Dear Families,

 Many of you may know, our enrollment projection was 441 and our budget is based upon that number and while we were 10 students under our projection we had a substantial referendum increase!!!! So instead of cutting the budget, HPE will be able to add another teaching assistant to support first and second grade.

Kindergarten and 4^th grade are supported by MeeAe Kim                                      1^st and 2^nd grade  TBA                                                                                  

3^rd grade is supported by Carole Keene                                                                  5^th/6^th grade is supported by Nicole A.                                                              Special Education teaching assistants are Elizabeth Vega-Lee, Alexus Gould and     Irene Pedersen.

These individuals provide invaluable support for students and teachers throughout the day!

November means CONFERENCES.  By now, many of you have already returned the red conference slips.  Rita will be taking all that information and putting it into a schedule and you will then receive notification of your assigned conference time.  If the original time you selected no longer works, please call Rita in the office and she will work with you to find a more suitable conference time.  Conferences will be held Tuesday, November 10 from 4:30-7:30 p.m.; Thursday, November 12, from 4:30a.m.-7:30 p.m; and Friday, November 13, from 7:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

 Highland Park Elementary staff appreciates your involvement with your child’s academic growth.  This can be as simple as reading with your child every night and talking about what they learned in school that day.  Your involvement with their homework is also important from seeing that it is completed to actually sitting down with them as they complete it.   We all want our students to do well and helping them succeed is always a tricky balance.  Here are some tips to consider when helping your child with homework:

1.                  Don’t ever do it for them!  The assignments are given to them for a reason-they need to learn the concept!

2.                  Guidance is great! Help them think through the process by talking about the concept being taught and how it is modeled in real life.

3.                  Be encouraging!  Understand that learning is frustrating at times and letting them know they can do it is often the motivation they need.

4.                  Expand their brains!  One great way parents can help their children with homework is to ask them to go beyond their original idea; expand or add more detail!

5.                  Know when to call for help! If your child consistently is having trouble with a specific concept, it is time to let the teacher know.

 Finally, here is a friendly reminder about when NOT to send your child to school.  Please keep your child home if he or she:

• has a fever of 100 degrees or more during the previous evening or night or in the morning.   (They can return when they have been fever free for 24 hours without medication.)
• has vomited or had diarrhea during the night or in the morning.
• has a rash that may be caused by a disease or if the cause is unknown, check with your family physician before sending the student to school.

Ordinarily we ask that children be sent to school even if they seem a little tired or irritable in the morning as long as they do not have any of the signs or symptoms listed above.  If student is at home sick, please call the school attendance line daily to report the reason for absence.  If a student will be absent for more than one day parents can contact the school for homework.

 Sincerely,

Teresa Ciccarelli