Heartland Family Newsletter
Heartland Happenings - 11/27/2022
Notes From Ms. Johnson
Hopefully, you all had a GREAT break and are rested, relaxed, and ready to face the holiday season head-on. In the school world - the time between Thanksgiving break and the semester break feels very fast. The end of the semester will be here before you know it. Every quarter, there is a hard cut-off date for missing work to be turned in. For this 2nd quarter, that hard cut-off date is December 16th. This allows teachers just enough time to get the assignments graded and into infinite campus before the end of the semester. As a point of information, by the time a student gets to the cut-off date for missing work - they have typically had weeks - if not months - of extra time to work on these assignments past the original due date. The hard cut-off date truly is that. Be sure to check with your student to make sure they are completing their assignments and getting any missing work completed and turned in.
Speaking of the end of the semester, we would like to take this opportunity to have a little fun! Starting in the month of December, we will be "Decking the Heartland Halls!" To help us get in the Holiday spirit, we will have dress up days each day in December and would love for our students to join in on the fun! Please see the calendar listed below for our order of events. Over the course of the next 3.5 weeks, we will be hosting grade level competitions and cap things off with an all-school assembly celebration on our last day of the semester, December 21st! Students will receive more information regarding all of the dress up days, events, and ways to get involved in their advisory classes this upcoming week!
Lastly, this last few weeks of the semester will be jammed packed with ways to celebrate our Thunderhawks! Our Winter sports are in full swing and our performing arts organizations are gearing up for their Holiday concerts! Please join me in supporting our Thunderhawks as they hone their craft! If you need me, you'll find me in the stands/seats enjoying our kiddos as they showcase their amazing talents! Here's to a fantastic end to a wonderful first semester!
WE ARE...HEARTLAND!
Respectfully,
Veronica Johnson
Principal, Heartland Middle School
405-340-2972
Grade Level Newsletters
Teacher Recruitment Reception!!
Do you know a prospective educator who is a senior in college and who will be graduating this fall or next spring? Please share the information below with them.
Arrival and Dismissal Concerns -- Car Rider
Here's the deal -- I realize everyone is in a rush to drop off and pick up. I get it - believe me! However, there are some practices happening that are not safe & we need to address those.
1) Picking Up/Dropping Off on Penn Itself. We have a few parents who are stopping on Penn Ave to have students get in and out of the car. Not only does this stop traffic for the other billion cars that are traveling down the street - but - it's simply not safe. I've even noticed cars make an immediate illegal u-turn after dropping off. Please help us out by trying a different method for pick up/drop off.
2) Dropping Off at the North Entrance We have SEVERAL parents who are now skipping the line, driving around to the North side of the school and dropping their students off in the bus loop after the buses leave in the morning. This may be a practice we need to utilize in the future - however - we are currently not staffed for supervision of these students as they come in. We ask that you utilize the car rider line and not drop off in the North bus loop.
3) Picking Up and Dropping Off in the East Parking Lot. The East parking lot by the tennis courts is used for staff parking. Many parents are driving around the North side of the building and into the East parking lot to drop off and pick up their student. Again, this area is not properly supervised. The more students that gather over on the East side, the more likely something dangerous/inappropriate can happen.
4) Students Dropped Off Early or Picked Up Late. We have supervision of students scheduled from 7:10 am to 2:40 pm. We've consistently had students waiting out front until deep in the 4:00pm time. These students are not supervised. AND - they're bored.. Bored and not supervised turns into many things at the middle school level. We ask that you please make arrangements to have your student picked up at the normal time - OR - ride the bus home. Additionally - we're having many students dropped off on campus and waiting for doors to open for a long time. Some as early as 6:00am. An hour and ten minutes is a long time to wait once it gets really cold outside..
In short - I ask that we all follow the normal procedure for pick up and drop off for the safety of our students.
Thank you to our anonymous donor for your generous donation and helping to pack our pantry!
Superhawk Thanksgiving!
