Olathe Public Schools Foundation Award - Mrs. Robertson

The Educator Excellence (E²) Award recognizes those educators demonstrating teaching excellence in Olathe Public Schools. The program was established to honor educators who demonstrate the ability to meet the needs of their students, work with others in the educational environment, and bridge the gap to reach parents. The award includes a $500 unrestricted cash grant to the recipient.

The Foundation chooses up to two winners each month, August through May.

 This month, our own Mrs. Robertson, 2nd grade, won the award! 

Congratulations!!

Mr. McFarland News

Principal for a Day


Jacob W. was the winner of last year's drawing to be the Principal of Heritage for a Day.  He spent his morning delivering Fun Fair tickets to teachers, he ate lunch with the Students of the Week and helped supervise recess in the afternoon.  He came up with three extra rules for the day:
1. Everyone should wear something orange (his favorite color).
2. He wanted to make it a Double Caught Ya day.
3. He also gave students 15 minutes extra recess!


There will be another Principal of the Day drawing at tomorrow evening's Fun Fair along with several other amazing baskets.  I hope to see all our families at Heritage this Saturday between 4:00 and 7:00 for an amazing Fun Fair event!  Some of the Fun Fair events will be outside including our inflatables so please dress accordingly!  For those families that prepaid, your tickets will be available at Will Call.  Our entire Fun Fair will be on the lower level of the building this year.  The entrance will be on the back playground. 

Retirements


We have three Heritage teachers retiring at the end of the school year.  Susan Robertson, Derrell Kilber and Tom Harrington.  Both Susan and Derrell opened Heritage 28 years ago and will be missed greatly.  Tom has been at Heritage for the last 8 years serving as our band teacher.  It is hard to say goodbye to such wonderful people and staff members and we wish them all the best!


Staffing Changes


There will be several staffing changes for the 2016-2017 school year.  Jay Parsons will be taking over for Mr. K as our new P.E. teacher.  Jennifer Tygard will replace Mr. Parsons in third grade.  Jennifer student taught in third grade two years ago so we are excited to have her back at Heritage.  Kacey French will move from kindergarten to second grade to replace Mrs. Robertson's position.  First grade will lose a position and second grade will gain a position, so Michele Begor will be making the move from first to second grade. 


Class Placement


It's the time of year where we begin thinking about class placement for our students for the 2016-2017 school year.  There are many factors that go into placing students in specific classrooms.  Of those factors, parent input is always welcomed as we determine the best fit for our students.  If you would like to offer your input, we have placed a class placement form on our school's website or you can click on this link.  The link is located in the Spotlight section of our front page.  I will ask for the form to be returned to the Heritage office by May 13th.


