Highland Elementary School

Happy November! As we step into a new month, we want to take a moment to look back on a fantastic October full of learning, community connection, and festive autumn fun.

October was packed with unforgettable moments across all grade levels. From dressing up for Picture Day to celebrating autumn at the Highland Pumpkin Patch and getting creative with pumpkin decorating (thanks to our PTO), our halls were filled with energy. Some of our 2nd graders enjoyed reading aloud during Read to Rover, and our youngest learners had a fantastic time at the Preschool Carnival with Westfield High School. Thank you to all the parents who joined us for Parent Conferences and participating in our School Community—your support makes our school community thrive!

This November, our school community is embarking on Gratitude on the Trail, focusing on the Choose Love pillar of Gratitude, our PBIS expectation to Show Respect, and our trail theme of Appreciating the Pack & Guides. Throughout the month, we are encouraging our Huskies to notice and appreciate the many people and spaces that support them every day. From honoring our "guides"—including teachers, aides, custodians, office staff, cafeteria workers, and bus drivers—to caring for our learning spaces, students will explore how gratitude is best shown through respectful actions. We are also celebrating our "pack" by recognizing the unique strengths, backgrounds, and perspectives of our classmates, practicing kindness during recess, and expressing genuine thanks through kind words and notes. As we move through the season of Thanksgiving, students will learn that gratitude isn't just a feeling, but an active habit—displayed through active listening, care for shared materials, and support for one another.

Thank you for being such an active part of our Husky family. Here’s to a wonderful November ahead!

With gratitude and Husky Pride,

Principal Masciadrelli

As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, we want to ensure every family in our Highland pack has a warm and joyful holiday. If your family could benefit from assistance with a Thanksgiving meal this year, our school community is here to support you with confidential holiday food packages. Please reach out to Ms. Masciadrelli at e.masciadrelli@schoolsofwestfield.org or 413-572-6428 by Thursday, November 12 so we can help arrange meals for your household. All inquiries and requests are kept strictly confidential.

We are proud to share that our Highland Huskies have maintained a fantastic overall attendance rate of 95.8%. A special shout-out goes to our 3rd and 4th graders, who are leading the way with an incredible 97.5% attendance rate!

Attending school daily and arriving on time sets our students up for success. When children arrive promptly, they participate in vital morning check-ins, establish daily routines, and jump straight into learning without feeling rushed.

🌅 Helpful Tips for a Smooth Morning Routine

• Prep the Night Before: Lay out clothes, pack backpacks, and make sure homework and water bottles are by the front door before going to sleep.

• Set a "Buffer Time": Aim to leave the house 5 to 10 minutes earlier than necessary to accommodate unexpected morning delays or heavy drop-off traffic.

• Create a Visual Morning Checklist: For younger students, a simple checklist (Brush Teeth, Eat Breakfast, Shoes On, Backpack On) helps them stay focused and independent without extra nagging.

• Establish Consistent Bedtimes: A predictable nighttime routine ensures children wake up feeling rested and ready to conquer the school day.

Thank you for your ongoing partnership in helping our Huskies step up and arrive ready to learn every day!

We have been having an absolute blast in Health and Physical Education lately! Our elementary students are working hard to keep their minds and bodies in tip-top shape.

In the classroom, we’ve been learning about the importance of practicing healthy habits each day

—from eating colorful foods to getting plenty of rest. We also took a fascinating dive into the human body to discover how our immune system helps us stay healthy and fight off pesky germs like a team of superheroes! 🦠🦸‍♂️

Outside and in the gym, we are staying moving and grooving! Students have been exercising in PE class by engaging in team-building activities, cooperative games, and fun, seasonally themed games that keep everyone laughing and working together.

Ask your student to show you their favorite PE game or tell you one way they plan to power up their immune system today!

Thank you for supporting your child's wellness journey at home!