Student IDs Required to Be Worn Each Day
Students are required to wear their student ID each and every day. All students have received their initial ID for the year. Students that do not have their ID are expected to print a temporary sticker badge to wear for the day. This should only be used in emergency situations. Students are allotted 5 free sticker badges per month and will be charge $1 for every badge thereafter until the end of the month. Students wearing a sticker badge will not have access to the snack bar and be last in lunch lunch line. I recommend purchasing a new ID for $5 if your student has lost their ID.
This is one of the district's many safeguards for our schools. IDs provide a quick glance of students that belong to our school, their grade level, and which parts of the building they should be in during the day.
Afternoon Parent Pick-Up
Just a reminder, if you are going to pick up your student at the end of the day you must do so before 2:00pm. Our front office is really busy trying to tie up loose ends, fielding lots of phone calls and ensuring that all messages have been delivered to students. It has been hard to accommodate the parents that want to pick up their child right before the dismissal bell. Starting next week, we will no longer allow parents to check out students if it is after 2:00pm. Thank you for your understanding. Ms. Johnson
Heartland Parent Organization News!
Heartland Families,
SAVE THE DATE!!
The Staff Appreciation Committee thanks all of you for your generous donations to “Stock the Teachers Lounge”. We have amazing families at our school.
Thank you for helping “Pack the Rack” for Heartland’s food pantry. What an amazing families we have supporting us!
BUY YOUR Basketball shirts here.
We still have spots available for Fun Food Friday candy sales. It’s a lot of fun! https://bit.ly/3grOoXt
Basketball Concessions are in full swing! Please sign up to help.
We have a stocked shop, so be sure and check it out!
Make a direct contribution to HPO without selling anything.
100% of the proceeds goes to Heartland Parent Organization. We are a 501(c)3 and all donations are tax deductible. We can provide you with a tax receipt.
If your company does gift matching, please let us know and we can send you the proper documents.
Donate here:
Volunteer Here:
Keep watch on this Linktree for all things HPO, including signups for volunteer opportunities, Staff Appreciation requests for donations and basketball concessions.
https://linktr.ee/heartlandhpo
Keep up with HPO information straight to your phone and join REMIND.
Please keep in touch with the HPO!
HPO Board:
President: Leigh Bloskovich
President-Elect: Cassie Niemann
Vice President: Trish Harrison
Treasurer: Jamila Woodard
Secretary: Belinda James
HPO Chairman:
Restaurant Nights: Jaime Clark
Staff Appreciation: Angela Spitler
Dates to Remember:
12/1 Pie Five Pizza (4-9pm)
Questions? heartland.hpo@gmail.com
Thanks for your support!
Bus Information
Click the link and enter your address to find your bus number, bus stop, and pick/drop-off times.
Meal Pay Online and Free Reduced Applications
Child Nutrition Website
HEARTLAND CORE CHARACTER VALUES
Honesty - Being truthful in what I say and do
Enthusiasm - Expressing interest and excitement in what I do
Attentiveness - Concentrating on the person or task before me
Resiliency - Recovering from adversity and finding the inner strength to withstand stress
and do my best
Tolerance- Demonstrating respect for others who do not share my perspective
Leadership- Knowing the way. Going the way. Showing the way.
Accountability - Accepting responsibility for my actions
Nice- Dude. Be Nice!
Discipline- Choosing behaviors to help me reach my goals and finish strong!
Heartland Middle School
Veronica Johnson - Lead Principal
Laura Brown - Principal, 6th Grade
Paul McQueen - Principal, 7th Grade
Edward Hudson - Principal, 8th Grade
Lisa Edwards - 6th Grade Counselor
Cara Bowerman - 7th Grade Counselor
Kim Treece - 8th Grade Counselor
Email: heartland.middleschool@edmondschools.net
Website: https://heartland.edmondschools.net/
Location: Heartland Middle School, Explorer Drive, Edmond, OK, USA
Phone: (405)340-2972
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heartlandmiddleschool