KHS News

Quick Reminders:

1. Picture Day is October 12th, Wear your uniform!
2. Fall Break is Coming! October 29th-November 2, no school
3. Pre-order lunch Account Setup Instructions , How To Pre-Order Instructions , Lunch Payment/Ordering Portal

This newsletter contains the following information:

• Curriculum Night
• PTSO News
• Lunch Menu
  
• Fundraising Event for KHS
• Counselor Corner
  
• Sports at KHS
• Clubs
• Classroom News
  

Upcoming Events:

1. Tuesday, October 9th from 7:50-8:30 am.

   Breakfast with the Principals & General PTSO Meeting

   Location: K-5 Campus in Mr. Moore's Room

2. HMH Curriculum Night October 11th at 6pm

3. BBQ Fundraiser October 11th
   

4. Book Fair, October 12th
   

5. Wheels Spirit Night, Friday, October 19th from 6-9
6. Fall Break, October 29th-November 2nd
   
7. The Winter Showcase will be on Dec. 20, 2018 (See Classroom News for more information)
   

Overview of HMH Curriculum

Did you know that during the 2017-2018 academic year that Kestrel Heights adopted a comprehensive K-8 curriculum for all core subjects in partnership with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH)? The purpose of the new HMH curriculum is to activate curiosity, elevate potential, and embrace lifelong learning for all scholars. It is important for every scholar at Kestrel to succeed in school and life, and for teachers to know exactly how to best support scholars to meet this goal. With a clear and consistent curriculum Kestrel is working to maintain continuous academic growth, and is ensuring positive student outcomes through a rigorous online and traditional learning program.

Goals of the HMH Curriculum Night

1. What is HMH? General overview of the English and Math Curriculum

2. Student Logins: Getting online access to the HMH Curriculum from home

3. Gallery Walk of HMH Curriculum & Resources

Specifications

Date:​ October 11, 2018 Time​: 6:00- 7:30

Location:​ 6-8 Campus Gym RSVP:​ ​Click here to fill out the RSVP to this event

Contact: ​Ms. Villegas at ​villegas@kestrelheights.org​ with questions

Tuesday, October 9th from 7:50-8:30 am.

Breakfast with the Principals & General PTSO Meeting

Location: K-5 Campus in Mr. Moore's Room

Please join us after you drop off your student in the morning for Breakfast with the Principals. Both Ms. Goff and Ms. Villegas will attend and are available to answer questions. Ms. Villegas will talk about PBIS. The PTSO will hold a general meeting to share upcoming plans! Everyone is welcomed!

Friday, October 12th from 5:00-8:00 pm.

Book Fair Family Night & Fall Fest

Location: 6-8 Campus

There is less than one week until Fall Fest! It will be a lot of fun for the whole family and will support our PTSO and student groups directly! Come check out the Haunted Trail, buy some hot dogs or snacks, buy a pumpkin at our pumpkin patch, play a few carnival games, and dance to music by our very own DJ Mr. Love. Start your night at our ticket booth to purchase tickets for each area (cash only). Don't forget to buy some books at our Book Fair family night! (credit cards or cash accepted) Fill up your bookshelves, do some early holiday shopping, or purchase a few items off your teachers' wish lists all while supporting our PTSO.

Booths and Games: DJ Mr. Love, Hay Ride, Pumpkin Sales, Face Painting, Cake Walk, Pop-a-Pumpkin, Cornhole, 50/50 raffle, and More!

Haunted Trail: Haunted School Bus, Spiderweb Maze, Blackout Trail, Mad Scientist Lab,Thriller Flash Mob!

Food: Hot Dog, Chips, Drinks, Pumpkin Donuts / Desserts, Hot Cocoa / Cider, Lollipop Stand!

We can't do it without your help! Please sign up to volunteer at Fall Fest and the Book Fair!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090f4eafab2babf85-khsfall

Please volunteer to help with Book Fair too. Sign up to help during the day to allow students to shop at school. We can't do it without your help!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090f4eafab2babf85-book1

Friday, October 19th from 6:00-9:00 pm.

