Hillview PTO Banner 2012-2013 #1
In This Issue
MPAEF
Students of the Month
Congratulations
Pizza Fundraiser
Magazine Drive
Planned Absences
Rider's Digest
Neighborly Request
Social Media
Pet Cages
Parent Volunteers
Lockdown Drill
Talent Search
8th Grade Info
Parent Education
Physical Education
After School Sports
Community News
Quick Links
LookingAhead
This Week

Monday, October 28
  • 8th Grade Pizza Fundraiser, Amici's Pizza, 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Friday, November 1

  • No school for students. Collaborative Planning Day for staff.
LookingAhead
Looking Ahead

Sunday, November 3

  • Free-Range Kids: How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children with Lenore Skenzay, 6:30 p.m., Hillview PAC

Tuesday, November 5

  • Magazine Fundraiser ends

Wednesday, November 6

  • Part 2: Raising Teens without Losing Your Mind, Hillview Principal Erik Burmeister, 6:30 p.m., Hillview PAC 

Monday, November 11

  • No school. Veterans' Day.

Wednesday - Friday, November 27 - 29

  • No school. Thanksgiving Break.
Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation

 

MPAEF Logo 2005

  

 

One Good Deed Deserves Another

 

Thanks to the 50 families who donated this month at the $1,500-per-student level for the first time, as part of the MPAEF Foundation 50 Challenge. As a result, our schools earned a challenge gift of $50,000 from a group of anonymous donors! 

Now, it's time for you to do a good deed. Please take a few minutes to make your commitment to the MPAEF. When you do, you are supporting critical resources and programs for our children's education.  

  

                                          

  

September Students of the Month

  

  

Each month Hillview staff recognizes students who exemplify our 3 C's: Character, Collaboration, and Commitment to Learning. This past month we recognized 38 students for this honor: 

  

Sherya Aurora  Max Gerber  Audrey Koren Luis Rosas 
Sara Bautisita Lauren Hall Claire Lange-McPherson Jemma Schroder 
Hannah Bogomilsky Jessica Hazard Barrett Long  Nayna Siddarth 
Lynn Butzlaff  Jayla Hill Ella Missan Bradley Stillman 
Parker Callender Marit Hoyem Lijasha Mitchell  Ethan Stoneham 
Daniel Cazares Max Huber  Tevita Moimoi Alexa Thomases 
Erin Cole Keyon JonesArtyom Muradyan Abigail Tudor  
Michael Collins Hayley KarpJack Ocken Estraya Zamora 
Emma Cookson Max KaufmanGrace Orlando  
Omari Debre Hannah Kopisch Alex Roginski  

  

Congratulations to theses students for exemplifying one or more of Hillview's 3 C's. 
 
Hillview Student In the News

 

Hillview 8th grader Roshan Chandna was interviewed by the San Jose Mercury News regarding his recent participation in a competition held last month on Piggybackr, a fundraising platform for teams to raise money for a company serving a good cause.  


This past summer, Roshan attended an entrepreneurial camp at Stanford, where he met the other students he worked with for the competition.
 
Instead of just getting donations and funding a good cause, Roshan and his team decided to come up with an idea that would be sustainable. Using the skills they learned over the summer, they devised a business plan for a non-profit company and were interviewed at the Microsoft offices. Their final presentation for JewelRead, a company that sells jewelry and uses the profits to buy books, won first place.
 
Roshan is one of the many examples of outstanding students at Hillview who make us proud to be
HAWKS! Go online to read the article.

 

Pizza Fundraiser

 

Hungry for pizza? Salad? Delicious Italian meals?

 

Join the Hillview family and help raise money for the graduation party at one meal. Please print out and bring the flier to Amici's East Coast Pizzeria in downtown Menlo Park on Monday, October 28 and earn money for the graduation party committee. The flier can be used from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. for dining-in or take-out. Sorry, delivered meals are not part of the fundraiser.


Thank you for your support. 

