Hancock Elementary School

PETER RABBIT & BENJAMIN BUNNY Our elementary students were treated to a delightful performance of “Peter Rabbit” and “Benjamin Bunny” by Ms. Milk’s class! The students created their own puppets and sets, bringing these classic tales to life with expression, enthusiasm, and creativity. What a wonderful showcase of teamwork, storytelling, and imagination! Great job, everyone!

HAPPY EASTER & ENJOY YOUR SPRING BREAK! Hancock Central School wishes all our students, staff, and families a happy, healthy, and safe Easter filled with joy and relaxation! You’ve earned a well-deserved break—Spring Recess runs from Thursday, April 17 through Monday, April 28. We’ll see everyone back in class on Tuesday, April 29 refreshed and ready to finish the school year strong! Enjoy the time off and take care!

EASTER EGG-CITEMENT AT HCS! Today’s Easter Egg Hunt was a blast! Despite the chilly weather, our students had a fantastic time searching for eggs, collecting goodies, and even getting a visit from the Easter Bunny! A huge thank you to our amazing Student Council for organizing such a fun event, and to all the staff members who donated and contributed to the treats hidden inside the eggs. Your support made this a truly special day for our students! Smiles, laughter, and a whole lot of eggs—what more could we ask for?

READING CHALLENGE CELEBRATION Today, students celebrated their reading challenge win at the movies!! The students were welcomed warmly by Bridgewater Community Members. They allowed us to use their theater at no charge and watch the student voted movie…. Incredibles 2! Frito Lay donated chips and Bridgewater members made delicious popcorn and coffee for teachers! The students had a blast and were so well behaved and showed good manners. What a great way to end our week !!

READING CHALLENGE WINNERS, BIRTHDAYS AND GOLD SLIPS We celebrated several birthdays, selected gold slip winners and honored our reading challenge winners at yesterday's Morning Program! Happiest of birthdays go out to Ella Dufton, Liah Chapman and Madeline Davis! We hope each of you had a wonderful birthday! Our gold slip winners were selected, congratulations to Natalia Tarbox and Cayson Barnhart! Natalia and Cayson are pictured with their prizes. We also honored our reading challenge winners, who are pictured below. The top 3 readers from every grade were selected, an excellent job to you all! Mrs. Prescott’s class tallied the most minutes as a class, at 19,351 minutes! Mia Cotza read the most minutes in the school, tallying 6,862 minutes!! As a whole, our elementary students out read our teachers by a score of 53,616 minutes vs 46,606 minutes. GREAT work!!

STUDENTS OF THE WEEK We celebrated our students of the week for the past 2 weeks at yesterday's Morning Program. Congratulations to Carsyn DaBrescia-McGraw and Neven Brkaric on being selected as students of the week! Carsyn was chosen by Ms. Kellam, while Neven was chosen by Mrs. Noyd. Both were chosen because they work hard & try their best in class, are considerate and kind to their teachers and classmates. Excellent job to the both of you!!

ALL ABOARD THE TITANIC! Our 3rd graders did an amazing job presenting their Titanic projects with Ms. Williams at yesterday’s Morning Program! Each student shared interesting facts about the history of the Titanic and proudly displayed the models of the ship they created for the rest of the elementary school to see. Their creativity, hard work, and confidence truly shined! Way to go, 3rd grade—we are so proud of you!

SPRING VACATION INFORMATION We hope you all have a happy and healthy spring recess! Spring recess will begin this Thursday, April 17th, through Monday, April 28th. Students will return on Tuesday, April 29th. Also, there will be NO extended day this Wednesday, April 16th. Thank you!

IN THE SPIRIT!! We have some more spirit week pictures to share with you, today was 'Jersey vs Jersey Shore' day! Thank you to all of our students and staff that participated this week, way to show off your school spirit!!

KEEPING UP THE SPIRIT Today is 'Country vs Country Club' day during our Spring Spirit Week, see some pictures of our students and staff below! Way to keep up the school spirit, everyone! Tomorrow is 'Jersey vs Jersey Shore' day!

TEACHER-STUDENT SWAP PICS! Bravo to our students and staff for continuing the spring spirit for teacher-student swap today! Take a look at the photos below, nice job, everyone!

ELEMENTARY LITERACY NIGHT CANCELED Please note that the Elementary Literacy Night originally scheduled for Tuesday, April 15th has been canceled. We appreciate your understanding and support, and we look forward to future opportunities to celebrate reading and learning together.

