• "That was the best beginning of school picnic I've even been to!!" [referring to the Spofford Lake event]
• "There was more excitement and participation in the Annual Fund Carnival Kick-Off party than anything Hilltop has even had!!"
• "That was the best Upper El Parent/Student soccer game ever!"

The Hilltop Board of Trustees Annual Call for Nominations

The role of the Hilltop Board of Trustees is to determine and oversee policies that support the mission of the school and to ensure the school's fiscal stability. This includes the hiring and evaluating the Head of School, appointing standing and ad hoc committees, overseeing the lease and facility use, fundraising, and strategic planning. HMS board members also serve as ambassadors for the school to the community at large.

Specific Professional Experience or Areas of Expertise sought by the HMS board

Serving on the HMS board or on one of its various committees is a great way to offer your professional expertise, experience, and time to Hilltop. The board has an ongoing need to attract potential trustees from within and outside the Hilltop community who have experience or expertise in the following areas:

Law, Finance, Development/Fundraising, Contracting/Architecture, Agriculture/Landscaping, Education, Administration/Organization, and Community Connection

Time Commitment/Expectations

Board members attend a monthly meeting, typically from 6-9 p.m. on the third Wednesday of the month (though this could change to include Mondays). There is some report reading and meeting preparation required in the days before the meeting. There is a varying amount of time throughout the month, depending on what committees of projects each member is involved in. There are also occasional longer meetings as part of an annual retreat or board training.

Interested?? - Next Steps . . .

More detailed information about serving on the Hilltop board is available at the front desk. If you decide you're interested in becoming a board candidate, please complete the HMS Board Candidate Information Form and return it to Ann, who will forward it to the Committee on Trustees. (Electronic copies of the Board Member Description and Info Form are available from the e-mail address below).

If you have any questions, please contact the Board Chair of the Committee on Trustees, Patrick Keppel via email or telephone 802-254-5028.

It has been a busy fall in the elementary classrooms. Kerstin and Patrick in the Lower Elementary, and Tom and Jennifer in the Upper Elementary, have been working hard to make the transition to new teachers and teaching teams as seamless as possible for the children. To make this happen, both teams have put a tremendous amount of time into planning, preparing for lessons, and communicating effectively with one another. Their efforts are evident in the spirit of community in both classrooms, the children's purposeful work each day, and the trusting relationships that have been established between children and teachers. On top of all of this, both teaching teams have been working hard to strengthen their programs. Exciting work is happening in the math curriculum as well as the cultural curriculum. This week, however, we would like to detail some of the work being done in the language areas of both classrooms.

In the Lower Elementary, Kerstin and Patrick have been giving considerable attention to the reading curriculum. They have begun to use a new literature anthology to guide early and transitional readers through a sequence of direct instruction in the foundational reading skills of phonemic awareness, phonics, and whole language practice. For fluent readers, Kerstin and Patrick are actively scouting for new books and short stories to use for reading groups. They are also implementing a structured sequence of comprehension strategy instruction. All of this direct reading instruction happens alongside the language work done in spelling, grammar, word study, and the language rich lessons and materials of the cultural studies. Kerstin, Patrick, and Connie have also been updating and reorganizing the classroom library. Almost two hundred new books have been purchased so far this year to introduce new titles to the classroom and to meet the needs and interests of all readers. New books will continue to be purchased throughout the year for reading groups, cultural studies, and read aloud. Connie took on the task of leveling all of the new and old books in the room. This means that the books are now organized by reading level so that students and teachers can easily select appropriate books to support a student's growing skills.

In the Upper Elementary, Jennifer and Tom have been paying particular attention to writing. They have been reviewing the grammar and writing curriculum to find the best places to introduce lessons on punctuation and mechanics. Jennifer and Tom have also been breaking down and adding more structure to the prewriting process for creative, narrative, and expository writing. This should help students improve the organization, flow, and narrative punch of their writing. In addition, new lessons to guide children through the research process for their cultural studies will also impact their writing. These lessons help students develop questions to guide their research on a chosen topic. These same questions help the children later organize their writing on the topic. The teachers have also added more structure to the self-editing process to help the children take more responsibility for their own writing.

When we first envisioned my role as Director of Elementary, we weren't sure exactly what it would look like once the year was underway. We knew that being flexible to meet the needs of both programs would be key. As it has turned out so far, most of my day is spent directly teaching in small group lessons. I teach reading and math groups in both Upper and Lower Elementary, in addition to Latin and cultural lessons incorporating art. The central "Art Room" that has become my base of operations is often filled with children quietly engaged in a myriad of activities. The space has worked more beautifully than we had even imagined: quiet reading, building a river model out papier-m�ch� and plaster, making a diagram of a jellyfish, or three children working on literature questions together. So much has happened in the first two months of this year, it is exciting to imagine the further growth of these already wonderful programs.