OFFICE HOURS

The office will be open during the summer as per the schedule below.  Please call (250) 832-7195 during these times if you would like to schedule an appointment to meet with Ms. Jodi Garries (New Principal). If you did not pick up your report card in June or you would just like to stop by and say “hi” please feel free to pop in as well.

SUMMER HOURS – Monday August 29 – Friday September 2 (8:00am – 2:30pm)

REGULAR HOURS BEGIN – Tuesday Sept 6 (7:30am – 3:00pm)

NEW REGISTRATIONS

New student registration will take place on Tuesday August 30st from 8:00am-2:30pm. Please bring the following documents with you when registering your child.

• Birth Certificate
• Care Card
• Immunization Record
• Proof of Residency (ie. a hydro bill, rental agreement etc. with your name and address on it)

If you cannot make it in to register during this time, please contact the school by phone at (250) 832-7195 or by email at hil@sd83.bc.ca.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES

Families do not need to go out and purchase school supplies for their children. The school has purchased school supplies for each classroom, and families are charged a School Supply Fee to cover the cost of the supplies used over the course of the year. In preparation for the first day, students will need to have a backpack and a clean pair of indoor runners (with non-marking soles). A School Supply Fee Letter will be sent home as part of a newsletter during the first week.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

The first day of school for Grade 1 – 5 students will be Wednesday, September 7. 

The office will be open on Tuesday September 6, however, there will be no school for students on this day.

When the Welcoming Bell rings at 8:09am on Wednesday September 7, returning students will line-up at the exterior door of last year’s classroomand new students will report to the office for an orientation. Students will spend the first day in their last year’s classrooms, so we can determine who has moved away and who has recently registered.  This will be a full day for students so please make sure they come with a snack, lunch, and indoor shoes.  Students will be dismissed at 2:10pm.

Grade 1-5 parents should look for an email on the evening of Wednesday September 7. If we can finalize our class placements on Wednesday September 7, the email you receive will contain information about your child’s new teacher. If we are not able to finalize our class placements on Wednesday September 7, Grade 1-5 students should report to last year’s classroom again on Thursday September 8.

Kindergarten students will begin their Gradual Entry on Thursday, September 8.  Information about Kindergarten Gradual Entry was sent home in June at our Kindergarten Orientation event. There will also be a follow-up email sent to parents during the first week of September.

LINK: Hillcrest Newsletter – June 2022

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Dear Hillcrest Families,                                                                                                                                   

Thank you for another fantastic school year and for sharing your children with us! We truly appreciate the opportunity to build memories, have fun, and learn with your incredible children. It was a pleasure to read our report cards last week as it was evident that all our students have worked extremely hard this year and have come so far with their learning.

The newsletter above contains some important information about end of year items and school start-up for Sept 2022. Please note, the first day of school next year for Grade 1-5 students will be on Wednesday Sept 7. Also, our daily bell schedule will be slightly different next year. The school day will begin at 8:13am and will finish at 2:10pm.  Families with students in Kindergarten should refer to the gradual entry schedule they received at our K-Orientation in planning for the first two weeks.

On a personal note, it has been an absolute honour to work in such an amazing school and community. Our students have such kind hearts and always come to school happy and ready to learn. Our parents are always so supportive and genuinely care about how their children are doing at school. Our staff care deeply for their students, are extremely skilled educators, and have a true passion for learning. I have learnt so much during my time at Hillcrest and I want to thank everyone for making my time at Hillcrest so memorable.

Finally, I would like to wish everyone a wonderful and safe summer filled with relaxation, fun, adventure, and lots of new memories with your family.

Sincerely,

Gord Ritchie

Principal – Hillcrest Elementary School

Every year we look back with pride at the opportunities we were able to provide our students. This would not be possible without the support of our countless parent volunteers and amazing Parents Advisory Council.

This year our PAC organized a wonderful Spring Carnival, a Plug and Play Community Walk, and countless fundraisers (ie. Apples, Purdy’s Chocolates, Winter Flowers, Spring Flowers, Track and Field Concession etc.). They also coordinated our breakfast program, hot lunch program, a free soup hot lunch made from scratch in our Multi-purpose room, and two very special staff appreciation lunches.

Our PAC provided financial support for our skating program, dance program, and swimming program. They also provided funds for each division to help offset the costs of fieldtrips.

