Hickory Grove Elementary School
Wildcat News
January 9, 2015
A Note from Your Principal
Jessie Becker
Hello Parents/Families!
Happy New Year! I hope that you enjoyed winter break with your families! As we enter into the second half
of the school year, it is very important to keep our eyes on the end of year goals for our students. Students
will be participating in second quarter assessments throughout the first two weeks in January, and that
data will be utilized to plan for third quarter instruction. The second quarter ends on January 20th and
report cards will go home on February 3rd. We will be holding parent teacher conferences all day on
February 13th. This will be an important event for you to discuss your child’s latest achievements as well
as areas for growth for third quarter. We need your support, so please be sure to wish your child good luck
on the second quarter assessments, review the report card, and set up your conference for February 13th. In
addition, please be reminded that we have two other opportunities for you to come out to the school: January
22nd @ 6:00 is our EOG night and February 12th @ 8:45 is Muffins for Moms. See you there!
Wildcat Pride
Student Services Team
New Year, New Habits
Welcome to several new staff members:
Mrs. Royster: Pre-K Parent Advocate
Ms. Jefferson: Pre-K Teacher Assistant
Ms. Suarez: K/1 Facilitator
Ms. Smith: Kindergarten Teacher
Ms. Debelius: 1st Grade Teacher
Ms. Dyson: 3rd Grade Teacher
Box Tops for Education:
Don’t forget to save your Box Tops! Each Box Top
clipped and saved can earn ten cents for our
school. Box Tops may be turned in to the front
office or to your child’s classroom teacher.
PTO
A Step Ahead
UPCOMING EVENTS
January 16th:
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
(NO SCHOOL)
January 22nd:
EOG NIGHT (6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.)
February 3rd:
Report Cards Go Home
February 12th: Muffins with Mom
Media Center (8:45a.m. -9:30 a.m. )
Parent Involvement
OUT with the Old, IN with the New!
Our Truancy Court Curriculum is based on the book, 7 Habits of a Highly
Effective Families by Stephen Covey.
As we bring in the New Year, please consider these habits and adopt
them in your homes.
1.) Be Proactive- Being proactive means having the ability to act
based on the principles and values rather than on emotion or
circumstances.
2.) Begin with the end in Mind- Have a clear vision of where your
family is heading and what you are all about. The key is creating a
family mission statement, which are the principles and values of
your family.
3.) Put First things First- Develop ways to turn your family mission
statement into your family’s constitution. Set aside weekly family
time and one-on-one bonding time.
4.) Think “Win-Win”- Come to mutual agreements that considers
everyone’s ideas and feelings. Move from “me” to “we”. Win-Win
can be very hard to do when we are caught up in emotion and the
behavior at the moment. Remember to push your “Pause” button
between what happens and your response.
5.) Seek first to Understand- Before we seek to influence, we must
first seek to understand. We are often misunderstood in a
relationship because we interpret the same event differently. We
also often define the same words differently. Create a warm,
caring, supportive, encouraging environment is probably the most
important thing you can do for your family.
6.) Synergize- Synergy is creative teamwork and cooperation within a
family. Count on each other’s different perspectives to increase
better judgment and to make better decisions. Count on each
other’s strengths to help compensate for individual weaknesses.
7.) Sharpen the Saw- Be proactive and continue to work on it every
day. Anything that is left unattended will eventually break down
and become dysfunctional. Engage in habits that will help your
family grow.
Remember, your school is here to help.
The partnership between school, family and community impacts our
children the most.
The stronger our partnership is, the stronger our children become. We
are in this together!
January 2015 ● Volume 1, Issue 5 ● Hickory Grove Elementary ● (980) 343-6464