The Crocodilian

Thursday, January 15th - Leadership Assembly for 4th Grade (See flyer below)

- Spring Clubs & Good News Club, 2:40 - 4pm (GNC 3:45pm)

- D5 Elementary Magnet Fair, 5:00 - 6:30pm at the CATE Center

Friday, January 16th - Leadership Assemblies for K-3rd & 5th Grade (See flyer below)

-100th Day of School Spirit Day! (See flyer below)

Monday, January 19th - No School, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Thursday, January 22nd - Spring Clubs & Good News Club, 2:40 - 4pm (GNC 3:45pm)

Future planning:

January 28th - School Magnet Choice applications close at 12pm

January 29th - Early Release day, 11:40am Dismissal *No Afterschool Clubs

HEC Celebrates Exceptional Children’s Week — February 2–6

H.E. Corley Elementary is proud to celebrate Exceptional Children’s Week as we honor and embrace the diverse abilities, strengths, and talents of all our students. At HEC, we believe every child is unique and valued, and we are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where students with varying abilities and disabilities are supported academically, socially, and emotionally.

We will celebrate with a fun Spirit Week filled with dress-up days 🎉 and fundraising activities to support our annual Polar Plunge efforts. Then, on Saturday, February 14th, our HEC Polar Plunge Team will head to the chilly waters of Lake Murray Dam to raise awareness, promote inclusion, and take the plunge in support of Special Olympics! 🧊💙

🌟 HEC Leadership Week — February 9–12 🌟

Get ready, HEC — Leadership Week is almost here! As a Leadership school, we are excited to pause, celebrate, and showcase our amazing leadership magnet program and the incredible student leaders who make our school shine every day.

This year, it’s all about Connections — we’re officially in our Connection Era! 💫 From building relationships to leading with kindness, our students are learning how their choices, voices, and actions connect to their classrooms, community, and world.

We’ll kick things off with engaging classroom leadership activities throughout the week, a dress-up Spirit Week 🎉 , and we’ll wrap it all up with our favorite tradition — HEC Leadership Day! You won’t want to miss the excitement, smiles, and student leadership on display.

✨More information is coming soon — stay tuned!

Habit 5 - Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood. Listen before you talk.

Listening is the most important communication skill. Listening with our ears isn’t good enough, because less than 10% of communication is contained in the words we use. The rest comes from body language and the tone and feeling reflected in our voice. Point out that when we listen, not only with our ears but also with our eyes and heart - as a result, everyone is happier.

What can you do to teach your child to listen first?
1. Play a game by trying to go 10 minutes without talking even once. Instead, just watch the people around you, and listen to what they are saying. Try 30 minutes next time.

2. Help them to think of someone in your life who you think is a good listener. Your grandma? Your dad? Your best friend? What do you think makes them a good listener?

3. Help them to notice when someone is sad and notice their eyes or the way they hold their body. Tell them you know they are sad and you want to help.

→Send in a photo of your child doing these things at home and we will feature some of them in the next issue of the Crocodilian. Email the photo along with the student’s name, teacher, and grade to Katye Wilkinson at kwilkinson@lexrich5.org by February 12th.

Spirit Night at Sonic is happening Thursday 1/29 from 4-8 PM at the Irmo location (by Walmart), and a portion of every meal will be donated back to HEC PTO. 🍔🥤

Dinner plans are officially made for Early Release day! Swing by Sonic, enjoy a treat, and support our school at the same time! 💚🍦

🚨 Fundraiser Alert! 🚨

🍕Our Slice the Price Fundraiser kicks off soon!

📄Information will be sent home 1/21

📅 Fundraiser runs Jan 21 to Feb 4.
💳 $20 card = FREE large pizza with every large pizza purchased
💚 Supports our PTO service project to give our basketball court a much needed glow-up!

Get ready to "Slice the Price" and support our school!

PTO Website

Field Trips are a key component to our magnet program here at HECES. Field trips are a great deal of work to arrange. Parents, we cannot do this without you! We have to have guidelines in place that ensure the safety of our kids. The following are expectations for all volunteer chaperones:

1. A volunteer form and chaperone form must be completed, submitted, and approved. Please click on the link to start this process: HEC Volunteer application. Application(s) need to be submitted no later than 2 weeks prior to the field trip. Return the completed Volunteer Application with a front and back photocopy of state issued ID for processing. Once approved, the volunteer form is good for 3 years.

2. Upon approval, the teacher will contact you to let you know the details of the trip. Not all parents are needed for every trip, so if you are not asked to go on a certain trip, you may be asked to go to the next one.

3. All chaperones MUST ride the bus to and from the field trip. This is to ensure the safety of our students and adhere to the adult/student ratio set by D5 policies.

4. As an additional safety measure and to ensure the educational integrity of the field experiences, parents, family members, and friends are not allowed to meet any student at the field trip venue.

5. Chaperones are expected to be on time, monitor, and engage with the students while on the trip. PLEASE limit cell phone use and dress for the trip. Please stay with your group and do not send your child to another group or class just because they are family or friends.

6. No siblings will be allowed to accompany parents on a field trip.

7. Please do not send spending money with your child, unless the teacher has specified that they will need spending money. Please refrain from buying snacks/trinkets/items for any student.

8. All students must adhere to the district cell phone policy as outlined by the Code Of Conduct.