Hillside Happenings

Dear Hillside Families,

🌟 Habit of the Month: Habit #5 "Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood"🌟

February has flown by! Thank you for an exciting month of activities and Black History Month Celebrations! March is Reading Month and we look forward to another month full of leadership and learning! Did you know that the 26-27 School-Year Calendar is now available? Click here to download it.

As we move into the second half of the school year, we remain committed to our partnership in your child's education.

For our upcoming Spring Conferences, (March 18th), teachers will be reaching out to schedule meetings where they feel additional conversations about goals and progress would be most beneficial. If you receive an invite, we encourage you to arrive with a few specific questions based on what you’ve seen in MiStar so far. This ensures we use every minute to focus on your child’s growth.

If your child’s teachers do not schedule a conference with you and you find that you have questions about your child’s progress, please reach out directly to your child’s teachers.

Thank you for being such an integral part of our school community!

-Mrs. Maas & Mrs. Amos

School Hours for 2025-2026:

Student Hours: 8:30 A.M. – 3:30 P.M.

Half Day: 8:30 A.M. – 11:45 A.M.

Office Hours: 7:45 A.M. – 4:15 P.M.

Save the Dates:

March 2nd - 2nd Grade Field Trip

March 2nd - One School One Book Reveal

March 4th - 5th Graders Visit Middle Schools (9 am - 11 am)

March 6th - Leadership Day

March 6th - Half Day of School

March 12th - PTA Meeting at 7:00 pm

March 12th - Pizza Day at Lunch

March 16th - Spring Book Fair Begins

March 18th - Parent-Teacher Conferences

March 20th - Book Fair Ends

March 23rd - Dentist R Us Returns

March 26th - Pizza Day at Lunch

March 30 - April 3 - Spring Break

April 6th - Classes Resume

April 8th - Bonventure Skate Night

April 9th - PTA Meeting

April 13th - MSTEP Testing Begins

April 14th - Spring Picture Day

April 16th - 5th Grade Photo

May 1st - Kindergarten Orientation - No School for Current Kindergarten/Y5 Students

May 4th - 8th - Staff Appreciation Week

May 6th - Farmington Focus Business & Community Showcase

May 13th - Cultural Arts Night

May 14th - PTA Meeting

May 19th - 1st Grade Zoo Field Trip

May 19th - Kindergarten/Senior Concert

May 22nd - Half Day of School

May 25th - No School (Memorial Day)

May 28th - 5th Grade Bonaventure Night

May 29th - Color Splash Dash

The link below takes you to all published newsletters thus far.

Archive of all Newsletters

The email address: hil@fpsk12.net is not regularly monitored.

To reach someone in the office, please use the email addresses below:

Mrs. Maas - torrie.maas@fpsk12.net - Principal

Mrs. Amos - deb.amos@fpsk12.net - Assistant Principal

Ms. Pliska - emily.pliska@fpsk12.net - Secretary

Mrs. Jacobs - susan.jacobs@fpsk12.net - Office Clerk

Mrs. Huell - tanya.huell@fpsk12.net - Office Clerk

Thank you to our parent volunteer and PTA Board Member, Mrs. Shepherd, for designing our beautiful Black History Month Showcase. The showcase features student work from various classrooms.

For parents of students with IEPs - It is time to consider nominating an educator for a Golden Apple Award. The Golden Apple Award celebrates excellence in instruction, individualized support, and a deep commitment to students’ academic and social-emotional growth. The award ceremony will be on May 13 at 5 pm.

We invite you to use this form to nominate a staff member who has worked with your student during the 2025–2026 school year. In your nomination, please include a brief narrative describing how this individual has made a positive impact on you and/or your student’s educational experience, exemplifying Golden Apple Excellence. Please complete this form by Mar 30, 2026.

Please nominate only one staff member per student receiving Special Education services. If you have more than one student, please complete a separate form for each.

We look forward to celebrating the outstanding educators who make a difference every day!

Click Here to Pay Your Membership Dues

The PTA is looking for interested parents/guardians for our 2026-27 Executive Board. This is a great way to stay involved and make a difference! Seeking candidates for:

President (2 - year term) – Oversees and directs PTA, local & state liaisons, represents the PTA at meetings/events, Hillside Happenings, Bylaws Updates. The outgoing president is happy to mentor for this role!
Vice President of Academics (1 - year term) – Spelling Bee, Reflections, Robotics/Lego League.
Vice President of Fundraising (1- year term) – Mum Sale, Book Fair, Restaurant Night, Fun Run (fundraising coordination), Bonaventure Nights, & Movie Nights

A slate of nominees needs to be presented at the April 9th PTA meeting for elections to take place at the May meeting. If interested in being on the board, please fill out this form by April 3rd. If curious in learning more about the open positions, please contact Kristen Buring (HillsideHuskyPTA@gmail.com).

If you are interested in helping plan, organize, or support Cultural Arts Night, please complete this form. No prior experience is required — just a willingness to collaborate and contribute ideas!

Save the Date! Cultural Arts Night is on Wednesday, May 13th, from 5:30-7:30. This is an event designed to celebrate the diverse cultures, talents, and traditions within our school community.

Do you know a Hillside staff member, parent, or community member who goes above and beyond for Hillside Elementary? If you know someone who has shown dedication and service on behalf of our Hillside students, please consider filling out this quick form to nominate them for the Distinguished Service Award. All Farmington Area PTA’s submit 1-2 names to receive this award every year at the Founders' Day Celebration held every spring. Submissions must be received by Friday, February 27th.

We hope you’ll join us Sunday, March 1st for our first Hillside Community Meetup event!

The Spring Book Fair is coming March 16-20th. The Book Fair is 100% parent run and we need your help to make it a success - please sign up here! As a thank you, volunteers can select one book [up to a $10 value] at the end of their shift.

Staff Appreciation Week is May 4th-8th. We are looking for volunteers to set up/prep the weekend before, help throughout the week and clean up on Friday. Please reach out to Angela if you’re interested at aguerro28@gmail.com!

Congratulations to all of our students who were recogized with Leadership Awards this week!!😁

We are so proud of you!! Congratulations:

June

Lily

Quinn

Abhinav

Aradhya

Lucy

Liana

Thank you Mrs. Dowd, Mrs. Thiele, & Mrs. Janks

for nominating these amazing students!!

We can't wait to see who's next!😍

Elementary students will have the option to purchase a second slice of pizza on Little Caesars Pizza Day (every other Thursday - March 12 & 26). The first slice is free, and the cost for an additional slice is $2.25.

Students must have sufficient funds preloaded in their cafeteria account. Deposits can be made online at https://farmington.familyportal.cloud/

Please reach out to Nutrition Services at 248.489.3717 if you have any questions.