"It is only the farmer who faithfully plants seeds in the spring, who reaps a harvest in the autumn."
– B. C. Forbes
"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." – Margaret Atwood
5/1–5/4Staff Appreciation Week
Now is the time to show your appreciation for the dedicated people who help your children do and be their best every day! Feel free to send in notes or drawings from you and/or your child to show thanks to the staff for their hard work and commitment.
5/2Friends of Hill and Plain Volunteer Appreciation Day
2:15 p.m., Cafeteria
If you have lent a hand to help out in your child’s class or at PTO events, please come as the school celebrates YOU on this day!
5/7PTO Meeting
9:30, Room 20
Nominations and elections for the ’12–’13 PTO Board will be held at this meeting. All dues-paying members are eligible to vote, so please join us!
5/7, 5/14Bus Driver Appreciation Day/Breakfast
May 7th is the day we celebrate the wonderful people who keep our kids safe on the trips to and from school and on May 14th a breakfast will be held for our bus drivers at JPS. Be sure to express your thanks when you see them at the bus stop today!
5/243rd Grade Spring Concert
10:00 a.m., Gym
5/24Hill and Plain Health/Science/Art Fair
5:30–7:30 p.m.
HPS Science Enrichment Committee invites you to the "Health, Science, and Art Fair.” All students will have artwork on display, and we will have guests from the health and science fields to join us. Any New Milford family who wants to present a science project or science activity should fill out a registration form – all are welcome to participate. It is NOT a competition, but it will be a lot of fun, so mark your calendars! For more information or to volunteer for the Health/Science Fair, please contact Janet Taub (860-354-5339) or Kibby Ginn (860-354-4892), or email us at . For Art Fair questions or to volunteer, please contact Lori Federowicz (860-355-4559). We hope to see you there!
UPCOMING EVENTS…
6/4PTO Meeting, 9:30 a.m., Room 20
6/8Field Day (rain date 6/11)
6/14End of Year Outdoor Assembly, 2:00 (rain date 6/15)
6/14Big Brain Show
6/18Last Day of School
CHARACTER EDUCATIONThis month we focus our attention on COURAGE. Learning new material and trying new things takes courage. Our 3rd Grade visits Sarah Noble this month, and we are reminded that it takes a great deal of courage to go to a new school. For our younger students, it takes courage to start a new grade, with a new teacher, a new class, and new classmates. Please encourage your child to try new things and praise them when they do; it is a sign of good character.
THANKS TO VOLUNTEERS
The PTO has many volunteers to thank for their help.
Heather Meyer,Claire Zimmitti, Jen McSherry, Maureen Ciaglo, Samantha Christos, Heather Tietjen, Suzanne Rosenhagen, Liberty Andreotto, Denise Rivera, Maryann Avallone, Shannon O'Connor, Amy Gagnon
Thank you all! We greatly appreciate your help, and we couldn’t provide these programs for our students without you! If we forgot to include your name, please let us know so you can be included next month.
FUNDRAISER UPDATES:
Thanks for Michele Marano and Ms. Page for their hard work on our Kids’ Kreations fundraiser. We netted a $2500 profit!
Thanks to Mikki Harkin for running our annual Read-a-Thon, and to all the students who read over458hours and raisedovera record amount of $6000.Congratulations toMrs. Agati for her quick thinking and moving in musical chairsand to her class for winning this year’s pizza party! The runners up were Mrs. Nihan’s, Mrs. Kullgren, and Mrs. Mannion's classes, which won ice cream parties
YEARBOOKS
Don't forget to order your 2011–2012 HILL & PLAIN SCHOOL YEARBOOK for only $18 till 5/4, then the price goes up to $21. The yearbook is a great way to remember your child’s year and all the fun activities here at our school! Contact Mikki Harkin (860–210–0267, ). / BOX TOPS CLASSROOM WINNERS
Thanks to all who clip and send the box tops in. Congratulations to the following winning classes:
GRAND PRIZE/KG winner (pizza & ice cream party)
Mrs. Hahn’s class
Grade Winners (ice cream parties)
1st : Mrs. Gray’s class
2nd : Mrs.Molinaro’s class
3rd: Mr. Ryan’s class
Please continue to save Box Tops coupons throughout the summer; we will have another drive in the fall and a new contest next year. In addition to clipping the coupons, you can also do your shopping online at any of the more than 200 stores like Landsend.com and Oldnavy.com via the BoxTops Marketplace™ at You will earn up to 8% of each qualifying purchase for our school at no additional cost!
AUTHOR VISITS
Our thanks to Mrs.Nahley & Mrs. Freeman for all their hard work in bringing famous authors to visit the students.The students enjoyed entertaining performances by Helen Lester and Ryan SanAngelo. They are excited to meet David Adler on May 2nd. Thanks to the authors for showing us how some of our favorite characters came to be. This is the PTO’s single largest expenditure, and we hope your child enjoyed it!
UPCOMING PTO MEETING
Monday June 4, 2011
9:30 a.m., Room 20
This will be the last meeting of the ’11 –’12 year; please join us!
Everyone who attends PTO meetings must sign in at the desk in the front office and must wear a sticker name badge while in the school building.
NM PTO Town Wide Meeting – May 21,7:00 p.m., Sarah Noble Intermediate School
NM Board of Education Meeting – May 8, 7:30 p.m., Lillis Admin. Bldg. - Boardroom
Did you know you could watch the Board of Education meetings at ?
Channel 17 carries additional sources of information concerning New Milford Public Schools, including Hill & Plain School.