181 Reasons to Love HCS: September 2016

Reason 22 to Love HCS

Reason 22 to Love HCS- Beginning Rhythm and instrument development. After watching the students for two minutes, I knew they were far more advanced in their musical development than I ever dreamed to be. Pretty impressive.

Reason 21 to Love HCS

Reason 21 to Love HCS- Our ever-evolving science minds. Here a scientist writes about the different ways a seed can spread. It's great to read and here everyone's thinking and understanding.

Reason 20 to Love HCS

Reason 20 to Love HCS- Partner reading in 1st Grade. Students practice their fluency when reading out loud to someone else. Partner reading pairs two children up to read their stories to one another. The kids love it and it actually helps them become better readers!

Reason 19 to Love HCS

Reason 19 to Love HCS- Kindergarten cuteness. After having a team meeting to review expectations, the teachers led the group in song.

Reason 18 to Love HCS

Reason 18 to Love HCS- Our Spanish program. Students warm up in Spanish by learning through song. They love this activity and it was so much fun for me to participate with the class. Making learning fun happens everywhere, but it was very evident in Spanish today!

Sent from my iPhone

Reason 17 to Love HCS: Our core tenets that we try to live by everyday: Belonging, Sharing, Trust, Accepting Responsibility, and Respect- Be a STAR! We say this every day in morning announcements and this particular 1st grade students made this drawing so that she could say it along with us. Very cute and very cool.

Reason 16 to Love HCS: On Tuesday afternoons, our staff now have the opportunity to be part of consistent and ongoing professional development. This year we will be focusing our time on developing our understanding and practice around Proficiency Based Learning. We are also learning about building positive culture in our classroom and school through the Restorative Justice philosophy. Jon Kidde comes in once a month to work with our staff on the foundational principles around Restorative Justice. In short, we are very thankful for the time to have this ongoing professional development.

Reason 15 to Love HCS

Reason 15 to Love HCS- Our love for science! In Mrs. Hodge's 2nd grade classroom, students watched the different stages of a monarch butterfly. The culminating event was releasing this beautiful creature into the world so it could begin its long journey to Mexico. Good luck, buddy!

Reason 14 to Love HCS

Reason 14 to Love HCS- Our amazing art program!!! We can't say enough about the experiences our students receive on a daily basis in our art program. Their work makes our building beautiful!

Reason 13 to Love HCS

Reason 13 to Love HCS- Our 7/8 Team have now made and designed their own messenger bags for the past two years. These bags are brought with the students from class to class and contain their Chromebook, pencil/pen, and anything else they need for class that day. This is a huge executive functioning resource as it helps them stay organized and prepared for class every day. A huge Thank You! to Burton for once again donating all of the fabric used for the bags.

Reason 12 to Love HCS

Reason 12 to Love HCS- Our new early morning start. Last year we herded our students into the cafeteria until we dismissed them at 7:50am. This year, thanks to our para-specialists and classroom teachers, students are now in much calmer, creative, and supportive learning environments to start the day... and the cafeteria is free and open for students to have a quiet and relaxing breakfast. Win/Win all the way around. Please note- The earliest students can enter HCS is 7:30. Please be sure not to drop students off prior to this time. Thank you!

Reason 11

Reason 11 to Love HCS- We have an incredible school garden here at HCS. This has been a very cool extension to a lot of learning that is happening in the classroom. To be able to not only learn about vegetables, but to be part of the process in helping them grow is invaluable for our students. Oh, and the food is pretty great to eat, too!!!

Reason 10

Reason 10 to Love HCS- Our food service program is second to none. Our students and staff are so lucky to have such delicious and healthy food prepared for us every day.

Reason 9

Reason 9 to Love HCS: Our Preschool! Many parents know that HCS is actually PRE-K through 8th grade, but this may not be known to all. We have an amazing preschool program here at HCS and it's such a wonderful space for students to start their scholarly careers. Julia Wayne is our new preschool teacher and she has done a fantastic job transforming our room into a vibrant and lovely space. Soon, we will be hosting a Friday morning playgroup for children ages 3 and up. Be on the lookout for more information to come out soon regarding this opportunity!

Reason 8

Reason 8 to Love HCS: Our incredibly supportive parent/community group- Partnership in Education (PiE). Can you name all of the members of PiE? I know I can't, because that would be naming over 1,000 adults. Yup, we are all members of PiE. We all have a role in our child/student's academic career and PiE gives us the structure and systems to ensure we are all working together and moving in the same direction. With that said, the next PiE meeting will be on Thursday, September 15th at 6:30. Please join our meeting on Thursday and please visit their page on the HCS website to learn more... http://www.hcsvt.org/page/1697

Reason 7

Reason 7 to Love HCS- Integrating STEM activities into our daily routines. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. The students in this picture are engaged in an oldie, but a goodie- the marshmallow/spaghetti challenge. The challenge was for them to build the highest structure possible with a certain amount of marshmallows and spaghetti. Here's to our future civil engineers!

Reason 6

Reason 6 to love HCS- Resourceful Teachers! Today was exhaustively hot and humid. On days like these, where else better than the air-conditioned office for read aloud?!?! Everyone loves when classes join us in the office!

Reason 5

At HCS, one way we allow students to learn is by exploration and play. Here, some students are familiarizing themselves with geometry shapes... and also having great fun!

Reason 4

We are sharing this photo for two reasons to love HCS.

Reason One: Notice how shiny and wonderful our gymnasium floor looks? HCS has the absolute BEST custodial crew around. They spend their entire summer getting every place in HCS looking just as good as the gym in this picture.

Reason Two: Our Physical Education program and its teachers are incredible. They organize and plan activities to not only keep students active, but also teach important life skills on healthy lifestyle choices, teamwork, perseverance, and cooperation.

181 Reasons to Love HCS