The Hornet Newsletter

Parents, we’d love to see you at our next PTO meeting on Wednesday, February 4th at 8:30 AM in the school cafeteria. This is a great opportunity to stay informed, share ideas, and help make a positive impact on our school community. Your voice matters—come be part of the conversation!

National School Counseling Week 2026, “School Counselors Amplify Student Success,” celebrated Feb. 2-6, 2026, focuses public attention on the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems. National School Counseling Week highlights school counselors’ tremendous impact in helping students achieve school success.

In honor of National School Counseling Week (February 2–6, 2026), we are proud to recognize Alina Burns, Holland’s incredible guidance counselor, whose kindness and dedication make a meaningful difference in our school community every single day.

Mrs. Burns is truly student-focused in all that she does. Whether she is supporting students through challenges, celebrating their successes, or simply being a trusted listener, she meets every child with compassion, patience, and care. Her door is always open, and students know they can count on her for guidance, encouragement, and understanding.

Beyond her work with students, Mrs. Burns is a helpful and supportive presence for families and staff alike. She goes above and beyond to ensure that everyone who needs assistance feels seen, heard, and supported. Her calm presence and thoughtful approach help create a school environment where students feel safe, valued, and ready to learn.

We are incredibly grateful for Mrs. Burns and the heart she brings to Holland each day. During National School Counseling Week—and all year long—we celebrate and thank her for the positive impact she has on our students and our community!

We want to take a moment to thank our incredible crossing guards for their dedication and hard work in keeping our students safe every day. Their commitment ensures that our school community can cross the streets safely and with confidence. On Crossing Guard Appreciation Day, let’s show our gratitude by giving them a wave, a smile, or a heartfelt “thank you.” Your safety is their priority, and we are so lucky to have them as part of our school family!

Crossing Guard Appreciation Day | Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization, FL

We are excited to announce that several Holland Hornets have earned a regional bid to the Brevard Public Schools STEM Fair! This honor highlights their hard work, curiosity, and dedication to scientific inquiry.

Please help us congratulate our outstanding student scientists:

Blake Betzel
Vanessa Perreira
Levi McRae
Wyatt Smithson

Mia Fudela

Lucy Therrian

Riley Therrian

Asher Noke

We are incredibly proud of our students and look forward to cheering them on at the Intracoastal Regional STEM Fair on February 6 at the Melbourne Square Mall.

This February, we're diving into the season of love and kindness with some heartwarming projects that help foster inclusion and spread positivity throughout our school. Here’s a look at what’s coming up:

‘No One Eats Alone’ – A School Classic!

We’re excited to celebrate kindness with one of our favorite annual traditions: No One Eats Alone! On Friday, February 13th, the day before Valentine's Day, every student will receive half of a heart with a number on it. The goal is to find another student in your grade who has the matching number, and the two of you will eat lunch together. This is a wonderful way to make sure no one is sitting alone and to help students connect with new friends. It’s a fun and simple way to promote kindness and inclusion, and we’re excited to see everyone working together!

‘The Kindness Box’ – Recognizing Acts of Kindness
Our second project is The Kindness Box. This project gives everyone a chance to recognize the kind things others do. If someone helps you or does something nice, write it down and drop it in the box outside the cafeteria. Every Friday, members of the WBEE News Crew will announce the names of people who have been recognized for their kindness. This is a great way to celebrate the thoughtful actions happening around us, and a reminder that even small acts of kindness deserve recognition!

‘Affirmations Around the School’ – Positive Messages Everywhere
In our third project, Affirmations Around the School, members of the National Elementary Honor Society (NEHS) will be cutting out mini paper hearts with positive affirmations and hanging them in the hallways. These messages will surprise and delight students, giving them an extra boost of positivity throughout the school day. It’s like a scavenger hunt for compliments! The goal is to make everyone feel great about themselves and brighten up the school with uplifting words.

‘Wednesdays We Wear Pink’ – A Colorful Show of Kindness
Finally, we’re introducing Wednesdays We Wear Pink, a special event where everyone wears pink, red, or white on the Wednesday before Valentine’s Day to spread kindness and unity throughout the school. It’s a fun way to show our school spirit, and we encourage all students and staff to join in! If you forget to wear these colors, no worries—teachers will have pins to hand out to make sure everyone can participate. It’s all about feeling included and celebrating the kindness in the air.