Wheels Skate Night

Location: Wheels Family Fun Park, 715 N Hoover Rd, Durham, NC 27703

Cost: $7

Please join us for a fun roller skating night at Wheels Family Fun Park from 6-9 pm. Bring along friends and family. Cost is $7 per person. Don't forget to tell them you are with Kestrel. Non skaters are free to enter. Students, Remember to wear your spirit color to this event!

Help Kestrel Heights School earn products and cash by sending in your Boxtops found on many products that you use every day. General Mills, Old El Paso, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Ziploc®, Hefty®, Kleenex® and Scott® products offer boxtops on hundreds of products. Your clipped Boxtops can be put into the red PTSO mailboxes that are located in the front offices at both campuses. The deadline for this Quarter is Friday, October 12, 2018.

We are excited to announce we have partnered with City BBQ and we plan to hold multiple fundraisers with them throughout the school year. Our first one will be held on next week Thursday, October 11th and Kestrel Heights Charter School will get back 25%!

Please be sure to either print the flyer or bring up the barcode on your phone to be scanned (only available at the location provided). Without this information KHS cannot receive credit for your purchase. Please pass the word (family/friends/Co-workers) by emailing and/or texting the flyer-- there is enough BBQ to go around!

Kestrel Heights School Thanks You for your support!!!

When: October 11th

Where: City BBQ – 208 West N. Carolina 54, Durham, NC 27713

Parents, did you know that your KHS Counseling Department has a wish list of most-needed items and books to support our scholars? This quarter, our focus is on developing a GROWTH MINDSET - a research-based approach to helping all of our students succeed. There are several additional resources on this topic we would love to have to use with our staff and students. Please check out the wish list - you can purchase items directly and have them shipped to us at school, easy peasy! Thank you for your support!

Link to wish list: http://a.co/8UoXmLE

Staff/Volleyball Parents vs Volleyball Team on 10/10/18 at 4pm., Also NCCU coaches and players will be apart of the festivities.

No ticket required

Email Coach Edmonds for more info.

edmonds@kestrelheights.org

In case you missed out on the last sale, here is the link to the new sale for basketball. I think that you will really like this gear. It is just like the last one, just go online place your order and be done, just that easy. This sale goes until November 12, so that I can have the stuff back to you by Christmas.

http://shop.fancloth.com/27713/425313

Contact Coach Dale if you have questions

edmonds@kestrelheights.org

Game Design Lab after school at Kramden Institute lets kids create and code their own fun computer games. Make the characters, levels, story, and more. As little as $60 with a scholarship! Starts Oct. 17. For grades 6-8. Find out more at kramden.org/GDL

Parents of 7th graders, please see this link for information about the Victor E. Bell Scholarship. If you think your child qualifies, please contact Mrs. Callahan to apply. https://www.cfnc.org/bellscholarship

Kestrel Heights is very fortunate to have two after school clubs this year under the direction of Vlad Kary. He is a professional musician with over 15 years of experience in playing and teaching music all over the world.To learn more about the classes and sign up, please, email: vladkary@gmail.com

“UKULELE CLUB” on Mondays 3:05-3:50pm Kestrel Heights Music Room

“GUITAR CLUB” on Tuesdays 3:45 - 4:30pm Kestrel Heights Music Room

Both clubs are designed to find out what students are interested in. Instruction is guided accordingly to keep lessons engaging and fun! The goal is to help students find their own path in a musical journey. Students learn about the ukulele or guitar as well as music reading, music theory, chords, scales, and improvisation. This program also strives to help students build self-confidence and self-discipline.

