John Mercer Langston was the first Black man to become a lawyer in 1854 when he passed the Bar in Ohio. He then became one of the first African Americans ever elected to public office in America when he was elected to the post of Town Clerk for Brownhelm, Ohio a year later in 1855. John Mercer Langston was also the great-uncle of Langston Hughes, the famed poet of the Harlem Renaissance.

Time to break out your FC Cincinnati gear or your favorite Blue & Orange! This Friday February 24 is FC Cincinnati Spirit Day as they host their Season Opener at TQL Stadium on February 25!

Parent-Teacher conferences are being held before and after school on this Thursday, February 23. In appreciation of our teachers, the PTO will cater a lunch for the staff. We are asking volunteers to provide individually packaged light snacks and treats to help our teachers stay energized through the long hours. Please sign-up here to donate a snack. (Please indicate in the comment section what specific items you will provide). Items can be dropped off either on the table outside the main office doors or by handing items to the staff in the car line in the days leading up to February 23. Thank you for your support!

The HPS Student Council's Winter Kindness Challenge is in its last week! Student council is collecting items for shelters around our city. Each week in February, all the Homerooms have been challenged to bring in 25 items of a certain type needed by shelters. This week the items are: Baby Diapers or Wipes.

Performing Arts Inc. is hosting a School Musical Club open to students in all grades K-6, and registration is now open! Register for the club by signing up for an Audition using this link: https://www.performingartsinc.net/hyde-park. Auditions will take place in 15 minute time slots on March 2 after school. Everyone who auditions will get a part!!

The cost is $110 to participate and must be paid online at https://www.performingartsinc.net/payments at least 24 hours before your child's audition. Please contact HPS Resource Coordinator Alyse Averdick at averdia@cps-k12.org if you are interested in a scholarship for your child to participate.

Following auditions, the club will then meet Thursdays after school from 2:15-3:15 beginning on March 9. The club will end by performing Willy Wonka on May 6 at 4pm at Withrow HS (dress rehearsal at 2pm). This club will also need parent helpers to coordinate each after-school rehearsal. If you are interested in helping with school musical practices Thursdays after school beginning March 9 through May 6, please contact Hilary VanderMolen at vp@hydeparkschoolpto.org.

Planning is underway for the 11th Annual Spring Celebration! If you're new to HPS, Spring Celebration is a large-scale adults-only party that serves as our biggest fundraiser for the year! The Spring Celebration provides an opportunity for HPS families, staff, and community sponsors to celebrate our successful and growing school!

Spring Celebration is Hyde Park School's signature fundraising event. A committee of parent/family volunteers present this adults-only night out, which features music; food and drinks; a Silent Auction; Raffle Baskets; and a mix of other serve-yourself fundraising activities like a Wine Wall, Gift Card Pull, and more in a festive atmosphere. This event is all about building community and celebrating and raising funds for Hyde Park School. At HPS, we are proud to provide a personalized learning environment that supports academic achievement and social-emotional development for children in grades K-6. We are proud to serve more than 550 students primarily from the Hyde Park and Oakley neighborhoods. We are an outstanding school both because of and for our community!

We invite your family or business to participate as an Event Sponsor. Your contribution will help our PTO bridge the Cincinnati Public School funding gap by covering the costs of field trips, classroom supplies, technology upgrades, and enrichment opportunities for our students. By making a sponsorship donation, you will receive recognition in all Spring Celebration communications and enjoy the amenities our sponsor packages have to offer. Please see the next section of this Newsletter for sponsorship descriptions. If you are donating as a family, don’t forget to check with your employer as many companies have matching programs. The HPS PTO is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit. Sponsors will be provided with a donation acknowledgment for their records. Thank you in advance for your support! To purchase a sponsorship, follow this link, then click on the name of the sponsorship level (e.g. HPS Friends & Family Gold, Ticket Sponsor, etc.), and follow the prompts to add the sponsorship to your cart.

