Herbison Woods News

October 30, 2026

Principal: Alicia Ormsbee

School Address: Pride Dr, DeWitt, MI 48820

Office Phone Number: 517-668-3300

Attendance Phone Number: 517-668-3347

Website: https://hw.dewittschools.net/

- Start Time: 8:40 a.m. (First bell rings at 8:35 a.m.)
  - Students may be dropped of at 8:20 a.m. or later. Supervision is not available before 8:20 a.m.
- Dismissal Time: 3:30 p.m. (Half Day dismissal 11:52 a.m.)

UPCOMING DATES:

November 11 - 12: Parent Teacher Conferences

November 13: Early Release - End of Trimester

November 18: Early Release - CLT

A Message from Mrs. Ormsbee

Greetings Herbison Woods Families,

We had such a great week, full of fall and Halloween fun! Thank you to everyone who helped make our festivities a success today! Our Parent Teacher Conferences are right around the corner. An email was sent today, October 30, with a SignUp Genius link to choose a date, time and format that best fits your schedule and needs. In Person Conferences will be held November 11th, from 4:00-7:30 and Virtual Conferences will be held November 12th, from 4:00-7:30. If you would prefer an In Person Conference, and it is not available, please reach out to your child's teacher. We look forward to meeting with you!

Thank you for your continued partnership!

Sincerely,

Alicia Ormsbee

Principal

Halloween Fun

Halloween party snack table with students and parents

Student in costume with a decorated cookie

October Students of the Month

For the month of October, students were recognized for being Self Directed.

Students standing by a Proud Panthers wall

Veterans Day

On November 11, our students will be honoring our Veterans at an assembly at Herbison Woods. Our assembly will take place from 2:00 - 2:30 pm. If you or a family member are a veteran and would like to attend, please fill out the following form. We are asking our guests to arrive at 1:45 pm. We are excited to have our students honor our community Veterans.

Safety Reminders and Updates

As we work together to keep every student safe, we kindly ask for your help with a couple of quick drop-off and dismissal routines:

Pickup Loop: For your child's safety, please make sure they load and unload on the curb side of your vehicle. This keeps them out of the lane of moving traffic.
Crosswalk: Staff will be reminding students to walk—not ride—their bikes and scooters through the crosswalk to protect both pedestrians and riders. Please help to reinforce this with your student.

Specials Information

Mileage Club

What an amazing 1st season of KIDS MILEAGE CLUB at Herbison Woods Elementary! We are thrilled with the incredible energy, dedication, and enthusiasm our students brought.

A Heartfelt Thank You to Our Volunteers!

This program simply could not happen without our wonderful parent volunteers. A massive thank you to everyone who took the time out of their busy schedules to track laps and encourage our students.

Special Recognition

A big shout-out to Chuck Block and the Michigan Running Foundation! Thank you for making this program possible—not only for our students, but for schools and communities across Michigan. We are deeply grateful for your support in keeping our kids active and healthy! A big thank you to Mrs. Brown as well! She put in an incredible amount of extra hours to make our students excited about the program.

Donations Needed for Next Year!

With Halloween just wrapping up, it’s the perfect time to clean out any leftover costume accessories! We are looking for donations of fun or unique wigs, hats, and/or sunglasses (all school appropriate) to use for our milestone shout-out photos next year. If you have any items you are willing to donate, please send them in with your child or drop them off at the main office. Thank you!!

Congratulations to all students who participated! Students ran/walked a total of 3,970 miles!

Fourth Grade Total: 1,375 miles

- Top classes included: Mrs. Maltby with 277.4, Mrs. Earl with 220, and Mrs. Jones with 167!

Fifth Grade Total: 2,595 miles

- Top classes included: Mrs. Hingst with 397, Mrs. Leyrer 350, and Mrs. Heiler with 320.6!

Our goal is to bring the Kids Mileage Club back again next school year in the Fall! Stay tuned for details as the new school year approaches.

Book Fair 2026

Fall Book Fair

The Book Fair is coming to Herbison Woods from November 5 - 11. If you are interested in volunteering, please see the following link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508084DAAA928A64-66737836-herbison

We appreciate your support!

Socktober

The students in Mrs. Leyrer and Mrs. Munich’s classes are collecting socks for Socktober! Now through November 13, students are encouraged to donate new socks of any size, color, or style. Thanks to your generosity, we’ve already collected over 300 pairs of socks that will be donated to a local emergency shelter! Thank you for supporting our community service project and helping us make a difference in our community!

PTA Updates

From the PTA

Thank You, Panther Families!

A huge thank-you to everyone who joined us for Monster Mash and our Culver’s Community Share Night! We’re so grateful for the support of our amazing school community. Your participation helps the PTA continue supporting our students, staff, and schools!

Pasta for the Panthers

Friday, December 4 | 5:30–7:30 PM
DeWitt High School

Our biggest PTA fundraiser of the year is coming up, and we hope you’ll join us for an evening of food, fun, and community support! Proceeds help fund our Teacher and Building Grants, which directly benefit our students and staff across our elementary schools.

