HMS UPDATE
November 12, 2021
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
HMS Community,
We wrapped up October with some great new events and initiatives, including: the first HMS Halloween parade in many years, our PTO-decorated playground and providing every student with a pumpkin to take home. In case you missed it, we do have a lot of photos within this month's edition of the newsletter.
The remaining six weeks of 2021 will not feature nearly as many special events. This includes our typical series of winter concerts for our band, strings and chorus students. While we are fully back up and running, these departments had some obvious setbacks during the pandemic. We do plan on having our spring concerts, and we would like to host them outside at HMS. In the meantime, Mrs. Curtis, Mrs. Yang and Mrs. Nigro are working on other ways to showcase our students' talents.
In addition, I will continue to work with our PTO in planning fun events and opportunities for our students. This is not to say we are not busy at HMS- we have activities running four days per week here at HMS, including Explorations, Chorus, World Language Club, Yoga, Chess and coming up in January the ski/snowboard club.
We have a lot of photos to share this month. Enjoy!
Proudly,
Doug Layman
Principal, HMS
973.957.1HMS
UPCOMING DATES:
11.19: American Education Week Staff Lunch (Courtesy of the PTO)
11.24: Early Dismissal (1:00)
11.25-26: Schools Closed
11.29-12.3: PTO Holiday Shop
Halloween @ HMS
-Sparta Police Department
-HMS PTO
-STPS' Maintenance Crew
-Anderson Farms
-Frank Longo, HMS Head Custodian
-Rob Kelly, HMS Security
-Curriculum Supervisors and Directors (Mrs. Madsen, Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Kasa, Mr. Kercher, Mrs. Stiansen and Dr. Castorina)
Please be sure to check out our Halloween Parade pictures by clicking on the image below and then entering the case-sensitive PW and download pin below.
Gallery Password: HelenMorganSparta2021
Download PIN: 4598
HMS SKI/SNOWBOARD PROGRAM
Tuesdays, starting on 1/4
5 sessions, with a possible 6th
$310
Transportation provided from HMS to NWAC in Vernon
Students must be registered online and paid in full in order to reserve one of the limited spots.
STUDENT ASSESSMENTS
In December, HMS students will take our benchmark assessment, STAR, in both Math and ELA.
Annex Bathroom Project
BUS ALERTS
We will send an e-mail confirmation for when we will stop sending the alerts. We understand that for some the alerts are convenient, however with consistent daily departure times of between (3:38 and 3:41) a programmed phone alert could serve the same purpose. In addition, this will allow our main office to focus on more emergent needs that can come up during the dismissal process.
*It is our expectation that Bus I (i) will continue to leave approximately 10-15 minutes following the departure of the other buses. We will continue to send alerts when that bus leaves HMS.
SEF Krough's Turkey Trot
This week in P/E students were getting ready for our very own Turkey Trot by running (walking some) one mile. We want to encourage our students and their friends, neighbors and families to participate in this year's SEF Krough's Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. Please click on the link below for more information. In preparation for this great community tradition we will be hosting our own Turkey Trot, weather permitting, the Monday or Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
HMS IN THE NEWS...
HMS PHOTO ALBUM
Fun Fall
VETERANS DAY
P/E
Rock, Paper, Scissors Relay
Chess
5th GRADE SCIENCE
YOGA
HALLOWEEN
PUMPKIN DELIVERY
TREE HABilitate
EXPLORATIONS
My Most Favorite, Recommended, Can't Go Wrong Website for Parents
SPARTA COMMUNITY FLYERS
PREVIOUS BLACKBOARD EMAILS
SUGGESTION BOX
Where to find these on the HMS website
Helen Morgan School
Email: doug.layman@sparta.org
Website: www.sparta.org
Location: Sparta, NJ
Phone: 973.729.5770