On Thursday, May 9, the 4K classes at Highland View celebrated Mother's Day with a Mother's Day Tea. The students took care of the special ladies in their lives by serving them snacks and drinks and singing songs. The moms and children completed a project together. The students also made special gifts for their moms and decorated the classrooms. It was a special time for the children and their moms to spend together!

Greendale students Max, Grant, and Ana have been training on the high school track for this season’s Special Olympics track meets. The students are preparing for running and field events, including the 100-meter, 200-meter, 400-meter races, standing long jump, and softball throw. Max and Ana participated in the Special Olympics Regional Track Meet last weekend with excellent results! Max earned first place in standing long jump, first in 100-meter dash, and seventh place in the 200-meter dash. Ana placed second in the standing long jump, second in the 50-meter dash, and third for her softball throw. Congratulations and best wishes to these special athletes!

Third graders at Highland View are studying immigration, focusing on Ellis and Angel Island. During this unit, the students learn facts about what it was like to be an immigrant coming to America through Ellis Island between 1892-1924 and Angel Island between 1910-1940. The students "become" an immigrant and write a journal as an immigrant combining the facts they've learned, as well as adding their own emotions, thoughts and even some history they've learned about their ancestors. They then create a Keynote presentation combining images, music and their voice reading their journal. Each student has their picture taken wearing clothes that immigrants might have worn at that time.

On their May Day Walk on May 1, 4K students at Highland View delivered May Day baskets with handprint flowers to houses in the S section of Greendale. The students really enjoyed spreading cheer to members of the community.

First graders celebrated Earth Day and learned the importance of taking care of our planet. Discussion topics included ways to reduce, reuse and recycle materials. The first graders also had fun collecting materials, that would have otherwise been thrown away, and turning them into "litterbugs." The Litterbug museums are now on display in the first grade classrooms!

Highland View 5th graders were invited to JACO Environmental by Focus on Energy's staff to watch how a refrigerator is recycled. As part of participating, Focus on Energy replaced one of the school's older refrigerators with a newer EnergyStar appliance. Students learned how older refrigerators use more energy, are less cost effective, and can be harmful if put into landfills. They also saw how almost every part of the refrigerator can be recycled and even saw the school's refrigerator (with student autographs) going through the recycling process. Students also learned this recycling fact: recycling one older refrigerator is equivalent to helping the environment in the same way as removing two cars from the road for a year!

Highland View students recently enjoyed a "Wacky Wednesday". Based on the Dr. Suess book, Wacky Wednesday, students and staff had a crazy, mixed-up sort of day. Students came to school dressed in a wacky way—inside out clothing, pajamas, two different shoes, etc. The school routine was wacky, too—lunch tables were mixed up, younger children ate snack on their chairs instead of the table, teachers switched classes, children learned French in Spanish class, etc. This special silly event was a reward for students for meeting our school-wide monthly goal for kind, safe, and responsible behaviors.

This year, 5th grade band students at Highland View were paired up with high school band students for three free mentoring sessions. In the sessions, the high school students helped the 5th graders with the music they are working on, taught them things about their instrument, and shared information about middle and high school band. Both the 5th graders and high school students said they learned a lot by working with each other.

On Friday, March 1, Highland View students took part in a Buddy Read tin honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, March 2. Older students paired with younger ones to share Dr. Seuss books. Students went on a green egg hunt before reading. The titles of the books they were to read were found in the green eggs.

The K4 students recently held the second of three planned service projects for this school year—a collection for service personnel. They adopted three service members from the organization, “A Soldiers Wishlist”. Two are serving in Afghanistan and one is in Bosnia. They collected personal care items and favorite snacks such as crackers, granola bars, jerky, peanut butter, gum and hard candy. Each soldier will receive 3 or 4 boxes of items that they can share with their unit along with a heart signed by all of the children thanking them for their service. It was a great success.

Third graders at Highland View have been learning about the importance of having good dental health and wanted to extend this to others in the community. Students have coordinated a collection of items such as toothbrushes, dental floss, toothpaste, and toothbrush cases. All donated items can be dropped off in the boxes that will be located outside of the office. Items can be donated between February 26 and March 1 and then will be delivered to the Hope House, a transitional living facility for families in Milwaukee.

Greendale High School students visited Highland View 5th graders to teach them about recycling. The 5th graders decided to pay it forward and teach the entire school what they learned. They worked in small groups to create presentations and went to each classroom to share their new knowledge!

Second graders at Highland View have been studying important people in American history. After working in groups to research a historical figure, they created posters to teach others what they learned. Now they are using these posters to present the information they learned to their classmates. Check out the great work they've done!

The 5th graders at Highland View were lucky enough to have guest speakers in this week to talk about sustainability. Karen Nenahlo, Energy Manager and Sustainability Specialist from CESA 10, and Brian Koffarnus, the District’s Director of Buildings and Grounds, visited the new 5th grade pod. They tested the area for appropriate energy usage and explained how renewable and nonrenewable energy sources are created and distributed in our homes and schools. Lastly, they talked about how solar energy is being used at our high school and ways we can all work toward reducing our carbon footprint.

The K4 students at Highland View have been busy learning about Goldilocks and the Three Bears. They invited 5th graders in to help them create a project to accompany their story. K4 students and 5th graders took turns telling the story to each other!

Highland View students loved their recent Pajama Day! 5th graders and K4 students paired up in the morning to read together. Even their teachers loved it and dressed up for the occasion, too.

Students at Highland View recently crafted some healthy snack options. The second graders worked on a trail mix designed as a butterfly. These were sold as a part of a fund-raiser at the school’s Sock Hop on the evening of Friday, January 18.

On January 16, the 4th and 5th grade orchestras and 5th grade band at Highland View performed in their first concert of the year. The concert featured soloists, duets, group performances, and a play that went along with the music. The students worked very hard practicing for this event and gave a delightful show to parents, family members and friends.

Greendale’s youngest students loved getting messy with shaving cream to practice writing letters and numbers. They also enjoyed wearing their favorite hats to school as an earned incentive for being Kind, Safe, and Responsible. Packer Spirit Day was fun as well, as they cheered on the Packers with their very own cheeseheads.

The second graders at Highland View are studying the properties of two- and three-dimensional shapes. These students are in the middle of their “shapes scavenger hunt” where they search, record, and identify the shapes and their properties.