We are looking forward to another great week of teaching and learning at Hereford Elementary! As a reminder, it is important that your scholar attend school daily when well and arrives on time. Scholars arriving after 8:00 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to be checked in. As a reminder, school is closed on Monday, February 19 for President's Day. We look forward to seeing you at 5:30 on Thursday, February 22nd for our Black History Program.

Have a Great Week!

Principal Williams

• February 19th: No School (President's Day)
  
• February 20th: Parent Advisory Committee Meeting at 1:00 p.m.
  
• February 22nd: Black Out! Wear all black
• February 22nd: Black History Program @ 5:30

Respond to Behavior…

As the learning process continues behavior errors may still occur. If your child has the ability to perform the expected behavior and continues to make behavior errors, it is appropriate to respond to the behavior.

• Respond to the behavior by re-teaching the appropriate action

• Develop age-appropriate responses

• Deal with behavior errors promptly, respectfully, and consistently

• Relate responses to the behavior errors

Examples: Joey is late getting ready for school because he is spending time playing on his iPod.

A related response: Joey’s iPod is off limits until after school. Billy does not clear his dishes after eating. A related response: bring Billy back to the table from his free time to clear his dishes.

• Disapprove of the behavior only

Non-example: You are a bad boy

Example: It is respectful when you take your dishes to the sink after eating

• Allow the child to express his/her feelings

• Thank the child for their compliance

Keys to Success…

Be calm.

Remember it’s not personal; let it go once it’s over.

Hello, Hereford families!

This is a critical year for full implementation of the Alabama Literacy Act, meaning current 3rd graders who do not meet the required score on the ACAP Reading Subtest could be retained this school year. To learn more about pathways to promotion, please join HCS for an informational meeting on one of the dates listed below.

HCS to Host Alabama Literacy Act Informational Meetings

Join HCS for a crucial session on the Alabama Literacy Act! Your attendance is vital as the enforcement of retaining 3rd graders who are not proficient in reading is now in effect. Your presence matters as we work together to ensure success!

Join us on any of the available dates for your school's feeder pattern to stay informed and support your child's literacy development.

Alabama Literacy Act Informational Meetings:

• February 12: 5:30 PM in the Jemison High Theater

• February 15: 5:30 PM in the Lee High Theater

• February 22: 5:30 PM in the Huntsville High Theater

• February 26: 5:30 PM in the Grissom High Theater

• February 29: 5:30 PM at Columbia High (location TBD)

Support Children’s Understanding of Fractions at Home with Measurement Activities

Measurement activities—such as measuring lengths, volume, and other quantities—can help children understand that fractions, like whole numbers, can be used to measure quantities, but allow for more exact measurement. Children should have many different opportunities to practice measuring! Have fun measuring at home.

As a parent, teacher and school librarian I feel strongly about the importance of reading and the value of finding a good book. I find that books are great for teaching hard topics to young children.

If you are looking for great books to share with your child, visit the public library or local bookstores. You can even find read-alouds of many books on YouTube.

Click the link below to access a list of 40 Black History books to read to your kids.

Greetings Hereford Elementary School Families,

We all know that we can get out kids to do lots of tasks or chores by turning them into games. Racing to see who can finish cleaning up their room first, who can dry the most dishes! Make it a game, and you would be amazed at how much your children can do. Why not do the same with math!

Math games can be fun and inexpensive. They are a wonderful way to get your children to enjoy working with numbers, as well as improve their number skills. Here are a few suggestions:

· Many games that we take for granted are excellent math lessons. “Go Fish” teaches counting and grouping in sets. Games that use play money teach how to make change. Board games that use dice teach addition and counting. Backgammon teaches addition, subtraction, and strategy.

· Beans, stones, or marbles can be used to play number games. Let your child develop his or her own games by sorting beans into different sizes or types, setting up the rules for a counting game, or using different types of pasta to make a picture.

· Give your children a geometry lesson by letting them create a collage of circles, squares, and triangles. Challenge them to come up with as many different shapes as they can using only triangles.

· Play store with the items in your cabinets.

