Science Fun Day

 

Hello Everyone, 

 

We are so excited to invite you back to Quest for our annual Science Fun Day (SFD)!  This year SFD will be held on June 3rd.   We really rely on parents, the community, teachers, and our high school students to make this day a success so your participation is very appreciated.

 

Attached is a Google Form for you to fill out for your presentation.  If you know of anyone else that would be interested in participating please pass along our information.  If you have any questions don't hesitate to reach out.  Again, thank you for volunteering your time and we look forward to seeing you in June!

 

Thank you,

Cathy Lippincott and Paige Langswager 

 

clippincott@hilton.k12.ny.us 

plangswager@hilton.k12.ny.us 

 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeF6rSmuyIOEZp_EZUm60wljtbYgRS-mX3Y8Fsw3nb8rH_GRA/viewform?usp=sf_link

Principal Update

 QUEST Families,

It is hard to believe that spring is here and we are about to head into April break. We hope you and your family have a restful break filled with plenty of time together as a family. 

QUEST Office Support

QUEST has two staff members that have stepped into new roles: 

• Ms. Neu is an administrative intern that will be working closely with me for the next month and a half. As student issues arise, Ms. Neu will be actively involved in supporting our students. Prior to starting as an intern at QUEST, Ms. Neu was a classroom teacher at Village Elementary, and prior to that a classroom teacher at QUEST. Welcome back to QUEST, Ms. Neu. 
• Mr. Mike has been part of QUEST for the past year and a half, serving as a lunch monitor here at QUEST. Most recently he shifted into the role of building aide, where he is supporting student needs alongside the main office. During the lunch periods he continues to serve as a lunch monitor as well. 

A Shift in Spanish

Mrs. Kingdollar, the QUEST LOTE teacher, will be finishing the year at the high school. Due to her transition, we will have Ms. Bianca Marascio finishing out the year with us. We look forward to Mrs. Kingdollar rejoining our school in the fall, but until then please join me in making Ms. Marascio feel right at home. 

Lunch @ QUEST

QUEST is now shifting back to eating in the cafeteria. Each class will have the same lunch time, but lunches will now be eaten in the cafeteria. 

Placement

QUEST has started its placement process! We appreciate all the energy and effort that the staff puts into this process. The goal is always balanced classrooms, and because of this goal we do not accept parent requests for specific teachers. We plan on mailing placement lists out in June, with a moving up day schedule for June 17th. 

End of the year events will be here before we know it, and these events always serve as a time to celebrate all we are as a school community. We look forward to coming together as a school community, and finishing this year on a positive note. Thanks for your continued support, and thanks for sending us awesome learners. 

Yours in Education,

Derek Warren

QUEST Principal 

Our Corner of the World

 

Level Updates

 

K: 

The Kindergarten team is wrapping up our Wants and Needs planner this week.  Your kids should be able to tell you the difference between a need and a want and identify different wants and needs in their own lives.  We have had some great discussions about scarcity, as well, as we read books and watched videos about other places in the world where it may be difficult to meet ones needs.  For example, we all need water to survive, but many people in the world do not have access to clean water and their only source of water may be miles away!  We learned about how people around the world and even in our own community are showing empathy and taking action to help.    

When we come back from Spring Break, we look forward to starting our new planner, Living Things.  We have an opportunity to be worm scouts as we observe live worms in our classrooms and we’ll be venturing out to observe nature at the nearby creek.   This planner fits in perfectly with our nonfiction writing unit, where we will be writing informational pieces about some of our favorite things, including our favorite animals!  We can’t wait to share our learning with you!

Have a safe and enjoyable break! 

Primary: 

Spring is finally here! We are so excited to have a bunch of new units to work on.  In writing, our students are working hard on writing narrative stories AND opinion pieces.  One way you can support this work is ask your child how they feel about things and discuss why they feel that way.  For example, ask how dinner was and follow it up with asking why they feel that way. Have them give you their reasons for liking or disliking.  Also, ask what was their favorite part?   The more practice students have supporting opinions with evidence the easier the writing of those opinions will be! 

In math, both older and younger friends are working on using different forms of measurement tools.  Older friends are measuring with an actual ruler and younger friends are starting to collect, organize and read data. 

The last new unit is our planner!  The primary students will be starting "What an impact."  We will be discovering how living things are interdependent and different ways we can make the world a healthier place.  This is perfect timing with Earth Day this month. 

We are so happy the sun is coming out.  Please make sure your children get a lot of time outside playing, but also get some time to settle down with a good book!

