Principal Newsletter

March 2017

It is almost spring! Yea! I am so excited for warmer weather and bright colors and flowers popping out of the ground.   Good things are happening at Hayden Peak. We celebrated over 700 students with our benchmark achievement party. Students are given district benchmark tests in math and reading and writing and we compared scores from benchmark 1 to benchmark 2 and students who improved more than 20% or scored 80% or higher on any of these tests were invited to our achievement party. We have just completed benchmark 3 and will soon be planning our benchmark 3 party.

Our students in Kindergarten through third grade just took the mid-year DIBELS reading/fluency test and we have seen growth in reading in our younger students as well. Reading is one of those skills where, if we can get students reading early on, their success rate in school and in the future is much brighter.

Sixth grade completed their STEM fair (formerly known as the science fair). There were fabulous experiments conducted and shown off to the community at the STEM day. Fifth and sixth grade is also using Google classroom with the chrome books and students and teachers are loving it.

We are entering end of year testing season. We will begin testing April 17 and test through May 26. Please understand that these tests are important and give the teachers and administration valuable information about teaching strategies and practices and ways to further improve instructional practices. More information will come as we get closer to the testing dates.

Finally, our school is now administering brief school climate surveys to gather input about the effectiveness of the teachers and administrators at our school. All parents, guardians, and students second grade and higher are invited to participate. These surveys are anonymous and no personal information will be collected. Reports will be made available for teachers and administrators to use in their school improvement efforts.

Here is the link for the School Climate Survey
http://bitl.ly/JSDParentSurvey

Thanks for all you do to support Hayden Peak. We love our students, parents, volunteers, faculty and staff! We have the best kids and love what is happening every day!

David Butler, Principal

Amy Adams, Assistant Principal

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Beginning February 13, 2017, and continuing through March 31, 2017, our school will be administering school climate surveys. All parents/guardians and students second grade and higher are being invited to participate.

The purpose of this survey is to gather input about school climate and the effectiveness of the teachers and administrators at our school. Responses are anonymous and no personal information will be collected. Reports will be made available for teachers and administrators to use in school improvement efforts. The survey is short, taking less than 10 minutes to complete.

The survey can be found online at http://bit.ly/JSDParentSurvey and is available in either English or Spanish. There will also be computers available at our school’s parent teacher conferences coming up on March 15th and 16th if you would like to complete the survey at that time. The survey is available in both English and Spanish.

Students will take surveys during the school day. The first page of the survey allows the respondent to opt out of the survey by clicking “I do not wish to take the survey.” If you do not want your child to take the survey, your child may opt out at the time of administration.

Thank you in advance for your participation.

Sincerely,

David Butler

January 2017

Calendar of Events

3         School Resumes

5         Boundary Change Information Meeting

7:30 p.m. Media Center

11       PTA Board Meeting 8:45 a.m.

16       Martin Luther King Jr. Day – No School

17       Grade Transmittal Day – No School

20       School Community Council Meeting 7:30 a.m.

20       Leadership Luncheon 10:45 a.m.

Principal Newsletter

January 2017

We hope you and your family are settled in after the holidays. This is the time of year when winter takes a toll on school attendance. Snow and slushy weather can keep parents from getting their children to school. So can the colds, fevers and earaches that often come with the winter months.

These absences, even if they are excused, can add up to academic trouble. If it is a snowy or rainy day but school is still open, students miss out on learning if they aren’t in class.  These absences can result in lower test scores and grades.

There’s not much we can do about the weather, but there are two key steps every family can take to help avoid absences this year.

1. Develop back up plans for getting your children to school in winter weather. That could mean checking with other families who have a car that can manage in the snow or forming a “walking school bus” to walk your children to school with other parents. If you’re stuck, call the school. We can connect you with other parents or staff members who can help.
2. Keep your children healthy.Dress them warmly for the cold weather and make sure they’ve got hats and gloves. Encourage them to wash their hands regularly, and send them to school with a bottle of hand sanitizer. If your children do get sick, talk to a doctor or the school nurse about whether they should come to school and when it is okay for them to return.

Above all, let us know how we can help. We want your children and all our students to succeed. And that means attending school every day possible.

David Butler Principal

Amy Adams, Assistant Principal

December 2016
Calendar of Events

5- Harmony Performance
2:00 for student body
6:00 p.m. for parents

6- 4 th grade to Utah Symphony
9 a.m.-11:15 a.m. Riverton H.S.

13- Kid’s Marketplace 3 rd grade
9 a.m. – 11 a.m. in the gym

14- Christmas Store on the stage
8:00-8:25 a.m. and 3:05-3:35 p.m.

15- Christmas Store on the stage
8:00-8:25 a.m. and 3:05-3:35 p.m.

16- Christmas Store on the stage
8:00-8:25 a.m. and 1:25-2:00 p.m.

16- Leadership Luncheon 10:45 a.m.

21- Early Dismissal

22 – January 2nd Winter Recess

School will resume on Tuesday, January 3rd

Principal Newsletter

December 2016

December is here! I can’t believe that it is really that time of year. 2016 seems to have flown by and we are on the steps of 2017.

We have had a great fall. The weather has been beautiful, our students have made great gains in their learning, and our teachers are bar none! We had a wonderful turn out to our parent teacher conferences, and our Veteran’s Day Assembly was fantastic. Thank you to all who supported Hayden Peak by attending conferences, thank you to our service men and women for the freedoms they allow us to have, and thank you third grade and scouts for providing a wonderful assembly.

As we transition from fall to winter, there are some important things to remember. As the weather gets colder, please remember that germs are everywhere. Please encourage your children to wash their hands often and thoroughly. One way that I have used with kids is to have them sing the alphabet song or the happy birthday song the entire time they are washing. Remind them to use soap and water and that the number one way to spread germs is through touching things.

Another thing to remember is to dress for the weather. It can get pretty cold in Utah during the winter. Coats and hats and boots and gloves provide much more comfort and warmth than hoodies and flip flops. Our students go outside for recess until the thermometer reaches 20 degrees. Please have your students dress to be outside. There is so much good that comes from fresh air, students go outside for recess as long as the weather, temperature and air quality permit.

One more reminder is that the first bell rings at 8:25, and instruction begins at 8:30. Music begins playing outside at 8:22 as a cue for students to line up to be picked up by their teacher. Please have your children to school on time every day. Every tardy, absence or check in/out is a disruption to learning. Bad attendance habits that are started in elementary school become very hard to change in later grades. Teachers begin teaching at 8:30 a.m. and students miss out on valuable instruction, even when they are only five minutes late. In October we had 413 tardies and 904 absences. That is a lot of missed instruction.

Thank you for your help and support as we work to make sure that students get the best education possible. It is a joint effort, one that we cannot do with the help of our parents. Thank you again! Have a great month, and when we come back it will be a brand new year! Can’t wait!

David Butler-Principal

Amy Adams-Assistant Principal