· A pan of water and some jars or cups of different sizes will amuse a child for hours while teaching capacity and volume.

Until next week, remember, math is not a spectator sport. The only way to learn math is to do math!

School-Parent Compacts

School-Parent compacts are a written commitment between parents, students, and school to share responsibility for improved student achievement. Every student enrolled in a Title I funded school MUST have a signed school-parent compact on file every school year. We are still missing some School-Parent compacts. Please sign your child’s compact and return it to their teacher. If you need another compact, you can email me (ann.elkins@hsv-k12.org) and I will gladly send another home with your child. Thank you!

My Upcoming Meeting

Parent Advisory Committee Meeting (PAC)

Topic- Ideas and Suggestions for Parent Involvement

When – Tuesday, February 20, 2024 – 1:00 PM

Where - Hereford Elementary Library

Hope to see you there!

Are there any topics you would like to see a Focus Meeting on? Please feel free to give me suggestions/feedback at ann.elkins@hsv-k12.org. Thank you!

Ann Elkins

Hello Parents,

This week during our Guidance Lesson we are going to talk about “Making the No Choice”, Students will learn that sometimes the people around us may ask us to do something that isn’t a good choice. It may be something that we already know is the wrong thing, like being unkind to someone. No one likes to be treated in an unkind way or have someone hurt their feelings. Students will learn to say no to alcohol, drugs, and e-cigarettes). This is something we all understand that we shouldn’t do. You should also know that if someone asks you to choose to do other things that you know are wrong or make you feel unsafe; you should just tell them no and tell an adult or their trusted Go-To Person.

Black History Nugget: William Edward Burghardt Du Bois also known as W.E.B. Du Bois was born on February 23, 1868, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Du Bois was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. Du Bois used his position in the NAACP to respond to racist incidents. Du Bois was a prolific author. Du Bois primarily targeted racism in his polemics, which protested strongly against lynching, Jim Crow laws, and discrimination in education and employment. His cause included people of color everywhere, particularly Africans and Asians in colonies. Du Bois used his influential NAACP position to oppose a variety of racist incidents.

Upcoming Event: Your child has been practicing for our annual Black History program. Parents, Family, and Friends, you are cordially invited to our annual Black History Month Program which will be held on Thursday, February 22, 2024, starting at 5:00 PM (Student Arrival Time). Save the date. Refreshments served.

Have a great week!

J. Jewel Thorne

School Guidance Counselor

• Supervision of students begin at 7:30 each morning; therefore, students should not arrive to school before 7:30 AM.

• Students who are walkers are to follow the sidewalk leading to the crossing guard and to the front door of the school.

• Students who are walkers should not walk across the Pre-K parking lot without being supervised by parent/guardian.

• Parents who enter Pre-K parking lot (yellow arrows) to drop off Kinder-6th grade students must park and escort student(s) to front of school.

• Parents who enter faculty and staff parking lot (blue arrows) to drop off Kinder-6th grade students must park and escort student(s) to crosswalk.

• School starts promptly at 8:00 AM.

• Students arriving after 8:00 AM are tardy and must have a parent or a guardian sign them in at the main office.

Student check-out ends at 1:45-must have valid identification and listed as a contact in

PowerSchool SIS.

• All students will be dismissed at 2:30.

• Students are either a bus rider, car rider or walker.

• Parents are asked not to congregate near the front door of the school or the pick-up area. You

will be asked to clear the dismissal area- please do so.

• Parents of walkers are asked to meet your children at home or at the crosswalk.

• Parents of car riders are asked to remain in your vehicle in the car line during pick-up.

• Pre-K parking lot (yellow arrows) is reserved only for Pre-K families with Parking Permit displayed.

• WALKERS- in the event of rain, parents are asked to provide child/ren with rain gear or send a written/typed note to teacher to change dismissal to car rider for that day by 1:30 pm.

Excellence is the Expectation as we Journey to Success!

Email: kelli.eaton@hsv-k12.org
Website: https://www.huntsvillecityschools.org/schools/sonnie-hereford-elementary
Phone: 256-428-7440
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sonnieherefordelementary