patient and do not block the buses or other vehicles. Please DO NOT park in the Staff Parking Lot to pick up your children.
• Follow the same procedures as the morning routine – pull to the right once you enter the parking lot. Form two lanes – Cars picking up grades K-2 (along with older siblings) should be in the inner lane and cars picking up grades 3-4 only should be in the outer lane. Drive around to the back of the school and staff will be available to support students getting to their cars.
• Each student will be assigned a number that will be attached to their backpack – and the Parent/Caregiver will get a matching number for the car. A staff member will call into the gym where students will be waiting to be picked up.

***We would like to know how your child is getting home/to aftercare each day so we can help with the process and keep everyone safe. Please be sure to let your children’s teachers know how they are getting home.

Consentino Traffic Patterns Update – To see how the pending construction is affecting Consentino traffic patterns as well as Silver Hill traffic patterns, and to view the recording of the meeting from Tuesday, August 15th, please click here: https://consentino.haverhill-ps.org/2023/08/18/updated-traffic-pattern-arrival-dismissal-procedures/

We are looking forward to first 2023-2024 PTO meeting on Monday, October 2nd at 6:00 pm in the Silver Hill Library. All are welcome!! We would love to have many new members, even if you can only be involved a little bit!

Cookie Dough Fundraiser

These cookies come all ready to be baked and last up to a year in the freezer! Think of those chilly fall or winter or lately rainy nights where turning on the oven and smelling cookies baking is one of the best things ever!

What’s even better is that they are all free and have a gluten free option!

Paper order forms should have come home in your children’s backpacks.

You can also share the following link with all family and friends (Facebook posts work great! ) :

https://silver-hill-pto-rnf.square.site/

*The top 3 sellers in the school will receive a prize! More info to follow!!

Please let us know if you have any questions at all; and remember funds raised go to student activities at school.