Chameleon Chronicle 2025

We’re off to an amazing start this school year, and the energy is buzzing! Our recent Parent Nights were a huge success, bringing families and educators together to build strong partnerships that support our students’ growth and achievement.

Looking ahead, we have some exciting events coming your way:

• Read to Succeed Night — Do you want more information about Read to Succeed? Please join us on Tuesday, September 9th to learn more.
• Muffins with McAlister — a cozy morning for parents to connect with our school administration over delicious treats. For more information see below.

As we head into the Labor Day weekend, we hope you take time to relax and enjoy well-deserved moments with family and friends. Thank you for your ongoing support — here’s to a fantastic September full of learning, growth, and community! Let's Get Creative this year HHA!

Warm regards,

Ashley McAlister, Principal

Howe Hall AIMS was the #8 2024-2025 Kids Heart Challenge school in South Carolina!

Way to go, HHA Chameleons, Mrs. Pond, and Mr. Voss!

The Actor’s Toolbox begins with students signing a silent contract that they promise to control their bodies, voices, and imaginations and to concentrate and cooperate. Then, students practice strengthening their concentration and cooperation skills through a series of challenges. Adopting a common language pinpoints areas where students are making strong vs. weak choices and provides students with a sense of ownership over their behavior. This language, and even signing the contract itself, can be done throughout the day to reinforce set expectations. It also prepares students for deeper applications of content through the use of drama and provides teachers with both a management tool as well as a way of assessing student understanding.

Students are also learning the difference between a stage voice and a speaking voice. A stage voice is one that students should use when on stage or presenting in front of their classmates. A speaking voice is one that you use when speaking to someone beside you.

Students will be in Control of their:

Body

Voice

Imagination

Concentration

Cooperation

In June 2024, the South Carolina Legislature passed Proviso 1.103 in the state budget, requiring school districts to adopt policies that ban student use of personal electronic devices during the school day. The goal is to foster a more focused learning environment and help students develop critical skills. In response, the South Carolina State Board of Education enacted a policy to ban cell phones and other personal devices in public schools, effective January 2025.

To comply with this mandate, the Berkeley County Board of Education adopted Policy JICDB – Student Access to Cell Phones and Personal Electronic Devices on December 2, 2024. This policy aligns with the state board's model policy prohibiting the use of personal electronic devices during the school day.

The Berkeley County School District administration will present an administrative rule to supplement Policy JICDB in January 2025. This rule will outline procedures, compliance expectations, and consequences for violations.

More information from the SC Department of Education available here: https://ed.sc.gov/initiatives/free-to-focus/

Frequently asked questions (FAQs) and Fast Facts: https://www.bcsdschools.net/o/bcsd/page/phone

Welcome back Artists! We have had a great start to the new school year, and your students have already started their first projects. Kindergarten, first, and second grades are already painting their masterpieces and third, fourth and fifth grades are using a variety of media to hone their already amazing artistic skills. I cannot wait to see what their creativity inspires.

Students in music class will be learning about singing, music composers, history, rhythms, notation, playing instruments, movement, performance, and everything in between. Each grade level will have their own performance with the 5th graders having their own musical.

Some ways you can help your child work on their music education are to expose them to a lot of different types of music such as; classical, rock, country, jazz, blues, hip hop and others. Maybe dive deep into a favorite song and see if you can find the beat, the rhythms, and the melody line. Talk about music in your everyday life. Sing music as a family and have fun with it! The Liebenows surely do!

This is going to be an exciting year for Physical Education at Howe Hall AIMS. We are very excited to welcome back Mr. Voss to HHA. He will be assisting Mrs. Pond with teaching 30 minutes of extra PE every Monday. All students will have extra PE on Mondays. Please make sure they wear tennis shoes or sneakers. We would love for our school and students to participate in the Charleston Youth Marathon on January 31, 2026 . The students will need to earn at least 25 miles of walking/running during the school year in order to compete in this free activity. If you would like more information or to register your child scroll to the end of this newsletter for more information. Mrs. Pond will keep a log on Mondays. Students will also have a 45 min. PE with Mrs. Pond. Please wear tennis shoes for their 2nd PE as well.