In Good Health,

Mrs. Bolivar

Welcome to the library! It has been wonderful to welcome all of our students back to school and back to the library. I see every class once a week and each student gets to check out a book of their choice. This year we have welcomed our youngest learners to the library with special preschool 3 classes. We have been having a lot of fun in both preschool 3 & 4 classes singing songs, learning how to turn the pages in our books and of course, reading books.

In September and October, library stories and lessons centered around library expectations, book care, and the changing of the seasons. For younger grades these topics are in concert with what they are learning in the classroom. Kindergarten has been reading the Magic Tree House books in class, so I have made sure to have a selection of books that correspond to the book they are reading for that unit (dinosaurs, castles, etc). For older grades we touch upon text connections, connections to self or other texts, unfamiliar word definitions and parts of speech used in the books we read. We circulate 250 books a week making the library a very busy place!

– Mrs. McEwan, School Librarian

In the music room, students are beginning to work on music for our upcoming Winter Concerts! All grade levels and Band and Chorus will be performing a variety of winter-themed songs, including vocal and instrumental pieces, as well as some with choreography! Our concert dates/times will be as follows

Tuesday, December 8th:

9:45 - Grades 3 and 4 along with the Band and Chorus

1:30 - Grades 1 and 2

Wednesday, December 9th:

9:45- PK3AM and Kindergarten

2:30- PK3PM and PK4

Highland students are excited to share their concert songs with their families! I look forward to seeing you all there!

Greetings Highland Families! It was wonderful visiting with so many families in our Husky Art Studio during Open House. Our smartest artists have started off the school year working on establishing routines and building relationships while creating a collaborative mural inspired by Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky and Peter Reynold’s International Dot Day. We call this masterpiece, “Better When We’re Together!” Our huskies created individual squares featuring a central dot surrounded by layers of “concentric circles.” Like our artists, every circle is unique in size, color combination, and pattern – representing individuals within our school community. If you haven’t seen this spectacular masterpiece already, make sure to stop by and take a peak next time you’re in our building!

Since then, we’ve rolled up our sleeves and have started more indepth projects…more on these in the near future. Their artwork will be displayed as often as possible before it is sent home. Their confidence will also go with them. This confidence is built in small moments: choosing an idea without asking if it’s “right.” Finding a way forward when the first attempt doesn’t work. Looking at something they made and saying, “I’m proud of this” instead of asking, “Is this good?”

I feel incredibly fortunate to be your child’s art teacher. I have the privilege of watching them grow beyond inches! Together, they will create bravely and discover that they can make decisions, work through frustration, and create something worth sharing. Yes, I teach them how to use a variety of materials and mediums to "exercise their imagination,” but I also want them to trust themselves to begin before they know exactly how it will turn out. Because long after they leave the art studio, there will be blank pages, unfamiliar problems, and moments when they need the courage to try or change their plan when things aren’t going their way. These are critical life skills that will serve them well into their future. Their art matters, but more importantly so does the person they’re becoming while they make it.

Thank you for all that you do to support our program. Stay tuned…our best is yet to come!

Thank you to everyone that joined us at Open House and for our Fall Family Festival! The festival was a hit, and we very much appreciate everyone that participated in our open house raffle!

November events:

• PTO Meeting 11/9 at 5:30, Highland Cafeteria (pizza and childcare provided)
• Dine to Donate 11/10 at Applebee's, 4-9pm
• MCM Fundraiser pick ups at Highland, 11/19 4-7pm
• Fundraiser Spotlight - RaiseRight! Get ahead of your holiday shopping and order your gift cards through RaiseRight! A portion of your purchase goes back to the PTO, and gift cards get mailed or emailed directly to you! https://linktr.ee/highlandpto

Thank you Mrs. Clark & Mr. Dexter!

Email: e.masciadrelli@schoolsofwestfield.org

Website: www.schoolsofwestfield.org/o/highland
Location: 34 Western Ave. Westfield, MA 01085
Phone: (413)572-6428