HILLCREST LANGUAGE SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
Volume I, No. 1
http://Hillcrestpta.org/hls
HLS Kicks Off 7th Year
On Monday this week Hillcrest
Language School (HLS) began its 7th
year offering language enrichment
classes to students in grades K through
5th. HLS is a non-profit language school
operated by a volunteer parent board,
one salaried director and four
credentialed language specialists. This
year we are very fortunate to have a
group of four exceptional Spanish
teachers who come from diverse
backgrounds but all share a commitment
to teaching our children with enthusiasm
and grade appropriate techniques. Their
biographies are attached to this
newsletter and also included in the HLS
portion of Hillcrest School’s website
http://Hillcrestpta.org/hls.
HLS Program Goals
HLS’s goal is for our students to learn a
second language in a classroom
environment where:
-the language (Spanish) is spoken and
taught in a conversational approach
-there is no expectation of homework
-parents are welcome to arrange a
classroom visit
-parents are kept well informed of the
curriculum through a weekly folder that
goes home with the student and a
monthly Newsletter.
Student Attendance
In order for HLS to fulfill its goals and
for your child to develop their second
language skills, it is encouraged that all
students arrive on time for each class.
7:50 am is very early for everyone, and
if your student arrives late please direct
September 19, 2008
him or her to enter his or her class
quietly and join in the exercise.
Next week students should feel more
settled, but if the early classes are not
conducive to your child’s learning or
you are not able to arrive consistently,
the deadline to withdraw from the
program without forfeiting fees is
Friday, September 26th. Your notice to
withdraw from HLS must be submitted
in writing or by email to HLS. A
calendar of other important dates is
attached to this newsletter.
Director and Teacher Greetings
HLS Director, Rosa Barbara-Meeks:
Welcome to the Hillcrest Language
Program! We are glad you have made
this decision to join us or continue with
us in our 7th year of providing Spanish
instruction to the students of Hillcrest
School. We are very excited about the
program this year and are happy to
report that we have all of our three
wonderful teachers continuing with us
for a second year: Yolanda Gaytan (first
grade), Sarah deGuzman (3rd grade),
Alma Jurado (4/5 grades). We want to
welcome Alexandra Alquati as our new
teacher for the 2nd grade. All our
teachers come with years of experience
teaching Spanish to youngsters. We are
all looking forward to a great year of
learning Spanish!
When a person is learning (or continuing
to learn) a new language they need a
context in which to use the language to
practice it. Aside from the HLS program
classes, you can continue the learning at
home, even if you do not speak the
(continued, page 2)
(Rosa Barbara-Meeks, con’t)
language (though I recommend you sign
up at a local junior college or adult
school – it is a lot of fun!). Ask your
child about what they are learning in
Spanish each day. Begin having your
child name (and if they can write) and
label common things around the house in
Spanish. On Fridays your child will
bring home a bright yellow folder titled:
Hillcrest Language School Friday
Folder. Look through it with your child
for this week’s vocabulary, new songs,
and our monthly Newsletters and review
together. Car rides are a great time to
sing songs in Spanish! Don’t expect
your child to start speaking Spanish at
home without a context outside of the
learning classroom! Create it at home to
receive the full benefit of the program.
Have fun!
Reminders: Classes run each morning
from 7:50 – 8:25 when students will be
walked to the playground for the
assembly. Teachers will meet the HLS
students on the playground promptly at
7:50 a.m. Please be on time for several
reasons. First, it is optimal for your
child to start his/her day together with
the class. This sets the tone for the rest
of their day. Secondly, when a student
arrives late it is disruptive for the other
students and teacher. Lastly, when a
student arrives late, directions may have
already been given for that days’ lesson
and may create a few minutes of
confusion for your child to walk into a
class already in motion. Be on time!
Thank you. If your child arrives after
7:50 they should be walked straight to
their classroom. All first through third
grade level students should be walked to
the playground or to the classroom by a
parent or guardian for safety reasons.
Four-five grade level students may be
dropped off and walk themselves to meet
the teacher. Attendance will be taken
each day. Please alert the teacher of any
absences that you are aware of (a trip,
dental appointment, etc).
Thank you for your participation and
support!! We look forward to another
year as we learn to hablar en espanol!
Rosa Barbara-Meeks
HLS Program Director
First Grade Teacher, Yolanda
Gaytan:
Hola parents, bienvenidos. I am very
excited and ready to start the new school
year. I will for the next 2 weeks start
with introductions. We will learn
everybody’s name with the song, “El
tambor”, a song from Jose Luis Orozco.
We also start greetings forming a small
dialogue:
?Hola como estas?
Muy bien gracias
?Y tu?
Muy bien gracias.
In my class I will be using song,
puppets, games, and arts and crafts to
achieve our goals. We will also have a
mascot, a bear, a figure that amuses and
ties us together.
Hasta luego
Ms. Gaytan
Second Grade Teacher, Alexandra
Alquati:
Ms. Alquati just began with HLS in
September, 2008 and her greetings will
be included in the October Newsletter!
Third Grade Teacher, Sarah
deGuzman:
Bienvenidos a todos! Welcome back
everyone from summer! I am so excited
to be working with your 3rd graders this
fall. We are going to have so much fun
speaking Spanish. This week, we have
been refreshing our memories with
review themes as: greetings, basic
conversation, numbers and culture. Of
course we are learning through games,
music, repetition, visuals, and the body.
My approach is holistic, student
centered, immersion oriented, and
gentle. If you have any experience in
Spanish speaking countries, we’d love to
have you as a guest speaker. Please
email me. You are more than welcome
to come by anytime, too! Hasta luego,
Sarah [email protected]
Fourth/Fifth Grade Teacher, Alma
Jurado:
Regroso a la Escuela =)
Greetings HLS Community! After a
long and delicious summer we are ready
to come back to our Spanish Program.
My class will consist of Performing and
Language Arts integrated to Spanish.
This month we’ll be reviewing
vocabulary and working with verbs and
professions. You might want to ask your
child what’s your job called in Spanish;)
I’m very excited to be working with
you!
Alma
Contacting HLS
Should you need to contact HLS please
email [email protected] or
hillcrestlanguageschool_board@yahoogr
oups.com or put a note in the HLS
envelope in the Hillcrest office
Thank you,
The Hillcrest Language School Board
Donna Somerville, President
Leigh Yonago, Secretary
Linda Sawyer, Treasurer
Kathy Rogers, Registrar
Janice Jagelski, Communications
Rosa Barbara-Meeks, Director