Shop for holiday gifts from home while supporting the PTSA! The last spirit wear sale of 2019 will be exclusively online. The PTSA’s online spirit wear store will open on Monday, December 2 and continue through Friday, December 6. All orders can be picked up locally at a designated time TBD or by arrangement. Please note that quantities of some items are limited. The link to the store will be available fromptsahastings.org/logo-wear/on December 2.
2 • PTSA Traffic Safety Subcommittee
Following recommendations from the traffic engineer for the Village, the District and the PTSA Traffic Safety Committee have created a new safe drop-off and pick-up zone located in the driveway in front of FMS!
Please use care when using these spaces (marked by “No Parking from 7:30-9:00 am and from 2:00-5:00 pm” signs), and please be considerate of cars who are exiting the drop-off zone.
We all need to work together to calm traffic around FMS and HHS!
3 • PTSA Will Present Tutor Survey Results at January 13 BOE meeting
In collaboration with Mr. Adipietro and Ms. Kipper, the PTSA developed an anonymous survey for parents seeking information on the use of tutors in grades 7 through 12. The purpose of the survey was, in part, to learn the reasons that parents hire tutors and the subjects that tutors cover. The PTSA sent out the survey on April 29 and continued to collect responses through June 14. The results of this survey will be presented to the Board of Education at the January 13 meeting.
We invite the community to attend!
4 • School Supplies Sale
The PTSA is pleased to announce a new initiative that is part-fundraiser and part-community service!
The PTSA will sell school supplies online (via Cheddar Up) to Hillside families for the 2020-2021 school year. The sale will begin in February and continue through May 2020. The supplies will be delivered to Hillside before school starts next fall.
The benefits of this program are multifaceted. The PTSA will be buying the school supplies in bulk from Hastings Stationery, which supports a local business and the PTSA while reducing the cost of school supplies for families. The bulk sale also will reduce packaging waste, making it a greener option for our community. Finally, this program will make getting school supplies easier and faster for families and streamline the process of collecting school supplies for teachers.
The PTSA is launching this program at Hillside only. If the sale is a success, the PTSA will attempt to expand the program to FMS.
The details on ordering will be released soon. Please spread the word about the sale, especially to families with incoming Kindergarteners!
5 • Seeking Volunteers for Community-Building Events
For those of you looking to get involved with community-building events, the PTSA is looking for volunteers. We need help preparing for parties and gatherings such as the Teacher Appreciation Luncheons, Back to School Meet & Greet, Back to School nights, Newcomers’ Dinner, 8th grade Arts Extravaganza, Senior Breakfast Voter Registration, and the PTSA Pre-Prom Event. We hope to find parent volunteers at each school willing to oversee events at that school. To volunteer, please email Kerri Jew (generalvp1@ptsahastings.org).
If you are on the fence about volunteering, please remember that these enriching, community-building events will not happen without the help of people like you.
Grants
For the 2019-2020 school year, the PTSA has awarded the following grants:
Gaby Cook will teach our 5th and 6th graders the art of swing dancing.
8th Grade will see To Kill a Mockingbird on Broadway.
Compostable party supplies requested by the Hillside Green Team.
5th Grade Electricity and Magnetism Workshop by the Liberty Science Center.
5th Grade Gravitational Force and Projectile Motion Workshop by the Liberty Science Center.
Liberty Science Center Assembly at FMS.
HASP students will go to West Side Story on Broadway.
Chris Herren, a former NBA star and motivational speaker on substance use and wellness, will talk to HHS students about such topics as drinking, smoking marijuana and vaping, pill use, peer pressure, bullying and cutting.
The First Day screening and parent program facilitated by the filmmaker Jon Hock and addiction expert Fred Muench, President of Center on Addiction.
DJs for FMS dances.
Family University dinner for HHS parents and students.
Sweethearts and Heroes anti-bullying program for all children at Hillside.
Professional Development at the Windward Teacher Training Institute for Hillside and FMS special/general education teachers.
The Omer String Quartet will visit FMS and HHS. The quartet will perform for students and then break off to work with our string chamber groups.
Additional grants funded by the PTSA on an annual basis:
Field Trip Busing for each grade K through 12
Scholarship Fund for Each School (allowing each school to anonymously provide instruments, lunches, and field trip scholarships to families in need of financial assistance)