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In This Issue
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Block H Points
Mini-Course Volunteers
Homework Center
Math Clinic
Late Bus
Technology Corner
Hot Lunch
Volunteers Needed
After-School Programs
Music Potluck
Library and Book Club
Bookopolis Book Club
SilverHawks Activity
Sports
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Quick Links
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Questions? Email:
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Next Week
Tuesday, September 29
- Music Department Potluck, 5:00 p.m. lunch tables and PAC
Wednesday, September 30
- "Parenting in the Digital Age: My Digital TAT2," with Gloria Moskowitz-Sweet and Erica Pelavin, 6:30 p.m. Hillview PAC
- Deadline for Hillview PTO Contributions! Donate here.
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Looking Ahead
October 7
- Parent Ed Series: Design Thinking, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. PAC
October 12-15
- Conference Days: Minimum Days, dismissal at 11:45 a.m.
October 16
- No School: Staff Development Day
October 21
- Parent Ed Series: "Rise and Thrive with our Girls", 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. PAC
October 22
- General PTO Meeting: 8:30 - 10:30 a.m. PAC
October 23
- 7th / 8th Grade Dance: 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. PAC
October 30
- Halloween Parade & Costume Contest: 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Quad Stage
November 4
- Raising Teens without Losing Your Mind - Part 1: 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. PAC
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Hillview School News
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Block H Summer Hours Due September 30
Did your child earn Block H points over the summer? If so, please remind them that their Block H points are due by September 30 to Mrs. Fichou in the student center. Forms can be printed here. What are Block H points? These are points that track student involvement at school in a variety of activities as well as their service to their community. For service hours, students can self-report their volunteer work to get credit. Any hours completed over the summer are due by September 30, and any hours completed during the school year are due by the end of each trimester in which they were earned. For more information on Block H, please go here or to our student activities website. Any questions can be directed to Mr. Darmanin or Mrs. Fichou.
Mini-Course Volunteer Opportunities
The Mini-Course Planning Team is already getting ready for a fantastic mini-course week this Spring, and it will be the best yet! Whether you want to chaperone, teach a guest lesson, provide connections and/or supplies, or serve as a Logistics Volunteer (like a room parent for one specific mini-course), we want to hear from you! Please sign up to add your name to the list of mini-course volunteers and be the first to know about all the fun opportunities. If you have already signed up via the PTO website, no need to do so again - you will be getting more info soon. Thank you for your support! This program could not run without the Hillview neighborhood of parents pitching in.
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PTO News
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Help with Hot Lunch
Calling all 6th, 7th and 8th grade parents, we need you to help serve Hot Lunch! We have 25 volunteer slots to fill. Please consider signing up for a once a month position. It is less than an hour commitment and one of the best ways to connect with the students during the school day. Please email hotlunch@hillviewpto.org to sign up.
Volunteering and Staying Connected at Hillview
We would love to keep you in the loop about fun activities and rewarding volunteer opportunities at Hillview. To receive information throughout the year about the events, activities, and volunteer opportunities that interest you, please complete the online volunteer form. Filling out the form takes only a few minutes and will ensure that you hear about volunteer opportunities in the categories that you select.
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Programs & Activities
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After-School Programs
Room Assignments: After-school programs have begun; below are the room assignments. C lasses begin about 10-15 minutes after the last bell, so please report quickly to the specified location after your last class of the day. For more information, see Hillview After-School Programs. Questions? Contact Erica Galles, PTO After-School Programs Coordinator.
27th Annual Hillview Music Potluck: This year's annual Hillview Music Potluck will be Tuesday, September 29 from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at the Hillview lunch tables beside the music room. Come hear the 7/8 Concert Band and the 7/8 String Orchestra and Chorus perform, as well as some soloists and other small groups. Bring something to share and enjoy some great music and food! Please sign up to bring a food item here. Food will be served at 6:00 p.m. with music in the PAC from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. For more information, contact Susan Takayama or Suneeta Chilukuri. See you there! Book Clubs, Library, and More:
All students are now in our system. eBooks can be checked out through OverDrive on virtually any device - watch our online tutorials or bring your device to the library for help. 8th graders are invited to check out books from our new Teen section. Bring the parent permission slip once and enjoy engaging books all year.
