HCS Parent Newsletter for 3.15.24
Principal News…
We will continue with weekly Messengers on Fridays throughout the school year. All school messengers can also be found and translated into over 125 languages on our News Wall. Continuaremos con Mensajeros semanales los viernes durante todo el año escolar. Todos los mensajeros escolares también se pueden encontrar y traducir a más de 125 idiomas en nuestro muro de noticias.
What is happening with some of our student groups? K-Kids just provided some community service with the NIL Food Bank this past Tuesday, volunteering their time and efforts to give back to the community; totalling 4,135 pounds packed and providing 3,445 meals. The Student Council is working on the April Book Challenge, where students will have to read various genres and color in their rainbows with the different genre colors after the books are completed. We are looking to have a school goal for our collective group to read 2,400 books by the end of April; with the opportunity to each school based rewards at selected achievement milestones. Green Team continues to promote the collection of bread tags and increase awareness of food waste, promoting effective recycling inside and outside of our school building. Exciting news; their proposal to extend our current Monarch Certified Garden has been improved and they will start working on those designs later in April.
Congratulations to all our fourth and fifth graders (a total of 70 students participated) who challenged themselves to read and compete in the Battle of the Books. Anyone in the community can come and cheer on our HC Storm in the district battle at the Batavia Public Library on March 18 at 7pm. Good luck Busy Bees! A picture of the Battle of the Book Winners and re-cap of the first round are located here.
As parents/guardians, we will all make decisions about whether or not to send our children to school if they have symptoms of an illness. Our District has developed the following guidelines for you to use while deciding whether your child should attend school or should stay home; click the following link – Health FAQ’s from the HC Storm Student Handbook under Health Services.
Student Water Bottles: Although it is not a policy or rule, we ask families to reconsider sending glass water bottles with their students. There is an increased chance of the item getting broken and additional time to properly clean the area to ensure the safety of all other students in that location. Moving forward, we would recommend reusable plastic or metal water bottles within the classroom setting. Thank you for your consideration.
THANK YOU! We have 21% and we needed a minimum of 20%, however you still have the ability to complete the 2024 Illinois 5Essentials Parent Survey open until March 29th. Your participation in the parent survey will help us understand the conditions at your child’s school and guide improvement. To take the parent survey please visit: http://survey.5-essentials.
IMPORTANT DATES AND CALENDARS:
- March 18th – District Battle of the Books Final at Batavia Public Library beginning at 7:00pm.
- March 25th – April 1st – Spring Break: students return in session on Tuesday April 2nd
- DON’T FORGET TO CLICK ON BACKPACK MAIL AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS NEWSLETTER!
HC STORM SHARES:
- Girls Basketball Camps this summer! Click here for all the information. Girls entering 1st grade all the way up to 8th grade can participate! Play with girls all over the district!
- Storm Stampede. This year’s Storm Stampede (field day) will be on May 22nd. We will be looking for full day and half day volunteers to help run stations. Volunteer sign up information will be communicated in April. Thank you in advance for volunteering your time. This day would not be possible without you! Questions? Please email greg.bauman@bps101.net
- 4th/5th grade students: HCS Spring Running Club
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- April 8-29th: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays
- 8:00-8:45 rain or shine (at Storm)
- Register with this link English: https://forms.gle/Z6ffo8cEorPTze8c7
- Register with this link Spanish: https://forms.gle/6xnXY7eMYb2pjXoc9
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- Green Team News.
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- Bread Tag Initiative. Collecting them now, a bucket on the table outside the school.
- Food Waste Campaign. Food Waste Parent Presentation.
PTO SHARES:
- Thunder Run in May! Why is the Thunder Run such a big deal? I’m glad you asked! The HC Storm Thunder Run is the largest fundraiser for the school, and your tax-deductible donation will be used to offset the costs of the supporting students and teachers throughout the year. Your donation will help fund field trips, classroom supplies, reading materials, bilingual materials for students, and SO much more! We will also need a number of parent volunteers the day of the run, so keep an eye out for the SignUp Genius link. To commemorate this event, we will be providing each student and faculty member a special t-shirt, which will be used throughout the year. Do you own a business or know someone who would like to sponsor our shirts? We also need T-shirt sponsors for this event! Get your business name out there on over 400 shirts worn by students and staff. Please email Amanda Fladung (amgentile21@gmail.com) for sponsorship opportunities.
- PTO President vacancy. Do you have an interest in becoming our next great PTO president? All the current board members will be sticking around next year, making your new job a whole lot easier. Please reach out to Ashley Murtaugh (ashleymurtaugh@gmail.com) with any questions about the position. (Dads are equally welcome to apply!)
- BoxTop Fundraiser. Have you heard that Box Tops have gone totally digital? No more pesky clipping and saving! Download the app, scan your receipts, and watch the school donations add up. Every eligible product is worth a 10-cent donation to Storm, with bonus offers providing even more.
- Facebook. What’s Happening at HC Storm Elementary: PTO Updates.
OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
- Parent Input Request. You are invited to participate in the parent survey supplement of the Illinois 5Essentials Survey. Your participation in the parent survey will help us understand the conditions at your child’s school and guide improvement. We guarantee that survey responses will never be connected to the identity of you or your child. School reports will only show aggregated information on how parents and students responded as a whole. Please visit http://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/parent to take the parent survey.
- Batavia Music Buffs. Save the date for two fabulous fundraisers to benefit the Batavia Music Buffs! Saturday, April 20th is our annual Mattress Sale at Batavia High School and Sunday April 21st is our Annual Trivia Night Fundraiser. Tickets will be available in March. Questions? Email vpwaysandmeans@bataviamusicbuffs.org.
- Developmental Screenings (Birth to 5 years old). Do you have any questions about your young one’s development? Do you think they are not speaking as clearly as they should or struggle to follow directions? The Batavia Early Childhood Program offers FREE developmental screenings multiple times per year for children ages birth to 5 years old. Our last one for this school year will be in March! If you want to learn more about the screening process, please contact the early childhood office at 630-937-8002.