7:40 - 7:55: All students should arrive and enter through the main doors. Breakfast is served. Students may not enter the building before this time.

8:00 am: School begins

2:35 pm: Dismissal for all walkers

2:40 pm: Dismissal for bussers

NOVEMBER
1 - NO SCHOOL - Staff Development
4 - PTA Meeting
8 - Family Movie Night
11-15 - School Psychologist Appreciation Week
28 & 29 - Fall Break

DECEMBER
1 - 10 - 10 Days of Giving Food Drive
2 - NO SCHOOL - Staff Development
2 - PTA Meeting
23 - Jan 1 - NO SCHOOL - Winter Break

10 Days of Giving

Pinecrest was the big winner last year- let's make it two in a row!

Educational Benefits

Did you know "Educational Benefits" are more than Free and Reduced Lunches? By qualifying for benefits, families can access WIC Benefits, the Metro Transit Assistance Program, reduced internet programs (FCC Affordable Connectivity Program), and scholarships or discounts on camps, athletic programs and child care.

All families are encouraged to apply as these benefits also help Hastings schools qualify for education funding, discounts, grants and meal programs that benefit all students.

Link to apply: https://frapps.horizonsolana.com/HASS01

Kindergarten Visit to Carpenter Nature Center

4th grade visit to Orchestra Hall

Join the Pinecrest PTA! Meetings are held the first Monday of each month at 7:15 pm in the Pinecrest library. New members are always welcome!

Visit our Pinecrest Elementary Community Facebook Page for more information!

Join us at Dugarel's for a meat raffle fundraiser every Sunday in November from 4-5. We need volunteers and people to participate at the raffles every Sunday.

Family movie night is coming up on November 8th at 6pm. The movie will be voted on by the students on November 5th. Every vote counts! Please check the lost and found while you're here. Everything left after the movie night will be donated.

Our Read-A-Thon was a wild success! With over 200 students participating, we were able to raise $14,928.25 for this year's field trips. Thank you donors! Readers- KEEP READING!

Music Notes

We have had a great start to the year as we have reviewed the music concepts we learned last year and have begun to work on some new music concepts with everyone.

Our students in Kindergarten are discovering their voices and many of the different sounds they can make with their voices, as well as matching pitch. We are focusing on the concept of steady beat and using our bodies, instruments, and icons to demonstrate that we have mastered this concept.

Grade 1 has reviewed high and low, fast and slow, loud and soft, the steady beat, and our different types of voices as well as the different types of instruments. We just discovered that musicians use their own type of written language and are learning how to read and write tah, and ti-ti! (These symbols are known as the quarter note and eighth note.)

Grade 2 has reviewed the concept of the steady beat, along with the strong and weak beats. In addition, we have been working on our rhythmic and melodic reading. We have read “tah”, “rest” and “ti-ti” as well as sol and mi. We just learned a new house on music street, “Grandma Do”.

Grades 3 and 4 are reviewing canon echoes, steady beat and reading the rhythms of “tah, ti-ti, rest, half note, half rest, and tika-tika (sixteenth notes). We have been reviewing our melodic concepts, specifically the pentatonic scale and doing quite a bit of part-work. Be sure to ask your student what the word “ostinato” and “canon” means. We have already sung in 2 parts using both of these types of harmony.

Pinecrest Choir rehearsals occur every Tuesday at 7:15am in the Pinecrest Music Room. Our next big performance is on Saturday, November 30 at 4:45pm in downtown Hastings for the Holiday Hoopla!

We are looking forward to a great year of music-making!

Fine Arts Happenings Around the District

November 7-8: Middle School Fall Musical Suessical the Musical Jr. 7pm HMS Auditorium
November 12: 7th & 8th Grade Band Concert 7pm HMS Auditorium
November 15-16: High School Fall Musical Chicago 7pm HHS Auditorium
November 21: 5th Grade Strings Concert 6:30 HMS Auditorium
November 21: 6th-8th Grade Strings Concert 7:30 HMS Auditorium

Art Corner

It has been amazing to see all of the talented artists hard at work here at Pinecrest Elementary during this past month! Artwork is beginning to decorate different areas around the school from the hallways to the library and office showcasing a wide range of talents! Through kindergarten to fourth grade I have seen such an incredible improvement in the abilities in the art room. Art isn’t just all about the final product but rather the process of making! It has been fun exploring new materials and types of art!

