Hillside Elementary School PTA
Each year the PTA spends a great deal of time raising funds. Because you support these efforts and these funds affect your children, we would like to share with you some of the places that your money has gone this year. The PTA works hard to provide educational programs and activities for the children and families of the Hillside community. We also try to answer the needs of the faculty so that they may enhance the curriculum. Here are just a few of those things.
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The PTA
sponsors Cultural Arts assembly programs in the school. This year we spent a generous amount to
bring in 6 assemblies. The following is an explanation of the programs
sponsored by the Cultural Arts Committee of the PTA:
·
The Mask Messenger, was an engaging mix of monologue, physical
comedy, and theatre. The performance
explored the artistic, cultural, and psychological use of masks throughout
history.
·
Caryn Lin, in From Bach to Rock,
used the electric violin to teach children about the technology of modern music
and its solid roots in classical repertoire, performing everything from Bach to
rock in the process.
·
The Dirtmeister, an interactive science show, featuring a
wide range of "Dirt Cheap Science" experiments that kids can actually
try at home. The program featured about 20 different demonstrations dealing
with forces, Newton's Laws of Motion and the interaction of sound and light
energy.
·
Cliff Sunflower, using honeybees as his focus, reached all
levels of students and adults with concepts, facts and ideas about the Ecology
of the natural world. Dancin’ With the Honeybees used
storytelling, poetry, prose, puppetry, music, dance and participatory
theater. The follow-up “Bee Touch Me
Museum” lab program reinforced the concepts presented in the main assembly.
·
The Cashore Marionettes will visit in May
2005. Students will be amazed by some
of the most amazing marionettes they’ll ever see—animals and human characters
that appear impossibly lifelike. With musical
accompaniment, Joe Cashore, master puppeteer, uses his marionettes to tell
virtually wordless short stories.
·
Kit’s Kaboodle, an interactive theater, will visit in June
2005. This program combines history,
music, dance, period props, costume pieces, imagination and improvisation where
audience members – both teachers and students portray the various characters in
the show.
·
The PTA
sponsored an “Author in Residence” this year. Nonfiction author, Susan E.
Goodman visited with the children and ran workshops with them over a two-day
period. She also gave an informal talk in the evening for parents.
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The PTA has
spent several thousand dollars to purchase equipment and supplies that will
enhance the curriculum for our children in the form of gifts and grants. For
example, some of the gifts this year consisted of a new electronic keyboard for
our music teacher that can digitally record, a button maker for the school and
headphones for the Kindergarten class. (The digital cameras we gave each grade
level the year before have become an invaluable tool for the teachers.) Some of
the grants this year consisted of a sponsored outreach program from the
Montclair Museum of Art where trained docents give hands-on demonstrations from
their Native American collection and a variety of books and magazines for the
classrooms.
·
The PTA also
provides each classroom teacher and special (ie., art, gym, music, etc…) with
their own “Mini-Grant”. It allows each teacher to purchase items tailoring to
their own needs that help enhance their curriculum. Purchases range from books
and learning materials to creative arts and science supplies.
·
The PTA helps
bring Parent Education Programs to our community and speakers to our PTA
Meetings on occasion. This year’s town programs were:
·
Dan Kindlon, professor of child psychology at Harvard
University and the author of the national bestseller “Raising Cain”. This
program geared toward raising boys complemented last year’s program “Odd Girl
Out” which focused on girls.
·
Maurice Elias, professor of psychology at Rutgers
University and the author of “Emotionally Intelligent Parenting” spoke about
strategies for allowing our children to deal with their strong feelings and
impulsive actions in positive, learning oriented ways.
·
The PTA is
currently publishing their second annual Literary Magazine “Hillside Creates”
in which each child may submit original work if they wish to. The book is
published and distributed to each child free of charge.
·
The PTA
brings Art Appreciation into the classrooms. Children in each grade learn about
different artists through projects with the committee volunteers.
·
The PTA has
worked and continues to work in partnership with the teachers and school to
develop “Hillside Habitat”, a series of school gardens. It will complement the
school’s curriculum and become a teaching place for every grade level.
·
The PTA hosts
theme nights such as a Fall Family Night, an Election Night-Family Night (this
year was a 1950’s Sock Hop), and a Multicultural event. They provide
opportunities for all members of the Hillside community to gather for an
evening of FUN! These events are free
of charge to all Hillside families.
·
The PTA helps
the Media center celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday with “Read Across America”. This
year an actor who had just appeared in the musical “Seussical” was brought in
to do a short assembly for the children as the “Cat in the Hat”.
·
The PTA
helped the teachers kick off their school theme “Hillside Kids Have H.E.A.R.T.”
buy purchasing their kickoff book
“Enemy Pie” for each classroom and purchasing their H.E.A.R.T Mailbox.
·
The PTA
replaced a large piece of playground equipment with a new one.
·
The PTA
provides the Kindergarten-Prep Program in the school once per month. The
children participate in a variety of activities. In addition, they meet with different teachers each month and
become acclimated to the school and its surroundings. There is no charge to
parents for this program.
·
The PTA has
been able to purchase assignment books for all children in the third, fourth
and fifth grade classes and homework folders for children in the younger
grades.
·
The PTA
provides funding for the purchase of new books for the Media Center as well as
the teacher’s classroom libraries.
·
The PTA
purchases new indoor lunch toys each year for use by the children during inclement
weather.
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The PTA
organizes a variety of fun activities for the children such as Halloween
Hoopla, Holiday Gift Shop, Book Fair, Fun Time 1/2 day activities, Earth Day
activities and so much more.
·
The PTA
provides free healthy snacks at lunch during Nutrition Week in March.
·
The PTA gives
out scholarships to individual graduating 5th grader students. The
PTA also provides the 5th graders with yearbooks, upon graduation,
as well as a trip, a party and other goodies.
·
The PTA
provides a “Buzz Book” private directory to each family who joins the PTA.
·
In the
spring, the PTA runs “Hobby Hour”, a four-week after school program where
children can try new hobbies and activities for a nominal fee.
·
The PTA also
celebrates and thanks our teachers with a warm welcome back on their first day
back, a December Faculty Luncheon and a token of appreciation during Teacher
Appreciation Week.
There
are so many more things the PTA does for our children and Hillside School. If
you are new to our Hillside Family, please join us. It is a way to make a
difference and make lifelong friends. Please visit our website to find out more
about us. You can find us by visiting www.geocities.com/hillside_pta
or www.livingston.org, click the
school listings, choose Hillside School and then click on the PTA link.