March

28 - BVNW Jazz Festival @ HMS - 7:00pm

28 - KAP testing (ELA - 6th,, 7th & 8th)

29 - CAPS Fieldtrip (8th grade only) 8:30-10:30am

30 - KAP testing (ELA - 6th, 7th & 8th)

April

4 - KAP testing (Math - 6th, 7th & 8th)

6 - KAP testing (Math - 6th, 7th & 8th)

11 - KAP testing (Science - 8th grade only)

11 - Track Meet @ Leawood Middle School - 3:25pm

13 - KAP testing (Science - 8th grade only)

13 - Track Meet @ HMS vs Aubry Bend Middle school - 3:25pm

18 - MAP testing (ELA - 6th, 7th & 8th)

19 - MAP testing (ELA - 6th, 7th & 8th)

20 - District 8th Grade Band Festival @ BVSW - 8:00am-12:30pm

20 - District 7th Grade Choir Festival @ BVN - 12:00pm - 2:00pm

20 - Track Meet @ Prairie Star Middle School - 3:25pm

21 - Jr. Thespian Induction Ceremony - 3:00-3:45pm

24 - NO SCHOOL- Professional Learning Day

25 - Track Meet @ HMS vs Pleasant Ridge Middle School - 3:25pm

26 - District 7th Grade Band Festival @ BVNW - 8:30am-12:30pm

26 - District 8th Grade Choir Festival @ Mid America Nazarene University- 9:00am - 2:00 pm

27 - Track Meet @ Blue Valley Middle School - 3:25pm

28 - 8th Grade Service Trip - 10:00 am - 12:30 pm

HMS Families,

We enjoyed welcoming back all of our students and staff this week after Spring Break. The 4th quarter of the school year has officially started in a very successful way. This week we saw many students enjoy success, fun, and fulfillment outside of the classroom. Our 8th grade theater and choir students performed in the first ever District Middle School Theater Festival at BV West. They were amazing and received a standing ovation! Our orchestra students also performed this week at their annual BVNW Area Orchestra Concert. We are so proud of their wonderful performance and the growth they continue to make as musicians. Next week marks the beginning of the track season and we are excited to see close to 140 students participate in track and field.

Please take a look at the Spring testing dates below as our students will be completing Kansas State Assessments for ELA next week on Tuesday and Thursday. We understand that our students complete several different standardized tests during the 4th quarter, but please encourage your student(s) to take their time and to do their best on each assessment they complete. This way we have valid data to inform our future instruction and help our students succeed. Getting a good night's sleep and eating breakfast before school are great ways to make sure students have a chance to do their best.

The last day of the school year was announced this week. The last day of school will be a 10:50 am early dismissal day on Friday, May 26, 2023.

Below this note you will find the following information:

• Kansas City Royals Spirit Week

• End of Quarter Information

• Course Fees

• Spring Testing Dates

• 8th Grade Field Trip and Event Consent

• Drug and Alcohol Prevention Parent Meeting

• HMS Volunteer Program

• Honor Code

• Safe School Reporting

• Carline Reminders

• After School Clubs & Activities

• Athletics

• Harmony Middle School Handbook

• PTO News

• Student Services Update

As always, thank you for your support of HMS.

Sincerely,

Nate Winslow

Principal

Harmony Middle School

Canvas Courses
At the end of each quarter, most courses in Canvas will conclude and will no longer be visible on the Canvas app. A concluded course is only visible through the Canvas website by selecting All Courses on the Courses tab and scrolling down to the Past Enrollments section. Courses for this quarter will conclude on March 9th, 11:59 pm. Report cards will be generated and viewed on ParentVUE at the end of the school day on March 24th. At the start of the new quarter, teachers will publish new Canvas courses. As courses are published, students and families will again be able to see current courses on the Canvas app and Canvas website. For Canvas parent resources, visit www.bluevalleyk12.org/canvas.

*CANVAS TIP: Be sure you have downloaded the latest version of the Canvas Parent App (download in iTunes and Google Play).

Middle school course fee payment for the second semester is open and online now. Your ParentVUE login and password are required to pay course fees.

• Course fees are assigned based on your student’s enrollment. Some seventh and eighth grade exploratory/elective classes include course fees.

• Course fees are assigned for the second semester only.

Questions regarding fee payment should be directed to Christina Fowles, HMS Bookkeeper.