Join the Book Clubs! Mrs. Mathenia will lead discussions on El Deafo on Thursday September 24 at lunch and Friday during OS - all students welcome! The 8th grade book club will meet Wednesday, September 20 at lunch to discuss Friends with Boys - new members welcome! Get copies of these graphic novels at the library. New Contest! Rick Riordan's new series debuts October 6 with Magnus Chase. Take a quiz at the library to see which Norse God you would be and read up on the Gods of Asgard! Books Come Alive! Dress up like a character from a book on Halloween (maybe from Magnus Chase?!) and win a prize from the library. Start planning! Bookopolis Book Club: We are excited to offer a new program to students beginning this Tuesday, September 22. Kari Riedel, an Encinal and Hillview parent, is the founder of Bookopolis, an online community for young readers. She began offering a Bookopolis Book Club at Encinal and has since expanded it to include Oak Knoll and now Hillview. The Encinal students who participated in the program last year asked Kari to offer a Bookopolis Book Club at Hillview. The goal of the Bookopolis Book Club is to ignite and nurture a lifelong love of reading in all students, whether they are voracious or reluctant readers. Using group discussions, tinkering projects, games, and a supportive atmosphere, they make reading fun, relatable to real life, and help students sharpen comprehension and analysis skills. For all the details, click here or to register online, click here.
Silver Hawks Service Team: Call to Action! On Thursday, September 24, the Service Team is organizing a paper grocery bag drive, benefitting Second Harvest Food Bank. The bags are used to deliver food to seniors for their Brown Bag program. Please bring your brown paper bags to school on September 28, there will be students available to collect them during drop-off. Bags can also be delivered before September 24, in room C12. Thank you in advance for your participation. Questions? Email us.
Hillview Sports
Intramural Sports: Intramural sports continue this week with volleyball/badminton, meeting Tuesdays and indoor hockey/soccer on Thursdays in the gym during lunch time. All students are invited, but there is a limit of participants for each activity.
Flag Football: Practice will continue this week. All three teams practice, 3:30 - 5:00 p.m., both Tuesday and Thursday. Players must have a mouthpiece to participate in practice and play in games. First games of the season this week are Blue vs Gold on the Hillview field. 8th graders will play away at a school TBD. All these games are Friday, September 25.
Basketball Tournament Team for 8th Graders: Stay tuned for further announcements. Registration will begin in early October. Tryouts will be held the week of October 12. Volunteer workouts may begin before the tryouts.
Boys Volleyball: The Menlo Park Recreation Department has started a new boys volleyball program. This program will be open to all 4th - 8th grade boys in Menlo Park and outlying areas similar to their current Burgess League girls volleyball and basketball programs. To create interest in a Spring League, Burgess has offered the use of the Arrillaga gym this Fall for a boys only clinic. Registration is now open. The program begins on Wednesday, September 23, and continues on Wednesdays from 5:15 - 6:45 p.m. through October 28. The coach is Felipe Gonzalez. This program may be in jeopardy unless we get a few more players.
Girls Volleyball: Team placement has concluded. All players should know their team assignment and practice has now begun. League begins the week of September 28. The girls volleyball tournament team will have more matches this week: one will be at Hillview 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept 22. The other is on Thursday at La Entrada on Sept 24 p.m. Come cheer them on! Questions regarding any of these programs should be directed to Harry Bell at 650.483.4049.
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Ten Reasons to Support Your
Hillview PTO and the MPAEF
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10. Library and Librarians: To foster a love of reading that will serve our children for the rest of their lives, Ms. Piombo and Ms. Mathenia take great pride in placing the right book in every student's hands. Your donations keep our librarians on staff, the library full of books and our students full of ideas.
9. Community-Building Events: Plays, parties, and debate and spirit competitions are highly anticipated and fun events for students, staff, teachers, and families, and strengthen the bonds of the Hillview community.
