Welcome to the 2023-24 school year! The staff at Mill Hall Elementary has been working very hard to welcome our students on August 30th. The mission of Mill Hall Elementary is to ensure a safe, child-centered learning community where students will meet high expectations guided by staff, family, and community. We look forward to our partnership with you in growing our students!

Our Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) focuses on building a positive learning environment. The school-wide expectations are to "Be Present so that you can Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Kind." When students are recognized for demonstrating these expectations, they have the opportunity to earn PBIS points. These points can be redeemed at our WOW-Mart where we have lots of fun items and coupons for unique opportunities throughout our school. When students need to be redirected toward these expectations, they are done so positively and with opportunities for relearning the expectation.

The addition of "Be Present" was added this year by the district team in order to help our students understand the importance of being present at school, both physically and with their attention. We appreciate your support in helping our students to recognize the need for both in order to grow as students. Please see the Attendance Works website for more information on the importance of being at school.

Relationships require communication. As we work alongside you this school year, we strongly encourage you to reach out any time you have a question or a concern. We can only work to solve problems when we know about them. You do not need to wait until the scheduled parent/teacher conference days to request a conference. Reach out at any time.

Again, we are looking forward to a fabulous school year as a Mill Hall Elementary community and are thankful for the opportunity to be a part of your child(ren)'s life!

Kindly,

Dr. Breon

Arrival:

• The first day of school for all students will be Wednesday, August 30st.
• Student drop off will begin at 7:20 am. Please do not drop students off earlier, as there will not be any supervision available until 7:20.
• The tardy bell will be at 7:55 am. Any student arriving after 7:55 will need to report to the office with an adult to get a tardy slip.
• Those bringing students to school by car should drive to the parking area on the inside loop in front of the school, leaving the lane closest to the school for buses.
• An adult will be available to help students safely cross the bus loop to the school.
• If you will not be able to quickly drop your child off, please pull into a parking space to assist with the flow of traffic.
• Free breakfast items will be served in the cafeteria from 7:20-7:55.

Lunch:

• KCSD has been approved by the National School Lunch Program for the '23-'24 school year. All students will receive school breakfast and lunch at no cost to the family.
• A la carte items will be available for purchase for students who have funds in their accounts. Directions for adding funds will be forthcoming from the Nutrition Department.

Dismissal:

• Bus students will be dismissed beginning at 2:30.
• Those picking students up by car should park in a space in the parking lot, leaving the lot free for traffic flow and the bus loop open for the buses.
• Once all buses have left the bus loop, those being picked up will be dismissed.
• Please be sure that your child's teacher knows how your child will be going home each day. Any changes from these plans should be reported to the office before noon on the day of the change. Please do not message your child's teacher, as they are teaching and may not get your message.

School Counselor: Mrs. Bridget Smith

Kindergarten: Mrs. JoBeth Carnahan

First Grade: Ms. Tiffaney Jarrett

Third Grade: Miss Michaela Geyer

Music: Miss Emma Criswell

Cafeteria: Mrs. Angela Phillips

Speech & Language Therapist: Mrs. Shannon Stover

School Psychologist: Mrs. Kaileigh Crouse

Behavioral Specialist: Mrs. Carleigh Weaver

Please consider joining our Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) to help support our students and staff at Mill Hall Elementary. The first meeting will be September 20th at 6:30 in our school library.

Please be sure to sign up for Bloomz, our messaging app, so you don't miss any important information from your child's school or teachers.

Stay informed about:

• School events and activities
• Parent-teacher conferences
• Important deadlines and assignments
• Emergency alerts and school closures

All elementary schools within the district are Title I schoolwide schools and receive Title I federal funds to support the positions of Interventionist and Title I Associates. We determine how to use the funding to staff our buildings based on family input and our school data. If you are interested in becoming a part of our Title I team, please reach out to your building Interventionist or principal. Our Policy 917/918 meetings are a great place to start, because we always review our School Improvement plans and the most updated school data during those meetings.

At all school levels, we use Title IV federal funds to purchase incentives for PBIS (our positive school-wide behavior supports) rewards, and we emphasize the goal of following school rules in all schools.

Required documents for families:

Right to Request Qualifications of Teachers (see Annual Notices and Policy Review button above) - if you wish to request a paper copy, please contact rmurty@kcsd.k12.pa.us .