We are excited to see all of our HMS student growth through our upcoming district and state testing. Please make it a priority for your TBird to be at school on the following dates so that we can assess how much they’ve learned this year!

Kansas State Testing (KAP)

ELA- Tues. 3/28 and Thurs. 3/30

MATH- Tues. 4/4 and Thurs. 4/6

SCI- Tues. 4/11 and Thurs. 4/13- 8th grade only

MAP Testing

ELA- 4/18-4/20 (through ELA class)

Math- 5/2-5/4 (through math class)

iReady Spring Diagnostic (through math classes)

6th grade- 5/10-5/12

7/8th grade- 5/9-5/11

8th grade 3rd hour teachers sent a google form home on Wednesday, 3/22 to get permission for all upcoming 8th grade field trips and events. Please make sure to complete this form asap, as the first field trip is on Wednesday, March 29th. If you have any questions or did not receive the form, please contact your student’s 3rd hour teacher.

All volunteer service hours must be submitted by April 14, 2023. Please email the completed tracking form to Emily Wilson eswilson@bluevalleyk12.org or bring a hard copy to the front office. Service hours, as well as the names of students who have completed the top number of credible community service hours will be reviewed for recommendation to receive the Blue Valley Volunteer Service Award.

We always encourage our students at HMS to embody and represent our honor code. Feel free to discuss what it means to be “honorable” at HMS with your student. As we settle into the school year, it is important that students are hearing this message at school and at home.

Please share this message in your upcoming family newsletter:

Blue Valley Schools is committed to promoting and fostering a safe environment in and around all of our schools. Through the convergence of physical and intellectual security measures, we are continuously working to prevent, mitigate, respond to and recover from a wide range of emergencies. Please check out available ways to report safety concerns.

Please remember to follow our carline rules at all times to ensure efficiency for all.

**This also applies to before and after school activities**

• Use the east entrance to the front circle. The west entrance is for buses only.

• Pull forward all the way before allowing your student to exit the car.

• This is extremely important. Do not stop until you have pulled all the way up as far as you can in front of the school.

• Please have your student exit the car quickly. One slow car can back up the entire carline.

• Pull to the left after your student exits your car. (this is extremely important to ensure traffic continues to flow)

• Turn right only when exiting the parking lot. Waiting to turn left completely halts our carline.

Also, please DO NOT park along 141st street during pickup or dropoff. This is a no parking zone as it is a safety issue for our students trying to use the crosswalk. Please enter the HMS parking lot to pick up your student after school.

Check out our list of clubs! Most are open to any grade level. No need to sign up in advance.

7th/8th Boys/Girls Track

All med information and physical uploads must be submitted TODAY for participation.

https://bluevalleysd-ar.rschooltoday.com/familyaccounts/autopopulate/97

**If you have already completed this process for a fall or winter sport, you can go in and add Track in rSchool, if you did not elect it upon initial registration.**

Practices begin on Monday, March 27th. In order to participate, please make sure that you have completed all medical information and uploaded a current physical to the link above.

Please use this link to view the HMS Student Handbook. This handbook will be available for students through our All School Canvas page and can be found at the beginning of the student planner.

TRACK CONCESSION VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

We need two volunteers to work in the concession stand for each track meet held at HMS. One of the volunteers can be a student, however an adult must also be signed up to work with the student. Instructions will be sent to volunteers. Meet starts at 3:30 and we like to have the stand open 15 minutes prior so please arrive to set up at 3:00 PM. Please click on the Sign- Up Genius link below to volunteer and please contact Katie Scheibel if you have any questions (katie_scheibel@hotmail.com).

We need two parent volunteers to help with each meeting. Meetings are from 3 - 4 pm and take place at HMS. Please arrive at 2:50 PM and sign in at the front office. Please click on the link below to sign up.

Have you talked to your children about their future? One of the roles for HMS counselors are to help middle school students identify their strengths, interests, and possible future goals. We do this through a district-wide curriculum called Naviance. Counselors will be providing these lessons with all three grade levels over the next month. In May, 7th and 8th graders will take part in a Career Fair where they will get a chance to listen to professionals about what they do and how they reached their career goal.

Please ask your child about their Naviance lesson and reach to your child’s counselor with questions. A-K; Lori Cook, L-Z; Trish Madsen

6th grade

Lesson : Career Cluster Finder and Goal Setting

7th Grade

Lesson: Career Key with Holland Code and Goal Setting

8th Grade

Lesson : RoadTrip Nation video exploration and college exploration