What's Happening At The Hive!

• Friday, 2/20: EARLY DISMISSAL at 11:40 am for School Improvement Planning
• Monday, 2/23: 6:00 pm Board of Education Meeting at 41 E. Elmwood Drive, Chicago Heights, IL 60411
• Tuesday, 2/24: 6:00 pm HH Black History Month Dress Rehearsal (students only) at Parker Jr. High School at 2810 School Street, Flossmoor, IL

• Wednesday, 2/25: 6:00 pm HH Black History Month Performance at Parker Jr. High School at 2810 School Street, Flossmoor, IL
• Monday, 3/2: NO SCHOOL: Casimir Pulaski Day
• Tuesday, 3/3: 6:00-7:30 pm, Incoming Kindergarten Registration at Heather Hill (And all SD161 elementary schools!)
• Wednesday, 3/4:
• Spring Picture Day at Heather Hill
• 6:00-7:00 pm SD161 Math Night at Parker Jr. High, 2810 School Street, Flossmoor

Congratulations to our students that participated in presenting at the SD161 STEAM Night! We are so proud of your hard work and accomplishments. Thank you to Ms. Dahlstrom for planning, preparing, and supporting students in getting ready to showcase their STEAM skills!

We invite all families to provide us with feedback on the 5 Essentials Survey! Please see the letter that was sent home on 2/4/26 by the Director of Learning and Instruction, Amabel Crawford. This letter explains the importance of the survey and how we use this information when building our School Improvement Plans for the coming year. Families may complete one survey per child. Please follow this link to take the survey! We are raffling off a $50 Amazon gift card for families that complete the survey! Once you take the survey, please complete the flyer so that you may be entered into the raffle. (Flyers will go home in students' backpacks.)

Please mark your calendars for our Annual HH Black History Month Performance on Wednesday, 2/25, at 6:00 pm at Parker Jr. High School. We look forward to celebrating Black Excellence! We invite everyone who ordered apparel to wear it on 2/25 during the day to school and for the performance!

Attention families of girls in grades 3-5! Are you ready to have fun, build confidence, and work toward an exciting goal? Girls on the Run kicks off this March, and we’d love for you to be part of the team! It’s more than just running—it’s about making friends, feeling strong, and discovering how amazing you are. Most information can be found in the attached flyers, including sign-up. Practices will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30-4:45 starting the week of March 2. For more information, please feel free to contact Ms. W. via email swisniewski@sd161.org!

Summer 2026 Construction Projects

The summer of 2026 will bring the 2nd year of the 3 year Long Range Construction Plan for District 161. This coming summer, Parker Junior High School will be the primary focus, with additional renovation work at Flossmoor Hills and Western Avenue Schools during the summer of 2027. At the most recent Board meeting, the Board reviewed the bid packages for the following projects:

• Parker Junior High School: HVAC Upgrades, Vestibule / Main Office / Nurse’s Office Reconfiguration, Updated Media Center, Updated Bathrooms, Classroom Lights and Furniture, Ceiling Upgrade, LED Light Installation, and Paint.

• Flossmoor Hills School: Media Center HVAC Upgrades, Building Envelope Renovation [Humidity Remediation].

• Western Avenue School: Media Center / Office HVAC Upgrades.

• Normandy Villa [District Office]: HVAC Upgrades, Ceiling Upgrades, and LED Light Installation.

CyberSecurity Upgrades

To maintain a safe and secure network environment, it is necessary to upgrade our monitoring equipment to more quickly and accurately identify digital threats, including those generated by artificial intelligence. The upgrades include disaster recovery / ransomware service, a new firewall, and a redundant Internet connection.

2026-27 School Calendar

The Board reviewed a draft of the 2026-27 school calendar. In this version, the first day of school, Winter Break, and Spring Break are all aligned with Homewood Flossmoor High School. If approved, next year’s first day of school will be Thursday, August 20th, with the last day of school falling on Friday, June 4, 2027.

We have seen an increase in unsafe driving behaviors around arrival and dismissal. We have also had complaints from HH families and community members about these concerns. Please remember the following:

1. All children need to be dropped off by pulling up to the curb on the SCHOOL side of the street. There is NO double parking. Letting students out between cars or in the street is unsafe.
2. There is NO standing, stopping, or parking on the opposite side of the street.
3. There are NO three point turns in the school zone.
4. Please do not use neighbors' driveways to turn around. Let's be good neighbors!
5. Please do not pull in front of the driveway coming into the school parking lot to drop students off. This creates a back-up on the street and blocks the lot for buses and 3rd part transportation.
6. Traffic is getting backed up on Lawrence Crescent and Mac Heath Crescent. There is no parking on the north side of Mac Heath Crescent. This bottlenecks the street.

If you are approached by a staff member and/or crossing guard to follow these rules, please understand we are doing our best for everyone's safety. Please help us keep all children, staff, and community members safe by following these rules of the road!

We want to remind everyone about our policy regarding outdoor play and safety. For the comfort and well-being of our students, children will remain inside during the following weather conditions:

1. Rain
2. Temperature below 20 degrees F
3. Wind chill of 10 degrees F or below
4. Icy conditions
5. Extremely high winds

Please make sure your child is dressed warmly with a coat, hat, gloves, and other appropriate layers to ensure they stay comfortable and safe. We also recommend dressing in layers for the classroom to manage any fluctuations in heat. We appreciate your cooperation in helping us keep all children safe and prepared for the elements.

