Principal Re-Opening Message

QUEST Families,

We are thrilled that our students will be able to receive live instruction five days a week at school--or in some cases remotely--starting next week. As I reflect on this past year, I am beyond grateful for your support. Our school community has demonstrated what a partnership looks like, and I am proud of the work that was done on behalf of our learners. Your efforts have been noticed and appreciated, as I know it was not always easy. Thank you! 

Re-Opening Need-to-Knows

Parent Drop-off: 

Students can be dropped off, using the parent drop-off loop, from 8:39-8:49 each morning. After 8:49, please drop your child off at the security desk. If you are waiting in line to drop your child off: 

• please walk around the loop and do not walk across the drop off loop. 
• please do not wait in line on West Avenue. Instead, form a line along the perimeter of the parking lot (along the black fence and the metal barn). 
• please wait to let your child off until you are next to do the building. 
• please be sure you let your child off on the side of the curb, not the side that may have traffic going around you.

Parent Pick-up: 

Parent pick-up will start at 3:15 each day. If we are able to get it to move efficiently and do not need as much time, we will move it back to 3:20, however, we will start with 3:15. You should arrive to pickup between 3:15-3:35. Some additional things to know: 

• please be sure you filled out the Google Survey if you are picking up your child each day. If you are not picking them up, please be sure you have been assigned a bus! Contact transportation if that is not the case. 
• please be sure to to have your tag visible in your window. This speeds up dismissal. If you need a tag, email questattendance@hilton.k12.ny.us. 
• security will be on site to help us with the traffic, however, just like the morning, please be sure to go around the perimeter of the parking lot (along the black fence and metal, rounded roof barn). This will help us avoid an over-congested parking lot. 
• please have your child enter your vehicle from the curb side of the road when they come out. 
• please be very careful and alert when pulling around another car. We've done great so far, but let's keep that up! 

                         When your vehicle is not in the parent loop, a line should begin at this black fence.

Assurance Check: 

Your child needs to have their green colored assurance card each day when entering the building. We have had an increase in students forgetting these, resulting in an increase in temperature checks. Please make sure you go through the daily health assurance check with your child each am, and then send them with this card each day. We have extra's in the office if more are needed. Please reach out if you need a new one!

In-School: 

As you heard from Dr. Kosiorek, or perhaps saw on the news, guidelines have been shifted by NYS from 6 feet to 3 feet for our elementary learners. Based on that, the following are some QUEST specifics: 

• Students will eat lunch in the classroom, however, whenever it is nice they will be eating outside. Students are to remain 6 feet apart during lunches, so we are looking at multiple ways of ensuring we can stick to these guidelines. Lunch staff will be working directly with the building principal on this. With that, each room has an assigned lunch monitor to support our students and monitor the protocol. 
• Some staff members are having students leave Chromebooks at school. This is to help alleviate all the back-and-forth of items. Your child's teacher will communicate out if that is the case. 
• Specials will be in the special area classrooms, however, when singing occurs in music we will use a location that allows for the six feet of social distancing. 
• We are looking at end of the year events, however, please keep in mind that in-person events with parents are still not feasible at this time. With that, we are committed to providing experiences for our learners that are meaningful, fun, yet safe. 

Re-opening specifics for the district can be found using this link.

As always, please do not hesitate to reach out should you have any specific questions that you are still waiting on answers for. Any transition brings with it excitement and a steady dose of nerves, but I am confident that our students and our staff will do great. Thank you for your continued support of QUEST!

WE are QUEST!

With respect,

Derek Warren

Principal 

Our Corner of the World

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Yearbook Update

 Dear QUEST Families, 

 We are now accepting special messages for the yearbook.  Please limit it to three special messages of 20 words maximum for each message through this google form.  If you need to use your student's gmail account to submit, you can do so.

 https://forms.gle/9m2pHdkHYgGjgjXP8

Level Updates

 Kindergarten Level Update:

The Kindergarten team has been busy learning about living things!  We’d like to thank the PTSO for purchasing caterpillars for our classrooms to extend our learning!  It’s amazing to see just how much our caterpillars have already grown in the 5 days since we received them and we are excited to continue watching them grow and change into beautiful butterflies. 

As you know, this is not only a time of transition for our caterpillars, but for QUEST students and teachers, as well.  The K teachers have been busy preparing for the return to five day instruction for our students to make the transition as smooth and safe as possible and we need your help.  Please make sure that you are sending your child in with a well-fitting mask on a daily basis.  In addition, your child should have at least 1 or 2 extra, clean masks in his/her backpack or locker at school in the event that a mask change is needed.  It also may be a good time to send a new change of clothing to keep here at school, as the kids have grown a lot since the beginning of the school year!  Lastly, all kindergarten students will be asked to return their Chromebooks to school for classroom use beginning April 19^th.  Because we will not be sending remote work home any longer, the Chromebooks will stay here at school.  For the remainder of the school year, we just ask that parents continue reading at home with their children every night. 

As always, we thank you for your continued partnership and support this school year!  

