Hello Hardy

Dear Hardy families,

Highlight from the Past Week On Friday, we had an All-School Meeting led by our fourth graders. This all-school meeting included a focus on showing kindness. Fourth grade teacher Ms. Budnik served as the mystery guest. STEAM Week Massachusetts STEAM week will take place from Oct.  20-24. Our district elementary dept. Head for Science & Engineering Lisa Fox created this document of suggested activities for families with students in grades K-5 for at-home or community participation. School Council Update The Hardy School Council had our first meeting earlier in October. As part of this, we confirmed our plan to have our special focus this year be on re-envisioning the school’s innovation lab. We are right now in the process of identifying established innovation labs that exist in nearby elementary schools. Then our plan is to consult with, and perhaps visit, these spaces to get ideas. Ultimately, our goal is to establish a vision for the Hardy innovation lab that aligns to best practices in elementary innovation labs, and put the pieces in place to have a high functioning lab for student use. Stay tuned for more updates on the work of the School Council in future principal letters. Pumpkin Parade & PJ Day Reminder On Oct. 31st at 9:00 AM, we will have our second annual Pumpkin Parade. Students are encouraged to bring decorated pumpkins to school. Parents/guardians are invited to come to school, starting to arrive around 8:45 AM to view these pumpkins and be in position as students parade through the line. Students are also invited to wear pajamas to school. Students should bring their pumpkins with them to school on the 31st.  Students are invited to decorate a pumpkin in any way they want- either a real or an artificial pumpkin is fine!  Some ideas for pumpkin decorating include:  as a character,  in a spooky way,  painted, or  bedazzled. Be creative! Suggested materials are: acrylic paint,  stickers,  pompoms,  permanent marker,  googly eyes,  pipe cleaners, and  buttons. School Spirit Day While we typically have a School Spirit Day the last Friday of each month, as we’ll be having a school-wide Pajama Day on the last Friday (Oct. 31st), we’ll have our Spirit Day for the month of October this upcoming Friday, Oct. 24th. Students are encouraged to wear their Hardy gear to school. Special Thanks Thanks to the second grade families for providing staff with a delicious lunch this past Wednesday. We appreciate your ongoing support!  Have a great week! Respectfully yours, Grant Smith Principal