In theatre class, we dive into the art of storytelling—through movement, voice, imagination, and play. Students explore the actor’s tools: body, voice, and mind, using improvisation and creative drama to bring characters and scenes to life. Whether we’re pretending to be animals, inventing wild adventures, or playing theatre games to sharpen our expressive skills, every activity builds confidence, collaboration, and creativity. Want to support your young performer? Encourage them to play, pretend, and tell stories at home—your living room can be a stage too!

We are excited about another fantastic year in our school library this year! Here are just a few reminders about library policies and procedures:

Student library check out limits are as follows:

• Kindergarten - 1 book (from the Everyone section)

• 1st Grade - 2 books (from the Everyone and/or Non-Fiction section)

• 2nd & 3rd Grade - 3 books (from any areas of our library)

• 4th & 5th Grade - 4 books (from any areas of our library)

To help students keep track of their books, we do not typically allow book check outs beyond the designated grade level limits.

Any lost or damaged books will have to be paid for or replaced. We love replacement books! Just please make sure if you are replacing a book that your child lost or damaged, that they are of the same quality (i.e. a hardback book must be replaced with the same title and must be in hardback; paperback books can be replaced with the same title but in paperback). If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Rodriguez in the library or by email at rodriguezkelli@bcsdschools.net

Our annual book fair will be held in March again this year, but you can shop in our fair’s online bookstore all year long! Our library gets credit for every purchase made through the online store: https://literati.com/store/?school=howe-hall-aims-elementary-school-goose-creek-sc . Last year, your support of our book fair allowed us to purchase close to $4,000 in books for our library, and our kids have been so excited to have so many awesome new titles to read!

Thank you for always supporting our school and library! It is going to be a fabulous year at HHA!

Art Infusion is an approach to teaching in which students demonstrate understanding through an art form. Students engage in a creative process which connects an art form and another subject area and meets objectives in both. During these lessons the fine arts teacher and content teacher join together to teach these lessons. These lessons are where our 2nd through 4th grade shows are created.

Our first art infusion was in fifth grade math with Mrs. Bresnan. We created right rectangular prisms with foam cubes and decorated the different layers with alternating warm and cool color schemes. Finally, the students wrote equations and calculated the volume of their prisms using cubic units.

Exploratory is an opportunity for your child to explore an art area. These classes meet once a week at the end of the day for 30 minutes. Teachers get to dive deeper into their content while our students get to continue to grow in the arts. Students in grades three through five were able to select their exploratory this year through a Google Form where they chose their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice.

Our exploratory offerings include: 2-D, 3-D Art, Media Arts, Jazz, Hip-Hop and a Ballet/Tap dance, News, Novels, Book Explorations, Steel Drums, Song Writing and more, Recorders, Fitness and more, Costume Design, Movie Making, and Theatre Design.

**If your child is a part of an afterschool group (Art Chameleons, ADC, AIMS Players or Chameleon Choraleers) then they did not choose an exploratory. Their group will meet on Fridays during the school day during the exploratory time.

We hope all of you have settled into the groove of school. Thank you to all of our volunteers that have given their time to Helping Hands and Duty Free Lunch this past month. We appreciate you! Let’s keep this momentum going! We’d love to see you this month so make sure to sign up to volunteer! Stay tuned for news about our Trunk or Treat event. We are super excited for another fun-filled night! Hope to see you soon.

-Sarah Ekvall, PTA President

Regular attendance is necessary for students to make the desired and expected academic and social progress. However, we recognize that some absences are unavoidable. Please see the BCSD Attendance Policy for more information. https://go.boarddocs.com/sc/berkeley/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=BAQ5QL10D77A

Please be sure to send in an excuse if your child is absent from school. The excuse needs to list the date of the absence, the date of the excuse, the reason for the absence, and the telephone number and signature of the parent or guardian or certified medical practitioner. Please understand that excessive tardiness and early sign-outs impact student learning outcomes. We need your student in school so they can learn.