Primary Level Update:

 The Primary team would like to thank you, the parents, one more time for all your hard work during distance learning.  We know the primary students need a lot of support and we really appreciate everything you do to help your child grow. From teaching, to helping your child pack their bags, we cannot do it without you.  

 The Primary level has just completed our second unit of writing, nonfiction writing.  Students have learned how to write facts and different parts of nonfiction books.  Now we will be moving on to opinion writing.  Students will learn how to make a claim and follow it up with evidence.  Parents be ready, you may get some writing asking for a toy, pet, or vacation. 

 We also finished up our most recent planner and we will be moving onto "Sending messages," where we will be learning about light waves and sound waves. We are looking forward to a fun science unit full of hands-on experiments! 

Elementary Level Update:

The Elementary Team have been true inquirers while learning about how processes shape our Earth. In this planner, Earth’s Processes, they have been exploring and learning how patterns in rock formations and fossils show change. Students learn about natural processes such as weathering and erosion that shape the earth’s landscape, and the impact these natural processes have on humans.

Thank you to families for all your support and commitment to helping your child on their remote learning days, it could not have been done without you. We are excited to welcome our kids back five days a week and look forward to ending the year strong!

Intermediate Level Update:

The intermediate team is so excited to welcome students back to school full time. We have a lot of fun to be had over the next several weeks. Our grads, 6^th grade students, have completed their Merton Williams course selections and will participate in a tour of the middle school the week of May 10^th. This is an exciting transition for our oldest students, but they are ready!

We have recently wrapped up our latest unit of inquiry, The decisions we make influence the world we live in. We explored ecosystems and the interconnectedness between organisms and the environment. We are jumping into our newest inquiry unit: Human Beliefs and Perspectives Influence Change.

Lines of Inquiry:

·         ways perspectives influence conflict, peace and tolerance

• events of the past connect to present day conflicts

• world religions

I hope you are just as excited as we are to come back to school!

Special Area Update:

Many Special Areas will be going outside as the weather gets nicer.  Please send a towel for students to keep in their locker for these days.

Library Media Center: Students have been learning how to use Sora at the Elementary Level but it is available to all QUEST kids and across the district.   It has almost 10,000 digital copies of audio and digital books.  Books can be accessed from any device with a wifi connection.  Use this link to learn how to connect your QUEST student.  Add it to your phone for family listening in the car! 

You can also connect it to your Monroe County Library Card to access their collection as well!  
http://questrockstar.pbworks.com/w/page/133716039/Sora%20Instructions%202020-21

 

April Is Poetry Month:  Have your QUEST student add a poem to our Schoolwide Poetry  Padlet where poems can be shared with our school by clicking "add video" or typed!  It can be a favorite poem or a poem that your child writes!  https://padlet.com/sharney/3rsiwrjbxme373ch

Student Council Update

 Student Council Update from Liliana DiSalvo

In March, the Student Council held a coloring contest based on our One School One Book, Wishtree, by Katherine Applegate. Student drawings made for an adorable display in the hallway. We loved all the drawings, so it was really difficult to choose. But we are proud to announce that the winners of the Wishtree Coloring Contest are Larson Schuler, Lillie Jines, Dolly DePrez and Etta Radford. Thank you to everyone who participated in this year's coloring contest! Stay tuned for our next fun event!

From the district

April 6, 2021

 Dear Parents and Guardians:

I hope that you had a relaxing and enjoyable spring break. I know I sent you information regarding our return to five-day instruction before the break, but I want to update you on the work that the district has been doing since then to make our full reopening a reality for K-12 students.

As you know, our work during the pandemic has been a fluid process as we navigate the changing state and federal guidance. The New York State Dept. of Health (NYSDOH) has not yet adopted the new CDC guidelines; however we may receive word by the end of this week.

While we wait for more guidance from the NYSDOH, the district will meet NYS expectations by adding clear partitions between student desks allowing for three-foot distancing between students. The purchase of over 4,000 partitions from a local company was made possible by local, state and federal funding.

·         The district will open for full, five-day instruction for K-12 students on Monday, April 19.

·         School is closed on Thursday and Friday, April 15-16 allowing staff to prepare for this transition. There will be no school, remote or in-person, for students on these days.

All other protocols will remain the same when students return on April 19:

·         Students and staff must wear masks.

·         Staff must maintain six-foot distancing from students.

·         Students must have six-foot distancing while eating meals.

Please mark your calendars for this Thursday, April 8 at 6 p.m. for a Reopening Forum for Families where you may ask questions about our April 19 reopening. The Forum will be livestreamed on the Hilton CSD Youtube Channel. To submit questions prior to the Forum, please use this link. A Google Form for submitting questions during the Forum will be shared Thursday afternoon.

We are excited to be welcoming your children back full time for the final quarter of the 2020-21 school year. Thank you, once again, for your patience and commitment to the Hilton School District as we work together to educate our students for success academically, physically, emotionally, and socially.

Sincerely,

Casey Kosiorek, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools