Hancock Elementary School

🌍✨ World Occupational Therapy Day! ✨🌍 This Sunday, October 27th is World Occupational Therapy Day. We at HCS would like to recognize our dedicated Occupational Therapist, Tracie Ostrander! 🙌 Tracie works tirelessly to support our students’ growth and well-being. She helps students develop fine motor skills, enhance their focus, and build confidence to achieve their fullest potential. From personalized strategies to classroom support, Tracie makes a world of difference every single day! Thank you, Tracie, for all that you do for our students at Hancock Central School! 💙👏 #WorldOTDay #WeAreHCS

UPK & K STUDENTS GET ‘SPOOKELY’ Last week, our UPK and Kindergarten students read ‘The Legend of Spookely the Square Pumpkin’, by Joe Troiana. Spookely is a different pumpkin that delivers messages of tolerance, self-acceptance and diversity. Spookely reminds us that we are all unique and have gifts built into our differences! After the story, our students made themselves a ‘spookely’ snack. Halloween is a week away and our elementary students are getting excited! Excellent work by all!!

SCHOOL SAFETY DAY It was a BEAUTIFUL day yesterday as our elementary and middle-high school students participated in school safety day! Various emergency and rescue departments were on hand to demonstrate various scenarios that may occur in and around school or the community. Students were also able to speak with department representatives and express any questions or concerns they may have in a particular situation. THANK YOU to the following departments for offering their time, commitment and valuable insight: BT-BOCES Hancock Fire Department Hancock Rescue Squad Hancock Police Department HCS Transportation Department Delaware County Sheriff NYS DEC NYC DEP NYS DOT NYS Police We appreciate you all taking the time out of your busy schedules to inform and educate all our students, thank you!! #WeAreHCS

NY THURSDAYS AT HCS Tomorrow, October 24th, we will be hosting another ‘NY Thursdays’ for our students. See the image below for meal information, thank you to all our local distributors for healthy, fresh meals! We will host another ‘NY Thursdays’ meal next Thursday, 10/31.

STUDENT CONDUCTORS IN 3RD GRADE In Mrs. Cooper’s 3rd grade science class, students have been learning about positive and negative charges. Today students learned that they have positive and negative charges running through their bodies. They became conductors of energy lighting up their energy stick. They also worked with magnets, finding objects around our classroom. The students have a fun day experimenting! Thank you, Mrs. Cooper, for the pictures!

NATIONAL SCHOOL BUS SAFETY WEEK October 21-25 is National School Bus Safety Week; we would like to highlight the importance of school busy safety. While the school bus is one of the safest modes of transportation, illegal school bus passing is a major threat to children and their caretakers. Some important things to remember: 1. School safety starts at the bus stop. 🚌 🛑 Share these tips with your children: ⌚ Arrive at the bus stop five minutes early. 🚏 Stand five giant steps away from the curb. 🚌 Wait until the bus stops, the door opens, and the driver says it’s okay before stepping onto the bus. 👁️ Be sure the bus driver can always see you, and you can see the bus driver. 2. School Bus Drivers 🚌: The greatest risk to a child isn’t riding a school bus, but approaching or leaving one. Stay alert. Stay engaged. Keep them safe. 3. 🟡 Yellow lights 🟡 on a school bus indicate the bus is preparing to stop. 🛑 If you’re driving, slow down, stay alert, and watch out for children. 🧒 🧒 4. See the school bus stop-arm? Time to STOP. 🛑 Racing past the arm puts young lives in jeopardy. 5. School is in session! 🏫 That means more children are outside waiting for the bus during certain hours. Slow down and watch for children playing and gathering near the bus stop. 🚌 #SchoolBusSafetyWeek #WeAreHCS

FIRE SAFETY IN UPK Last week, our UPK students learned about Fire Safety, making fire trucks afterwards as their fun Friday snack! Next week, 10/21-10/25, is Bus & Fire Safety week. Excellent work, boys and girls!

📣 October is National Bullying Prevention Month! 📣 At Hancock Central School, we’re taking time to spread awareness and promote kindness. Let’s work together to make our school a place where everyone feels respected, valued, and supported 💡 What Can You Do? • Show Kindness! A small act of kindness can make a big difference. • Be Supportive! Stand up for your peers and promote a safe and welcoming environment. • Speak Up! If you see something that doesn’t feel right or look right let an adult know. 💙 #WeAreHCS #NationalBullyingPreventionMonth

STUDENTS READ TO SANDER Recently, several of our UPK students had the opportunity to read to Sander, our therapy dog at HCS. The students had a great time reading some of their favorite stories, Sander also enjoyed listening to them! Nice work, boys and girls!! #WeAreHCS

GUEST READER IN 3RD GRADE Today, Superintendent Asquith joined Mrs. Cooper’s 3rd grade class and read the story, ‘A Mischief of Mice’, by Christie Matheson. The students learned about collective nouns. Some of the collective nouns they learned about were a clutter of spiders, scurry of squirrels, prickle of porcupines and a sleuth of bears! Thank you, Mrs. Asquith, for joining in and reading with our students!