Elementary: 

Our elementary students continue to amaze us!  Our IB Planner entitled Powering Through the Fair is in full swing in our classroom as students explore science concepts related to energy.  In Powering thru the Fair, students take a virtual field trip to the NYS Fair to investigate the energy used there.  They follow a map to visit the roller coaster, ball toss, bumper cars, and more, all the while exploring ideas such as speed, collisions, and energy conversions.  As a final performance assessment, students will create exhibits to be displayed at the fair suggesting ideas for making it more eco-friendly.  During this time of the school year, many classrooms have also begun an opinion or argumentative writing unit.  Students read debates focused on a variety of topics and learn how to state their opinion and support their thinking with clearly stated reasons supported by evidence.  Its also testing time!  Both older and younger friends will be taking the New York State English Language Arts test as well as the NYS Mathematics test after spring break.  Our oldest friends will also be taking the NYS Science test in May and June. 

Intermediate: 

The final months of school are busy and exciting ones for intermediate students! 

We are wrapping up our Spatial Relationships planner. Students learned about many interesting aspects of our world, our solar system, and our universe. We investigated the reasons behind many patterns experienced in our daily lives including hours of daylight, shadows, the varying appearances of the moon and stars in our night sky. It was a fun and informative planner for sure!

Currently, our sixth graders are immersed in exhibition projects. They have created central ideas and lines of inquiry around topics that are near and dear to their hearts. Students are engaging in various experiences such as research, interviews, and actions around their exhibition projects. This year, students will be deciding on how they will present their learning. The week of May 16th will be Exhibition Sharing Week. 

While the sixth graders work through exhibition, our fifth graders are engaging in several interesting and meaningful learning experiences such as inquiry projects, biography work, novel studies, and coding.

Thank you for your continued support at home.

Reminder: QUEST 6th Grade Graduation will be held on Tuesday, June 21 at the Hilton High School. 

Student Council

 

Change of Date: The QUESTival will take place on Thursday, May 26^th from 5:00-6:30 PM.

 

If you are interested in running a booth, please contact Valerie McCormick (vmccormick@hilton.k12.ny.us) or Emily Tracey (etracey@hilton.k12.ny.us). Thank you!

PTSO

 

Happy EARLY Spring to you, QUEST Families!

 

I know we are all looking forward to relaxing and/or enjoying some time away over break!  

 

But for Now…. Take a look at some of the exciting things we have upon our return!! 

 

*SPRING APPAREL SALE! 

Order forms will be sent home after break- be on the lookout for that!  Orders can be placed easily on our online platform! 

 YEARBOOK:

Want to leave your child a message in the yearbook? Fill out this form: CLICK HERE 

* STAFF APPRECIATION WEEK- (May 2- 6)  

CLICK ON THE LINK TO SIGN UP TO HELP

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F054DA9AA2BAAFE3-teacher

 

***Please note that we will need many of these items in advance (w/o April 25-29) in order to be ready to serve our staff in a   timely manner.  

 

***Thank you in advance for your generosity!! 

 

* BOOK FAIR (the week of May 9-13th)

-We will run this event similarly to the fall book fair.  

-You will be able to visit the book Fair along with your child’s class at their scheduled time.  

-An additional email will be coming out with further details and an option for you to sign-up to attend.  Thank you for your support- we look forward to seeing you!  

 

The book fair will also be open on the evening of Family FUN NIGHT (Friday, May 13th)

 

* FAMILY FUN NIGHT (Friday, May 13, 2022) 5:00pm

We are pleased to announce that the cost of FFN will be fully covered by the PTSO this year.  Due to your incredible generosity during our fall fundraiser.  

**We ask that you PLEASE register for the event so we can properly plan your FUN-tastic evening! 

 

 

 

We still have open Chair positions for the 2022- 2023 School Year!! 

 

We are currently looking for a Secretary

 

 

Stay informed!!

Attached in the link below are the Meeting Minutes from this month’s PTSO Zoom Meeting.  

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cgoWUtE3Z-_mY8jHywxuyhCEpiJHgQuq1ZNSYXKHpao/edit?usp=sharing 

 

 

DO YOU HAVE IDEAS  and  SPECIAL SKILLS?!  We can use your help! 

 

JOIN US AT OUR NEXT MEETINGS !!!

 

May, 2, 2022 @ 7PM (ZOOM)

June 2, 2022 @ 4pm (In person- QUEST Auditorium)

 

 

Have a safe and happy break,   

 

Your QUEST PTSO 

From the Library

April is National Library Month and QUEST will resume its' annual bookmark contest that has not happened in the past two years.   The theme is “Connect with Your Library” and promotes the idea that libraries are places to connect to technology in addition to traditional print books. Libraries spark ideas due to the transformative knowledge that they hold!  

 

Students will be given a white cardstock bookmark and will submit a design for the contest using the theme and winners will be selected at each level to be used schoolwide as reprinted bookmarks for the rest of the year.  Digital and print submissions are accepted until April 29^th with winners announced May 2nd.

 

Stay engaged with our library by following us on Social Media:

 

QUEST Library Twitter:  https://twitter.com/sofwtwo1
QUEST Library Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Questlibrary