Please, sign up with the instructor by September 26th. Classes begin in October

Girls Who Code prepares local middle and high school girls with the problem-solving and computer science skills necessary to make an impact on their community and be competitive in the job market of the future. We offer free after-school programs to 6th-12th grade girls to join supportive peers and role models using computer science to change the world. In our programs, girls build character and coding skills as they learn, plan, build, and celebrate together to create a project they care about. Our curriculum designed for students with a wide range of computer science experience. We have activities for girls with zero computer science experience and activities that introduce college-level concepts. Students who wish to participate can choose to attend sessions on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday evenings. They meet at the UNC Computer Science Department from 5:00-6:30pm. We anticipate beginning sessions around early September. To register, simply fill out the form here:

https://girlswhocode.web.unc.edu/join/

Do you know, a scholar in grades 3-12 who needs a home computer? Kramden Tech Scholars is a core program to assist scholars in grades 3-12 without a working home computer. To date, Kramden has served scholars in more than 70 North Carolina counties and has relied on principals, teachers, guidance counselors, and school social workers to identify and nominate deserving scholars. Once they qualify the scholar, he/she will become a Kramden Tech Scholar, and receive a computer along with ongoing technical support from the Kramden team. If you are interested in nominating a scholar check out their website (listed below). They also have materials available in spanish if needed.

https://kramden.org/kramden-tech-scholars/

***FIRST ANNUAL INTERHOUSE SPORTS COMPETITION**

*Saturday, October 6, 2018,*

(New Date. Postponed due to hurricane Florence)

10am - 5pm

4809 Prospectus Drive, Durham, NC 27713

(school field across from the church)

*Lots of sports competitions including:*

- Soccer

- Tug of War

- Relay

- Sack Race

- Sprint

- Basketball Hoops

- Table Tennis

- House/Team Parade

- and many more!!!

Lots of fun, food, and music!!!

*Come decked out in your favorite team’s color: YELLOW! Kids, Youth, Adults, Families, Welcome!!! Make it a Family/Work/Group/College/Friends Fun Day!!! We look forward to seeing you there!!!

For questions or directions, please call 775 997 8463

Kindergarten:

Kindergarten has been working hard on our seasons. We have also been working on tapping out our words, letter/ sound recognition. Journal writing has beginning and we are excited to see how their writing will progress throughout the year. If you have any questions regarding the Character Parade that is occuring on October 24th, please let your child's teacher know. Have a great weekend!

1st Grade:

First grade is having our first FIELD TRIP of the school year! We are going to Hill Ridge Farms on October 23rd. Permission forms went home TODAY to be signed and returned. We are so excited!!

2nd Grade:

2nd grade is super excited about the upcoming book fair. The Book Fair is from October 10-17. We completed out Engineering unit in Science and can't wait to begin learning about our Leaders and Government in Social Studies.

3rd Grade

Our field trip to the NC a state is next Friday. We are going rain or shine. Please dress students in Kestrel gear appropriate for the weather.

We will be doing a lot of walking so comfortable shoes will be appreciated.

More information will go home next week.

Please come see 3rd grade at the Fall fest-you never guess who may show up!!!

4th Grade

Please remember that all field trip money must be turned in by this Friday the 5th. Our class trip to the fair will be on the 12th of October. Please remind scholars to wear our grade level spirit color (red top with khakis) on the day of our field trip. Our picture day is also on the 12th, we will be taking our pictures and then getting on the bus for the fair. A special thanks to those who volunteered to chaperone.

5th Grade:

We are wrapping up chapter 2 in math next week and will be taking a test on a Friday, October 12. Small group instruction will be our focus moving forward. Our State’s and Capitals quizzes are getting more complex, with 25 states on each quiz this week and next. We will then have all 50 states matching and be moving on to fill-in-the-blank quizzes. Spelling counts!! In Science, we are continuing our weather and climate unit as we get closer to our unit test later this month. Finally, in ELA we are enjoying the implementation of small groups as a means to strengthen our reading, writing, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.

6th Grade:

Sixth grade has their class website up and running! The link is http://kestrel6thgrade.weebly.com/ and each teacher will be updating their class page.

7th Grade:

In 7th Grade news...we are reading the novel The Giver.