UNITY DAY Thank you to all our students and staff that wore orange today, in celebration of Unity Day! We stand united to show kindness, acceptance and inclusion, creating a safer environment for everyone!

STUDENT OF THE WEEK & BIRTHDAYS AT MORNING PROGRAM We would like to congratulate the student of the week at Hancock Elementary, Tuesday Bond! Tuesday was chosen by Ms. Milk because she has been working very hard in school this year and has shown a ton of growth compared to last year! Excellent work, Tuesday!! We also celebrated several birthdays at yesterday's program. Happy birthdays go out to Maja Noble, Zander Wahl, Jade Morgan and Elena Sparacio. We hope you each have a wonderful birthday!

FREE COVID-19 TESTS To help prevent the spread of COVID-19 -- and to support strong school attendance so that students can safely learn in person -- the U.S. Department of Education (ED) is working in collaboration with the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide free COVID-19 tests to school districts. What this means is that our district has requested and received COVID tests, and they are available for our whole community. You can call the MS/HS health office to arrange to pick up your free COVID-19 tests. Please call (607) 637-1310 or (607) 637-1311 between 8 am and 3 pm when school is in session.

CLEANLINESS AT MORNING PROGRAM After a three-day weekend, it was nice to see everyone at Morning Program today! Mrs. Hull spoke with our students about the importance of washing our hands and staying clean. We then watched a video read along of ‘The Day I Forgot to Wash My Hands’, by Anna W. Bardaus. It’s important to wash our hands after we use the restroom, before/after we eat our meals, and any other time they may be dirty! Thank you all for attending, we will see you next week! #WeAreHCS

SCHOOL PICTURE RE-TAKES SET FOR 10/24-10/25 School picture retakes will occur for Elementary students on Thursday, October 24th. Middle-High School retakes will take place on Friday, October 25th. If you would like your child's picture retaken, please return the entire package you received to school prior to picture retake day. Middle-high school students: pictures will be coming in either today or early next week. Thank you!

READING WITH THE SUPERINTENDENT We would like to give a huge thank you to Superintendent Asquith for stopping by Ms. Milk’s 2nd grade class to read to them today. The students loved her spooky Halloween story and can't wait to design their own haunted house! We look forward to having her visit us again. Thank you to Ms. Milk for sending in pictures!

Unity Day: Together Against Bullying! 💪🧡 Wednesday, October 16th is Unity Day! Let's stand united to show kindness, acceptance, and inclusion. We encourage everyone at HCS to wear and share orange to support anti-bullying efforts and create a safer environment for everyone. Every action counts—whether it's wearing orange, sharing a positive message, or reaching out to someone in need. Let's amplify the message: "We are stronger together!" Learn more about Unity Day and how to get involved at PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center website: https://www.pacer.org/bullying/nbpm/unity-day.asp #WeAreHCS #UnityDay

STUDENT OF THE WEEK, BIRTHDAYS & GOLD SLIP WINNER Congratulations to the student of the week at Hancock Elementary, Karissa Mack! Karissa was chosen as the student of the week because she is always helpful and caring to her classmates. Nice work, Karissa! We also celebrated a few birthdays and selected our gold slip winner at yesterday's Morning Program. This week’s gold slip winner is Emalinne Davis! Emalinne is pictured with her prize. Happiest of birthdays also go out to Leilani Thompson and Jaxson Titus, we hope you each have a wonderful birthday!! #WeAreHCS

RESCUE SQUAD, FIRE DEPARTMENT VISIT MORNING PROGRAM We would like to say thank you to the Town of Hancock Volunteer Ambulance and the Hancock Fire Department for joining us at our morning program today! 🚒🚑 We appreciate you taking the time to speak about fire safety, medical emergencies, and how to properly call 911. The students were able to see Mr. D'Elia geared up in his fire-retardant suit while fire chief Bojo spoke about how the suit helps Mr. D'Elia stay safe. The importance of stop, drop and roll was emphasized, with several students demonstrating what to do in the event of a fire. The students also enjoyed seeing Mr. Bedient propped up on the stretcher! Your dedication and service to our community make a huge difference, and we're grateful for all that you do! 🙏🔥 #WeAreHCS

EARLY DISMISSAL THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10 We would like to remind families of the 15-minute early dismissal drill on Thursday, October 10. This drill, mandated by New York State, must be tested at least once per year, and must occur no more than 15 minutes prior to the normal student dismissal time. There are several components to the drill, including helping schools practice their evacuation and communications procedures, and assisting the bus garage with emergency transportation procedures.