Stallion Statement

We have had an amazing first month of school! The Stallions have been busy learning and practicing routines, building relationships, completing beginning of year assessments and practicing all our emergency drills. Lessons on expectations for each area in the school were taught, including assembly expectations for our first STOMP of the year. Please read below to learn about all the Highland Happenings in October!

10/5-10/6: Fire Prevention with Lower Allen Fire Department

10/5: PTO Meeting at 6:30 P.M. in library

10/7: Book Fair from 4:00-7:00 P.M.

10/8: Book Fair 4:00-7:00 P.M. and PTO Fall Fest 5:00-7:00 P.M.

10/9: Remote Learning Day

10/12: No School

10/13: Community Meetings

10/15: PTO Walk-a-thon

10/21: West Shore Unity Day (Wear Orange)

10/21: Multicultural Night from 5:30-7:00 P.M. (see information below)

10/22: Fall Picture Day

10/29: Fall Parties from 2:15-3:15 (classrooms will be opened at 2:05 for set up).

10/30: No School- Parent-Teacher Conferences

Highland Fall Festival🍁

The first-annual Highland Fall Festival is on Thursday, October 8 from 5-7 p.m. Come out for a night of fun for the whole family, including free food, games, and crafts. Bring $ for food trucks, a bake sale, and 50/50 raffle. A Harvest Trunk Trail is part of the festivities! If you are interested in hosting a trunk, please sign up here. https://tinyurl.com/trunk-trail . Bring your own pumpkin for pumpkin painting!

We are in need of donations from Highland families. Please label any items "Fall Fest" and drop them in the front office vestibule.

K-1st grade: Bottled water

2nd-3rd grade: Pre-packaged salty snacks

4th grade: Pre-packaged sweet snacks

The fall is a great time to hear all of the amazing things your child has been doing in the beginning of the year. Highland teachers are very flexible and can do conferences over the phone or on TEAMS. However, our most preferred method is in person, face-to-face. All of our teachers will be holding conferences on 10/30 and have lots of other availability during the month of November. Please make sure you reach out to your child's teacher to schedule a conference if you haven't already scheduled one!

Our Behavior Leadership team utilizes a growth-mindset approach within our learning environments in addition to a Positive Behavior Intervention System (PBIS). Our team is made up of teachers, support staff and administration to best serve our students. It is our goal to promote respectful, responsible, and safe behavior throughout the school. We do this through consistent rules and language and by recognizing these positive behaviors with our school-wide rewards. With the Stallion STARbucks, students are able to participate in classroom and cafeteria cash-outs, monthly whole-school rewards, and raffles that occur twice a year.

Highland is a recognized Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS) school. Part of our PBIS programming includes a menu of reward options for the students. Students utilize STARbucks they earn throughout the year to cash out for the prizes. Each teacher provides different options for their students. We also, as a school, offer periodic rewards to the whole student body. We call these "whole school rewards." These rewards tend to be on a bit of a grander scale, and often are very popular. To opt-in to a whole school reward, students need to cash out twenty STARbucks and have two or less office referrals throughout a designated time period. NEW THIS YEAR: Students with 0 office referrals between Whole School rewards will get a 50% discount for the Whole School Reward! Our next Whole School Reward is to preview Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at Cedar Cliff in early November!

Responsibility is an important life skill that helps children become successful learners and caring members of their community. At school, students show responsibility by completing their work, following through on commitments, being prepared for learning, making thoughtful choices, and taking ownership of their actions. As children learn to be responsible, they develop independence, confidence, and problem-solving skills. Families can support this growth by encouraging children to complete tasks, care for their belongings, and contribute to responsibilities at home. Working together, we can help students understand that being responsible means doing what is expected, even when no one is watching.

🗣️Family Conversation Starters:

• What responsibilities do you have at home and at school? Which one is the most important to you and why?

• How does being responsible help others in our family, classroom, or community?

• What is one new responsibility you would like to take on, and how can our family help you be successful?

Together, we can help our students build strong character and lifelong skills!

Please join us on October 21st for Highland's Multicultural Night, 5:30-7:00. Please RSVP using the form sent home (also attached below).

PLEASE NOTE: IN ORDER TO BE MORE ACCOMMODATING TO FAMILIES FROM A TIMING STANDPOINT, THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF PRIVATE DENTAL EXAMS AS MANDATED FOR STUDENTS IN GRADES 1, 3, AND 7 HAS BEEN EXTENDED. PLEASE SEE UPDATED GUIDANCE BELOW.

Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s),

The state of Pennsylvania requires students to receive a dental assessment three times within their school career. The Mandated Dental Program of the West Shore School District (WSSD) requires these assessments in grades one, three, and seven. These are critical periods when a child’s mouth experiences structural changes (growth, tooth loss and eruption of adult teeth). As a result, dental decay (cavities) may occur quite rapidly. It is the responsibility of the WSSD’s Health Services Department to monitor students’ dental screenings in compliance with state mandates.

If your child receives routine professional dental care, please have your child’s dentist complete the attached dental form and return it to your child’s school nurse by no later than January 31, 2027. The dental examination must have occurred after August 31, 2025 to fulfill the state requirement. If the dental form is not returned to school or if it is returned without a dentist’s signature, your child will be scheduled to have a dental screening completed at school. This screening will be completed at no cost to you.

Below is a link to an electronic version of the required dental form to be completed:

https://www.wssd.k12.pa.us/PrivateDentalReport.aspx

Thank you for your time and attention to this important matter. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this evaluation or need assistance with locating a dentist or securing dental insurance for your child, please contact your child’s school nurse, Mr. Alex Egan (aegan@wssd.k12.pa.us)

Sincerely,

WSSD Health Services Department

Highland Elementary is looking for volunteers for our Stallion Reward Cart! Students earn 'Starbucks' as a reward for being Respectful, Responsible, and Safe at Highland Elementary, and we have a wonderful way for them to "cash out" each month!

We need two volunteers (must have all clearances) a month to sign up on the Signup Genius. Please only pick TWO slots initially, until we see how many potential volunteers that we have. These volunteers will be responsible for arriving at 8:45 am and taking the cart at 9:00 am to all of the classrooms, allowing students who have 'Starbucks' to cash out on the cart.

Please use this link to sign up:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4FAFA722A6F4C16-66171186-stallion

Please remember to bring your phone into the building to scan the QR code for tardies and early dismissals. Notes should also be sent in with your student with the time of their dismissal.

This year, Highland Elementary will be hosting two Scholastic Book Fairs. This first one is coming up on Wednesday, October 7 and Thursday, October 8 (during the PTO Fall Fest). Students will preview the books during the school day with their classroom teacher but should not bring their own money. Families will have the opportunity to visit the Highland lobby and make purchases from 4:00-7:00 p.m. Cash, credit card, or Apple Pay are all acceptable methods of payment. Every purchase at the book fair earns points for Highland and our PTO. Our ultimate goal is to use those points to purchase a book vending machine for the building! We look forward to seeing you at the Fair!

Our annual Walk-aThon Piggy Wars competition runs from October 13th-October 14th.

Students are encouraged to bring in loose change or dollar bills to fill their classroom piggy banks starting October 13th.

The PRIZE: 🏆

The class that raises the most money by October 15th wins a special treat for the WHOLE class and the coveted Piggy! 🏆

Let's fill those piggy banks and support our school!

On Thursday, October 15th, all Highland students will walk the track at the West Shore Stadium for our biggest fundraiser of the year. Parents/guardians are welcome to come and cheer on and encourage the students from the stands. 100% of the money raised goes directly toward funding this year's student field trips and activities!

How to donate-

Online: Go to www.highlandelempto.org and click Donate.

Cash or Check: Send it to school in an envelope marked "Walk-a-Thon" (make checks payable to Highland PTO).

⚠️ Important: Please include the student's name and teacher's name with every donation so they get credit!

Thank you for your continued support!

Here are the times each grade level will be at West Shore Stadium for the Walk-a-Thon:

9:10-10:20: 3rd Grade

10:25-11:35: 1st Grade & AM Kindergarten

12:20-1:30: 2nd Grade

1:35-2:45: 4th Grade & PM Kindergarten

Students are encouraged to wear their grade level colors:

Kindergarten: Yellow

1st Grade: Purple

2nd Grade: Green

3rd Grade: Red

4th Grade: Blue

The Highland Elementary Spirit Wear Store is offering a free ship-to-school sale, with new items added, including galaxy T-shirts for our Planet Highland theme! Place your order now through October 31st to have delivery sent to your child's classroom. Fill in the Staff or Student’s Name along with the Classroom where appropriate. In the delivery section, select "Pick Up My Order" and then select the "School Drop Off" button. https://tinyurl.com/highland-store

Join us for the next PTO meeting the first Monday in October. Come out to learn what's going on at Highland and share your ideas. We hope to see you there!

If you have any questions please feel free to reach out via email to Principal, Mr. Scharlau kscharlau@wssd.k12.pa.us

If your student is going to be absent, don't forget to email hgabsent@wssd.k12.pa.us.

Email: HGES-Office@wssd.k12.pa.us

PTO Facebook: Highland Elementary PTO, Camp Hill, PA