Dear Families,

I hope everyone had a great weekend and an enjoyable Halloween for families who participate in those festivities. We have another busy week ahead with many schedule changes to the school schedule including no school on Election Day, a delayed opening and early dismissals. Please refer to the highlights and upcoming dates noted below.

Important Dismissal Manager Information

Please help us by ensuring that your dismissal manager plans are updated daily prior to the 1:00 p.m. cut off time. On an early dismissal day the cut off time is 10:00 a.m. Changes after that time cannot be guaranteed. Once the 1:00 p.m. time has passed, the dismissal organization begins.  Calls to the office with last minute changes necessitate interruption of teaching,  additional paperwork for the classroom teachers, and at times holding buses at dismissal to locate children who have dismissal plans that were not accurate.  We do understand that there are occasional unexpected emergencies or extenuating circumstances that need to be accommodated.  If this is the case, we kindly ask that you call the main office and speak to Ms. DiPierro. Ms. DiPierro will confirm with you if the change is possible and may ask for you to follow up with a confirmation email.  Emails to a classroom teacher or Ms. DiPierro alone cannot be used for dismissal changes because if a staff member is absent or not on email at that time, the message will not be received. 

In addition, if your dismissal plan indicates that your child is taking a different bus home for a playdate, please be sure to include in your dismissal manager instructions the bus number, full name of the friend and address of the friend they are riding with so that we can ensure this information is fully communicated to the bus driver.  As a reminder, please do not have more than two students ride home with your child for an activity or playdate. Many of our buses have full routes and buses cannot accommodate large groups of students on the routes. This is for student safety and capacity limits on buses. 

Conferences

Throughout this week we have our family/teacher conferences.  By now you should be signed up for a time to meet with your child's classroom teacher.  Please arrive to campus ahead of your allotted time to allow for parking and security sign in procedures.  Remember to bring a photo id to present to our security desk. 

Veterans Day

We are preparing for our annual Veterans Day recognition and education.  Be on the lookout for a small baggie attached to a letter that was sent home today for information about our Hurlbutt activities. We are fortunate to have school on Veterans Day when we recognize and learn about this important day.  

Parent Informational Session for Literacy

We are pleased to invite you to a parent & guardian literacy workshop, My Child is in Kindergarten, now what? Strategies to Support Literacy Growth Across Settings. The workshop will be held on November 12 from 9:15-10:30 a.m. in the South House Cafeteria. 

Reservations are needed and space is limited. Please note this session is specific to kindergarten.    Kindergarten Literacy workshop sign up link

We will hold a Literacy workshop for families with children in grades 1 and 2 on November 17.  That sign up form will be available in next week’s Friday email. 

Preschool Lottery Information

Hurlbutt Elementary School’s Early Learning Center (ELC) offers services for Weston’s preschool students with special education needs. Since there are no general education preschool classes in the school district, we have developed an integrated program to include peer models. The ELC is open to Weston Families only. The program runs five days a week, 8:30 a.m. - 1:15 p.m., with parents expected to provide transportation. To participate in the ELC, children must be 3 or 4 years old on or before September 1, 2026, and toilet-trained. The anticipated cost for the program is at least $8,277 and the final amount will be shared with families in the Spring of 2026.      

Applications for Hurlbutt Elementary School’s Early Learning Center (ELC) are now available on the Hurlbutt Elementary School website. To locate the application, click on the “Academics” tab, then “Preschool,” where you will find the link to the Preschool Application. You can also access the application directly at this link: ELC Application

We are accepting applications from October 21, 2025 through November 14, 2025.  If we receive more applications than available slots, a lottery will be conducted on November 18, 2025. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis after the lottery if additional spots remain open in the program.  Students who are currently enrolled in the 3’s class do not need to reapply for the 4’s class. Students currently in the 4’s class who are not age eligible for kindergarten next year do not need to reapply.  Students who are already in the program remain in the program until they are age eligible for kindergarten.  

An in-person informational Open House will be held on November 11 at 2:00 p.m. Please RSVP to alisonbrett@westonps.org if you are interested in attending.

Sincerely,

Laura Kaddis

Principal

Important Dates:

November 4: Election Day: No School for Teacher professional development day

November 5: Delayed Opening at 10:30 a.m. for parent conferences

November 6: Early dismissal at 12:35 p.m. for parent conferences

November 7: Early dismissal at 12:35 p.m. for parent conferences

November 12: Kindergarten Reading Workshop 9:15-10:30 a.m.

November 14: Grade 1 Field Trip

November 14: Deadline for HRRA Billboard Contest (see Week of October 19 Newsletter for details)

November 17: Grade 1 and 2 Reading Workshop 9:15-10:30 a.m.

November 26-28: School closed for Thanksgiving break