Please email your excuses to Odgersy@bcsdschools.net or send them with your child within three days.

* Please note that Berkeley County School District does not view vacations as a lawful excuse to be out of school.

A total of three consecutive or five total unlawful absences is considered truant and may require an attendance intervention meeting.

Hello everyone. I hope you all had an amazing summer and are settling into the new school year. I wanted to take a moment to review a few things regarding the nurse’s office this year.

I have given each teacher a generalized guide on when a student should see me and how soon. If any of the 9 B’s are involved (see attachment), they may send the student directly to me without delay. Any other ailments or complaints are asked to try to manage them within the classroom and/or wait 20 minutes to see if symptoms subside. If symptoms persist or increase during that time, they may send the student to me for further evaluation.

If you have something at home that arises with your child that you would like to share with me, please email me at FoilesA@bcsdschools.net or give me a call if it’s during the school day. Please refer to the DHEC exclusion criteria see button below to help determine if your child should stay home from school. Please see the BCSD Student Handbook or Policy JGDC and JGDC-R for more information about medication at school. Thank you all for your help in making this a great year.

It is time for school breakfast and lunch. Please remember students are not allowed to have knives in school even if it is used for lunch. Occasionally, plastic cutlery comes with lunch boxes. Please help ensure the safety of our students by removing these items and checking knives are not brought to school in lunch boxes.

For information about Free and Reduced Lunch Applications, please go to https://berkeleynutrition.net/?page=lunchapps. or stop by the front office for a paper application. These applications must be completed annually.

If your students are eating school breakfast or lunch, you can check out the menu by clicking on the link below. If your child needs to pay for lunch, please send the money with the student or add it to his or her account through My School Bucks (https://www.myschoolbucks.com/ver2/getmain.action?clientKey=&requestAction=home). Contact the school if you need assistance.

Chromebooks rolled out to our students within the first few days of school, so it’s time to kick off our digital citizenship lessons! Our school utilizes the Common Sense Media curriculum to ensure students receive high-quality, research and standards based instruction on digital citizenship throughout the school year. All lessons are grade level appropriate and will address topics such as media balance, privacy & security, digital footprint & identity, relationships & communication, and news & media literacy, depending on the grade level. One good universal focus for all of us is media balance. Common Sense Media has shared the following tips on their website for finding media balance in our families:

“Check out these 4 tips for healthy media balance"

1. Balance screen use with other activities.

Aim for a healthy balance that includes time with family and friends, outside play and exercise, and plenty of sleep. Set family rules about when, how long, and where the family can watch television, use phones and tablets, or play video games. Let your children help define the rules for themselves (and for you!).

Ask yourself: What rules does my family have for television, phones, tablets, or video games? Are they interrupting family time, such as at meals or bedtime?

2.Choose shows, videos, or apps that match your child's age and interests.

Set household rules about what TV shows, movies, apps, or games the family can use. Use sites like Common Sense Media to find high-quality content. Look for shows or games that encourage children to actively think, create, or play along. Try to avoid content with loud sounds, flashing ads, or other distracting features.

Ask yourself: Does my child seem interested, or are they bored or frustrated? What are they learning from the TV show, video, or app?

3.Make screen time social.

When your child is watching a TV show or video, or playing a video game, it's great to watch or play with them. It's important that time spent with screens doesn't replace time spent with a loving caregiver. If you can't watch with them, talk with your children about what they watched or played after the fact. Draw connections between what they saw on screen with experiences they have in the real world.

Ask yourself: When my young child is watching a TV show or video, or playing an app, is there a sibling or adult who can watch or play with them? What can I talk to my child about after they watch or play something?