8th Grade:

It's been another productive week in 8th grade, ELA students have been learning about primary and secondary sources as they focus on how to do good and through research. In ELA the week was highlighted by a trip outside as classes simulated Magellan's journey around the world. In Math, students practiced working on a graph by translating, rotating, and reflecting images. Science was highlighted by a project that was focused on the periodic table and finding everyday items that contain elements. Next week the book fair is in town and students will be adventuring to the book fair with their ELA class. Also, next Friday is both picture day and fall fest!

Classes have begun their volleyball unit. Learning how to serve, bump, set and spike!

English Language Learners (ELL) Program - Ms. Rivera

ELL services started this week for all grades except Kindergarten. Kindergarten scholars were screened last week and letters were sent home with the results. ELL services for eligible Kindergarten scholars will start by October 15th. Should you have any question, please feel free to contact me at (919) 484-1300 ext. 307. Thank you!

Programa de Aprendices del Idioma Inglés (ELL) - Sra. Rivera

Servicios del programa para aprendices de inglés (ELL) comenzaron esta semana para todos los grados, excepto para Kindergarten. Los estudiantes de Kindergarten tomaron el examen la semana pasada y las cartas fueron enviadas a casa con los resultados. Los servicios de ELL para los estudiantes elegibles de Kindergarten comenzarán el 15 de octubre. Si tiene alguna pregunta, no dude en comunicarse conmigo al (919) 484-1300 ext. 307. ¡Gracias!

AIG students have been busy building their first Robots and will be moving into more complex programming. Cooperation and perseverance is key to accomplish these challenging activities! Here are a few examples of students working together to build and program their robot...

Art News:

Kindergarten: Kindergarten classes finished their Rainbow fish. They worked very hard to draw, paint, cut and glue the fish and ocean background.

First Grade: First graders finished their monsters.They used oil pastels to draw and add details to their monsters and then used paint to finish their monsters.

Second Grade: Second graders are finishing their Saguaro Cactus pictures. It has been a very involved project with many steps and the second graders have worked hard to showcase their skills.

Third Grade: Third graders either finished their Blue Dogs or experienced their first Free Choice art day.

Fourth Grade: Fourth grade had a Free Choice art day or finished their watercolor chameleons. Some really cool textures were made using salt.

Fifth Grade: The fifth grader's surreal hot air balloon pictures are coming together! Their hot air balloons are drawn, they have painted their sky and they are cutting out images from magazines that will be added to their surreal landscape.

Middle School: Middle schoolers are working on warm/cool treescapes. They are learning how to use watercolor in a precise and careful way!

Middle school sketches are due Oct. 23, 2018. As always, I won't accept late work!

If you are on Instagram, please follow artmohn. I feature student work and what we are working on in the art room!

I am still asking for milk crates to hold sketchbooks for each elementary class. They don't have to be anything fancy or new, the ones you had in your dorm room would work just fine!

From the Spanish Corner:

4-8 Great job with the Hispanic Heritage research. Exelente trabajo!

The Elementary Dance scholars have been diligently working on the "Elements of Dance," which focuses on time, space, weight and energy. The dancers are understanding how to make our "everyday movements" more defined (with definition and form) through a blend of improvised and choreographed movement sequences. They will, now, be transitioning into the "creation and performing process," where the dancers will begin learning choreography for our upcoming Winter Performance! It will be here before you know it, so please save the date!

The Winter Showcase will be on Dec. 20, 2018 and the Spring Showcase will be on May 16, 2019. There will be 2 performances: Grades K-2 will be at 5:30 pm and Grades 3-5 will be at 6:45 pm (both performances will be held in the Middle School Gym). This is a REQUIRED performance, in which all students are expected to participate.

The Elementary Dance and Music Departments will be sending out more detailed information closer to the event.

We continue to welcome applications for enrollment until our 20th day of the 2018-19 school year. We have several seats available in select grades! We hope you will consider Kestrel Heights School as your school of choice for the upcoming school year!

Website: kestrelheights.org
Location: 4700 South Alston Avenue, Durham, NC, USA
Phone: 919-484-1300
Facebook: facebook.com/KestrelHeightsSchool/
Twitter: @KestrelHeights