 
Magazine Drive

 

Hillview's student-led Magazine Drive is half-way done. Thank you to those who have already participated. If you haven't had a chance to participate in this drive which raises money for Student Council (a.k.a. "ASB") activities, it's not too late. With your help, 40 - 50 percent of every dollar spent will stay with our school.
 
For those families who do not wish to order magazines, you can support ASB with a $20 donation. For every $20 in donations collected, that student will earn credit for one order sale. For example, if a student collects $60 in donations instead of magazine orders, that student will earn credit for three orders. We provide this option for families who would prefer to support ASB's effort to fundraise without having to make a purchase.
 
The profits earned will go towards ASB-sponsored projects that benefit every Hillview student including: spirit weeks, color competitions and prizes, Hawkaplooza, the Block H program, the Student Center, motivational speakers, dances and much more!
 
Student participation is totally voluntary, but students can earn great prizes and have a ton of fun supporting their school. Parents can, if they wish, support us by ordering magazines for home or as gifts and share the ordering opportunity with friends and family.

 

Hillview's magazine drives runs Tuesday, October 22 - Tuesday, November 5.

 

Get started at gaschoolstore.com. Use Hillview's Online ID #: 2642593.

 

Planned Absences

 

We want to remind parents about our communication protocol for planned absences. If you know in advance that your child will miss a day of school, emailing our attendance clerk Linda Pebet or calling her at (650) 326-4341 ext 2001, ahead of time is very helpful.
 
Please don't leave your child's teachers out of the communications loop. One email to all your child's teachers will help them help you. Missing a day of school results, among other things, in students missing instruction, assessments, collaborative projects and critical research.
 
If you alert teachers ahead of time, they can help your child plan around the absence so that the re-entry is smooth. Sometimes this will involve getting the students what they need ahead of time. Thanks in advance for helping us help you! 
 
Rider's Digest

 

Need a Ride When It Rains?
The drop-off and pick-up traffic jam at school intensifies when rain hits. Before the rains start, get your child to take the SamTrans bus. Riding the bus keeps you and your child out of the long drop-off and pick-up lines, making your family's day less stressful. For more information, visit the district website.
  
Don't Rule Out Walking or Biking When It Rains 
Kids in wet climates walk and bike in rain or shine. Here is how: Seattle Biking in the Rain Advice and SF Gate Rain Bike Advice and Commuting By Bike in the Rain Advice. Safety vests for visibility are essential. Please stop by the office to pick up free safety vests in adult and child sizes, no matter what the weather. 
 
Neighborly Request

 

We've received feedback from our neighbors that we wanted to pass along to you in order to get your cooperation. Our bus cut-outs on Santa Cruz Avenue are reserved for buses, maintenance vehicles and emergency vehicles.
 
When dropping off your student before school, please do not use the bus cut-outs as a drop-off point. Instead, use the main entrance or pull over in a parking area on any street surrounding the campus. Also, when dropping off or picking up in the surrounding neighborhood, please do not block our neighbors' driveways. 
 
Hillview on Twitter and Facebook

 

Hillview leads and you can follow! Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. We've created two new official pages for our Hillview Middle School families. Join us today! Just click the buttons below.
 
  twitterButton                                 facebookButton
 
Pet Cages Needed

 

The brand-new school garden at Hillview is in need of some small animal pet cages. The environmental science class will be planting some oaks that will be replanted along San Francisquito Creek, as part of the habitat restoration project.
 
We're going to use the cages to protect the seedlings from squirrels. If you have any small animal pet cages that you are ready to part with, please email science teacher Julie Hilborn. 
 
Parent Volunteers Needed

 

We still need three or four volunteers for our Second Step, Character Education program. The training is this Tuesday, October 29 at 1 p.m. for lessons to be presented on Tuesday, November 6 or Wednesday, November 7.
 
Please contact Jessica Raines to volunteer. 
 
