Principal's Page

December 2025

Dear Tioga Hills Families,

November always seems to go by so quickly! We hope that you and your families had a relaxing Thanksgiving holiday. We’d like to thank you for your generous donations during our annual Food Drive, which we will present to the Lions Club. I also want to thank our very generous PTO for the beautiful and delicious Fall Harvest Luncheon that they put on for staff members in November. It was enjoyed by all!

You just received your child’s 1st Trimester report card. Please review it as this will guide your conversation in our upcoming Parent Teacher Conferences. Students receiving AIS Reading, AIS Math, or Special Education services through an IEP should have also received a report regarding their progress toward goals.

Parent Conferences will be held on Friday, December 5th and Monday, December 8th, in the afternoons. These days, students in K-5 will be dismissed at 11:00. A bagged lunch will be available for those children that want one.

Over the last few months, our spider plant babies have really grown! We transferred them over to pots full of soil and these are hanging on the windows in the front hallway. I hope you’ll get to see it when you come for parent conferences. Each class has one and they even named their plant. This activity teaches our students that good things take time and to not give up.

The days in December are full of many exciting activities:

·Our 5th grade students will participate in their annual Community Box Project on December 4th. Thank you to our 5th grade students, families, and teachers for organizing this. The students will visit the Food Pantry at Park Terrace Church to deliver the boxes once they are completed. We continue to make our Actions Count in our community! A big thank you to Nathan’s Butterflies for also supporting this annual initiative.

·Our Actions Count committee, with support from the Tioga Hills PTO is organizing a Jared Campbell character education assembly. Jared is a Vestal CSD graduate and a singer and composer. He’s been a popular presenter at Tioga Hills for many years. He will present to students on Monday, December 8th in the morning with 2 in-person concerts!

·There is no school on Monday, December 22nd through Friday, January 2nd. Students will return on Monday, January 5, 2026.

With everyone going on this month, it is sure to fly by! Our students are working hard every day and continue to make us proud!  Happy Holidays to all!

Hayley Crimmins, Principal

November 2025 

Dear Tioga Hills Families,

The beginning of November is here, and we are in full swing at Tioga Hills! We appreciate the involvement of our families in the many events that we have had so far this year.

Our PTO held a very successful Scholastic Book Fair in September, hosted Picture Day, our annual FUND Walk, and held an extremely amazing and popular Fall Fest and Trunk or Treat! Thank you to the many families who volunteered their time or donations to help make this event such a success.

Our Building Planning and Response to Intervention (RtI) teams are focusing on keeping students and families engaged with their schoolwork and with their teachers and classmates. Remember that daily attendance is taken, and it is essential that you child be here at school and on time. We are tracking this engagement and participation and will be working with individual families who may need support in this area.

Our report cards will be coming home at the end of November. We will then host parent conferences on December 5 and December 8. Classroom teachers will be sending home ways to sign up for those conferences. We use a standards-based report card where students receive a 1, 2, 3, or 4 in different competencies. Please note that a 3 means the student is working on that area independently and a 4 means they are exceeding expectations in that area. It is okay to see a 1 or a 2 in certain areas, especially at this point in the school year! We have a lot of time left and some of the indicators are end-of-year goals. Teachers will also provide narrative comments for students.

As a reminder, Friday, November 7th is an early release day for students. That morning, we will celebrate Veteran’s Day by inviting local Veterans in for an assembly. There is no school on Tuesday, November 11th to observe Veteran’s Day.  Please note that we also release students at 11:00 on December 5th and December 8th for parent/teacher conferences.

The month of November is a time to be thankful for so many things. In mid-November, we will kick off our Annual Food Drive to support the local Food Pantry. Look for information coming home with your children about that! November is a time to focus on making our Actions Count in the community and the Food Drive is one way to do that!

Lastly, we are thankful every day for the support that we receive from the Tioga Hills community! I am especially grateful to be able to spend my days with many caring and dedicated staff members and students!

Thank you,

Hayley Crimmins, Principal

Important November and December dates

Wednesday, November 5th PTO meeting 7pm- Library

Friday, November 7th Veteran’s Day assembly in-school 9:00

Early Release Day- 11:45 dismissal

Monday, November 10th 5th grade field trip to Admin building for planetarium activity & lesson

Tuesday, November 11th No School (Veteran’s Day)

Wednesday, November 12th Tioga Hills Food Drive begins

Thursday, November 13th Picture Re-take day

Friday, November 14th 2nd grade trip to BU Anderson Center for “Sid the Serpent” show

Thursday, November 20th District Chorus Concert 7pm @ ARE

Tuesday, November 25th Report cards sent home!

