Perry Elementary

Welcome back Perry staff,students, and families! We are extremely hopeful for another great school year. This year took off with a bang and we can't believe it is already October! We want to send another huge Perry welcome to all of our new staff members. We are thrilled to have you all join the family.

Mrs. Bauer (Admin.Assistant) / Mrs. Berger (Principal) / Mrs. Sonday (Admin.Assistant)

The beginning of kindergarten has been exciting! We are glad to meet so many new friends and welcome them to our Perry family! We started the year by learning our school rules and how to be kind to others. In reading, we have been practicing blending words with two and three sounds as well as learning a variety of pre-writing lines that will help us when we begin writing letters. In math, we have been working on sorting, counting, and writing numbers. We will begin our first science unit in October. We look forward to watching all the students grow as learners this year! The students also had so much fun participating in our annual Fun Run. Thank you to everyone who supported our school!

Mrs. Bahner / Mrs. Emes / Mrs. Conrad

1st grade has been very busy this past month! We spent lots of time getting to know each other and learning the rules of a new classroom and teacher. The students have been hard at work starting our new reading program, CKLA. We have learned about a variety of fables and have just recently been learning about the human body and its complicated network of systems. In September, we participated in our PTO’s Boosterthon Fun Run and got to learn about what it means to be responsible, respectful, and creative.

1st grade would also like to welcome Miss Lenhart to Perry! She is a student teacher from Kutztown University who will be working with Mrs. Hummel’s class till December. Welcome Miss Lenhart!

We are excited for another fun year in 1st grade and can’t wait to see the students grow as learners this year!

Mrs. Hummel / Mrs. Parent / Mrs. Kennedy / Miss Lenhart

Second grade is off to a great start. Mr. Crimmins, Mrs. Konsavage, and Mrs. Gatley have enjoyed getting to know our new students.

In September, students learned about graphing, metric measurement, and estimation in math. Moving forward, students will be learning about place value, counting efficiently, and comparing numbers within 1,000 in preparation to add and subtract within 1,000. All three classes are looking forward to starting Mystery Science lessons in October.

CKLA letters will be sent home for each unit to keep families informed of the reading lessons that are being taught. We have enjoyed reading about fairy tales, tall tales, and Ancient Greece. We also had fun trying out some Olympic events in our Second Grade Olympics.

Second-graders should be reading every night at home. Students can read their assigned reading homework or self-selected books. The Hamburg Library is a wonderful resource for finding books to read at home.

Thank you for all the support with the PTO’s Boosterthon fundraiser. Our students had so much fun at the Fun Run and enjoyed earning the class incentives like Wacky Sock Day, Craft Day, Hat Day, Stuffed Animal Day and Rita’s.

Please remind your child to show you their take home folder each night. This is where you’ll find important information. Students should also be practicing their spelling words by reading the words as well as spelling them. These words align with our current reading curriculum. We look forward to seeing our students grow in their skills this school year.

Mrs. Gatley / Mr. Crimmins / Mrs. Konsavage

It’s hard to believe we have already been in school for just over a month! The third grade team is off to a great start, and we are excited about all the learning and growing ahead this year.

The students have been hard at work! In math class, we learned multiplication and division with units of 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10. Be sure to continue practicing skip counting at home to help strengthen these skills. In language arts, we kicked off our first unit by reading classic stories, and the students really enjoyed getting to know all the different characters. We are now beginning to explore informational texts and learning about important text features.

We would also like to take a moment to introduce and warmly welcome three new faces to our Perry third grade team:

• Mrs. Eaton has joined our third grade teaching team this year. She brings wonderful energy and fresh ideas, and we are so excited for the many contributions she will make to our classrooms.
• Miss Bollinger is our new learning support teacher. She is already busy working alongside students and teachers to provide extra support and encouragement. We are so happy to have her.
• Mrs. Katchur is part of our support staff and works closely alongside third grade teachers and students each day. Her dedication and teamwork help ensure that all students get the support they need to succeed.

In September, we also celebrated our first Positive Behavior Reward, a monthly celebration that recognizes students for making good choices. This month, students challenged each other in a Rock, Paper, Scissors Shoot contest. Congratulations to Leylianie and Autumn for taking home the win!

We are looking forward to all the exciting learning, growth, and celebrations still to come this year!

Mrs. Kelly / Mrs. Eaton / Mrs. Bittinger / Miss Bollinger

We are having a wonderful start to our year in fourth grade. We are happy to welcome Miss Nowakowski to the team. She came to Hamburg from Pottsville, where she taught fourth grade.

Students are working hard in our new reading curriculum. We have read multiple Personal Narratives and practiced writing our own. We are currently learning about the Middle Ages while reading informative texts and students are practicing writing their own informative texts using evidence.

In math, we are expanding on third grade skills with multi-digit place value and multi-digit addition and subtraction. We will be moving into multi-digit multiplication and division soon, so practicing basic multiplication facts at home is very important.

We are looking forward to a great school year!

Mr. Hartman/ Miss. Nowakowski / Mrs. Heinly

Fifth grade is off to a fantastic start! We’ve been working hard in the classroom and demonstrating our maturity/leadership in all parts of the building. Reminder that all fifth graders do get HOMEWORK on a nightly basis. Be sure to ask your child what he/she is learning about and all the fun activities happening at Perry. A huge thank you to all of the families for the donations for Boosterthon.

Mr. Rollman / Mrs. Tucker / Mr. Bohrman

Mrs. Ruhf (Library) / Miss Bryan (Art/HEP) / Mrs. Weaver (Music/Band) / Mrs. Koller (Library/Innovation) / Mr. Miller (Gym)

📚 What is Amplify CKLA?