8. School Communications: It's a busy life, and we help out by keeping you as informed as possible with a weekly newsletter, District directory, Hillview PTO website, and other important communications throughout the school year.
7. Classroom Supplies and Teacher Resources: A fully-stocked classroom means our appreciative teachers and staff can stay focused on their top priority: their students; our children.
6. Field Trips, Assemblies, and Lunchtime Programs: Seeing exotic animals up close or listening to an author read from his or her newest book broadens our students' horizons. Providing sports supervision and teacher-directed clubs at lunchtime allow kids to explore new activities during their free time.
5. Arts: Electives instructors Mr. Bratt (Industrial Arts), Mr. Darmanin (Broadcast & Leadership), Mr. Hairston (Drama), Ms. Kogan (Art), and Mr. Vaughan (Music), will attest that when you support the arts, our students can express themselves on the stage, in mixed media, or through the strings of a violin.
4. Science: Elective science teacher Ms. Hilborn (Environmental Science) helps our 6th grade students discover increase their understanding of how the earth works and how humans are connected to it. With your donation, you can be the spark of something amazing and keep science flowing.
3. Innovative Electives and Mini-Courses: Hillview is proud to offer many exciting electives, like Video Production, Industrial Arts, Improv, Speech and Debate, 3D Art, Guitar, Robotics, Coding, and Maker Space to name just a few. On top of that, Hillview students get to spend a week each year immersed in an area of interest during Mini-Course week. With your support, your child can take a Hero's Journey, experience life as a medical professional, delve into design thinking, have fun with physics, take an ocean odyssey, or change the world one person at a time with a video documentary.
2. Wellness and Technology Guidance: On-site counselors and technology specialists are here to support the emotional well being of our students as well as coach them on how to be technologically responsible and safe. Your donation helps us support the whole child, inside and out.
1. More Teachers and Their Professional Development: Having more teachers and supporting them with the latest educational research and best practices means we keep our class sizes small and teachers who can foster deeper and more effective relationships with students.
Imagine your child's day without these people, programs, supplies, and events. It just wouldn't be Hillview! All of this exists because of your support of the PTO and the MPAEF.
PTO donations are due by September 30. Please make your gift or pledge to the MPAEF by November 6. You can also reach out to your PTO Membership Team, Tracy Watt and Kathy Motemedi, and MPAEF school ambassadors Laura Paul and Elizabeth Lorenz with any questions. Click here to support these organizations today. Thank you for your support!
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Parent Education
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M-A / Woodside Parent Workshop: "Helping Young Athletes Reach their Potential"
Thursday, October 1, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m., Woodside High School, Multi-Use Room (MUR). How can parents support their children toward healthy participation in sports to encourage a lifelong healthy lifestyle and to reach their potential? The balance between sports, academics, and downtime can be challenging-come learn how best to prepare your young athlete for the future. In this workshop, Steve Smith, PhD, psychologist and professor of clinical psychology in the PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium of Palo Alto University, will review current research and provide guidelines for parents and coaches to consider for healthy sport participation. Parents, students, faculty/staff, and community members welcome! Free admission. Register here.
Spanish interpretation will be available. Woodside Parent Education Series events are sponsored by the Woodside PTSA, the Sequoia Healthcare District, and the Sequoia Union High School District. Questions? Contact Charlene Margot, M.A., Founding Director, The Parent Education Series, at cmargot@csmconsulting.net, or (650) 868-0590.
"Safety First: A Reality-Based Approach to Teens and Drugs"
Thursday, October 8, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m., M-A Performing Arts Center (PAC) Cafe. Just say no or say nothing at all? This is the question that many parents face with regard to drug use in their teens-whether alcohol, marijuana, or other drugs. Most drug education programs are aimed solely at preventing drug use. After instructions to abstain, the lesson ends. No information is provided about how to avoid problems or prevent abuse for those teens who do experiment. How can you help your kids stay safe?
