Hamilton Family Newsletter

The first day of school is Monday, August 31 for grades 1-5 and Tuesday, September 1 for Kindergarten! K families will receive an emailed time slot for Monday, August 31 during which they can meet with their child's teacher for fifteen minutes. Please see the "Upcoming Events" below for other important dates/events.

Transportation: You can see your child's transportation information HERE

VisitU Check-in/out System: Please see the linked information button following this section regarding our new VisitU system, which will be used by all visitors, as well as families bringing children to school late (e.g. doctor's appointment) or dismissing them early.

**NOTE: Anyone visiting the school or picking up a student must have their ID with them. Also, anyone picking up a student must be listed in Aspen for that student.

Arrival/Drop Off:

* When dropping off your child in the morning, please use the inner circle of the entrance (the loop further away from the school, as the buses use the other loop closest to the school). Adults, please do NOT exit your cars. Children can get out of the car on the passenger side with the assistance of our staff and walk to the main entrance side walk. We need the line of cars to keep moving safely and efficiently.

Dismissal Form:

* Every student at Hamilton will be sent home on their NKSD assigned bus unless we have a dismissal form completed for them. Any changes made to your students' dismissal requires the dismissal form to be filled out. Please enter a separate form for each student.

* Any changes in DAYCARE or BUS, please fill out the dismissal form.

* Reoccurring pickups only need to be entered on a form once you do not need to reenter the forms daily. A new dismissal form must be used if the reoccurring pickup schedule changes.

* The dismissal form will be closed at 2:30pm each day in order to create an accurate daily dismissal list. We can not accept phone calls/emails regarding dismissal past 2:30pm, as there is no guarantee your child's teacher will receive the message in time.

Dismissal Form Link

Aspen Family Portal:

The Family Portal will be open soon for families to access. Please be sure that your Emergency Information, phone numbers, email addresses, etc are up to date and that any adult who will be picking up your student is listed in the Portal. We will not release a student to anyone not listed in the Family Portal and who does not have a valid ID. If you have trouble getting into Aspen, please reach out to our clerks, Beth or Robyn, in the main office.

Open House:

Tuesday, September 15 Grades K-2 5:30pm-6:30pm

Thursday, September 17 Grades 3-5 5:30pm-6:30pm

Picture Day: Lifetouch Photography will be at Hamilton on October 21 for school pictures. Retakes are November 20.

Family Resources: Please check out the family resources at the bottom of the newsletter.

If you have any questions, you can contact me and our clerks, Beth Spurlock and Robyn Albuquerque, at 401-268-6520 or email me at frederick_schweizer@nksd.net. You can also call/text my cell (between 7am and 8pm) at 401-218-3081.

Thank you!

Dr. Schweizer

Hamilton Elementary is a Feinstein Jr. Scholar School. Throughout the year, our students learn about the values attached to being a Leadership School. The generous grants we receive go directly to our students in many ways. Some ways we have benefitted from these funds are a pilot of Scholastic StoryWorks and the 3D printer we are getting this year.

Each student will receive a Feinstein Jr. Scholar card, which gives students free admission to the Providence Children's Museum, Mystic Aquarium and more (with accompanying adult). Students will also get a Golden Ticket (to be kept at school); if a student's Golden Ticket is drawn by the Feinstein Foundation, the school receives a $2,000 grant and the student gets to gift a $500 grant to a non-profit organization of his/her choice, as well as a surprise package of gifts from the Foundation.

Check out their website below!

On the heels of last year's school-wide theme "Wild About Learning," HES is focusing this year on global cultures, geography and perspectives from around the world.

Hamilton students and staff will focus on values that make our Husky community great. Each month we will have an assembly, do activities/read books, and celebrate how we live those values daily here at Hamilton. We have created a Family BINGO board (for a printable version for your fridge click the red button below) so families can support our students at home! No need to follow the months; all spaces can be crossed off at any time. We'd love to receive pictures of your children in action celebrating these values at home, so feel free to email them to frederick_schweizer@nksd.net so we can share these moments with our community!

We are extremely fortunate to be able to partner with Special Olympics RI this year. They will be holding a school-wide assembly at HES entitled "Understanding All Abilities" in early September. They will then hold a grades 4 & 5 assembly entitled "Leading for All Abilities," from which we will create a leadership committee of students who will learn and teach about inclusion. We are very excited for this opportunity and are currently planning to create an Inclusion Committee, as well as a Unified Basketball team. More details to come soon!

Paws-itive Praise: We are continuing with the "Paws-itive Praise" initiative at Hamilton. When staff observe a student doing something responsible, respectful, safe or kind, the staff member will fill out a form that will allow the student to be eligible for a drawing to win a prize.

Star Students: Once a month we will celebrate our Star Students, students in each class who have been Responsible, Respectful and Safe or who have shown growth.

Kindness Quack: For random acts of kindness caught by the principal, students will receive a Kindness Quack.

Welcome Back Letter

VisitU Guide for Families

School Cafe Information

Transportation Information

Elementary School Handbook

Bullying Policy

NKSD School Calendar

Aspen Portal

Dismissal Form

Spirit Wear

Location: 25 Salisbury Drive, North Kingstown, RI 02852

Email: frederick_schweizer@nksd.net

Phone: 401-268-6520

Website: https://he.nksd.net/o/hamilton-elementary