January 2020
The Hastings PTSA newsletter will tell you about upcoming events, as well as PTSA initiatives and grants awarded. To learn more about what we do,
visit our website at PTSAHastings.org .
Important Dates:
January 2020
Screening of The First Day – Director Jon Hock, Fred Muenc h (President of the Center on Addiction), Linda Fosina (The Way Coalition), and HHS Principal Lou Adipietro will be taking questions after the film.
Thursday, January 9
HHS Auditorium (All Rivertown Parents and Teens Welcome)
Late Start
Friday, January 10
Hillside: 9:30am
FMS & HHS: 9:35am
ACT Registration Deadline
Friday, January 10
Contact Guidance Department
SEPTA Parent Discussion Group
Monday, January 13, 9:30 am
First Reformed Church
HHS Parent Meeting
Monday, January 13, 6:30 pm
Lloyd Library
Board of Ed Meeting
Monday, January 13, 7:30 pm
Lecture Room
Hillside Winter Chorus Recital
Thursday, January 16, 9:15 am
Hillside
Schools Closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Monday, January 20
Regents and Midterm Exam Week
Tuesday, January 21 – Friday, January 24
Grades 5/6 Winter Concert
Thursday, January 23, 7 pm
HHS Auditorium
PTSA Used Book Fair Donation Drop-off
Monday, January 27 – Friday, February 28
Hillside Lobby
SEPTA Parent Discussion Group
Monday, January 27, 9:30 am
First Reformed Church
Hillside PTSA Parent Meeting
Monday, January 27, 6:30 pm
Hillside Library
Board of Ed Meeting
Monday, January 27, 7:30 pm
Lecture Room
SEPTA Annual Review Preparation Night
Tuesday, January 28, 7 pm
Lloyd Library
HHS Winter Senior Peer Leadership Retreat
Thursday, January 30 – Friday, January 31
Yearbook Orders Due
Friday, January 31
HHS:   ybpay.lifetouch.com , code 13562220 (printed names included)
Grades 7/8 One Acts
Friday, January 31, 7 pm
HHS Auditorium
Initiatives

1 • The First Day

Tomorrow night at 7 pm in the HHS Auditorium, all Rivertown parents and teens are invited to a screening of The First Day , a substance use prevention education film featuring former professional basketball player and wellness advocate Chris Herren. Director Jonathan Hock, Fred Muench (President of Center on Addiction), Linda Fosina (The Way Coalition), and HHS Principal Lou Adipietro will be taking questions after the film.

Don’t miss this!

2 • PTSA Will Present Tutor Survey Results at January 13 BOE meeting 

At the January 13 Board of Education meeting (7:30 pm in the Lecture Room), the PTSA will present the results of the anonymous parent survey on the use of tutors in grades 7 through 12. We hope you will join us!

3 • Greenburgh Eleven

New York State has created six schools in Westchester County for at-risk youth. One of these schools, Greenburgh Eleven, is located nearby on the Children’s Village campus. Many Greenburgh Eleven students lack basic school supplies and essential winter gear. In 2017, our PTSA partnered with Greenburgh Eleven and gathered winter gear that was provided directly to students. We are launching another collection and need the community's help. We currently are collecting new and like-new winter coats, hats, and gloves in sizes youth large and XL and mens' small through XXL. Please drop off your contributions in the box on the front porch at 4 Glenn Place or email Tammy Black ( tampaley28@gmail.com ) or Kefira Wilderman ( kefiraw@gmail.com ) to make other arrangements. Please drop off your contributions between January 10-24 so we can deliver them ASAP. Thank you for your support!

4 • PTSA Used Book Fair Donations

It is time to prepare for the Hastings PTSA Used Book Fair! This annual fundraiser is a community favorite! Donations for the Used Book Fair may be dropped-off in the Hillside lobby beginning Monday, January 27. The PTSA is seeking donations of books (for both kids and adults), games, toys, puzzles, DVDs and CDs. Donations will be accepted through Friday, February 28. Information about volunteering to sort books and to staff the Used Book Fair will be provided in the next PTSA newsletter. 

5 • School Supplies Sale

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 PTSA is excited about this program because it will support a local business (Hastings Stationery) and the PTSA, reduce the cost of school supplies for families, reduce packaging waste, make buying school supplies easier and faster for families, and streamline the process of collecting school supplies for teachers. The details on ordering will be released soon. Please spread the word about the sale! 

6 • PTSA Traffic Safety Committee Update

Following recommendations from the Village’s traffic engineer, the District and the PTSA Traffic Safety Committee have created a new drop-off and pick-up zone located in the driveway in front of FMS. In order to make this drop-off and pick-up zone as safe as possible for our children, we ask that you:
  • Pull into the three curbside spaces (located right before you get to the crosswalk) from 7:30-9:00am and from 2:00-5:00pm to drop-off and/or pick-up your children. Curbside drop-off and pick-up are safest.
  • Please move all the way to the front of the drop-off / pick-up zone so that cars can enter the zone behind you.
  • Please move along as quickly as you can. Please do not linger more than 3-5 minutes, especially in the afternoons. Remember that the Village has passed a new ordinance that prohibits idling for more than 1 minute. 
  • The lane to the left of the drop-off / pick-up zone is a thru lane. Please *resist* the urge to drop off your child in this thru lane; use the curbside drop-off / pick-up zone instead.  
  • Do not park in these spaces from 7:30-9:00am and from 2:00-5:00pm. Signs clearly state that there is no parking during these hours.
  • Please be considerate of cars that are exiting the drop-off zone and moving into the thru lane.
  • Please use this drop-off zone, as well as the one on Olinda, as much as possible. We discourage parents from dropping off children on Hillside Avenue because 1) Hillside is quite narrow, 2) visibility is poor near the crosswalk that leads to Reynolds field, 3) cars frequently are stopping too close to the crosswalk at Farragut Ave which creates dangerous conditions for our kids.  
  • Please have your children WALK to school if they can do so safely. Reducing the number of cars around the FMS/HHS complex is the real solution here.

As we learn more about how parents use this drop-off and pick-up zone, we will make adjustments. We are actively reviewing traffic patterns around FMS/HHS with the District to make sure that children get to and from school safely.

Please feel free to email us at trafficsafetycommittee@ptsahastings.org .  

Many thanks for your help in making Hastings-on-Hudson safe for our children!
Grants

For the 2019-2020 school year, the PTSA has awarded the following grants:
  • Composer Workshop with Michael Markowski for HHS Band.
  • NY Philharmonic Young People’s Concert for the 7th and 8th grade band and orchestra.
  • David Coffin will present Music from the Kings Court to Hillside.
  • 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 player and motivational speaker on substance use and wellness, talk for 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)
  • Sewing with Seniors
  • Hillside Bird Feeder
  • Nature Program, overseen by Robin Farrell
Hastings-on-Hudson Schools | PTSAHastings.org