What a Fantastic First Week Back!
It was wonderful to see everyone’s smiling faces as we kicked off the second half of the school year. A special warm welcome to our new Behavior Support Teacher, Mrs. Lori Farmer- we’re thrilled to have you join our Pride family!

Coach Ballash and Coach Short brought the energy this week, pumping up our students about the Kids Heart Challenge! They inspired our Lions to spread kindness, build healthy habits, and make a lasting difference. 💖 There’s more information below in the newsletter- be sure to check it out and get your student signed up!

We ended the week on a high note with a Glow Party celebrating students who met one or both of their growth goals on the iReady Diagnostic Test. Our Lions truly had a blast! 🌟

Resetting Expectations for a Great New Year
As we begin 2026, it’s the perfect time to tighten up routines and refresh expectations so that everyone can start strong. Please take a moment to review these important reminders that help keep our campus safe, organized, and focused on learning:

Arrival and Dismissal: For everyone’s safety, cell phone use is prohibited in the carline. Cartags with numbers must remain displayed in your windshield until your student is safely loaded, and please drive slowly while on campus.

Dropping Off Items: Help us keep the day running smoothly by packing all of your child’s belongings in their backpack each morning. With nearly 900 students, we cannot interrupt instruction to deliver forgotten items like water bottles, homework, or backpacks. Lunchboxes that are dropped off will be placed in a designated spot in the cafeteria for students to pick up at lunchtime. For other items, teachers are notified by email so they can send students at a convenient time to retrieve them. Exceptions are made for emergencies, such as forgotten glasses. Thank you for partnering with us!

Uniform Policy: Pride Elementary is a uniform school. Tops should be polo shirts in white, maroon/burgundy, or navy with no writing. Bottoms should be navy or khaki pants, shorts, jumpers, skirts, or skorts. On Fridays, students may wear a spirit shirt with jeans- please note that ripped jeans are not allowed.

Thank you for working with us to keep things safe, smooth, and full of Pride spirit as we dive into an amazing second semester! 🦁✨

Yo-ho-ho and onward we go!

Mrs. Meyer and Mrs. Moncrief

Dear Pride Families,

Our district values feedback! We are currently surveying Pride Elementary families in order to gain insight into your perception of our school and district effectiveness. To ensure we continue to provide high-quality, rigorous learning experiences that meet the needs of our students and prepare them for college and career, we need your feedback.

To administer these surveys, we have partnered with Panorama Education. All responses to the survey will be completely confidential. The survey shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to complete and will be a valuable source of information for us as we work to make our schools and district stronger.

You may complete the survey online between Monday, January 5 and Friday, January 23 using a computer, tablet, or smartphone by visiting the website http://surveys.panoramaed.com/hcps/fam3441

We thank you in advance for your thoughtful responses. If you have any questions about the survey, please don’t hesitate to contact myself or our survey coordinator, Mrs. Dodds, at Laura.DoddsGromkov@hcps.net.

Thank you,

Kirsten Meyer

Pride Elementary School

Our Pride Lions are on the move!
This week we launched the Kids Heart Challenge, and it’s all about hearts full of kindness and healthy habits that last a lifetime. Scan the code below to learn more and sign your student up to join the fun! Together, we can make a BIG impact- creating a healthier future, one heart at a time. Let’s do this, Pride family! 🦁❤️

We need volunteers to help in the cafeteria during lunch on a daily basis between 10:00 and 1:30. Ideally, we would like to have recurring volunteers, but any time you can help would be greatly appreciated! The role involves monitoring student behavior, assisting students with opening food items, escorting students to the bathroom or health clinic, helping with spills, etc... Please click on the link below to sign up!

LUNCHROOM HELPER

Explore everything related to HCPS and your students via the HCPS, Focus, and Canvas apps! Get informed, stay connected, and receive the latest updates. Download these essential apps today from the App Store or Google Play to enhance your experience.

HCPS—App Store: https://aptg.co/6nZQyH | Google Play: https://aptg.co/sG8Xg3
Focus—App Store: http://bit.ly/3IPcgCH | Google Play: http://bit.ly/4lJJamJ
Canvas—App Store: http://bit.ly/3IQ8ngL | Google Play: http://bit.ly/45ndbTr

Focus will sync parent accounts from Focus to Canvas within 24 hours of creation. Parents will use the same email to login to Canvas but must set a password before logging in the first time. To set a Canvas password, please access the Canvas Reset Password page.

About Us

Email: Pride.Elementary@hcps.net
Website: hillsboroughschools.org/pride
Location: 10310 Lion's Den Drive, Tampa, FL, USA
Phone: 813-558-5400
Facebook: facebook.com/PrideElem