We hope these projects bring lots of smiles and help make February a month full of connection, kindness, and love for everyone in our school community!

February 15 is School Resource Officer Appreciation Day, and here at Holland Elementary, we are proud to recognize and celebrate our very own Corporal Matthew Parker, affectionately known here at Holland as Officer Matt!

Each day, Officer Matt brings a calm, steady presence to our campus. Whether he’s greeting students with a smile in the morning, helping families in the car loop, or building positive relationships across classrooms, he shows an unwavering commitment to keeping our school safe and welcoming for everyone. His kindness, approachability, and genuine care for our students make a meaningful difference in our school community.

Beyond safety, Officer Matt is an important part of our students’ daily lives—answering questions, offering encouragement, and serving as a positive role model. His dedication helps create a school environment where students feel protected, supported, and ready to learn.

We’re excited to announce that Who We Play For (WWPF) will conduct free ECG (electrocardiogram) heart screenings at our school on February 17, 2026. A consent form has already been sent to all 6th grade families through FOCUS during January.

To learn more about this painless, non-invasive heart test, WWPF has an informational video filmed at Edgewood Jr./Sr. High School that can be viewed in advance at: Who We Play For ECG: Prescreening Video for Youth - YouTube. The ECG takes about five minutes and will be read by expert pediatric cardiologists and electrophysiologists. Parents will receive their child’s results via email or phone call within two weeks of the screening. This is an important step in ensuring our students’ health and well-being, and we encourage all 6th grade families to participate!

We wanted to share a brief update regarding our music program. The music teacher we previously announced will no longer be joining our school, and the position remains open at this time. We are actively continuing our search and are grateful for your patience and understanding as we work to find the right candidate for our community. Thank you, as always, for your continued support.

We are looking for volunteers for Field Day on Friday, March 20, 2026 (the Friday before Spring Break). If you are available at any time during the day, please volunteer to help ensure our students have a safe and exciting day of outdoor play

Please click the link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094BA4AF2DAAFFC07-61724133-field

Grab your popcorn and get ready for a morning of family fun! We're excited to invite everyone to our Movie Day at Satellite Cinemas on Saturday, April 11th at 10:00 am. It’s a perfect opportunity to relax and enjoy a great film with friends and family. If interested, click here to help us get a head count!

Being on time is vital for success in a student’s life and is not only a matter of formality. It fosters academic success, self-discipline, time management abilities, and the personal development of students. Students that embrace punctuality form habits that will benefit them in the future. If children are to fully benefit from the many learning opportunities, regular school attendance is vital. A student who is 10 minutes late every day will miss 30 hours of instruction during the year, a significant loss in teachable moments that you can’t get back.

As a reminder, if your child arrives after 8:00 am, he/she must be escorted by parent/guardian into the office and signed in. For safety reasons, students may not be dropped off to enter the office unaccompanied by their parent.

Please see below for important reminders from the BPS Code of Student Conduct pertaining to Dress Code.

• ​​​​​​​Students must wear shoes that are safe and appropriate for the learning environment, including recess, PE, CTE, and labs. (Crocs are not appropriate for grades K-6).
• Inappropriate footwear includes, but not limited to, roller skates, skate shoes, and slippers.

We are asking that students not wear pajama pants and/or slippers to school unless it is a designated pajama day.

For safety reasons, students should never walk unsupervised in our parking areas. During arrival, if you are parking to drop off your child, please walk them to the cross walk and wait with them until a staff member safely brings them across the car loop. Student safety is our utmost priority, and it is unsafe for students to walk behind/between cars unsupervised.

Thank you for your cooperation!

Our recent Glow Party was a glowing success! 🎉✨ We loved celebrating the students who showed growth on the FAST PM2 assessment, and wow—did they earn it.

The room was lit with neon colors, music, and smiles as students enjoyed a fun-filled celebration alongside their friends. More importantly, the glow represented something even brighter: their hard work, perseverance, and commitment to learning. These students set goals, stayed focused, and made meaningful progress—and it truly showed.

