Highland Elementary School, Mrs. Lisa Hale, Principal
6701 Darmstadt Road, Evansville
September 2016
812-867-6401
Dear Highlanders,
Welcome back to Highland and the 2016-2017 school year. Here at Highland, we
are on an exciting adventure, and we invite you to join us on our trek to
excellence. We have room for many campers, so everyone is welcome and
encouraged to participate.
Evansville Area Council
There is a saying I like that goes like this: “In life, surround yourself with those
Highland
Vision: Excellence Every Day, In Every Way who light your path.” We are blessed with an amazing PTA at Highland that does,
PTA
Highland Mission: Inspiring Learners to LEAD:
Learn, Excel, Achieve, Dream
PTA Officers
President
Melody Plisky
[email protected]
812-453-2700
Vice-President
Alicia Boston
[email protected]
812-449-4397
Treasurer
Jeffrey Berger
[email protected]
812-455-6298
Secretary
Elaine Windberg
[email protected]
812-774-8069
Dates to Remember
Sept. 1 – Fundraiser Launch
Sept. 5 – NO SCHOOL
indeed, serve to light the path for all of us. We couldn’t do our jobs here without
backpacks loaded with your parental support. You are welcome to camp out here
and enjoy lunch in the mess hall with your camper or to spend some time in a
classroom volunteering. Please consider joining our PTA if you haven’t already
done that. Even if you are unable to volunteer or serve at school, just joining and
paying your dues helps our school and our PTA. We need you!
Our teachers have their campsites set up. Highland staff spent many hours on
day trips to their classrooms to prepare for our Highland campers. Our revised
EVSC curriculum maps serve as our daily compass and research based best
practices are our lanterns to student learning. All of us are on this grand
adventure to high levels of student learning to ensure our students leave Highland
college and career ready with the ability to reach the stars.
What’s an adventure without a little fishing? Yes, we are fishing. We always fish
for parent suggestions to make our programs more effective. If you have ideas to
share or suggestions for us, PLEASE contact me. I value your input. I’m always
willing to spend a little time around the campfire with you if I can help in any way.
Teachers invite you to fish in RDS to keep on top of your child’s grades. Yes, you
can make daily assignments, quizzes, and tests your target. If you don’t have
access to RDS, just contact our school office, and we will help you find that
treasure. It’s a great way to encourage your child and navigate the wilderness of
the classroom.
I hope each of you enjoyed the summer months. It will soon be time to put away
the sunglasses and sunscreen as fall is on the way. Don’t take your hammock
down yet. It will still be a great place to enjoy reading with your child, and we
encourage ALL parents and families to set aside some time every evening to read
together as a family.
Sept. 13- Evening PTA Meeting
Our adventure is just beginning, and we are excited to share the path with each of
you.
Sept. 14- Fundraiser Forms Due &
Morning PTA Meeting
Sincerely,
Sept. 16- Talent Show- Central HS
Highland Ranger Hale
Highland Principal
Sept. 27- Kindergarten Playdate
Attendance
If your child will be absent or has a
doctor or dentist appointment and will
be arriving late to school, please notify
the office by calling 812-867-6401.
Thank you for your help!
FREE Textbook Rental & Hanger’s Donations
If you would like to make a donation to Hanger’s, you can earn a ticket for
a drawing for one free textbook rental donated by Mrs. Hale. A $2
donation will give you one chance and a $5 donation will give you three
chances. Please make sure your donation reaches your child’s teacher no
later11
than Friday, September 9th when the drawing will be held.
First PTA Meeting!
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Please join us at 6:30PM on Tuesday, September 13 or 8:30AM
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on Wednesday, September 14 in the Media Center for our first
PTA meeting of the school year! Attending PTA meetings are a
great way to share your ideas, meet other parents, ask questions,
and so much more! We look forward to seeing all the familiar
faces and meeting new ones as well this year!
Make sure to like the “Highland Elementary School PTA”
Facebook page and check out our website
http://highlandelementaryschool.my-pta.org/.
Stargazing: Highland Talent Show
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Mark your calendars for Friday, September 16 to join us for an
evening of “Stargazing”. At 6pm in the Central High School
Auditorium, Highland stars from multiple grades will take the
stage to share their many talents for this year’s talent show. The
students are working hard to polish their acts and are looking
forward to seeing the auditorium filled with friends and family
for support.
Highland Safety Patrol
The Highland Safety Patrol is off to another great year!
