GOLDEN HILLS SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
DECEMBER 2025
Letter from the Principal
Dear Golden Hills Families,
We hope you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving break!
Thank you to all the families who joined us for the Golden Hills Family Picnic. It was such a joy to see so many of you on campus! Photos from the event are now posted on our Facebook page.
We are just three short weeks away from winter break. Our staff will be working hard, and we hope to see your student here every day as we finish the trimester strong.
Please remind your student to check our Lost & Found. We have many sweatshirts and jackets waiting to be claimed; any unclaimed items will be donated at winter break.
A reminder that Golden Hills teachers' homework expectations are simple: daily reading at home and practicing math facts. New this month: Teachers will be sending home weekly Language Arts passages for you and your child to read together. We encourage you to talk about the content and vocabulary as you go. These passages connect directly to what we are learning in class, and the more familiar students are with them, the more confidently they can participate. It’s also a great way to keep families in the loop with our learning! We also have the optional homework packets in the office!
Trimester 1 Awards are happening this week. Teachers will send an invitation if your student is receiving an award.
Our Fifth Grade Winter Show will take place on December 19th, with two performance times available—please attend the one that best fits your schedule. Fourth grade will present their Gold Dust or Bust play in the spring, so they will not have a winter show.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me,
Thank you,
Mrs. Napoli
Golden Hills Principal
Countdown to Winter Break:
Before we leave for winter break Golden Hills will be having fun activities around campus! Students daily can search for our “Grinch on a Shelf” to see what silly activities he is up to!
From December 15th-December19th: Snowflakes will be hidden around school for students to find to win prizes.
Our final countdown will be fun dress up days! These will be the 10 day countdown to Winter Break:
Golden Hills Brag Tags:
Students can earn brag tags all year long!
Trimester 1 brag tags were recently handed out. Students can earn brag tags for accomplishments such as:
Fluency: Meeting the End-of-Year goal
Positive Eagle Award
Math Masters (Grade 4) / 144 Club ( Grade 4 & 5)
i-Ready: Proficient on grade level in Math & Reading
Attendance: Perfect attendance or 95%+ each trimester
Red Ribbon Week (available for purchase through PTG)
Honor Roll: Each trimester
Kindness: For being kind to all!
These fun tags are a great way to celebrate students’ hard work and achievements, and we will continue adding new ways to earn them throughout the year.
If your student has not received one yet, please know they will have opportunities each trimester. Some brag tags are tied to meeting a goal at a certain point in the year, while others—like Attendance and Honor Roll—are awarded every trimester.
Attendance:
Our attendance goal is for 95% of students to be at school everyday! For the month of November we were 95% We made our goal!!
Classes with Best Attendance for the month of November:
4th
1st: Mrs, Dailey 96%
2nd: Mrs. Langone 95. 8%
5th:
1st: Mrs. Russell 95.9%
2nd: Mr. Benson 95.7%
The Laser Show was SO MUCH Fun! The students loved singing along to the songs while the laser art was displayed. The Laser Show was our first trimester attendance challenge. All students who had less than 6 unexcused absences were invited to attend.
Current Attendance Challenge: Class with the best attendance from December 2nd- December 19th will win a LEGO party!
AND
All students who have 95% and above for the month of December will be entered in a raffle to win a bike! Two bikes have been donated to Golden Hills from Palermo Community Day School! The winner will be announced on Dec 19th!
Second Trimester Attendance Challenge has begun! On March 6th we
To be invited to our next event, students are voting on this this week!
Less than 11 absences (excused or unexcused) for the entire school year
OR
Less than 6 (excused or unexcused) absences from 11/21/25-3/1/26
If your child is absent please call the school office to let them know the reason so that your child can possibly be excused. Also, if your child will be absent for 1or more days you can request independent study. Your child will receive work to do and if the work is completed, your child will receive credit for attendance and will not be counted as absent. If you have questions, please call the school office.
Attendance is very important, if your student is not at school, they cannot learn. Thank you for your support!
Yearbooks
Golden Hills yearbooks are for sale in the school office for the low price of $15.00. Students that purchase a yearbook will receive their copy the last week of school. If you have any questions, please contact the school office at 532-6000.
Counselors Message:
In the month of December we will be teaching lessons on the Blueprint Tool. The Blueprint Tool is useful when solving conflict. Students will learn about considering other perspectives and trying to look at situations by considering others and all view points.
Feel free to use these questions at home when discussing and trying to solve conflict.
We are excited to announce that Golden Hills will be hosting a Career Week Jan. 26-30! Career Week is a wonderful opportunity for our students to explore a variety of professions, spark curiosity about the future, and see how what they are learning in school connects to the real world.
We would love for our families to be part of this special event by serving as presenters. Sharing your career, trade, or special skill helps inspire students to dream big and consider the many possibilities ahead of them. Presentations typically include:
A brief description of your job or career path
The education, training, or skills required
Tools or materials you use (students love visuals or demonstrations!)
Time for students to ask questions
I will be sending out a message via ParentSquare the first week of December. Parents will have the option to sign-up to present if your interested.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to reach out at (530) 532-6000 ext 4601 email rwalker@palermok8.org
Sincerely,
Rainbow Walker
School Counselor
