7:40 - 7:55: All students should arrive and enter through the main doors. Breakfast is served. Students may not enter the building until the bell rings at 7:40.
8:00 am: School begins
2:35 pm: Dismissal for all walkers
2:40 pm: Dismissal for bussers
Reminder:
There is NO SCHOOL
May 26
School Day
Dates to Remember
May
1 - Fun Run
5-9 - Teacher Appreciation Week
5 - Elementary Choir Spring Extravaganza
7- Teacher Appreciation Chalk Night
12 - PTA Meeting
15 - Bogo Book Fair, Playground Treats, and PTA Elections
16 - Grades 2-4 Music Informances
26 - No School - Memorial Day
June
2 - PTA Meeting
5 - Carnival
5 - Last Day of School (full day)
News
Yearbooks
If you missed the deadline for ordering a 24-25 yearbook, there are a limited number of extra yearbooks available. Click here to place your order!
End of Year Carnival
Volunteers needed! Please click below to sign up!
Looking Ahead to the 2025-26 School Year
2025-26 District School Calendar is available on the district webpage.
Each family will receive a communication in August via Infinite Campus Parent Portal and email containing important information regarding the beginning of the school year.
Suggested classroom supply lists for the fall will be available on our school website in June.
Daycare Transportation Form - this must be filled out annually if your student will be picked up and/or dropped off at a daycare within our Pinecrest attendance boundaries. Please submit to main office by June 6th.
For our last month this year we are looking at improving designs. The IMPROVE Badge uses all the steps of the STEM design process. So get ready to Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, and Improve with Mrs. Hewitt by watching this video. If you complete the activity found in the video, make sure to let Mrs, Hewitt know by clicking here so your student(s) can earn their IMPROVE Badge. Badges will be delivered the last week of school to teachers to hand out to their students. Thanks for adding a little STEAM to your homes this year.
New to STEAM Badges: What does this mean? Each month from now until the end of the school year watch our newsletter for our STEAM Badge Update. Each month your student(s) will have the chance to work with Mrs. Hewitt on a STEAM project at home. Through her video she will read a story and talk about a STEAM project to try at home. When students finish their project, use this link to earn this month’s badge. Each month’s entry earns them another badge. At the end of the year students will receive a certificate with all their badges.
Miss a previous month?
Check out January by clicking here!
Bounce back to February by clicking here.
Revisit March’s badge by clicking here.
Miss out on April? Click here.
Reminders
Warm Weather and Flip Flops
As the nice weather continues, our classes will be taking advantage of it by spending more time learning outdoors—often for 20 minutes or more. To help your child stay comfortable and protected, please send them with any sun protection items you think they might need, like hats, sunglasses, or sunscreen. If they’ll be bringing sunscreen, we kindly ask that you show them how to apply it on their own, and remind them not to share it with classmates. You’re also welcome to apply a base layer of sunscreen at home before school. Thanks for helping us keep everyone safe in the sun!
While flip-flops can be fun and colorful, they’re not the best choice for school. They don’t offer much support or protection, and our school nurse often sees injuries like cuts, stubbed toes, broken toenails, and even twisted ankles from kids running or playing in them. To help keep everyone safe and comfortable throughout the day, please make sure your child wears sturdy, closed-toe shoes to school. Thanks so much for your help!
2025-26 Kindergarten Enrollment
Kindergarten enrollment is open. Please enroll your incoming Kindergartner as soon as possible. Click HERE to get started.
If your student has not completed Early Childhood Screening, call 651-480-7381 or click HERE to get this scheduled.
A New Way to Report Absences
Introverts rejoice! You no longer have to call anyone on the phone to report your child's absence! If it is a full-day absence, you are now able to report it via your parent portal. Please see the instructions below and head here for more information.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMITTING AN ABSENCE REQUEST
Log into your Campus Parent Portal Account (via a computer or using the mobile app)
Select MORE and then ABSENCE REQUEST (or look under "Shortcuts" for the Absence Request link)
Fill in the required information including:
Mark the student(s) who will be absent
Select the reason the student will be absent from the Excuse dropdown list
Select "Full Day Absence" as the Absence type.
Select the date(s) the student will be absent.
Use the comments field to provide additional details on the absence
Click on the Submit button to save and submit your request
Health Services
Immunizations
In order to attend school, students must show that they're in compliance with Minnesota School Immunization Requirements (see the Minnesota Department of Health Link below for more Information). Hastings School's immunization policy states that students who are not up to date on their immunizations will not be allowed to start school until they provide the school with documentation that they have received the required immunizations.