4. Think about your own habits.

Research shows that having the television on in the background at home can lead to fewer interactions with your child. Try to keep the TV set off if no one is watching it, and silence your phone to reduce the distractions. Do your best to model self-control when it comes to your devices.

Ask yourself: Am I distracted by my phone or the TV when playing with my children? What are some adult "tech-free times" I can set for myself and for the family?”

Let me introduce myself. My name is Annette Rayburn. I am the reading interventionist here at Howe Hall AIMS. Each month I will be sharing some strategies and activities that you can do to enhance and support your child’s achievement in reading and writing. When we study the science of reading we learn that reading is not a natural process like speaking is. It is complex and something that must be systematically taught and practiced. If we want to get good at an activity, such as sporting activities, it takes a lot of practice. The same thing is true of reading. So, my first tip for the start of a brand-new school year is to set up a reading routine in your home. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Set aside a block of time as a family for silent reading where everyone (parents included) grabs a book and reads for 15-20 minutes. Then have your child tell you one or two sentences about what was read.

2. Read aloud to your children before bedtime. This is a great way to build vocabulary and background knowledge.

3. If you have children who are just beginning to learn to read, have them read aloud to you every day. Look through their homework folder for fluency stories or books on their level that they can read to you. If you are unsure about what to read, ask your child’s teacher for help.

Setting up one or more of these reading routines will help your child become a successful reader. If you need further assistance please feel free to contact me. My email address is rayburna@bcsdschools.net. Happy reading!

We know that parents like to enjoy lunch with his or her child occasionally. We do have a few seats for this but we are not able to accommodate every parent every day. We have some guidelines for these visits for you to review and sign during the check in process. Please remember you will need your identification to sign in each time you visit. We are unable to extend student lunch periods for these visits so please be on time.

We are looking to fill two parent representative seats on our (SIC) School Improvement Council. We do not have any open seat for the (FASC) Fine Arts Steering Committee at this time. We will use the third person selected for the FASC if we have a seat open up during the year.

A School Improvement Council is an advisory council to the principal and school on issues related to school improvement. The Fine Arts Steering Committee helps create the strategic art plan that serves as a guide toward the development and implementation of a quality arts education program. If you are interested in serving on this committee or if you would like to nominate someone please stop by the office to pick up a nomination form. These forms are due by September 05, 2025.

This is a wonderful opportunity for you to ask questions or share your concerns with the administration!

Friday, September 12th 7:30pm

Wiley Knight Stadium at Hanahan High School

*Students wearing orange and blue will receive free admission with a paying adult.

This year, we are excited to announce that the students at Howe Hall AIMS will have an extra P. E. class once a week. During these classes, students will participate in team sports and running or walking laps with the goal being to have run 26 miles prior to January 31, 2026. Now you may be wondering, “What is so special about January 31, 2026?” It is the date of the Charleston Youth Marathon! Our goal is to have all students at HHA run/walk enough laps during their extra P.E. classes that they would each have gone a total of 26 miles by the time January 31st rolls around. Then they will only need to run the final two tenths of a mile in order to have completed an entire marathon, which is 26.2 miles. The teachers in charge of the P.E. class will be recording each student’s mileage while at school. We encourage all of our parents to register their children beginning on September 5th for the Charleston Youth Marathon using the link listed below. Under the categories tab, click Youth Marathon. The event is free and children who register will receive a free t-shirt and finisher medal. This goal of running/walking 26 miles is a great opportunity to begin to create a healthy lifestyle of physical activity in our children. Be sure to click Howe Hall or add it as a note so we can win the school spirit award.

Walk-N-Roll for Spina Bifida is a FREE family friendly, non-competitive one mile fundraiser featuring an Interactive Festival and Adaptive Health Fair It raises awareness about Spina Bifida and celebrates the accomplishments of those living with Spina Bifida and the challenges it brings.

If you are interested in supporting the Walk-N-Roll click on the photo and if you are interested in supporting one of our Chameleons please see below for more information!