Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Ice Storm Update

12/16/08 School will reopen tomorrow (Wednesday, December 17th). Please check your emails for more details on this weeks schedule.

For complete coverage, visit WMUR Channel 9 News, WZID 95.7 FM, and WJYY 105.5 FM.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Winter/Spring After School Program

Please contact the school if you would like to sign your child up for any of our programs. These programs will run from January 5th through May 29th, 2009.

Monday, December 1, 2008

December 2008 School Wide News

Last month in school wide meeting we took time to discuss the concept of gratitude. The children’s “grateful hearts’’ are displayed on the bulletin board in the front hall along with the poem we recite each day at lunchtime. This month, as we enter the season of giving, we will be exploring the idea of generosity and celebrating the joys of giving by making “giving hands” to add to the hearts. As a tangible sign of our understanding of these abstract ideas, each class will be collecting contributions for a holiday food basket that will be donated to the Hopkinton Food Bank. See your child’s teacher for details.

Our annual Holiday Tea (grades K-7) celebration is just around the corner. This evening of Holiday songs and skits will take place at St. Andrew’s Parish Hall starting a 6:00 pm on Friday, December 12th. A reminder that this year the event will not be an extended day, so all students will be dismissed or go to after-school care at 1:30, as on a regular Friday. If you are in need of after-school care just for that day, please speak to Lisa in the office.

Preschool Holiday Tea will take place on Tuesday, December 16th from 10:30—12:00. After the concert children will return to their classrooms for lunch. Monday, Wednesday, Friday preschoolers are welcome to come with their families to join in the celebration

The few flurries we’ve had recently are a timely reminder that snow season is soon upon us. Please be sure to check the Snow Day Cancellation and delay policy on our website.

The Mt. Sunapee Winter Sports Program for the upper school students (grades 1-7) is scheduled to begin January 5th. Information went home last week. Please let us know whether your child will be renting skis this year. Forms and payment are due back to the office December 2nd fittings for those needing rentals will take place here at school on Thursday, December 4th.

Given the response to our Nordic Ski survey, we will not be offering Nordic skiing this year. We will, however, be offering a Winter Sports Program here at school as part of our after school program. In addition to a winter sports program, we have a number of new after school offerings for our winter/spring semester. More information on our after school program will be sent home later this week.

Our first Preschool Parent Teacher Forum met on November 18th. We had a great turn-out and discussed ideas for adjusting class configurations and classrooms for next year. Minutes from this meeting are attached.

The Safety Committee met on November14th. Sara Duval, Jodi Burnham, and Laura Brancato attended. We have plans to install a lock and buzzer system in the front entrance. This will provide even more security for the building during the school day. We will inform you soon with details about times and procedures for before and after school drop off and pick up.

A big thank you to Kate Vattes for hosting the Lia Sophia Jewelry sale for our annual fund drive. If you wanted to purchase something but were unable to make the sale, catalogues are still available in the front office.

Barefoot Books are back! Lisa Whipps is sponsoring a Barefoot Book sale for the month of December. This is a great way to make a dent on some holiday shopping and support our school. Information and catalogues came home last week. All proceeds will go towards the purchase of books for the school’s library.

You should have received a copy of our new strategic plan and annual fund letter. As you may know, annual giving comprises over twenty percent of the school’s operating budget each year. If you would like to donate online, we are now set up to receive contributions electronically on our website at http://www.hopkinind.org/.

Michelle Leuci (our school photographer this year) has reopened the school’s online photo gallery for those wishing to order more photos for the holidays. It will be available online (http://www.blogger.com/www.michelleleuci.com) from Friday, December 5th to Friday, December 12th. The password will remain the same.

SAVE THE DATE! Our annual auction will be held on March 21st at the Concord Audubon Society. Plans are already underway for this fun(d) raising evening! If you would like to be involved in the planning please see Kate Vattes, Jennifer Frizzell, or Christine Haydinger.

A reminder that school will be closed for winter vacation from Monday, December 22nd through Friday January 2nd.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Holiday Tea -- December 12, 2008

Come celebrate the holidays with our K-7 students at our annual Holiday Tea, to be held on Friday, December 12. The evening's performance will begin at 6:00 pm at St. Andrew's Parish Hall, located in the center of Hopkinton, and will be followed by a reception with refreshments.

