Hillside Happenings

What a wonderful and busy time it has been! We are so grateful for your amazing support as we head toward the end of the month. We wanted to share some quick highlights and important updates:

Our Canned Food Drive is making great progress, but we still need your help to reach our goal of 2,000 cans! Please send in any non-perishable items you can spare to help us serve our community.

We owe a huge THANK YOU to the wonderful PTA for providing our teachers with delicious meals during Parent-Teacher Conferences, and a huge thank you to all the parents who took the time to come in and meet with staff. Your partnership truly makes a difference!

On a celebratory note, a massive CONGRATULATIONS to our Girls on the Run team, who will be running their 5K this Sunday on Belle Isle—go team! You can also support our school by joining us for Restaurant Night next Tuesday, November 18th at The Rolling Stoves (flyer and details are in this newsletter) for a fun family meal.

Finally, just a few quick reminders: our cafeteria project is almost done and will be fully complete on Monday. Please also mark your calendars: Career Week is approaching (check the schedule below and encourage your child to participate), and picture retakes are scheduled for next Wednesday, November 19th.

Thank you again for being such a supportive part of the Hillside Family!

Have a wonderful weekend,

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:

November 10th - Scholastic Book Fair Begins

November 11th - Parent-Teacher Conferences

November 12th - Bonaventure Skate Night

November 13th - Parent - Teacher Conferences

November 19th - Picture Retakes

November 20th - PTA Meeting (Virtual)

November 26th - 28th - No School (Thanksgiving Recess)

December 1st - Book Blast Begins

December 2nd - 1st Grade Library Field Trip

December 2nd - Lunch & Learn w/ Dr. Coffin

December 9th - Leader in Me Book Event w/ Muriel Summers

December 11th - Bonaventure Skate Night

December 12th - 3rd Grade Capital Field Trip

December 16th - 1st Grade Safari

December 19th - Spelling Bee Lists Sent Home

December 19th - Winter Break Begins at the end of the school day!

January 5th - School Reconvenes

January 6th - Dentists R Us Returns

January 14th - PTA Meeting (Virtual)

January 16th - Half Day of School

January 19th - No School - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

January 21st - Bonaventure Night

January 30th - Movie Night

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

Congratulations to Hillside for winning the DreamBox trophy for the month of October. Hillside students completed an average of 6.5 lessons/week. Mrs. Abbate’s class had the highest usage at Hillside with 12.4 lessons/week. 🎉🎉🎉

Shoutout to Mrs. Potocki, Mrs. Bongero and Mrs. Burzynski for averaging over 10 lessons per week for October. Go Hillside!!

Help us celebrate the educators who make Farmington Public Schools a place where Success Starts Here! Use this form to nominate an FPS teacher who exemplifies excellence in instruction, builds strong relationships with students and families, and goes above and beyond for our school community. Students, families, colleagues, and community partners are all welcome to submit nominations.

Support Hillside while you shop at Kroger & Busch’s

Kroger Community Rewards

Busch's Cash for Education : Busch’s must be updated yearly

Farmington Public Schools (FPS) is partnering with Varsity Tutors for Schools to provide students with free access to additional learning tools through the Varsity Tutors for Schools Platform.

Varsity Tutors for Schools offers a wide variety of tools including:

• 24/7 On-demand chat tutoring
• On-demand essay review
• Live academic and enrichment classes
• SAT and ACT test preparation classes
• Celebrity-led Starcourse classes
• Self-study resources
• College and career readiness resources
• Adaptive assessments and personalized learning plans
• Prerecorded enchantment classes and videos

Students can access the free resources only by logging in through Clever at Clever.com.

Once students login to their Clever account, they can access tools by clicking on the Varsity Tutors application. From here, students can explore the learning lab and discover all of the features the platform has to offer.

To learn more about the Varsity Tutors partnership, visit www.clever.com.

To learn more about Farmington Public Schools, visit www.farmington.k12.mi.us.

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

We are so proud of you!! Congratulations:

John

Marie

Legacy

Thank you Mrs. Mishanec & Mrs. LaCroix

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 - Nov. 6th/20th). 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.

The Community Support Services department has a limited number of coats available for students in need. These are available on a first-come come-first first-served basis. You can come to our building, located at 32789 West Ten Mile Rd during the following times:

Nov. 7: 8-4

Nov. 10: 9-6

Nov. 11 - 14: 8-4

Please see the CSS Website for many other resources.

River will be joining the Hillside Staff very soon! Please consider donating to help with supplies.

As we begin to transition from summer to fall, don't forget to bring your items to our bin. Donate your old clothes, shoes, & linens. Donated items are recycled, and our school receives a donation. The bin is located on the west side of the parking lot. 

What is Clothes Bin?

Clothes Bin® is a textile recycling program that partners with schools to turn unwanted clothing, shoes, and textiles into funding for student needs. Our bright green bins are conveniently located on campus and equipped with smart technology to ensure timely service. Every bag you drop off reduces waste in landfills and, more importantly, provides direct funding for programs, resources, and activities that benefit our students all year long.

How You Can Help

• By dropping gently used clothing, shoes, and textiles in the Clothes Bin® on campus,

you keep items out of landfills and give them a second life.

• Every bag of textiles you bring in generates real funding for our school’s programs, classrooms, and

activities.

How Our School Benefits

• Enrichment programs

• Classroom resources

• Student activities and events

The Clothes Bin Program focuses on textiles only — toys, books, and household items can be

recycled or donated through other local programs.

Email: torrie.maas@fpsk12.net

Website: www.farmington.k12.mi.us/hil
Location: 36801 11 Mile Road, Farmington Hills, MI, USA
Phone: (248)489-3773
Facebook: Facebook.com/HillsideFPS

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hillsidefp