Hancock Central School District

Thank You to Our School Lunch Heroes! This past Friday was School Lunch Hero Day, and we want to give a heartfelt THANK YOU to our amazing Food Service Team at Hancock Central School! From preparing nutritious meals to serving them with a smile, you make a difference in our students' lives every single day. Your hard work, care, and dedication do not go unnoticed—and we appreciate you more than words can express. As we continue to celebrate Staff Appreciation Week, we’re proud to recognize our food service staff as essential members of the HCS family. Thank you for keeping us fueled, supported, and smiling!

Celebrating Principal Durkot for Principal Appreciation Day and Staff Appreciation Week! This past Thursday was Principal Appreciation Day, and we want to give a huge THANK YOU to our very own Mr. Durkot for everything he does for our Elementary and Middle-High Schools here at Hancock Central School. His dedication, leadership, and unwavering support make a lasting impact on our students, staff, and school community every single day. As we kick off Staff Appreciation Week, we also extend our gratitude to all of our incredible teachers, aides, counselors, custodians, office staff, food service workers, and everyone who helps make HCS such a special place. We are truly grateful for each and every one of you! Thank you, Mr. Durkot, and thank you to our entire HCS team—you are appreciated more than words can say!

WELCOME BACK FROM SPRING BREAK! We kicked off our return from spring break with a joyful Morning Program that left everyone smiling! A big thank you to Patty Lacey and Tish Drumm for visiting our elementary students and sharing their newest book, Scotty the Snowman. Patty (author) and Tish (illustrator) delighted students with the story of Scotty and his forest friends, asking readers to consider: "Are we really that different, or more alike than we think?" The hand-drawn illustrations and thoughtful message made for a memorable experience. This visit was extra special as it marked the duo’s second appearance at Hancock—last year, they shared their first collaboration, Who Sees Who at the Zoo?, a whimsical tale of two siblings who realize the animals at the zoo might just be watching them too! Even more exciting, Patty and Tish donated a signed copy of Scotty the Snowman to our elementary library for all students to enjoy! Both books are available online to order at Amazon at the links below. Scotty the Snowman: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DL4PS6ZX Who Sees Who at the Zoo?: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRRZP644 Thank you again to Mrs. Lacey and Mrs. Drumm for their creativity, kindness, and inspiration. We’re so glad to be back!

HAPPY ADMINISTRATIVE PROFESSIONALS’ DAY! Today, we celebrate and sincerely thank all of our incredible administrative professionals at Hancock Central School! Your hard work, dedication, and behind-the-scenes efforts keep our school running smoothly each and every day. From managing schedules and communication to supporting students, staff, and families — you are truly the heartbeat of HCS. We appreciate everything you do to make our school a better place. Thank you for your commitment, professionalism, and positivity! Let’s hear it for our amazing administrative team!

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!

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!

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?

5TH-6TH GRADERS CREATE SPRING-THEMED BOOKMARKS Thank you to Mrs. Dufton for sending in pictures of our 5th and 6th graders, as they created beautiful spring-themed bookmarks today! Nice job, students, you all really did an amazing job with your bookmarks!

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!

PAJAMA DAY & TWINNING TUESDAY Check out some photos from this week's spirit week, with pajama day yesterday and 'twinning Tuesday' today! Here is the lineup for the rest of the week: Wednesday - Teacher/Student swap Thursday - Country vs Country Club Friday - Jersey vs Jersey shore Show us your school spirit!!

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!