Hillside News and Announcements

On the heels of our Teacher of the Year announcement last week, I have another special announcement to make!  Each year, the district selects one support professional (instructional aide, secretary, custodian, bus driver) to honor as the Educational Support Professional of the Year, and this year's recipient is our very own Mrs. Eleni Katalifos-Sassone (known to most students as "Mrs. K.")!  Mrs. Katalifos-Sassone has been serving the students of Hillside School well for the past nine years.  She is a valued staff member and colleague, who takes pride in her job and school.  Many of our students also know Mrs. Katalifos-Sassone from the LYCS Leaders Program, which she has been instructing for the last two years. We are incredibly grateful for her service and proud of Mrs. Katalifos-Sassone for this well-deserved honor!

 

At Friday's Student Council Assembly, we revealed Hillside's '25-26 Teacher of the Year! At around this time every year, schools in NJ have the opportunity to select a deserving teacher for this amazing recognition. Fortunately for us, we always have plenty of wonderful teachers from which to choose, but we did choose a great one –congratulations to Mrs. Caroline Dugan on being named our Teacher of the Year! Mrs. Dugan has served as a classroom teacher at Hillside School for eight years, after starting her career as a Kindergarten teacher in a private school. The majority of her time at Hillside has been in Kindergarten, but she made a switch to third grade this year and is loving it! She is a devoted Husky, who aims to provide students and their families with her best. Mrs. Dugan also serves on many school committees, and never hesitates to lend any colleague or her principal a helping hand. She recently earned her degree in Educational Administration and continues with her studies currently in literacy. I know you will join me in wishing her well. Congratulations to Mrs. Dugan on this well-deserved honor!

Weekly message 1/11/26 here.

Weekly message 1/4/26 here.

Weekly message 1/2/26 here.

Weekly message 12/21/25 here.

Weekly message 12/14/25 here.

Weekly message 12/07/25 here.

Weekly message 11/30/25 here.

Weekly message 11/23/25 here.

Weekly message 11/16/25 here.

Weekly message 11/09/25 here.

Weekly message 11/02/25 here.

Weekly message 10/26/25 here.

Weekly message 10/19/25 here.

Weekly message 10/12/25 here. 

Weekly message 10/05/25 here.

Weekly message 9/28/25 here.

Weekly message 9/21/25 here.
 

 

We're excited to announce the winners of the Livingston Public Schools America 250 Logo Contest! This contest challenged our students to design a logo that will represent the district's celebration of the nation's Semiquincentennial in 2026.

Congratulations to our talented winners! Their designs captured the spirit of this historic milestone:

• Rachel Wu, Grade 5, from Hillside Elementary (Winning Logo Featured Above)
• Katheryn Liu, Grade 7, from Heritage Middle School (Honorable Mention Featured Below)

Thank you to every student who submitted a design. The creativity across all grades was truly inspiring!

Please see Mr. Gramata's welcome letter and Family Guide here.