Members will be working in all kinds of weather letting cars in
and out of the student drop off area before and after school
each day to ensure their safety. Over the summer, Safety
Patrol members attended a two day training camp at Camp
Carson. Members of the 2016-17 Safety Patrol are: Joshua
Ferguson, Zoe Smith, Elsie Hamby, Jahzara McAlister, Emma
Byrd, Zach Kennedy, and Owen Cooper. Thank you for all
your hard work and dedication!
Mr. Walker
Caps for Benches Update
Due to the overwhelming number of caps and lids we
received last spring, Highland is not collecting lids and
caps at this time. The CUBs are in the process of sorting
and preparing the lids and caps for Green Tree Plastics.
This is a labor intensive process, and we are working hard
to meet the company’s expectations. Green Tree Plastics is
the company that will recycle the collected lids and caps
into benches.
The CUB Hat Day last spring raised enough money to pay
the cost for one bench, and a generous donor contributed
the money needed for a second bench! We are looking
forward to completing the sorting process and exchanging
our caps for beautiful benches!
-Mrs. O’Daniel
Tickets will be available starting this week. Preordered tickets
are $4 for adults and $3 for students. Tickets will also be
available at the door for $5. Seats will fill up fast, so return your
order form soon.
Contact [email protected] with any talent show questions
or needs. We look forward to “Stargazing” with you on
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September 16 at 6pm at CHS!
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Junior Fire Wardens
Mrs. Amanda Dedmond has been helping
our fire wardens learn procedures for their
job. Congratulations to our new Junior Fire
Wardens: Juliauna Angel, Emma Byrd,
Zayden Kinsey, Sophia Lombardo,
Ayden Lucas, Hadley Osterman, Bryce
Phelps, Brooklyn Schoonover, Nathan
Thompson, Tyler Todd, Austin
Underhill, and Joseph White.
Welcome to new Highland staff members:
Counselor: Mrs. Meyerholtz
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1 Grade: Mrs. Goodyear
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2 Grade: Ms. Deisher
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3 Grade: Ms. Cason
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4 Grade: Ms. Gurrola
Highland Elementary Needs You!
Please be a participant in our volunteer PASS Tutoring
program. This program has been at Highland for many
years and is greatly appreciated by teachers and
students.
And a few of our great teachers traded places! So new to
the grade include:
Kindergarten: Mrs. Harper
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4 Grade: Mrs. Grayson
Each volunteer tutor comes to Highland Elementary
School for thirty minutes one time a week to work with
a student in need. Teachers provide all the materials
you need to tutor. Scheduling is flexible!
The kids look forward to seeing their tutors each week.
At the end of the school year there will be a free
breakfast to enjoy with the student you tutor. It is a
great time!
Please call or email Jamie Meyerholtz, Counselor at
812-867-6401 or [email protected].
Box Tops for Education
Box Tops is a program that Highland Elementary School
actively participates in and we hope you will join us! For
each Box Top that is redeemed, Highland PTA collects
$0.10 that can be used to purchase goods for our school.
Please clip these year round and plan to turn them in during
our fall and spring drives. Ask grandparents, family
members, and friends if they would be willing to donate their
Box Tops to Highland.
You can also subscribe to the Box Tops email newsletter for
coupons, samples, and bonus Box Tops. When you sign up
we will earn 5 bonus Box Tops! Just go to
BTFE.com/signup. Make sure to enter our school ID
number: 220586.
Research has shown that starting the day with a nutritious
breakfast helps students stay alert and perform better in school. A
nutritious breakfast is available each day from 7:45am to 8:10am in
our school cafeteria. The regular price for breakfast is $1.35 and
reduced breakfast price is $0.30.
VOLUNTEERS – We Need You!
Highland is fortunate to have many wonderful
families who want to help our students and staff.
EVSC policy states that in order to volunteer at
Highland, or any EVSC school, each individual must
first complete a Volunteer Application. A new
application must be completed each year. If you’d
like to volunteer by participating in classroom
activities or assisting school personnel, please go
to EVSC’s website,
http://district.evscschools.com/. Scroll down and
click on “Volunteer in our Schools”. Then just
complete the application and submit it!
Thank you for all you do for Highland School!
FREE National Park Passes for Fourth Graders
As kids head back to school, there’s something
parents of fourth graders need to know.
All fourth graders and their families can get free
admission to National Parks and other federal lands
for a full year with a fourth grade pass.
The pass is valid for the duration of the fourth grade
year and throughout the following summer, beginning
in September and ending in August.
