Linda Korycki,
Principal

929 Rt. 209

Cuddebackville, NY 12729

(845) 754-8314

Elementary
School Links

HBE School Bulletin Board
Latest news and information about our school...

»Journalism 101 with Tracy Baxter
Veteran reporter teaches students the write stuff
After covering Read Across America events at Hamilton Bicentennial Elementary School for countless years, veteran reporter Tracy Baxter was on the other side of the camera last week. At the request of school administrators, Baxter spent the day at the school teaching fifth and sixth graders the basic journalistic skills needed to enhance their writing.

Baxter’s Journalism 101 class provided HBE’s budding writers with an overview of journalism and the different life skills needed to be a good reporter. The workshop generated a lot of enthusiasm at the school for interviewing, news writing, and videography. Students are now busy working with their teachers to write articles for the school community.
FULL STORY

»HBE March Newsletter
Newsletters are published each month to keep HBE families informed about school services and upcoming programs. MARCH NEWSLETTER

»HBE student competing in Tri-State Spelling Bee
The district's top five spellers in grades 5-8 will represent Port Jervis schools at the 2010 Tri-State Spelling Bee at Delaware Valley High School March 14.  HBE student Daniel Kurdlya  earned a coveted spot at the regional tournament by excelling at the district Spelling Bee Feb. 18. He went up against 26 of the strongest spellers from HBE, ASK, and the Middle School. On March 14, Daniel and Middle School students Robert Cal,  Shane McCooey, and Katelyn Tobey, and ASK student Jeffrey Mackin will be competing for the opportunity to represent Port Jervis at the National Spelling Bee in Washington DC. The students are pictured with advisor Barbara Cathy.

»Students use creativity to decorate buffalo hides 
Claire Dillon’s fifth grade class made buffalo hides after studying and writing about the Westward Movement in the United States history. The students had to soak and dry their hides before decorating them with artwork. Three of the students are pictured proudly displaying their work.

»Sixth graders raise money for Deerpark Humane Society
Kudos to the sixth graders who collected money from students and staff at HBE for the Deerpark Humane Society! The students raised $713 to help our area shelter. Their actions demonstrate the caring and giving character traits that we
are stressing at school this year.

»Who's your favorite character? 
After reading Chicken Little, the students in Beth Polanis’ kindergarten class role played the story and chose their favorite character. Each student then decorated a headband to depict their choice. As the children wore their headbands around our school, they had to tell people why they picked their favorite character.
 

»Transportation phone number changes
The Transportation Announcement Line, 858-5867, and the old transportation office phone, 858-3213, will no longer be in service after April 1.  Quality Bus Service can be reached by calling 858-2150. School closings, delays, early dismissals and other situations that affect transportation services are announced on this web site, and on local radio and television stations listed on the Emergency Closing Page. Parents can also click here sign up to receive SNN (School News Notifier) text messages and/or email alerts about early dismissals, inclement weather delays, and other school emergencies.

»Second Quarter Honor Roll
Congratulations to all of the HBE students in grades 4, 5, and 6 who qualified for the Second Quarter Honor Roll.

»January VIPs and Perfect Attendance
Congratulations to our school VIPs & the students who had perfect attendance for the month of January. Links to both lists are posted throughout the school year on the left side of this page under School Links. You can also view the lists by clicking the following:
 • VIPs       •  Perfect Attendance List

»Listen to Winter Concert on WDLC Radio 
You can now listen to the HBE Winter Concert on WDLC Radio. The concert, and interviews with student musicians, and are archived on the Hudson Valley Oldies 1490 AM WDLC radio station web site.

»When school's out, don't be left out in the cold
Want to be one of the first to know about school closings and delays? Parents can sign up to receive SNN (School News Notifier) text messages and/or email alerts about early dismissals, inclement weather delays, and other school emergencies. Other sources of this information are this Web site and the local radio and television stations listed on the Emergency Closing Page.
Click here  to sign-up for School News Notifier   
  
»Kindergarteners use Smartboard to review patterns
Lynda Valentine’s kindergarten class reviewed patterns using a Smartboard.
The students used the electronic pen to drag and drop shapes on the interactive whiteboard to complete the patterns.

»Special assembly honors Character Ed award winners
All HBE classes discussed our school's first pillar of the Character Education Program - Respect. In addition to discussing the meaning of respect, students had time opportunities to demonstrate how a person demonstrates respectful characteristics. At the end of the first quarter, each classroom teacher identified one student who best modeled respectful behavior in their daily activities. The behavior may have been kindness to others, obeying class and school rules, taking care of school property and/or taking care of themselves. The students were honored at a special Respect Assembly by their principal, peers, and teachers. We are now looking forward to our second character education assembly, which will recognize students who best model caring behavior.
Click here to read more about our school's new Character Education Program and to view the list of Respect Award recipients.

»HBE Holiday Festivities
HBE Elementary School teachers capitalized on their students' excitement about the December holidays by engaging classes in lessons that combine fun and learning. MORE

»Fire Department gives students smoke detectors
The Cuddebackville Fire Department provided each HBE student with a  smoke detector Dec. 17 as part of its ongoing fire prevention program.

The smoke detectors were presented by Cuddebackville chief Chris Parliman and fire prevention coordinator Joyce Cirulli, who visited every classroom with School Resource Officer Kelly Decker.


