Let's get in the spirit as our Cincinnati Bengals head in to the Playoffs! This Friday, January 13 is Bengals Spirit Day at HPS!! Everyone is welcome to show their Bengals Spirit by wearing Bengals Spirit Wear or the team colors, Orange & Black!

The HPS PTO will hold its next meeting this Thursday, January 12 at 6:30 in the HPS Gym or Cafeteria & via Google Meets at https://meet.google.com/etz-amew-xhe. We'll discuss upcoming initiatives including the famed Spring Celebration. All are welcome!

The Hyde Park School PTO offers a wide variety of enriching after school opportunities from art to drama to cooking, karate, circus, and more! And we welcome a new addition to the lineup--indoor soccer! The graphics below show the schedule of this semester's extracurricular activities along with their corresponding registration info. For all the clubs without a registration link listed in the graphic, please go to https://www.hydeparkschoolpto.org/extracurricular-activities/ and click on the graphic for the club of interest to register.

AND stay tuned for information about an additional drama/performing arts opportunity!! Performing Arts Inc. will host a "school musical club," which will begin the First Thursday in March and will culminate with club participants performing a school musical on May 6. This club may also need parent helpers to assist coordinating each session. If you are potentially interested in helping with school musical practices Thursdays after school beginning the first week of March through May 6, please contact Hilary VanderMolen at vp@hydeparkschoolpto.org.

Please contact the HPS Resource Coordinator, Alyse Averdick at averdia@cps-k12.org if you are interested in a scholarship for your child to participate in an extracurricular activity.

Happy Hyde Park School was proud to be a part of the initiative started by Sarah Taylor (wife of Bengals' Coach Zac Taylor) to send cards to Damar Hamlin as he continues his miraculous recovery at UC Medical Center. As one card says, "Cincinnati Loves You!" We're proud to be active members of our Cincinnati Community, and we're proud to share our love and compassion wherever it's needed!

With colder temperatures hitting here and there throughout the Winter, indoor recess is inevitable. HPS is seeking to create several Board Game Carts that will travel to classrooms and provide good old-fashioned entertainment for the indoor recess days. If you have extra or otherwise unwanted board games, we'd put them to good use at HPS! Please bring them to the Main Office or send them to school with your child (along with a note/post-it that the game is being donated to the school's indoor recess supply). Thank you!!

The school supply of paper towels is running low, and a restock is needed before we reach E. If you're in a position that you can bring a roll or two to the Main Office (or send some to school with your student), it would be a great help! Thanks for your generosity!

HPS Kindergarten Information Night is set for February 16 at 6:00 pm in the HPS Gym. This meeting is for Parents of Incoming Kindergarteners for the 2023-2024 school year, so please spread the word through your network of families with preschoolers! *Please Note* in order to keep the meeting focused on informing the parents, this meeting is for parents/guardians only, not the incoming Kindergarteners. Socials for incoming families to meet one another and for the children to meet their teachers will take place in the Summer.

The Eagles Girls Youth Lacrosse program site (eaglesyouthlacrosse.com) is the best way to learn more about the program (and to register for the 2023 season, which is OPEN NOW), but you can also check out the Facebook (Eagles Girls Youth Lacrosse), Twitter (@eaglegirlslax) and Instagram (eaglesgirlsyouthlacrosse) accounts.

Leo says it simply and most eloquently: "We Want You!!" But what's more, We Need You!! Sad but true, reality is setting in: our longstanding leaders of the HPS Athletics Program will be retiring from the ranks as their students near the end of their careers at HPS. The positions of Athletic Director, Head and Assistant Sports Coordinators, Equipment & Uniform Managers, Booster Positions (Presidents, VP, Secretary, Communications Director, and Fundraising Chair) are some of the many volunteers positions held mostly by Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Grade Parents. The same holds true for coaches. So the time has come for the fresh faces of the K-3 Parents to come forward to learn the ropes. To learn more about the positions and to volunteer, please contact Mike Brugh at michaelbrugh@outlook.com

Lunch time involves a learning curve, and our youngest students are in need of some assistance during lunchtime! Tasks like opening cheese sticks yogurt lids, and even putting straws in drink boxes can be challenging to little hands. If you could spare an hour of your time, please join our lunch and recess period to help make the most of this important hour of their day! Click here to sign up. This signup link will be included in this Newsletter each week for you to access.

*IMPORTANT NEW INFORMATION*: To allow for more eating time, Kindergarteners now will be having recess BEFORE lunch. This means if you are the Lunch/Recess Duty Volunteer, you should check-in at the Main Office, then report to the Playground instead of the Cafeteria. Then, following recess, you will help escort the Kindergarteners to the Cafeteria where you will assist them as they eat lunch. Please act as the Caboose for the line, ensuring that the very last students and any stragglers make it safely into the Cafeteria.

*Please note (and, yes, it goes without saying, but) by signing up for this opportunity, you will be signing up to assist ALL Kindergarteners with their lunch and to help monitor ALL students on the playground during recess, not just your child.*

Streamline your life by using this link to upload all HPS Events to your calendar: HPS Events Calendar. Throughout the year, this link will be updated with other events like socials, movie nights, family swims, playground dates, and more!