To get your pass, you can go to everykidinapark.gov.
President Barack Obama announced the Every Kid In a
Park initiative last year in an effort to get kids
outdoors and to be more active.
From WTHR
Highland’s popcorn program will continue for the
2016-17 school year thanks to our PTA purchasing a
brand new machine to provide the best popcorn for
our students and to ensure our volunteers time is used
efficiently.
Last year we implemented the USDA’s Smart Snacks
standards for our students’ popcorn and will continue
with this new, healthier recipe this school year.
The popcorn program will continue on Fridays
beginning September 9th. If you would like to
purchase a popcorn pass for your child, please return
the form and $10 (checks payable to Highland PTA) to
your child’s teacher by September 7th. Passes will
enable your child to enjoy popcorn each Friday during
the school year – and you won’t have to remember to
send a quarter each week! If you do not have a
popcorn pass form, just return payment in a labeled
envelope with your child’s name and teacher’s name.
Volunteer Opportunities
A huge THANK YOU to all the parents who have returned their
volunteer forms to Highland PTA. The stack is exciting to look
at and we can’t wait to meet you in person! If you are still
working on your form or have misplaced it, it can still be sent
in! Forms are available on our website under the “Volunteer
at Highland” tab:
http://highlandelementaryschool.my-pta.org.
If you have any special talents or skills that you would be
happy to share with Highland, please let the PTA know.
Thanks for all you do!!
From the EVSC Office of Health Services and Wellness: Indiana Code requires that information regarding
Meningococcal Disease and Vaccine be made available to all Indiana students/parents at the beginning of each
school year. This information can be found online at:
http://district.evscschools.com/cms/one.aspx?portalId=74772&pageId=1194844; click on the Meningococcal
Disease Information link at the bottom of the webpage. If you do not have internet access, and you wish to read
this information, you may contact your school’s nurse for a paper flyer containing the information.
Note from the Nurse:
Health Screening
Back to School Bash
Highland PTA would like to extend a THANK YOU to all the
awesome volunteers and donors who helped make the third
annual Back To School Bash and our first Cruise In a huge
success! The weather was perfect, the water slides were
flowing, the pizza was delicious, the DJ played fun music, and
cars were a fun added bonus for all to enjoy! Thanks to over
700 of you for attending our family engagement event and for
helping to kick off the start of the school year. If this is any
indication of what is to come, we think 2016-2017 will be an
amazing ADVENTURE!
Screenings for vision and hearing will be
starting soon for the 2016-17 school year.
These are required by the state. If you do
not want this service for your child, please
contact the school.
Please note the nurse’s hours (8-2), and
check your child for illness before sending
to school. If your child was ill during the
night, or not feeling well before school,
please check your child in the morning
before sending him/her to school. It is
our goal for our students to complete a
full educational day. Thank you!
Ms. Papariella
Volunteer Coaches Needed
Safety Reminders- Parent Pick Up/Drop Off
Please help us keep your children safe at parent
drop off and pick up. The most important thing
parents can do is refrain from using cell phones
in the line and keeping eyes on the road ahead.
Some parents are looking at students and not
keeping attention on the car in front of them and
that causes us to worry. We can unload and load
ten cars at a time in the “red zone”. We ask that
parents remain in their vehicles at all times and
pull forward so we can get ten cars in the zone.
Our staff will assist students in exiting and
loading cars. All students of school age should be
able to fasten their own seat belt. If your child
has not yet mastered this skill, please practice at
home. The safest seat in the car for parent drop
off and pick up is the left rear of the vehicle.
Please work with us to make this location safe
and efficient.
Highland is looking for a coach for our cheerleading
squad. Also, we hope to participate in Battle of the
Books and need a coach for our 4th and 5th grade
team. Please contact Mrs. Blondin if you are
interested or need more details.
Evansville Area Council PTA Celebrity Scoop
Mrs. Hale will be looking for “tips” for her shift at Baskin
Robbins Celebrity Scoop Night on Thursday, September 8,
4:00-8:30pm. You can bring your tip money to Baskin
Robbins the evening of the event or send it in to your
child’s teacher. All tips will be donated to Hanger’s. Mrs.
Hale is participating with other Central administers on the
Beary Best Nation Team.
Kindergarten Families: Popsicles on the Playground
Please join us on Tuesday, September 27th from 5:30-6:30pm at Highland’s playground to visit with other
Highland kindergarten families. Mark your calendars now and look for a flyer to come home soon!