What better way to get the most out of Spring Celebration than by volunteering and being part of the team that makes this spectacular event happen! Links to various volunteer opportunities will be posted in this Newsletter in the coming weeks. But in the meantime, we are seeking volunteers to be part of the committee that solicits area businesses for sponsorships and donations to stock the Silent Auction and Raffle Baskets. If you are interested in helping, please contact Ashley Hammond at president@hydeparkschoolpto.org.

Sponsorships, the Silent Auction, and Raffle Baskets are the keys to making the Spring Celebration a successful fundraiser. We're actively seeking donated gifts and/or services for the Silent Auction and Raffle Baskets as well as Business and Family Sponsorships.

Here are some Silent Auction & Raffle Basket ideas to get the pot stirring: gifts cards to restaurants, food delivery services, spas, haircuts, or other services; movie tickets; a gift membership to a streaming service such as Disney Plus, Prime Video, Netflix, etc; themed gifts baskets (such as a Bengals/Bearcats/Reds/Xavier-fan basket with merchandise or game tickets; a wine-lovers gift basket; a spa-package gift basket, etc); larger ticket items such as a Garmin GPS watch, Apple iWatch, or other electronics; jewelry; golf clubs, fishing gear, or other sports equipment; Experience based gifts: a hotel package; a private chef/caterer to cook dinner at your house for a party of 10; a weekend getaway to a VRBO in Hocking Hills, Mammoth Cave, Norris Lake, or other destination; a day-pass for a jet ski or pontoon boat rental at a marina; passes or a gift membership to an experience such as an escape room, Kings Island, the Cincinnati Zoo, Urban Air, the Children's Theater, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Museum Center; Scene 75; or other local or destination experience. The Sky is the Limit! If you would like to make a donation to the Silent Auction, please email auction@hydeparkschoolpto.org or you may drop off the item to the Main Office.

We are also seeking both Business and Family Sponsorships. To avoid multiple asks of the same businesses, the Hyde Park, Oakley, and East Walnut Hills area businesses are being solicited for sponsorships by a committee. But if you work for or have contacts or a relationship with a business that might be interested in sponsoring the Spring Celebration, please feel free to pass along the following sponsorship information. We'd love their partnership! Or if your family would like to become a sponsor, here is a description of opportunities available by tier along with their accompanying perks and the beginnings of what will be a growing shout-out list to our sponsors:

If you would like to become a Business or Family Sponsor, please follow this link and click on the appropriate sponsorship level. The HPS PTO is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit. Sponsors will be provided with a donation acknowledgment for their records. Please feel free to share the link with any interested business sponsors. Thank you!

Thursday, March 2 from 5:30-7:30pm marks the long-awaited return of International Night at HPS! International Night is a fun and exciting event of exploring different countries, cultures, religions, and traditions. Parents and students have the opportunity to create exhibits displaying flags, maps, traditional dress, artifacts, sports, music, art, games, traditions, food/drink, or any other aspect of their heritage or a country/culture of interest. If your family is interested in participating in International Night, please click here to sign up as a presenter. Or, if you don't want to create a display, you can travel from country to country through the halls of HPS experiencing the different cultures and traditions along the way! We look forward to traveling the world with you on March 2!

1) Use this link to Register for Hyde Park School.

2) Find the documents shared about a Day in the Life of a HPS Kindergartener here.

3) If you're in the incoming Kindergarten Community, please join the Incoming Kindergarten Facebook Group here.

4) If you know anyone else who would like to subscribe to this HPS PTO Weekly Newsletter, please send a request to Michele Berry Godsey at mberrylaw2007@gmail.com.

Congratulations to the January Hyde Park Heroes who were chosen by HPS Staff for demonstrating Self-Control. We are so proud of you, and we love seeing your signs around the community!

Acts of kindness make the world a happier place! Being kind boosts the confidence, optimism, and happiness of yourself and those around you, and leads to greater feelings of self-control. Being kind also encourages other people to pass it on and repeat the good deeds they've experienced themselves, contributing to a more positive community. Here are some children's books about Kindness.

And the theme is Songs from Musicals! Get ready for another night of stunners led by Music Director Mr. Messerly and Art Director Mrs. Best! Kindergarteners will have their own concert the evening of May 25 at a special Stepping Up Ceremony.

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!