In addition to providing financial support for the programs mentioned above, funds raised by our PAC were used to purchase new benches for our school grounds and seven new Soundfield systems for our classrooms. The Soundfield systems purchased have been an excellent addition to our classrooms as they provide an improved learning environment for all students.

Thank you to the hundreds of parents who were able to help as volunteers (ie. Skating, Spring Carnival, Swimming, Hillcrest Hustle, Field Trips, Hot Lunch, Breakfast Program, Fundraisers, etc.) so that we could provide the best possible learning experience for our students. And a special thank you to our amazing PAC Executive for the countless hours they put in behind the scenes this year.

President:  Morgan Wilson     

Vice- President: Joanna Hamilton

Secretary:  Kayla Vanniewenhuizen

Treasurer: Chantelle Burgess

Breakfast Club Coordinator: Kayla Vanniewenhuizen

Hot Lunch Coordinator: Kristy Chruikshank

DPAC:  Fiona Flemming

We are so lucky to have such supportive families in our school community. Thank you for keeping the tradition alive!

There was lots of fun being had at our Hillcrest Fun Day this year! It was great opportunity for students to meet some new friends as their multi-age team rotated through the 10 different stations their teachers had set up for them. Thank you to our grade 5 leadership students who did a fantastic job of leading their teams through each of the activities!

Hillcrest students were rocking out last Thursday during our annual Battle of the Bands. Thank you students from Div 1 – “Bryan’s Toes and the 69 Dancing Monkeys”, Div 2 – “Tyssen’s Tacos”, and Div 3 – “Butter Rolls” for an outstanding show! All three bands did an amazing job and should be super proud of their performances and the work they put in to perfecting their sets. Thank you also to Mr. Roberts for providing so many of our students with opportunities this year to work as a team, challenge themselves, and step out of their confort zones during our musical performances.

If you missed the show or would just like to watch it again, please click on the links below. There is also a link to the special Teacher performance that kicked off the show.

LINK: Div 1 – “Bryan’s Toes and the 69 Dancing Monkeys”

LINK: Div 2 – “Tyssen’s Tacos”

LINK: Div 3 – “Butter Rolls”

LINK: Teacher Band – “Full Moons”

Congratulations to all of our students who qualified for and participated in the District Track and Field Meet on June 7. Our team did very well with lots of personal best performances and some surprise finishes! Thank you to Mrs. Menzies for taking on the huge task of coaching and organizing all of our athletes to attend.

Our students had a blast swimming on each of their three Recreational Swim times this year. A huge thank you to all of our parents who volunteered to help in the pool with our grade K/1 classes. We couldn’t have done it without you!

There are only a few days remaining to pick up any items remaining in our Lost and Found before they are taken to the Thrift Store on Friday June 24. All items have been spread out for easy viewing in our main hallway between the office and the library. Please be sure to stop by and take a look if you are missing something.

On June 8^th and 9^th, Ardie Burnham, the children’s librarian from the Okanagan Regional Library, will be visiting Hillcrest to promote the public library’s Summer Reading Club. It’s a fun, engaging program to encourage kids to read throughout the summer. Information will be sent home with your child on Wednesday or Thursday. 

Also, throughout the week, I will be running a “Leave A Book, Take A Book” event.  Your child is invited to donate one or more gently used books from home. Then, your child may choose one or more used books to take home to keep. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Jennifer Reed

Teacher-Librarian

The biggest thank you to all the vendors, parents, students(past and present) and even grandparents who made our annual Spring Carnival a huge success! We couldn’t put these events on without the support of our wonderful Hillcrest community. A special thank you also goes out to all of our parents and past students who volunteered to help with set up, clean up, and/or running a station!

This type of event takes hours of planning and organization and could not have taken place without the hard work and dedication of our amazing PAC Executive at Hillcrest. Thank you to Morgan Wilson, Chantelle Burgess, Kayla Vannieuwenhuizen, Joanna Hamilton, Fiona Flemming and Kristy Chruikshank for all of the extra time and effort you put into making Hillcrest such a great place to learn and work.

If you won a raffle basket or raffle prize you will hear from a PAC member on Monday about pick up.

Thank you to the parents who helped with set-up, sales, and pack-up. We could not have run this fundraiser without you.

Thank you, as well, to everyone who supported the library and encouraged a love of reading by shopping at the book fair.

Happy reading!

Jennifer Reed

Teacher-Librarian