Lockdown Drill

 

This past Wednesday, October 23, we practiced another one of our emergency procedures, a lockdown drill. Students and staff did an outstanding job of securing their classrooms and practicing our procedure seriously.  
 
Talent Search

 

The Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth identifies and develops the talents of the most advanced K-12 learners worldwide through academic summer programs, online courses and awards.

 

To be eligible to participate, students must have scored at or above 95 percent on standardized tests such as the Language Arts or Math sections of the California Standards Test (CST) or have been identified as GATE or gifted in school.

 

To learn more, attend the information night on Tuesday, November 12 at 7 p.m. in St. Simon Parish School Church, 1840 Grand Rd., Los Altos, CA 94024 or visit the website or contact Cassidy Zimmerman (CTY Talent Coordinator) or call (310) 743-6980.

 

At Hillview, contact Counselor Robin Watts for more info.
 
8th Grade Info

  

The Sequoia Union High School District Open Enrollment period is now open and will continue through January 17, 2014 at 4 p.m. Late applications for student transfers will not be honored. Open Enrollment applications and letters to the parents were mailed to parents in early October to the addresses of your 8th graders provided to our district IT department by you. 

 

This year, the fastest and most efficient way to file an Open Enrollment Student Transfer application is online at seq.org.


If you have any questions, please feel free to email Cynthia Guerra or call (650) 369-1411 ext. 2211.     

 

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For students interested in going to Menlo-Atherton High School: 

  • "Special" Saturday Campus ToursMark your calendar for Saturday, November 2. Middle school students and their parents are invited to an informal outdoor walking tour of our campus. Tours will be led by M-A Leadership students who will share their enthusiasm for the school and answer questions. Meet at the library. Tours run from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. The last tour departs at 11:45 a.m.
  • 8th Grade Information NightCome learn more about our academic program offerings and graduation requirements on Wednesday, November 6. Our Information Night includes a Principal's welcome, small-group tours led by students and PTA parent volunteers, and presentations by M-A teachers from core subject areas. Prospective students and parents are welcome. The program begins at 6 p.m. 

  

Parent Education

  

Free-Range Kids

How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children

with Lenore Skenzay

Sunday, November 3

6:30 p.m., Hillview PAC


Lenore Skenazy is "America's Worst Mom." (Google it!) The New York City columnist-turned-reality TV show host got that title after letting her nine-year-old son take the subway alone. In response to the enormous media blowback, she founded the book and blog, Free-Range Kids, which launched the anti-helicopter parenting movement. She's a graduate of Yale and lives in NYC with her husband and two sons.

 

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Part 2: Raising Teens

without Losing Your Mind

Hillview Principal Erik Burmeister

Wednesday, November 6

6:30 p.m., Hillview PAC

 

From mood swings, to puberty, to the complex life changes that are a result of growing up in the 21st century, raising a healthy and responsible teenager is a task that can boggle the mind of even the most seasoned caregivers. Join Hillview Principal, Erik Burmeister, as he discusses the difference between how girls and boys react to their changing physical and emotional environments, the way in which our daily routines can affect how our kids grow and perform in and out of the classroom, and the boundaries and limits we can expect to have challenged as our kids strive to become more independent. Free child care is available on site.

  

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Under Pressure: Helping Your Teen Find Balance, 
Reduce Stress, and Build Resilience
with Lisa Medoff, Ph.D., Stanford University
Thursday, November 21
7 - 8:30 p.m.
M-A Performing Arts Center
 
In this presentation, Dr. Medoff will describe the cognitive and social-emotional developmental changes of adolescence and discuss ways that parents can communicate effectively with their teenagers during this time of rapid change. She will also discuss how parents can help their children develop communication and coping skills to reduce stress and build resilience.  
 
Lisa Medoff is a developmental psychologist who specializes in adolescent mental health. She teaches courses on adolescent development in the Program in Human Biology at Stanford University, where she is an Associate Dean of Residential Education.
 
This event is free but registration is required.

