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 fourth 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 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 educates students from the suburban areas outside of Port Jervis including Cuddebackville, Wesbtroovkille, Goddefroy, Huguenot and Sparrowbush. HBE also houses two Universal Pre-Kindergarten classrooms made up of students from across the district. 

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 “HBE is out of this world” so you will see the classrooms and hallways decorated with outer space motifs. 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 are taught through Wilson Fundations, Wilson Just Words, and the Teachers’ College Reading and Writing Project. This year we continue to put a strong emphasis on STREAM (Science, Technology, Robotics, Engineering, Arts, Math) activities within the school day and to support our Project Lead the Way curriculum. PLTW taps into students’ exploratory nature, engages them in learning that feels like play, and encourages them to keep discovering.This year, we are utilizing an updated version of our Math Curriculum called Eureka Math Squared. This curriculum is more child and parent friendly for support in and out of the classroom. We will continue to offer before and after school programs in the areas of PE, Art and STREAM. 

We have a new student information system for this school year. The summer school staff began using the new system called PowerSchool. This will replace SchoolTool. 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