Fourth grade students found out how science and art go hand in hand! They learned all about the science behind how we see colors! They applied this knowledge in their “Color Chemistry” project as they learned and practiced how they can mix the primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) to create all of the other colors (both secondary and tertiary colors)!! As Halloween is nearby the fourth grade artists have begun looking at Tim Burton’s signature art style as seen in his movie characters! They are currently drawing self-portraits inspired by his spooky style! 

In third grade students learned about the difference between geometric and organic shapes in art! We thought about how pumpkins aren’t limited to being one shape or size which makes it an organic shape! Third grade artists also got to experiment with tempera paint and color mixing as they painted organic shapes to create their pumpkins hanging on a vine! 

Second grade artists learned about Yayoi Kusama, a famous Japanese artist who is well known for including polka dots into all of her work! Students learned about how Kusama works in a variety of mediums, including both two and three dimensional! The students are working on creating three dimensional pumpkins out of paper, and of course adding polka dots to really bring her style to life!

In first grade students have been exploring new materials in art! They learned about symmetry and what it means for an artwork to be symmetrical. In this project students were introduced to chalk as they created their “Symmetry Monkeys”. First grade artists also got to learn about watercolor and practice using it to add color to their projects. They practiced following directions by doing a step-by-step guided drawing of the pigeon from the familiar Pigeon book series.

Kindergarten artists have been learning about different ways we see shapes in art! They have been working on a couple different projects practicing drawing and cutting out shapes! From collaging cut-out paper into their “Birdies on a Wire” and “Black Cat in a Pumpkin” projects to drawing using only triangles in their “Triangle Tiger” project kindergarten students have really begun to master working with shapes in art!

The students here at Pinecrest continue to amaze me with their kind behaviors, helpful hands, and creative minds! I continue to look forward to working with each and every artist every single day!

Dress for the Weather

Mother Nature has been slightly confused, but fall has finally arrived! Students spend twenty minutes outside for lunchtime recess. Even if the high is 60 degrees, it can still be in the upper 40's or low 50's when our students start heading outside. Please make sure your student has a light jacket or sweatshirt to wear outside. When winter arrives, winter clothing will be required.

Vision & Hearing Screenings

This year we are conducting routine vision and hearing screenings for Kindergarten, 2nd, and 4th grade students. Screenings will be completed during the school day in October. You will be notified by phone and/or email if your child has any concerns with vision or hearing after the screenings are completed.

Illness and Keeping Your Child Home

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

Reporting Absences

If your student will not be at school, please call and report the reason for their absence at 651-480-7281. If your student is ill, please report their symptoms and/or any diagnosed communicable condition like chicken pox, strep throat, cough and fever, influenza, or pink eye. It is recommended that you follow the MDH and CDC exclusion guidelines for communicable diseases.

If you have further questions, please reach out to our health office at 651-480-7286.

Early Pickup and End of Day Transportation Changes

In order to minimize interruptions to the classroom, students should not be picked up early unless it is an emergency. On those occasions when it is necessary to pick your child up during the school day, please go to the school office, with your ID, to sign your child out. If someone other than the parent/guardian is picking up, the office must be notified in advance and their ID also is required. The office personnel will contact your child’s teacher to dismiss them and meet you in the office.

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.

Teachers will not release students unless the office gives prior approval. This practice has been established to help protect your child.

Your child's safety is of prime importance to us. There are a few procedure guidelines that help us maintain a secured building and limit the number of distractions to our classrooms. Our building is designed to have a single entry point during the school day. Please keep the following in mind:

• Always check in at the office whenever you are at school.

• We have a secure entrance, please ring the doorbell and state your reason for visiting.

• When delivering things for your child (ex. snow gear), please drop them off at the office. We will deliver the item or call your child down to the office.

Bring Your ID

Please bring your valid driver's license with you when you are checking out your student or visiting our school.

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. Please mark your calendars for the Special Education Advisory Council (SEAC) 2024-2025 meeting dates!

• February 24th - time and location to be announced

• April 2025 - All Dakota County SEAC - Date, time, and location TBD

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!

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