Parents/guardians may check their student's immunization status by logging on to the parent portal in Infinite Campus. To see the immunization records, click on the HEALTH tab. If your student's immunization status says "current for grade" in ALL immunizations required by law, then the student is up to date and ready for the start of school. If your student is not current, they will need to get the required immunizations to attend the first day of school. Yearly physicals with their healthcare provider are strongly encouraged for students to have optimal health.
Parents/guardians may choose to decline immunizations for their students by filing a legal exemption with the school. Student Immunization Form
If you have further questions, please reach out to our building nurse: Carly Grems, cgrems@isd200.org
Keep Sick Kids Home
If your child is ill, please keep them home from school and school-based activities. People who are ill spread the disease to others! The Center for Disease Control recommends that people who are sick stay home for at least 24 hours after the fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. The fever should be gone WITHOUT the use of fever-reducing medicine.
A student should not come to school (and may be sent home from school) if they have or have had:
a fever of 100 degrees F or more in the past 24 hours
vomiting or diarrhea in the past 24 hours
an undiagnosed skin rash
If you have further questions, please reach out to Carly in our health office at 651-480-7286.
PTA
The final Pinecrest PTA meetings this school year will be May 12th and June 2nd at 7:15pm in the Pinecrest Media Center.
New members are always welcome!
Visit our Pinecrest Elementary Community Facebook Page for more information about upcoming events!
Teacher Appreciation Week
Teacher Appreciation Week is May 5-9. To celebrate our teachers, we will be hosting a chalk night on May 7th from 4-6pm. The PTA will provide the chalk for students to write messages to their teachers on the sidewalks around the school.
Also, thank you cards will be coming home with students to be filled out for teachers, and then students can bring them back to school and drop them in the mailbox by the office.
On May 15th we will be having a BOGO Book Fair after school until 7:30PM. There will be playground treats from 6-7:30 PM and PTA elections during that time. Stop by and stock up on summer reading material!
Music and Art
Music Notes
I can’t believe that we are already coming to the end of another school year—and what a wonderful year of music making it has been. May is a very busy month as we get to share many of the musical things we have learned this year.
First, our Pinecrest choir is joining the Kennedy and McAulliffe choirs in their final spring extravaganza on Monday, May 5 at 6:30pm in the Middle School Auditorium. This district wide performance will surely be entertaining.
Kindergarten and First Grade did an amazing job with their music informances in April! Thanks to all of you that were able to attend!! Kindergarten is currently working on the difference between the beat and the words as they prepare for their rhythmic concepts that they will learn next year. Grade 1 is improvising using the rhythms that they have learned this year and is writing their new house “little sister la” on the staff.
Grades 2-4 are busy preparing for their music demonstrations that will be held on Friday, May 16. We will end the year with demonstrations of many of the things we have learned this year in music. We hope you can join us for our grade level music demonstrations on Friday, May 16! We will be sharing our music skills in the Pinecrest Gym during our scheduled specialist time.
8:20am Grade 4
9:20am Grade 2
10:20am Grade 3
Everyone is welcome to join us on Friday, May 16 for our Music Demonstrations!
Hope to see you all there!
Have a magical musical summer!
School Safety
Early Pickup and End of Day Transportation Changes
When there is a change to your child’s normal dismissal plan, please contact the main office at 651-480-7280 by 1:35 pm if possible so we are able to get a message to your child and their teacher before the end of the day.
Bring Your ID
Please bring your valid driver's license with you and check in at the front office when you are picking up your student early or visiting our school.
Bulletin Board
Special Education Advisory Council
Parents of students with special needs are invited to join Hastings' Special Education Staff in discussing how to support one another and providing input on district programming.
For more information about SEAC or if you are interested in becoming a member, please contact Jill Petersen at 651-480-7008 or jpetersen@isd200.org
Order your Spirit Wear! Can be customized to our school!
Quick Links
Hastings Public Schools
The Hastings School District consists of approximately 4,300 students. Please click on the links below to email the building principal or site leader. We've also included the phone numbers to the main offices of each of our district's sites:
Tilden Community Center 651-480-7670
Kennedy Elementary (K-4) 651-480-7221
McAuliffe Elementary (K-4) 651-480-7390
Pinecrest Elementary (K-4) 651-480-7280
Hastings Middle School(5-8) 651-480-7060
Hastings High School (9-12) 651-480-7470
Hastings Alternative Learning Center 651-480-7690
*If you need any assistance in translating this newsletter, contact us at kgorr@isd200.org.
Website: www.hastings.k12.mn.us
Location: 1000 11th Street West, Hastings, MN, USA
Phone: 651-480-7000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hastingspublicschools