During their visit, they demonstrated the smoke alarms, reviewed fire safety tips, and recommended that each child place the smoke detector outside his/her bedroom. Cirulli said the goal is to return to HBE every year to present each of the new kindergarten students with a smoke detector. 

This year's presentation was made possible by a $1,000 donation from Global Insurance and the generosity of HBE parent and owner of Otisville True Value Hardware Store, Kevin Belston, who provided the safety devices to fire department at cost.    

»Build. Learn. Create.
Kindergartners make toy sail boats at Home Depot

Melissa Haight's kindergarten class went on a field trip Dec. 4 to The Home Depot. The class toured the store and made a toy sail boat during a building workshop.

Michelle Thiele and Elizabeth Polanis's kindergarten classes show off their hand-crafted toy sail boats.

»Students caught being good...
HBE recognized students in grades
1-3 who were “Caught Being Good”
by  awarding each of them a $5
Wal-Mart gift card.


 

»Kindergarten learn how to cooperate
Students in Michelle Thiele's
kindergarten class at HBE learned
how to cooperate and work together
to make a great project!

 

»HBE students celebrate Thanksgiving
HBE students celebrated Thanksgiving by holding traditional feasts and dressing in festive costumes. MORE

»Students helping students

Several of Jodi Case-Kennedy's gifted and talented students are pictured working with Anne Earley's second graders on probability. 

»Rotary gives students the gift of knowledge 
For the eighth year, the Port Jervis Rotary Club has given all third graders in the School District their very own copy of the “Webster” dictionary. A group of Port Jervis Rotarians visited HBE to personally present the dictionaries to our third graders.  FULL STORY

 

»Kowal's classroom becomes Perry's Pancake House

Jennifer Kowal's third grade class enjoyed pancakes to celebrate their completion of reading "Nate the Great". Their classroom was transformed into Perry's Pancake House where they could enjoy their pancakes.

»Fourth graders have fun learning about landforms

Carrie Sarbello’s fourth
grade class used various types of food to build
a model of different
landforms found in
New York State.




 

»School gets a thrill out of Halloween
Hamilton Bicentennial Elementary School classes had fun celebrating Halloween. In addition to dressing up, many classes decorated pumpkins, talked about Halloween safety, or read thrilling stories.
MORE HALLOWEEN PHOTOS




»Third grader get goosebumps watching web cast
Heather Slesinski’s third grade class got goosebumps watching a live web cast with author of Goosebumps, R. L. Stine, and one of his characters, Slappy. R. L. Stine spoke about his life, his writing, and what he thinks makes a good writer. They also heard him tell a story on the spot using story elements voted on by the class. Everyone in 3-S had a frightening good time!


»Students learn about Halloween safety

HBE students attended a special assembly recently about how to stay on Halloween. Presented by Karen Blackburn from AAA - and guests Bob the puppet and Otto the car - the program provided students with proven tips to the safe while trick-or-treating.
HALLOWEEN SAFETY TIPS

 

»Classes celebrate Johnny Appleseed's birthday

Many classes celebrated Johnny Appleseed's 235th birthday by studying and exploring apples. The above photos show some of the innovative ways our second grade teachers turned the annual fall birthday celebration into fun, hands-on learning opportunities. 

Beth Polanis'/Nancy Farr's class celebrated with a fun and yummy first graphing lesson! The students tasted applesauce, apple juice, apple pie and apple muffins, then graphed the results. There was a tie between apple muffins and apple juice with five votes each.  

 

»New science series engages students in learning
Kindergarten class has fun studying trees
Beth Polanis' Kindergarten class has chosen a tree to observe, outside their classroom, through all four seasons. The tree was measured by yarn and the number of children we could fit around it, after we estimated what the answer would be. A "summer" picture was taken for the book the children are making about the tree. This lesson came from the new Harcourt Science series our district has purchased.

 

»HBE welcomes new principal Linda Korycki
Hamilton Bicentennial Elementary School is pleased to welcome our new principal Linda Korycki. A member of the district staff since 2004, Ms. Korycki comes to HBE from ASK Elementary School where she served as the assistant principal. Korycki, who made Port Jervis her home five years ago when she relocated here from the Minisink Valley School District, is looking forward to becoming part of the HBE school community. "It is a privilege and honor to become the principal of a school that is known for its nurturing, supportive learning environment," said Korycki. MORE

»District asking parents to complete census 
The Port Jervis School District is counting on you!
The district is taking a census of all residents with children to assist in planning for future student enrollment. Residents with children, ages 5 to 18, are asked to take a few minutes to complete the online census. Click here to access the census.  More information about the census.

»New before & after-school child care program
Registration ongoing for Club Kid

Port Jervis parents have a new option for before and after-school child care. The YMCA of Middletown is now offering its Club Kid program at ASK and HBE. Parents can register for the program by calling YMCA Associate Program Director Danamarie Welch at 845-344-9622, ext. 232. 
• FULL STORY   • Club Kid Brochure  • Registration Forms

»Student music performances now online
The Port Jervis School District Music Department has made a CD of the 2008-09 student performances. The musical selections are now posted on our web site for your listening pleasure. MUSIC 

» Plan for early dismissals/closings
Announcements: During the school year, early dismissals & school closings are reported on this web site, and on local radio and television stations.
E-mail alerts: Parents can sign-up to have the school district send alerts to their home and/or work email addresses. 
Make arrangements for after-school care     
 

Accelerated Reader