5min Friday: 10.2.26

Hansen Elementary is now recognized as a US Chess Scholastic Affiliate! Chess club starts this coming Tuesday after school in the Library. Our Chess 'Coach' will has contacted families on to receive confirmation emails to offer spots in the club. You can still fill out the chess club google form if your student is interested, in case a spot opens up.

There will be a Friday lunchtime chess club option! If your student does not have a ride in order to participate in the after school club, they can still participate! We will have a Friday chess club during lunch!

We are looking for multiple parents/caregivers/grandparents/community members who would like to come and hang out with some really cool HAWKS a few times per month. Please contact Amanda Hughes or Principal Jones if you would like to volunteer. 

Hansen photo day is Friday, Oct. 9. Picture order forms were sent home in the black Friday Folder. If you have not received an order form, please contact your student's teacher or come to the main office to pick up an extra. 

Many students choose to bring their lunch from home. This is a fine option. If your student brings lunch from home, please pack items that they can eat without needing any kind of heating up/microwave or adding hot water. We do not have a student microwave for use. Please pack items that they can eat directly out of their lunch box. A great option, if your student wants warm food (such as spaghetti or mac-n-cheese) is to heat it well at home and send it in a thermos container. 

Hansen Elementary School (like all schools in OSD) is a closed campus during school hours. This means that, in order to be on campus during school hours, visitors and volunteers must check in at the main office to get a visitor badge. (We welcome families and community members as visitors and volunteers ANYTIME!). This includes our fields and playgrounds, both large and small. Many of our classes will use either the large or small playgrounds up until the very the end of the school day. We ask that there are not any other adults or kids on or near the playground areas during school hours (8am-3pm; Mon.-Fri.) Thank you for helping keep our campus safe and allowing teachers and students the space to fully engage in their full learning day. 

At Hansen, we ask that only water be the drink consumed in the classrooms. This is due to spills on the carpet that create really sticky messes that can't be fully cleaned until the custodian is able to shampoo carpets over break times. 

Students are always welcome to have other types of drinks, such as juices, gatorades, or capri suns in the cafeteria at lunch time. 

At Hansen, we love to celebrate kids! When students have birthdays, we want to honor their requests. If students want their class to sing "Happy Birthday," teachers will honor that. 

We ask that families and care givers do not send birthday treats/cupcakes/cookies/candy for birthday celebrations. One reason for this is because of how many students have various allergies in classrooms, and it can be hard to feel left out of celebrations. Instead of food, classrooms will celebrate birthdays by allowing the birthday student to choose an activity to do together as a class. Oftentimes classes will play a class game, have free time, or go to an extra recess as a class to celebrate a student's birthday. We have found that celebrating kids with these relationally-driven activities really builds friendships and positive community within our classrooms. 

Please only send birthday party invitations to school if the entire class is invited to the party. If your student is only inviting a few friends, please make those arrangements outside of school.  

Please don't hesitate to reach out anytime you have a question or concern. I am more than happy to engage in conversation via email, phone, or by making an appointment to meet in person.