We are working on setting reading goals and challenges! We are a community of readers at Heather Hill and we are working on getting all children excited to read and share their reading with others. Please see the attached parent letter that was sent home in an email. Help your child to log their reading minutes and work towards our school-wide goal!

The Capturing Kids Hearts character trait for month of February is Kindness--Spark the Heart.

What is Kindness?

Kindness is the ability and willingness to express care and compassion for others. Kindness is a choice to use our time, talent, and resources to better the lives of others and the world through genuine acts of love, compassion, generosity, and service.

PBIS - Cool Tool for the month of February is See You Later Alligator.

Cool Tool Description:At Heather Hill School, we follow the See You Later Alligator Cool Tool at dismissal time. Walkers and car riders exit the school. Car riders wait by your teacher on the playground until your ride gets to school.

Busers-wait for your bus to be called and for your teacher to dismiss you. When dismissed, walk in a single file line to door H. At door H we line up in a FINE BUS Line by…

• Facing Forward in either the K-2 or 3-5 line
• Inform the bus helper of your name
• Notice your Voice Level and talk softly while you wait
• Expect the bus to be ready so you are also ready

If we follow these dismissal expectations we are being respectful, responsible, and safe while leaving school.

We are working towards our goals of increasing student attendance to increase learning goals! We are working towards a goal of at least 93% attendance each week. Of course we encourage parents to keep children home if they are sick. Students should stay home for at least 24 hours after a fever subsides. Please consult a medical professional as needed for other symptoms including cough, vomiting, etc.

Click here to access our school’s virtual backpack. This page is intended to provide information on resources and activities that may be of interest to our students and families.

• Signing up for District 161’s text message alerts is quick and easy. Simply text the word “YES” to 67587 from the cell phone on which you wish to receive text messages. Please make sure that your cell phone number is up-to-date in Skyward. If you need to update your phone number, please contact the office at your child’s school. Click here for more information.

• Registrarse para recibir alertas de mensajes de texto del Distrito 161 es rápido y fácil. Simplemente envíe un mensaje de texto con la palabra "YES" al 67587 desde el teléfono celular en el que desea recibir mensajes de texto. Asegúrese de que su número de teléfono celular esté actualizado en Skyward. Si necesita actualizar su número de teléfono, comuníquese con la oficina de la escuela de su hijo. Haga clic aquí para obtener más información.

• The 30 day grace period for free and reduced lunch has expired. If parents have not either been confirmed by the state for SNAP/TANF or Medicaid status or have not completed a new free/reduced lunch application in Skyward, their lunch status may be back to paid. Complete a lunch form in Skyward to correct your status!

This school year, our students will participate in the Neptune Navigate Digital Citizenship curriculum. Each module is designed to be engaging and informative, taking 30 minutes or less to complete. Our goal is to ensure that students learn how to be safe and smart online and understand the importance of building a positive digital reputation.

January's theme is: Digital Footprint, Digital Reputation (see family letter below!)

Our Staff Recognition Program, Above and Beyond, is designed to spotlight our staff members in all that they do for our students and community. Each school and department has the opportunity to nominate a staff member who exemplifies the characteristics and professional traits that exemplify our standards of excellence. Please use this form to nominate a staff member today!

Monday - Friday

• 8:30 am - 8:40 am - Arrival (Doors will close at 8:40 am!)
• 8:40 am - 3:15 pm - Instructional Day
• 3:15 pm - Dismissal

Half day dismissal (half days on District calendar) - 11:40 am

A few friendly reminders about arrival and dismissal:

• Our parking lot is closed to personal vehicles during arrival and dismissal
• The parking lot may only be used by buses and 3rd party transportation during arrival/dismissal
• Please do not engage in 3 point turns in the school zone
• Please do no block driveways--either school driveways or homes near HH
• Do not drop off children on the opposite side of the street of the school
• All street crossings must occur at the cross-walks
• By law, there is no cell phone usage in a school zone

Let's keep everyone safe by following the rules of the road!

Flossmoor SD161 is working with a new Food Service Company! Please see the flyer on who they are and what they have to offer.

If your child will be receiving breakfast or lunch and they have any allergies, a form detailing their dietary needs must be submitted to the school nurse. It will be shared with the food service company and alternative foods will be available to meet a student’s needs. This form is available in the front office.

INTERESTED IN JOINING THE PTO?

If you would like to participate in the PTO or have any questions please email them at heatherhillhornets@gmail.com.

Also, Please click on this link https://www.facebook.com/groups/2466905720251155 to join our Heather Hill Families page.

The Flossmoor Public Library has incredible events and programs coming up for children of all ages! View the calendar and sign up for the library newsletter at https://www.flossmoorlibrary.org.

Email: chumm@sd161.org
Website: https://www.sd161.org/o/heather-hill
Location: 1439 Lawrence Crescent, Flossmoor, IL, USA
Phone: 708-647-7200
Facebook: facebook.com/gohornets161