We are incredibly proud of each student who was recognized. Growth doesn’t happen overnight, and their achievements are a testament to determination, resilience, and a positive mindset. 💫

Congratulations to our Hardworking Hornets! We can’t wait to see how they continue to grow and glow throughout the rest of the year.

Thank you for helping us celebrate our recent Literacy Week! It was an awesome week, and we want to thank our AMAZING Literacy Coach, Ms. Rice, and all the generous Holland Volunteers who supported our week-long activities as well as the awesome Literacy Night we had on Thursday!

We look forward to building students' literacy skills all year long. Continue to encourage your child to read at home every night! 💖

Our students recently showcased their incredible talent at the local Melbourne Mall Art Show! From colorful paintings to works done with other media, each piece displayed creativity and hard work. The event was a wonderful opportunity for students to share their art with the community and gain confidence in their abilities. We are so proud of their accomplishments and look forward to more exciting opportunities to support our young artists in the future!

Our artists for the show were:

Kindergarten – Reagan Hawkins, Delia Kirschner

1st-Brynn Perez, Valentin Cerdan

2nd – Landon Roark, Shane Dugger

3rd – Myron Gilpin, Malana Martingano

4th – Copen Burkett, Ember Brown

5th – Adam Garcia, Charlie Moody

6th – Zoe Waite, James Jackson

Special thanks to our awesome Art Teacher, Mrs. Griffin!

Congratulations, Oliver Guy, Holland's Spelling Bee Champion, and all our Spelling Bee competitors. Congratulations also to our runner-up, Joe Hertel! Oliver will go on to represent Holland in the Regional Spelling Bee! Good luck, Oliver!

Congratulations to all of our competitors who represented their classes in the bee. They are all expert spellers and did an outstanding job.

Spelling Bee Contestants:

Leo Slater

Joe Hertel

Oliver Guy

Xavier West

Liana Covington

Grace Willis

Tucker Regas

Piper Madden

Parker Wise

Alex Roe

Quinn Tracy

CJ Lau

Sammy Goodwin

Terry Stepan

Ceci Jesse

Brayden Lundy

Astrid O'Brien

Greg Lopez

As we continue on our academic journey this school year, we want to encourage you to partner with us in helping your child reach their full potential. At school, we are working hard to help all students grow, but your support at home is crucial in fostering a positive and productive learning environment.

Here are some simple ways you can help your child reach their academic goals:

1. Set a consistent routine: A regular schedule for homework, reading, and bedtime helps children stay focused and ready to learn each day.
2. Encourage a growth mindset: Remind your child that learning is a journey. Celebrate their efforts, not just the outcomes, and encourage them to keep going even when things get challenging.
3. Communicate with teachers: Stay in touch with your child’s teachers to understand their progress and areas where they might need extra help. Working together ensures we provide the best support.
4. Create a positive learning space: Set up a quiet, distraction-free space for studying and reading. This shows your child that learning is a priority.
5. Celebrate achievements, big and small: Recognizing milestones and academic successes—whether big or small—motivates children to continue their hard work.

The attachment below will take you to our Parent Resources Flyer that contains links for several FREE academic support sites to include Varsity Tutors, BPS ELA and Math sites, and more! The following links will take you to the BPS reading and math family pages:

Reading At-Home Resources

Math At-Home Resources

When we all work together—teachers, parents, and students—we create an environment where everyone can succeed. Thank you for being such an important part of your child’s educational journey!

Dear Families,

February is the month of love, and at Holland, we’re falling in love with reading! 📚❤️ Thank you to our amazing families for all of your support and participation during Literacy Week. Literacy Night was a wonderful success, and students loved exploring the fun, engaging literacy activities throughout the school.

We were also thrilled to welcome Author and Illustrator Jonathan Miller for a special visit! Grades K–5 enjoyed a lively read-aloud and came prepared with thoughtful questions that made the experience even more meaningful. We also truly enjoyed having Satellite High’s Future Educators of America students visit our campus as guest readers during Literacy Week. Our students loved sharing stories with them!

To keep the love of reading going at home, try a few simple activities: enjoy a family read-aloud night, create a cozy reading corner, or let your child write and illustrate their own mini-book. Thank you for helping us grow lifelong readers, one page at a time!