Sincerely,
Scott McFarland
Principal

Updates April 1 - April 30, 2016

	Updates April 1-April 30
1-Apr	Special Chorus Rehearsal Mrs. Owen 8:00-8:25 AM
5-Apr	Art Club Mrs. Mitchell 3:45-4:30 PM
5-Apr	Reading Olympics 3rd Grade 3:45-4:30 PM
5-Apr	Regional Math Wings Havencroft 4:00-5:30 PM
6-Apr	Grill Day
6-Apr	Special Chorus Rehearsal Mrs. Owen 8:00-8:25 AM
6-Apr	Science Pioneers Union Station 8:50 AM- 2:45 PM
7-Apr	After School Study Club Creative Commons 3:40-4:30 PM
8-Apr	Special Chorus Rehearsal Mrs. Owen 8:00-8:25 AM
9-Apr	FUN FAIR  4:00-7:00 PM
Apr 11-22	Change Your Community
12-Apr	Art Club Mrs. Mitchell 3:45-4:30 PM
12-Apr	Reading Olympics 3rd Grade 3:45-4:30 PM
12-Apr	District Math Wings ONHS 4:00-5:30 PM
12-Apr	PTO Meeting Library 6:30-7:30 PM
13-Apr	Special Chorus Rehearsal Mrs. Owen 8:00-8:25 AM
13-Apr	Animal Talks 2nd Grade OSHS 9:50-11:00 AM
13-Apr	Reading Olympics 3rd Grade 3:45-4:30 PM
14-Apr	Animal Talks Pre-K AM OSHS 8:40-9:40 AM
14-Apr	Animal Talks Pre-K PM OSHS 1:40-2:45 PM
14-Apr	After School Study Club Creative Commons 3:40-4:30 PM
15-Apr	Professional Day NO STUDENTS
19-Apr	Reading Olympics 3rd Grade 3:45-4:30 PM
20-Apr	Special Chorus Rehearsal Mrs. Owen 8:00-8:25 AM
20-Apr	Nelson Art Museum 3rd Grade 9:50 AM-1:30 PM
20-Apr	Animal Talks 4th Grade OSHS 1:40-2:45 PM
21-Apr	2nd Grade Performance Emily's Eatery 9:00-9:30 AM
21-Apr	3rd Grade Fire Safety Creative Commons 1:00-2:00 PM
21-Apr	After School Study Club Creative Commons 3:40-4:30 PM
22-Apr	Midquarter Grades Go Home
22-Apr	Special Chorus Rehearsal Mrs. Owen 8:00-8:25 AM
22-Apr	AM/PM Kindergarten Eats Lunch 10:40 AM, 12:40 PM
22-Apr	Movie Night 3:45-6:00 PM
25-Apr	Kaleidoscope/Picnic Kindergarten 8:30-11:00 AM
25-Apr	Art Club Mrs. Mitchell 3:45-4:30 PM
26-Apr	Reading Olympics 3rd Grade 3:45-4:30 PM
27-Apr	Special Chorus Rehearsal Mrs. Owen 8:00-8:25 AM
27-Apr	Reading Olympics 3rd Grade 3:45-4:30 PM
27-Apr	Preschool Family Fun Night Creative Commons 5:00-8:00 PM
28-Apr	After School Study Club Creative Commons 3:40-4:30 PM
28-Apr	Curriculum Fair 6:30-8:00 PM
29-Apr	KC Zoo 4th Grade 8:45 AM-2:30 PM

Mr. McFarland News

Projects
We had several projects occur over spring break.  Outdoor tables were installed close to our playground for students to use throughout the day.  Two new tetherball poles were also installed along with some new asphalt.  I want to thank our PTO again for making this possible.  Funds were provided for these items from our Fun Run so we certainly have our community to thank for donating towards these wonderful projects.

Murals

In addition to the new outdoor projects, we had a few murals painted inside the school.  Buck Arnhold spent part of his spring break designing, drawing, and painting some new art work.  One of the paintings has a measuring stick beside Hercules so students can get the picture taken each year to see how much they have grown from year to year!

Assessments

Students in Grades 3-5 will continue taking the Kansas State Assessments beginning on April 5th.  See below for the schedule for family members to know when each test is scheduled.  Our students will take these on iPads again this year.

Drop Off

With so many clubs and activities occurring before school starts, we are having a congestion issue on certain mornings prior to 8:00.  If you arrive early and are waiting to drop your child off until the bell rings, please pull as far forward as possible so that students getting dropped off for clubs have access to the drop off curb.  We are also seeing a large number of students arriving before the 8:00 bell.  We do not have the ability to supervise students during this time so I encourage parents to wait until 8:00 so that we can make sure students remain safe at school.

I hope everyone enjoyed a relaxing and fun-filled spring break.  We are entering the 4th quarter as students return tomorrow, which is an exciting time of year.  The weather turns warmer, several field trips are taking place, and students (and some of the staff members) can feel the end of the year coming.  Thank you for all your support for the many activities occurring.  We have strong community support, which is one of the most important things in determining student success!  If you have questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Scott McFarland

Heritage Principal