Sponsored by the M-A PTA and the Sequoia Healthcare District. Refreshments from 6:30 - 7 p.m. in the PAC Foyer. Simultaneous Spanish interpretation will be offered.
  
For more information, please contact Charlene Margot, Parent Education Series Program Director or call (650) 868-0590.

  

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Project Cornerstone's
Take It Personally Class - Winter Session
Tuesday, January 7 - Tuesday, February 11
7 - 8:30 p.m., Hillview PAC

Building developmental assets in our children might be some of the most important work we do as parents. How can we help our kids thrive? This six-week parent study group will discuss how to reach that goal. RSVP to Robin Soran. For more information, visit the Parent Ed website. 

 


Physical Education

 

  • Intramural volleyball will continue this week in the gym during lunch on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. 
  • Tournament play will be offered during PE classes for next few weeks.
  • Students in 6th Grade will perform Michael Jackson's Thriller dance this week on Halloween during PE classes.

Questions regarding Phys Ed should be drected to Mr. BellMr. Eaton, Mrs. Gee or Ms. SalemPhone:  326-4341 ext 2601 Bell, 2602 Eaton, 2603 Gee, 2604 Salem

 

  

After School Sports

  

Burgess League Volleyball: Games continue this week. Students in 7th and 8th grade play Monday, October 25, 6th graders play Tuesday, October 26. All league schedules can be found at teamsideline.com/menlopark

  

Flag football: Games and practices continue this week. The schedule can be found on the Hillview website under After School Sports. This season's program will end next week on Friday, November 8.

  

Fencing: There will be no fencing this week as there is no school for students on Friday, November 1. Fencing will begin again Friday, November 8. We ask students to wait outside the fitness room on fencing days until coaches arrive. Fencing takes place in the Hillview Fitness room next to gym from 3:15 - 4:15 p.m.

  

Tournament Team VolleyballWe congratulate and thank the efforts of the girls volleyball tournament team. Coach Anthony and the girls represented Hillview extremely well. We also thank Kathy Martella and Kelly Otis for being team coordinators.

  

Tournament Team BasketballTeams have been selected. Practice continues this week. The boys will play in their first competition this Saturday, November 2 at Menlo School in a jamboree.

 

After School Basketball: After School Basketball registration for all three grade levels are available online at sportability.com/hillview. Students in 6th and 7th grade play in Burgess League at Arrillaga Gym. Students in 8th grade play on Mondays in the MPMSL (Mid Peninsula Middle School League) which is very similar to Burgess League Program. We appreciate those parents who would be willing to sign up and coach. Our program can not survive without volunteer coaches. The deadline for registration is this Friday, November 1. If you plan on signing up, please do so immediately. The sooner we know how many teams and players we have, the better prepared we can be.

 

After School Sports questions should be directed to Mr. Bell at 326-4341 ext 2601. 

 

  

Community News 

 

Classroom Volunteers Needed in East Palo Alto. Parents needed to assist teachers with tutoring and individualized instruction in a K-4 classroom. Time commitment is one hour per week. No experience needed. Basic training and coordinating placement and scheduling will be provided. To learn more, visit www.allstudentsmatter.org or contact Carolyn Blatman

 

Clothing Drive for RWC Fire Victims. Wednesday, October 23 - Wednesday, October 30. Sequoia Realty, 135 Franklin St., Redwood City. The St. Francis Center is collecting clothing and bedding for families impacted by the recent fire in Redwood City. All sizes of clothing for adults and children are needed. Drop off donations at Sequoia Realty. For more information, contact Kristin at (650) 365-7829.

 


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Missed an exciting edition of the Hillview newsletter or letters from the school or PTO? Look up past emailings on our online archive.

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To submit an announcement for a Hillview event, please email your announcement to [email protected]. Editors reserve the right to edit all announcements. The submission deadline is Thursday at noon for the following Sunday newsletter.

To submit an announcement for an off-campus community event, please email your announcement to [email protected]. The submission deadline is Wednesday at noon for the following Sunday newsletter.