Amplify CKLA (Core Knowledge Language Arts) is a comprehensive English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum for grades PreK–5. It combines foundational skills (like phonics) with rich content knowledge in history, science, literature, and the arts to build strong readers, writers, and thinkers.

🧠 Two Main Strands of Learning

1. Skills Strand (K–2):

• Focuses on reading, writing, phonics, spelling, and grammar.

• Explicit instruction in decoding words (phonics) and building fluency.

• Students learn to read and write independently.

2. Knowledge Strand (PreK–5):

• Builds background knowledge in subjects like history, science, geography, and literature.

• Students build vocabulary and comprehension through listening and reading complex texts.

✏️ What Students Learn (by Stage)

• PreK–K: Letters, sounds, storytelling, listening, and speaking skills.

• Grades 1–2: Phonics, spelling, reading fluency, grammar, and writing simple texts.

• Grades 3–5: Reading longer texts, analyzing literature and informational texts, and writing essays and reports.

🌍 Knowledge-Rich Topics Include:

• World and American history (e.g., Ancient Egypt, Early American Civilizations)

• Science (e.g., Human body, Astronomy, Ecology)

• Classic literature and myths (e.g., Aesop’s Fables, Greek myths)

• Foundational U.S. civics and geography

🧩 Why It Works

• Systematic phonics helps early readers decode confidently.

• Background knowledge + vocabulary improves reading comprehension.

• Builds critical thinking and writing skills from a young age.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 How Parents Can Help

• Read aloud to your child and discuss what you read.

• Practice decoding and sight words with younger children.

• Talk about the history or science topics they’re studying.

• Encourage writing at home—stories, letters, or journal entries.

Mrs. Schultz, Speech & Mrs. Hart, 4th & 5th Learning Support

Hello Everyone, and welcome back to another exciting school year! We would like to introduce the Elementary Student Assistance Program to the community, as you may not have heard about us before!

Our Elementary Student Assistance Program (or ESAP for short) is designed to help students who are experiencing academic difficulty due to mental health issues, substance use, or other barriers they may be facing. Our goal is to remove those barriers that prevent achievement, so your student can reach their full potential. Students may be referred to our program for several behaviors, including (but not limited to): withdrawing from family/friends, changes in mood, defiance of authority, aggressive actions, sudden drops in academic success/performance, recent death/deployment/incarceration of a loved one and suicidal ideation.

Our program is run by a team of teachers, administrators, counselors, nurses, and a Caron Education Alliance Specialist. Team members have received intensive training from the state to serve on the team, and all members understand and respect the importance of confidentiality. While more staff may receive training to join the team throughout the year, our current team consists of the following:

Andrea Berger- Perry Elementary School Principal

Cheryl Anderson- School Counselor

Jocelyn VanNess- School Social Worker

Tabatha Vega- Emotional/Behavioral Support

Kathy Edwards- Instructional Support

Heidi Heberle- Reading Specialist

Nicole Hart- Special Education Teacher

Della Kennedy- 1st Grade Teacher

Janis Konsavage- 2nd Grade Teacher

Lindsay Tucker, 5th Grade teacher

Dr. Shawn Gravish- Director of Operations

Kaylee Quinter- Caron Education Alliance Specialist

Our goal is to work as a team with you as the parents, and to collaborate to ensure that your student is able to receive the help they may need. While we are a team with a vast amount of experience and knowledge, we know that you as the parents are a vital part of the process. Teachers and other school staff make a large portion of the referrals; however you as the parent also have the ability to refer your student directly to us. Should you be interested, you can contact any of the ESAP team members to begin that process!

If you have any questions about ESAP or would like to know some more information, please feel free to contact your school counselor or Kaylee Quinter at kquinter@caron.org (m-f, 8am-4pm).

With all of that said, we wish all of you a safe and enjoyable school year!

Sincerely, The ESAP Team😊

Elementary school starts at 9:00 A.M and ends at 3:25 P.M

• Any student arriving after the bell rings at 9:00 is considered tardy and will need to get a pass from the office.
• Students coming in late MUST have a parent/guardian come sign them in! students cannot just be dropped off at the door.

When a student is absent, an excuse must be submitted within 3 days of the students return to school.

Procedures for submitting an excuse are:

• Electronic excuse via Sapphire account- https://hasdhawks-sapphire.k12system.com/CommunityWebPortal/_auth/index.cfm/security/login/?status=logout&response_type=silent&client_id=&state=&code_challenge=&code_challenge_method=&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fhasdhawks-sapphire.k12system.com%2FCommunityWebPortal%2F_app%2F%23%2F&scope=
• Doctor's note
• Excuse Card-Found in the office, on the hamburg website, or can be sent home with your child.
• Parent Note- A hand-written note from a parent or guardian. Only 10 days may be excused by a regular parent excuse. After 10 days, a letter will be send home stating that any further absences are REQUIRED to be excused with a doctor's note, or the day will be marked unlawful.

We are doing our best to send out reminder emails when a child has an unlawful absence, to remind parents/guardians that they must submit and excuse. If no excuse is submitted by the date posted on the email, that absence will be permanently marked as unlawful. We can no longer accept excuses that are outside of that timeframe.

Educational Absences- An educational absence form must be submitted for any family event at LEAST 5 days in advance. The link for the educational absence form is listed below. You may also grab a form from the office, or request to have one send home with your child. \

• An electronic excuse or parent note cannot be submitted in the place of an educational absence form.
• All educational absences must be pre approved.

In the past, there have been occasional situations in which families have forgotten to submit an educational absence trip form prior to their trip. Failure to submit a trip form prior to departure will result in trip days being counted a an unlawful absence.