Meal Tickets: Purchase meals by the plate here: https://tinyurl.com/pftp2026

Staff Experience Raffle: Raffle sales begin during November parent-teacher conferences. You’ll have the chance to win fun, one-of-a-kind experiences with our amazing DeWitt staff!

Online Auction: Our annual online auction opens November 27, featuring a variety of items, baskets, and experiences donated by our generous community.

Interested in donating an item, basket, or experience to the auction? We’d love to hear from you! Email president@ptadewitt.org for more information.

We hope you’ll join us on December 4 and help make this year’s fundraiser a success!

November PTA Meeting

Thursday, November 5 | 7:00 PM
Herbison Woods Media Center

Join us for our November PTA meeting! It’s a great opportunity to hear what’s happening with the PTA and learn how we support our elementary schools. All families are welcome, whether you’re a PTA member or not!

Conference Cuisine

Conference Cuisine Donations Needed:

Help us show appreciation to our amazing teachers and staff during Parent-Teacher Conferences by providing them with drinks and snacks! We are collecting donations of food and beverages to keep them fueled throughout the busy conference days.

Donate using the link below

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/904094CA8A928AB9-67186304-2026

Volunteer Spotlight

Thank you to Ms. Noor Farhan for teaching Mrs. Jones’s 4th graders about some of the history and traditions of Iraq. Students were presented an engaging slideshow, treated to some baklava and other sweet treats, and gifted a token with their names written in both English and Arabic. We love out parent volunteer experts!

Meet Our Staff at HWE

Mrs. Earl

Fourth Grade Teacher

Mrs. Earl has taught 4th grade at Herbison Woods for the past three years. She has 7 children and an adorable grandson. She loves spending time traveling with her family, reading, and playing games. She is currently working on her Master’s Degree in Literacy.

Mrs. Heiler

Fifth Grade Teacher

Mrs. Heiler is a second year 5th grade teacher. She graduated from Ferris State University. In her free time she enjoys spending time with family, reading, gardening, and taking her dog, Hutch, for walks!

Mrs. Moody

Special Education Teacher

Mrs. Moody has been teaching for 11 years. She lives in the Grand Ledge area with her husband, daughter, Rylie, and Black Lab, Raven. She enjoys spending time outside with family and reading.

Mrs. Sherman

Paraprofessional

Mrs. Sherman is in her 4th year at Herbison Woods as a paraprofessional. She has a daughter in 4th grade and a daughter in 5th grade. She enjoys running, coaching athletics and reading.

CLT and Professional Development Schedule

Below are our dates planned for staff professional learning time this year:

November 13 - Early Release Records Day (11:52 Dismissal)
November 18 - Early Release CLT (11:52 Dismissal)
January 27 - Early Release Records Day (11:52 Dismissal)
February 16 - Full Day Professional Development (no school for students)
March 5 - Early Release Records Day (11:52 Dismissal)
April 21 - Early Release CLT (11:52 Dismissal)
May 19 - Early Release CLT (11:52 Dismissal)
June 4 - Last Day of School and Early Release Records Day (11:52 Dismissal)

Car Loop Procedures

Our car loop begins at 8:20am. Supervision does not begin until 8:20. Please do not drop students off prior to this time.
Please only drop off students in the carloop area. For their safety, please do not drop off at the road or crosswalk area.
Signs with classroom teachers names will be posted out front showing where students will stand.
Please drop off and pick up students along the painted blue line along the curb.
Please utilize the entire length of our “blue drop off line”. This will help keep our line moving efficiently.
During arrival, your students should be ready and prepared to get out of the car by having all their materials gathered and good-byes complete.
Students being picked up at the end of the day will be released out the front door. For the first couple of weeks, we encourage you to post a sign with your child's name in the window.
As you exit the loop, please follow the right turn only sign.

Medication Information

In order for Herbison Woods Staff to administer medication to your child, you must:

Submit a completed district medication form to our office.
All medication must be dropped off by a parent/guardian. Students should not bring any medication to school.
Be sure all medications are brought to school by a parent/guardian and stored in our office.
Be sure prescription medication is in its original container accompanied with a physician’s signature.
Be sure non-prescription medication is in its original container accompanied by a parent’s signature.
Please communicate with your child's teacher if he/she takes medication daily at school.
If your child has a medical condition, please be sure to complete a Medical Management Plan for your child and turn it in at the office.
Medication and other medical forms can be found on our DeWitt Public Schools website.

Picking Students Up From School

Student safety is a top priority. As a reminder, you will need proper identification each time your child is picked up from school. Proper identification can include:

Physical ID (Driver's license)
Personal identification by our office staff
Other identificaiton proof AND answering personal information we have in Infinite Campus (ie: phone number, birthdate, etc.)

Thank you for understanding and helping to keep a safe environment for our students!

Breakfast and Lunch

School breakfast and lunch are available to all students this year. Students are allowed one free breakfast and one free lunch due to a State initiative. More detailed information about our food service program and menus can be found here and will be updated soon.

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