Wednesday, November 26th  No School

Thursday, November 27th No School (Thanksgiving)

Friday, November 28th No School

Wednesday, December 3rd PTO meeting 7pm- Library

Thursday, December 4th 5th grade Community Box project

Friday, December 5th Early Dismissal- 11:00 for Parent/Teacher Conferences

Monday, December 8th Early Dismissal- 11:00 for Parent/Teacher Conferences

Monday, December 8th Jared Campbell concert (AM)

Wednesday, December 17th Kindergarten Gingerbread Day

Monday, December 22nd through Friday, January 2, 2026 No School for students, Holiday break

Monday, January 5, 2026 School resumes for students

October 2025

Dear Tioga Hills Families,

Things are off to a busy start as we enter the second month of school. We have enjoyed some nice days outside during playground and hope that this continues! We hope you were able to join us for our Curriculum Night to meet your child’s teacher and hear a little bit about what your child will be learning this year.   

As we look ahead, October is filled with many different activities and events!

·         Wednesday, October 1st- PTO meeting 7pm in the Library

·         Thursday, October 2nd- National School Custodian Day!

·         Friday, October 3rd- PTO Fund Walk

·         Wednesday, October 8th Fall Picture Day

·         Thursday, October 9th- students dismissed 15 minutes early for Emergency Dismissal drill

·         Friday, October 10th- Early Release for students- dismiss at 11:45

·         Monday, October 13th- No School for staff and students

·         Monday, October 20th- 5:30 AIS parent meeting (invitations will be sent to those eligible)

·         Friday, October 24th- PTO Trunk or Treat & Fall Fest 6-8

We are still working through our fall fire drills and our Safety Team will meet to review our safety protocols. We will continue to have drills throughout the school year, such as our Lockdown drills. Our School Resource Officer, Conor Talbut, is present at our school on a daily basis and loves to interact with the students.

Our Building Planning Team has arranged for some fun activities to explore the Power of “Yet”, teaching students patience, stamina, and grit! Mrs. Schake, 5th grade teacher recently shared her spider plant with classes and after reading the book- “The Magical Yet”, each class got to snip off a baby spider plant to start propagating. We have a beautiful display in our front lobby of each spider plant baby. We will watch these grow this year!

Academically, our teachers, math specialists, and reading specialists have been completing individual assessments on students as we do each year. This information is shared as a team and decisions are made to make sure that students get the support that they need.  Supports will be put in place for students who need some extra help in ELA or math though our Academic Intervention Services (AIS). If you have any academic concerns about your child, please reach out to your child’s teacher! 

As always, we are committed to maintaining a welcoming and positive atmosphere for our students and their families. We value the home-school connection and know it is a very important factor in students’ academic success!

Enjoy the fall, 

Hayley Crimmins, Principal  

September 2025

Welcome back to a new school year!

As we head into 2025-2026 our top priority continues to be educating your child in a safe and welcoming school environment. We will focus on providing engaging academics while getting to know your child and their unique abilities. We will stay connected and in communication as we help each child achieve success! We look forward to a year full of learning and growing!

As we do each year, I would like to formally welcome all new students and the Class of 2038 to the hallways of Tioga Hills! This is such an exciting transition! As a new family to the building, I hope you will get involved by joining our very active PTO or by staying in close touch with the teachers. We are here to support you every step of the way!

In addition, here are some new staff members to Tioga Hills:

Mrs. Jennifer Kurkoski, Kindergarten Teacher

Mrs. Tiffany Bloom, 5th grade Teacher

Mr. Dominic Chesna, PE Teacher

Ms. Christie Kelly, BOCES 3-5 Oaktree Teacher

Mrs. Lillian McKnight, AIS Math (until October)

Mrs. Sarah Wiggins, Itinerant Special Education Teacher

Ms. Uzma Tabussum, Paraprofessional

Mr. Bradley Christian, Paraprofessional

Mrs. Lindy Donovan, Paraprofessional- part-time

Ms. Rylie VanGorden, Paraprofessional- part-time

Mrs. Colleen Biscardi, Paraprofessional- part-time

Please join me in welcoming them all to our wonderful building!

Upcoming dates:

Thursday 9/4- First day of school!

Wednesday 9/10- PTO meeting 7pm (Cafeteria)

Monday 9/22- Scholastic Book Fair 5-8pm (Gym)

Thursday 9/25- Curriculum Night 6-7 (parents/guardians only)- daycare may be provided!

As a general reminder, if your child is not feeling well, they should stay home. Please call Nurse Jane at (607) 757-2268 to report their absence. If you do not report your absence, you will get an automated “robo call” later in the morning.  There may be times that your child needs to be sent home sick. Please make sure to have a backup plan with a family member, friend, or neighbor in case you are unable to pick them up.

Our 58-year-old building has been under construction since January, with some big projects taking place over the summer. Our classrooms have new tile, updated unit vents, new whiteboards and cork boards, and full-building A/C to come soon! Our staff theme for this year is just that- “Under Construction”. While our building is upgraded, we remind ourselves that we are all constantly getting better, stronger, and wiser! This applies to our students, staff, and me!

Over the next ten months, our students will meet new friends, gain knowledge, strengthen skills they have already learned, grow and mature as they focus on making “Actions Count”, and most importantly, have fun!  Thank you for supporting us in all we do! We look forward to many wonderful days ahead.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Crimmins