Note: If your child is taught for four or more weeks by a teacher who is instructing in a content area for which they are not currently certified, the district must notify you. Four-week notification letters will be added here if that becomes necessary.

Non-Discrimination Statement (see Annual Notices and Policy Review button above) - if you wish to request a paper copy, please contact rmurty@kcsd.k12.pa.us.

Title I District Parent Policy - Policy 918

Coaching Newsletter for Families - How We Teach Reading

Title I Complaint Procedure

School Improvement Plan

KCSD is making attendance a priority!

Attending school regularly is essential to students gaining the academic and social skills they need to thrive. Help Mill Hall Elementary School reach its attendance goal of 90% regular attendance rate!

Help Your Child Succeed in School: Build the Habit of Good Attendance Early!

Wildcats on the Prowl: Attendance Matters Now!

If you are concerned about a student for any reason, you can make a SAP referral. The SAP referral can potentially lead to any needed services and/or supports the student may need to be successful.

Click on the picture to make a referral!

If your family speaks a language other than English, the district has access to translators and interpreters that can accompany you in meetings with teachers and school members. If you would like to be connected with a translator or interpreter please reach out to your child’s teacher or the school guidance counselor. The accessibility features in the top right corner of this Smore allow you to translate this page.

Hello Mill Hall Families! My name is Bridget Smith, and I will be starting this year as the school counselor at Mill Hall Elementary. I grew up in a small town near Scranton, Pennsylvania. Most recently, I lived in the Altoona area and moved outside of State College last year when I got married. I graduated from California University of Pennsylvania in 2012 with a BA in Theatre and in 2015 with a M.Ed. in School Counseling. I worked at Altoona Area High School for seven years as a school counselor and am excited to start my work this year at Mill Hall Elementary! On a more personal note, I really like anything Disney related, and I have also gotten really into camping in the last few years. Please feel free to reach out to me when you discover anything that I can do to help your student or students succeed!

A counselor is someone to talk to, who will listen without judgment. A school counselor can assist in short-term counseling and if needed arrange long-term counseling and the SAP (Student Assistance Program) and Tier II support. Counselors can teach students tools to improve and cope with different situations, especially because sometimes it's hard to figure out where to start. Students may be want to see a counselor for the following reasons:

• Want to share an experience/feelings
• Feel depressed and/or lonely
• Have thoughts of self-harm
• Feel stressed and/or anxious
• Feel angry and/or frustrated
• Want to improve grade(s)
• Talk about college/careers
• Relationship/peer issues/conflicts
• Personal issues (divorce/separation, loss of a loved one, etc.)

To learn more or to schedule a meeting, please contact Mrs. Smith.

Mrs. Bridget Smith: Mill Hall Elementary School Counselor

Phone: 570-893-4900 x2969

Email: bsmith@kcsd.k12.pa.us

Keystone Central School District has School Resource Officers throughout our district for safety and security.

Officer Scott VanGorder - Central Mountain High School

Officer Cory Beaver - Bucktail High School & Renovo Elementary

Officer Luke Motter - Central Mountain Middle School

Officer Mike Fetzer - Elementary district-wide and District Attendance Officer

Officer Todd Brian - District-wide

Did you know the Keystone Central School District offers a full cyber program to students K-12?

Please use the following link to read the upcoming events and information for August and September.

https://www.smore.com/zetq3

All students in grades K-8 will be participating in our upcoming district assessments which will be administered between September 20-27th. Students in K-2 will be tested using the Acadience assessment and students in grades 3-8 will be tested using NWEA MAP assessment. These assessments are administer in the Fall, Winter and Spring and will provide you as well as their teacher valuable information on academic growth. To learn more about our assessment please click the links below.

Spring 2023 PSSA and Keystone parent reports will arrive at the district around September 15th. Letters will then be sent home to parents as soon as possible.

NWEA Family Toolkit

NWEA FAQ

About Acadience

Need to take the SAT, Click here for upcoming dates and registration

Many questions can arise concerning your child's laptop, internet access, busing information or maybe you'd like to volunteer in your child's school. These links below can help you get answers or point you in the direction of who to speak to.

Mill Hall Elementary

570-893-4900 ext. 2910

Building Secretary: Mrs. Geli Collins (gcollins@kcsd.k12.pa.us)

Principal: Dr. Amy Breon (abreon@kcsd.k12.pa.us)

https://mh.kcsd.us

Mill Hall Elementary Facebook Page