HBE Principal's Page

A Message From Your Principal

Welcome to HBE!

Dear HBE Students and Families,

Welcome to Nial A. Hamilton Bicentennial Elementary school, affectionately known as HBE. It is with the utmost honor that I begin my third school year as the Principal of HBE. For those who are new to our building, I am proud to say that I was a student here at HBE, a teacher, a parent of two HBE students, and am now the building administrator. HBE has been a place that “I call home” for almost 40 years and I welcome you to be a part of our “home”. 

Nestled on the banks of the Neversink River, the staff and students at HBE believe that we are more than just individuals but part of a community of learners. We are enthusiastic about educating the whole child and hold firm to the belief that all children can learn in a safe and supportive environment. HBE has historically educated students from the suburban areas outside of Port Jervis including Cuddebackville, Wesbtroovkille, Goddefroy, Huguenot and Sparrowbush. During the summer of 2022, we welcomed 70 new students from the City of Port Jervis to our Special Education programs and our new UPK program. 

Here at HBE, we value our students' social-emotional well being and put great emphasis on our character education program. We are going to focus on teaching the students the meaning of Steven Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” This year’s character education theme is “TEAM HBE” standing for Together Everyone Achieves More. To go along with our character education program, we are going to continue our very popular PBIS program! PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports. The basis of our PBIS program is the district’s “Port Pride 5”- To Be Your Best: Be Kind, Be Honest, Be Responsible, Be Respectful and Be Involved. Here at HBE, we are going to continue to use Bicentennial Bucks, our school currency, to positively reward students for following our District Port Pride 5!

Academically, this year we continue to focus on a strong curriculum and foundational skills that we teach through Wilson Fundations, Wilson Just Words, the Teachers’ College Reading and Writing Project and  Eureka Math.  This year we will put a strong emphasis on STREAM (Science, Technology, Robotics, Engineering, Arts, Math) activities within the school day, to support our new Science Initiative with Project Lead the Way. We will continue to offer before and after school programs in the areas of PE, Art and STREAM. 

We have a few new items on deck for this school year. This summer we are going to roll out a new student information system called PowerSchool. This will replace SchoolTool. This year will also be the first year of the new 5th grade State Science Exam. This will replace the 4th grade State Science Exam. 

Our office staff and core team are available to answer any questions that you might have or to discuss individual student needs. Please stay in communication and be a part of our HBE family along with your student. 

HBE… the place to Be! 

Sincerely,
Emily Mesnick