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

QUEST Yearbooks!

To Purchase & Customize Your Yearbook CLICK HERE

School Passcode:  1015487922804917

Price: $16.80

Deadline: April 23rd

Principal's Update

 QUEST Families,

Happy March! This month brings us the first day of spring, the setting ahead of our clocks, and a handful of hope that better weather is on the horizon. 

Portfolio Share

As we move deeper into the month, the school is knee-deep in portfolio shares. For those of you new to QUEST, portfolio share is a time when we come together to celebrate learning growth and to show evidence of student learning. Your child will also receive a report card this month; however, portfolio share is in addition to the report card as it provides each child the chance to be agents of their own learning.

 As a school community, we believe that it is our job to push students to own their learning; that is, we want our students to leave here knowing who they are as a learner, how they learn, and to have an active voice in that process—essentially, we want ownership. Events like three-way goal setting conferences and student-led portfolio shares highlight this belief in action, and it puts the student in the driver seat. Thank you in advance for being part of your child’s learning, but for also pushing them to be an active part of the process.

One School, One Book

We hope you and your family are enjoying the book selection for this year--I know we are in the Warren household. Thanks to the over 150 families that have made the commitment to read it as a family, and the many of you that put your name in for the pizza delivery contest. Congratulations to the Szczepanik family on being the winner of this year's contest. 

Office Transition

Mrs. Ward, the incredible Principal's Secretary for QUEST, has accepted a position back in her home state of Georgia. She is excited for this new adventure and to get back to the area whereshe grew up, but we will miss her immensely at QUEST. She was all-in for our kids. Thank you, Mrs. Ward!

Joining us will be Mrs. Paula Merrill. Paula will begin after the break, and currently works in our Learning Support Services office. We look forward to welcoming her to the QUEST team.

Please enjoy the rest of the blog. As always, thanks for being our partner on this journey.

Sincerely,

Derek Warren

Principal

QUEST PTSO Updates

 

Hello QUEST Family!

 We cannot believe it has officially been a whole year since our schedules, learning, and sense of normalcy have been turned upside down with this pandemic.  We wanted to take a moment and say “Congratulations”.  Yes, you read that right.  We wanted to congratulate you on a job (very difficulty and maybe even sometimes stressfully) well done.  Our Administration, Staff, Teachers, Students and Parents have risen to each challenge and made the best of an uncomfortable and scary situation.  This is what community is all about.  The PTSO is glad that we have had the support of the community to lean into through this difficult season.

With that said, we know there have also been many sad and challenging times and the kids have missed out on a lot.  We are hopeful that a new normal and a return of our beloved school-wide events may be on the horizon!

We will NOT have a March meeting but will return to our virtual zoom in April to discuss the remainder of the school year and the budget for next year.

Thank you for your commitment to the QUEST community.

Be well and care for one another,

PTSO

Library News

 QUEST Author Visit March 24th:

Kate Messner will be our visiting author this year and joining each level on Zoom Wednesday, March 24th.  Kate is an award winning author whose titles include both fiction and nonfiction, award winning picture books, easy readers, chapter book series and novels for young readers.  We have waited several years to get on her calendar, so we are very excited! The top 15 readers and fundraisers from the Read A Thon will join a Q and A  Zoom session with Kate and have won a free signed book! 

Wishtree Flipgrid:

Make sure your QUEST students are logging in and flipgridding every day!  It is easy and fun! 

Login: https://flipgrid.com/fdc2d61e

 

QUEST Spirit Week

 

Health Office Updates

 

Student Council News

 

Calling all Creative QUESTIES!

 

Student Council is holding a coloring contest based on our OSOB “Wishtree” by Katherine Applegate. If you would like to participate, please draw and color an animal that could live in the wishtree from the book. You could also print out a picture of an animal and color it in. Be Creative!

 

Hand in your drawing to be displayed starting March 8-March 26th to Ms. McCormick or Mrs. Tracey!