UPK-KINDERGARTEN LEARN ABOUT THE WATER CYCLE Our UPK and Kindergarten boys and girls had a fun and educational time exploring the theme “April Showers Bring May Flowers!” They read The Little Raindrop, decorated cookies to look like rain clouds, and learned all about the water cycle. What a sweet and splashy way to welcome spring!

SPRING SPIRIT WEEK Get ready, Wildcats—Spring Spirit Week kicks off next week! Show your school spirit and join the fun by dressing up each day. Monday is Pajama Day, roll out of bed and come to school in your coziest PJs! Let’s make this a fun and spirited week—can’t wait to see all the creative outfits!

ALL SCHOOL PLAY – DAYTIME PERFORMANCE A big thank you to our HCS students for being such a respectful and supportive audience as the cast of Wildcat Katie Brown performed for the school earlier today! Your encouragement meant the world to our performers. Here’s a sneak peek at some moments from the show to get you excited for tonight’s public performance! Wildcat Katie Brown - Tonight at 7:00 p.m. - MS-HS Auditorium We can't wait to see you there for an evening of laughter, talent, and Wildcat pride!

Important Update: School Vacation Days Added Due to Unused Snow Days Greetings Wildcat Families! We hope this message finds you well. As a result of unused snow days this school year, we are pleased to inform you that additional vacation days have been added to the school calendar. The following changes will take effect: Spring Recess will now begin on Thursday, April 17th and continue through Monday, April 28th. Memorial Day Weekend Break will be extended to include Friday, May 23rd through Monday, May 26th. These adjustments provide an opportunity for students and staff to enjoy a longer break this spring and early summer. We hope this will be a welcomed change for all! Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need further clarification. Thank you for your continued support!

First Graders Make Their First Wildcat Buck Purchases! Exciting news from our elementary classrooms—our first-grade students recently made their very first purchases using Wildcat Bucks! These young Wildcats have been working hard, showing positive behavior, and saving up their bucks to earn fun classroom rewards! Wildcat Bucks are part of a positive behavior incentive program in the elementary school. Bucks are earned similarly to gold slips, but with a special twist—students can save them up and always have the opportunity to “purchase” rewards in their classroom. The more positive behavior they show, the more bucks they earn! It’s a fun and effective way to encourage great behavior while also teaching the value of saving for something special. Way to go, first graders—we're so proud of you!

HAPPY NATIONAL SCHOOL LIBRARIAN DAY! Today we celebrate Mrs. Phyllis Sanford, our incredible Library Media Specialist who is in her 30th year of teaching! Mrs. Sanford splits her time between Deposit and Hancock Central Schools, and we are very fortunate to have her as part of our HCS family. Reflecting on her first year shared between both schools, Mrs. Sanford shared: "This is the first year we are shared with library between Deposit and Hancock, and I must say that Hancock Central School has been very welcoming throughout the entire process. It has been really nice." Beyond her work in the library, Mrs. Sanford wears many hats: • Advisor for the National Junior Honor Society in Deposit • Co-chair of the Author Visit at DCS Elementary • Scorekeeper for the DH Eagles boys’ and girls’ basketball teams Outside of school, she’s an avid bicyclist, a passionate gardener, and a proud grandmother of 10 grandchildren! She’s also never far from her very devoted German Shepherd. One of her favorite quotes is by C.S. Lewis: “Someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” Thank you, Mrs. Sanford, for inspiring our students, supporting our schools, and bringing such joy and dedication to everything you do. We appreciate you today and every day!

CBT TESTING NEXT WEEK Attention HCS families, Computer-Based Testing (CBT) for ELA begins next week! 3rd Grade ELA: April 8 & April 10 4th Grade ELA: April 9 & April 11 To help your child feel confident and prepared, check out these test-taking strategies from Stellar Teacher: Test-Taking Strategies for Elementary Students - https://www.stellarteacher.com/blog/test-taking-strategies-for-elementary/ This resource offers great tips on staying focused, managing time, and tackling tricky questions. A good night’s sleep, a healthy breakfast, and a positive mindset go a long way! Let's support our students as they show what they know!

NY THURSDAYS TOMORROW We have another tasty NY Thursdays lunch tomorrow at HCS! Philly cheese-steaks are on the menu, with roasted garlic potatoes, coleslaw, apple slices and milk. See the poster below for vendor information!