Please note that this year Holiday Tea will not be an extended day, so all students will be dismissed or go to after-school care at 1:30, as on a regular Friday. If you are in need of after-school care just for that day, please speak to Lisa in the office.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Snow Day Cancellation Policy


We will announce cancellations and delays on the following networks:
The public announcements on the networks listed above enable your family to anticipate cancellations and/or delays.

If the Hopkinton public schools are closed – we are closed.
If the Hopkinton public schools have a delayed opening – we have the same delay.

Because road conditions vary from town to town, if we are open but the public schools in your town are closed, your child will not be marked as absent if you choose not to come to school because of unsafe road conditions.

If there is a delayed opening, school opens at the designated delayed time, for example if there is a two hour delay, before school care opens two hours later (at 9:00). Upper School would begin at 10:30 and students should not arrive before 10:15.

November School Wide News

Thank you to everyone for making our Harvest Fest such a joyful celebration of this special season. The children’s preparation and anticipation built steadily through the weeks leading up to the event. It was such a pleasure to watch it all come together.

Some of money from the raffle tickets will go to purchase seeds and tools for our school garden. With the support of New Hampshire Farm to School program, we hope to develop a weekly nutrition class next year that will use foods from our garden and local farms. Stay tuned for more about this project.

As winter weather approaches, please remember to send your child to school with warmer clothes, gloves or mittens, and appropriate footwear.

Speaking of snow, we are sending out a survey via email to all parents about the possibility of running a slightly different ski program this year. In addition to our alpine ski program, we are considering participating in the Bill Koch nordic ski program right here in Hopkinton at the Blackwater Ski Club, a beautifully maintained course located on the fairground fields behind the Grange Hall. Please fill out the survey in the next week so that we can begin to plan our ski programs accordingly.

A reminder that there will be no school on November 10th and 11th. The Preschool teachers will be visiting a Reggio Emilia inspired preschool in Concord on the 10th and the Upper School teachers will hold Parent Teacher Conferences on the 11th. Sign-ups for meeting times are posted outside your child’s classroom. School will also be closed for the Thanksgiving Holiday November 26th, 27th, and 28th.

Our first Upper School Parent Teacher Forum met on October 30th. It was a very productive meeting and will help the Upper School teachers as they continue to develop the curriculum schoolwide and within their individual classes.

The Preschool Parent Teacher Forum has been rescheduled and will be held on Tuesday, November 18th at 4:00pm. Child care will be available.

The Safety Committee met on October 17th. Sara Duval, Jodi Burnham, Jayne Huxtable, Jill Stagner, and Laura Brancato attended. We shared some great safety ideas and strategies and are in the process of finalizing an Emergency Response Procedure. Our next meeting is scheduled for Friday, November 14th at 3:15. All are welcome.

Kate Vattes will be hosting a Lia Sophia jewelry sale in the Library on November 20th from
8-6. 40% of the proceeds will go to HIS. Catalogues are available in the front office. If you would like more information about Lia Sophia products contact Kate at 856-7519.

The Beech Hill Players will be presenting The Wizard of Oz at the Hopkinton Middle School Auditorium on Friday and Saturday, November 14th and 15th at 7:00pm and Sunday, November 16th at 2:00pm. Tickets will be on sale in the front office.

There are still two more Open Houses at the St. Paul’s School Observatory on November 7th from 7:30 to 9:00 and November 16th from 6:30 to 8:30. Don’t miss this chance to get a close up view of the moon, planets, stars, and galaxies. Children and adults of all ages are welcome. Contact Ian Hoffman for details at ihoffman@sps.edu, or 229-4758.

Ms. JoEllen is having a wonderful time on her Nature Quests with students on Mondays after school. She would like to remind all who participate in this program to be sure to dress appropriately for outdoor adventures. She’s hoping to make birdhouses with the students on November 3rd and 17th and is looking for a parent who might lend their woodworking skills and tools to help in their construction.

We are emailing this month’s School Wide News home to you. It is also posted on our website and copies will still be available in the foyer and front office. In our efforts to save paper we hope to communicate increasingly in this electronic medium. If for some reason this does not reach you, or if you would like it emailed to an alternative or additional address, please let Lisa know.