Join us for an interactive workshop with Marsha Rosenbaum, PhD, founder of the Safety First drug education project at the Drug Policy Alliance and author of Safety First: A Reality-Based Approach to Teens and Drugs. Dr. Rosenbaum earned her doctorate in medical sociology at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF). She is the author of numerous scholarly articles about drug use, drug treatment, and drug policy. Her opinion pieces have appeared in USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, and San Jose Mercury News. In addition, Dr. Rosenbaum is a proud graduate of Menlo-Atherton High School.
Spanish translation will be available. M-A Parent Education Series events are free, sponsored by the M-A PTA, the Sequoia Healthcare District, and the Sequoia Union High School District. This event is open to parents, students, faculty/staff, and community members. Register here. Questions? Contact Charlene Margot, M.A., details above.
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Menlo-Atherton High School News
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Be a facilitator at M-A's Challenge Day - Be the Change!
Join us one day - Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, October 26, 27, or 28 - for this memorable workshop that helps freshmen break down barriers and create new levels of empathy and respect. This is one of the most meaningful volunteer opportunities at M-A and a great way for parents to gain insight into M-A. Facilitators lead students through games, activities and trust-building exercises and are guided by a professional, trained Challenge Day leader. The time frame is from 8:15 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. To volunteer, email Hillview and M-A mom Julie Quinla at challengeday@mabearspta.org. Please put "Challenge Day Volunteer" in the subject line. Thank you for making a difference in the lives of our students!
Menlo-Atherton High School announces several ways to get to know the school:
Shadowing Program: This program enables 8th grade students to experience a typical day at the school, by pairing them with 9th grade hosts. The program runs from October through February. Shadowing is very popular and appointments fill up fast, so sign up early to reserve your spot. Click here for full program details and frequently asked questions. 8th Grade Information Night: Come learn more about our academic program offerings and graduation requirements on Wednesday, October 21, 2015. 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 runs from 6:00 - 8:30 p.m. Meet at Ayers Gym. No reservation is necessary. Special Saturday Campus Tour: On Saturday, October 24, middle school students and their parents are invited to an informal outdoor walking tour of the campus. Tours will be lead by M-A Leadership students who will share their enthusiasm for the school and answer questions. Meet at the library. Tours run from 10:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m., and the last tour departs at 11:15 a.m. No sign-up is necessary. For more information in English and Spanish, click here.
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Community News
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Challenge Success Parent Education Event: September 25, 7:00 p.m. at the Stanford University, Memorial Auditorium. Join Challenge Success, an organization founded at Stanford's Graduate School of Education, for our annual public parent education event. "Sparking Creativity: Imagining Tomorrow's Schools" features Harvard educator Tony Wagner and Challenge Success Co-Founders Dr. Denise Pope and Dr. Madeline Levine. For more information and event tickets, click here.
St. Raymond Pumpkin Festival: October 9, 3:30 - 9:00 p.m.; October 10, 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. at 100 Santa Cruz Avenue. The St. Raymond Pumpkin Festival is a great family event with something for everyone... pony rides, climbing spider maze, bungee trampoline, train ride, face painting, carnival games, pumpkin sales, carnival games, food, beer garden, treats, and more!
NJB Winter Basketball: Registration is now open. Our focus is on skills-based instruction, personal growth, and positive competition for kids in grades 1-8 in Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley, Woodside, or East Palo Alto. The season runs from November through February. Deadline for early registration with reduced fees is 9/28.
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Newsletter Details
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This newsletter is published by Hillview School parent volunteers every Sunday of the school year, except for Sundays preceding a full week of vacation.
Submissions: The deadline to submit for the Sunday Hillview Newsletter is Wednesday at noon. Please email your submission to hvnewsletter@mpcsd.org. Please note that submissions may be edited for content and/or length. Submissions received after the deadline will be eligible for inclusion the following week. Submissions are eligible to run for up to two weeks.
To submit an announcement for an off-campus community event, please email your announcement to communitynews@mpcsd.org. The submission deadline is Wednesday at noon for the following Sunday newsletter.
Archives: Missed an exciting edition of the Hillview Newsletter or other communications from the school? Look up past issues in our online archive.
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