Principal, Nicole Bandy
Dear Families,
Welcome to the 2025–2026 school year! I’m excited to begin another year together at Hemlock and ACE, and I want to take a moment to share some of our goals for the year ahead.
This year, we’re focusing on three key areas that support our students' learning and strengthen our school community:
1. Growing Strong Readers and Writers:
We’re putting a big focus on the building blocks of literacy from TK-6th grade—like phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, and word work. This means students move from learning sounds and letters in the early grades to exploring word parts like prefixes, suffixes, and roots in the upper grades. For example, knowing that port means “carry” can help older students figure out words like transport or portable—even if those words are new to them. These are the foundational tools students need to become confident, skilled readers and writers at every grade level.
2. Making Math Meaningful:
In math, our goal is to help students use concrete tools—like counters, base-ten blocks, and other hands-on materials—to solve real-world problems. These tools help students build deep understanding before moving on to drawings and written strategies. We want students to understand why math works—not just how to get the answer. Our lessons will be grounded in meaningful, everyday situations that make learning stick.
3. Strengthening Our School Community:
We believe that a strong community makes for a stronger school. This year, we’ll be offering more opportunities for families to connect through school events and classroom activities, and the Hemlock PTO and ACE Parent Board are planning several joint events for our whole school community to enjoy. We’ll also be celebrating students individually and collectively for showing kindness, responsibility, and respect—the behaviors that help make our school a safe and welcoming place for all.
Thank you for being such an important part of our school family. We look forward to partnering with you throughout the year to support your child’s growth—academically, socially, and emotionally.
Let’s make it a great year!
In partnership,
Nicole Bandy
Principal