Happy Reading,

Ms. Rice, Holland Literacy Coach

The following students were recognized for demonstrating the greatest amount of our January Character Trait, Integrity! Students were nominated by each teacher for being a role model for choosing to do the right thing in their classrooms.

Kindergarten

Kylah Steininger - Bonomo

Kaiel Chandler - Terry

Cora Heer - Weatherspoon

First Grade

Silesla Parker - Breder

Logan Simons - Knox

Addison Slosser - McDonald

Second Grade

Gabriel Langan - Culbreth

Chloe Winkeleer - Grover

Mason Grover - Hering

Camila Resendiz - Keegan

Third Grade

Maverick Hamper - Brohel

Lina Hering - Hodge

Kaylee Robinson - Williams

Fourth Grade

Esme Vega - Demarco

Chloe Irwin - Jones

Ayanna Hollowell - Larson

Matthew Sinicrope - Wirta

Fifth Grade

Penny Filosa - Christensen

River Derbish - Flores

Jack Hadder - Lane

Sixth Grade

Elizabeth Juetten - Corrado

Brayden Lundy - Cirino

Jamie Bischoff - Wiebusch

As required by the Florida Department of Education, we are notifying you that Jose Perez is currently teaching Gifted outside of his field of certification. He is fully certified by the State of Florida and is currently working to become certified in this out-of-field assignment area. This notification is a Department of Education requirement for the State of Florida. Be assured that the Brevard County Public School District is dedicated to serving every student with excellence as the standard.

Yearbooks are on sale now for pre-order for $21.00! Help your student preserve their memories in a cherished book!

Go to Buytheyearbook.com and search for our school or use the code: 1168288.

6th Grade Families! Limited quantities of Recognition Ads available. Ads must be purchased and designed online by March 1st.

1/8 Page - $5

1/4 Page - $10

Holland Sixth Grade Families,

Please see below for 2026-2027 enrollment information from our secondary feeder schools:

DeLaura Middle School and Satellite High School are both open for enrollment for the 2026-27 school year! This means students can enjoy their middle school experience at DeLaura and seamlessly transition to high school right next door.

Both schools are A-rated and ranked among the top in the state!

If you're not zoned for DeLaura and/or Satellite High, be sure to apply for the ELO (Educational Location Option). The ELO application window has closed but will open again May 1st for the waitlist.

Both schools are excited to welcome new and returning families to our Scottie and Scorpion communities!

Log in to FOCUS and complete your Education Location Option!

Thanks to the contributions of local businesses this month:

• Texas Roadhouse
• Domino's Satellite Beach
• Starbucks Eau Gallie
• Lisa Lantrip

If you would like us to display a birthday wish for your child's birthday on our marquee, please submit your request and payment through FOCUS pay. For $10.00, the birthday wish will be displayed from 7:00 am until 5:00 pm on the student's birthday. We must receive your request at least (3) days prior to the birthday date.

Step 1: Provide Information

https://forms.office.com/r/yRTy03Qrye

Step 2: FOCUS Pay

https://brevardk12.focusschoolsoftware.com/focus/auth/index.php?action=login&locale=en_US&online_app=N&return_to_login_page=1&type=

Please call 321-773-7591 for assistance. All proceeds will benefit our school! Thank you for supporting your Hornets!

Don't forget our wonderful cafeteria team can help with treats!

See link for options: 24-25 Classroom Party Flyer & Order Form.pdf

Have questions? Email our Cafeteria Manager at Decormier.Teresa@Brevardschools.org

Thank you for joining us for our Hornet Hive Lunch Date. Please have your IDs ready. You are welcome to bring lunch or purchase lunch from our cafeteria (adult prices: $3.90). Please see time lunch time slots. (Teacher times vary.) signupgenius.com

We love when parents join their children for lunch—it’s a special time! If you plan to eat with your child, please remember to bring cash to pay for your meal. Unfortunately, we’re unable to charge your child’s lunch account for additional meals, including yours. Also, only legal guardians are permitted to join their children for lunch.

Thank you for understanding and helping us keep our lunch procedures running smoothly!