Welcome to
the 2015-2016 School Year
I am so
excited for the 2015-2016 school year! I
look forward to seeing all our students and families at enrollment this
Thursday, July 23rd from 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM. During enrollment, we will have information
regarding classroom supplies, Girl and Boy Scout info, bus info, Y-Care info,
etc. You will also be able to preorder
yearbooks. Fees for enrollment can be
paid online (see attachment from CityWatch for directions). The only way to pay for enrollment fees with
a credit card will be online. Otherwise,
cash and checks will be accepted at registration. Our PTO will have a table with some great
information on upcoming events including our Hound Dog Fun Run scheduled for
September 24th. Mark your
calendars for this great event. This will be a good opportunity to come
together as a Heritage Community and support our school. The PTO board members have been working hard
this summer to make this a wonderful experience for our students. I truly appreciate the work they have done
and will be doing to prepare for the Fun Run. I encourage all parents to
participate with us or help out however they can.
If you
haven’t seen it, there was a district article on our reading program at
Heritage. http://www.olatheschools.com/using-joomla/extensions/components/content-component/article-category-list/1946-spiderman-visits-heritage
Read at Home/Read at Heritage (RAH RAH) is an awesome program for our students to focus on reading. Students are asked to record their minutes and turn them in periodically throughout the school year. Each quarter, there are class parties for the participants who turn in their minutes. If they turn their minutes in all 4 quarters, they get to participate in the final RAH RAH party. We had 49% of our students take part in the program all 4 quarters of the school year last year. I would like to see at least 60% of Heritage students turning in minutes all four quarters this year. In order to reach this goal, we will need your help to encourage students as well as provide opportunities for students to read at home. We all know how important it is for our children to be reading and this program provides an incentive for students to join in the fun.
Read at Home/Read at Heritage (RAH RAH) is an awesome program for our students to focus on reading. Students are asked to record their minutes and turn them in periodically throughout the school year. Each quarter, there are class parties for the participants who turn in their minutes. If they turn their minutes in all 4 quarters, they get to participate in the final RAH RAH party. We had 49% of our students take part in the program all 4 quarters of the school year last year. I would like to see at least 60% of Heritage students turning in minutes all four quarters this year. In order to reach this goal, we will need your help to encourage students as well as provide opportunities for students to read at home. We all know how important it is for our children to be reading and this program provides an incentive for students to join in the fun.
I had the
opportunity to attend iPadpalooza this summer in Austin, TX. It was an amazing conference simply focused
on how to utilize iPads in classrooms. I
took away some great ideas from some incredible leaders in technology
throughout the country. Our teachers
will continue to be collaborating and exploring innovative ways to help students
create and learn using the iPads this year.
During the conference, I learned how valuable Twitter can be to
communicate what’s happening in our school.
I set up an account with the username @HTPrincipal. If you have a Twitter account, I encourage you
to follow me. If you don’t, you might
consider getting one (you just need an email address) so you can see and hear
about the great things going on at Heritage.
Last year, I
asked all families, students and staff to answer 5 questions regarding what we
want our school to be. I have compiled
all these answers to produce a “Hound Dog 2020 Vision” for Heritage. This will be a focus for our school for the
next 5 years to help define who we are and what we want to achieve. I look forward to sharing this vision
throughout the first few weeks of the school year.
Finally, I'd like to mention our change in format for Sneak-a-Peek and Back to School
Night. We are combining these two events
this year. On Monday, August 10th
starting at 5:30 PM, we will have our Sneak-a-Peek where students may bring in
their school supplies and meet their teacher.
Immediately following Sneak-a-Peek at 6:00, we will have our first
session of Back to School Night. The
session will be repeated at 6:30 to accommodate families with multiple
teachers. During this time, classroom
teachers will go over some important information for families. Students are welcome to stay for this, but I
do ask that they remain with their parents for the presentations.
If you have
any questions, please feel free to contact me through email: smcfarlandht@olatheschools.org.
I look forward to seeing everyone at enrollment to kick-off a great school year
at Heritage!
Sincerely,
Scott
McFarland
Principal
Principal
