Hamilton Husky Newsletter
October 2017
Greetings From Dr. Sawyer!
I left Friday’s Husky Academic Pep Rally so excited and I hope your child did too. It was inspiring to see our community of educators and students come together AS ONE! We recognized sports teams and attendance, enjoyed a performance by our band and a preview of the fall play, laughed at a teacher dance-off, and were energized by the debut of our Step Team the Golden Huskies.
Today scholars received an “On-track / Off-track” letter. Please ask your child to see this important piece of information. We commend our scholars who are “On-track” for their hard work in meeting our high expectations. We also want to remind you that scholars who are “Off-track” will be receiving extra support in improving grades, behavior, or attendance so that they will be fully prepared for their future high school and college studies. We appreciate your support!
We are the community of Hamilton Middle School. #HMSHuskyStrong
DID YOU MISS SPIRIT WEEK?
PJ Day
Academic Pep Rally
Mix and Match Day
ARE YOU ON SCHOOL DEETS?
Are you on SchoolDeets?
To keep up to date on all the “details” of the Hamilton Community we encourage ALL families to join us on SchoolDeets a FREE, private & secure, multilingual, messaging app.
It’s your easy to use source for information on athletics tryouts, events, cancellations, updates and more! Simply download the app & enter the unique student code you received at registration or visit http://schooldeets.com/ and look up your code.
From our Nurse
Denver Health will be hosting a FREE immunization clinic for our scholars on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forms for scholars who need immunizations went home this past week.
Scholars who need medication in school - including rescue inhalers - must have the doctor's prescription on file.
IB Updates from the desk of Leticia Raymond
October is the month of CARING for Hamilton. We will support our scholars around the IB Learner Profile characteristics and attributes of caring and what it means to be a caring Husky.
October is a busy month for all of us. We kicked off Bullying Prevention Month with assemblies on Digital Citizenship & Cyber Safety. October is Filipino American Heritage, Italian American month, and National Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month which we will celebrate at school on October 20 .
This month we also begin our Brown Bag Lunch Speaker Series for Scholars. This is an IB & AVID opportunity for our scholars to hear from members of our community & learn about careers.
AVID updates from the desk of Ms. Saba
AVID is a college & career readiness program that highlights instructional skills, fosters growth mindset, and encourages scholars to explore themselves as learners, thinkers, and community members.
AVID is a school-wide system: scholars across the building utilize the organizational binder they received the first week of school, Cornell Notes, WICOR strategies, and may attend our Brown Bag Lunch Speaker Series. Additionally, AVID scholars will travel off campus for college and career authentic experiences.
October is College & Career Readiness month in DPS. Our scholars can join our teachers in proudly wearing college gear on Fridays. Be sure to follow DPS on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to catch up on all the amazing ways our scholars are preparing for college and their careers! We invite you to join the celebration by using our hashtag, #myPlanDPS and #HMSHuskyStrong.
2017 Boys Soccer
2017 Cross Country
2017 Softball
Athletics
A great big Husky Howl to all of our Early Fall athletes - both Softball & Boys Soccer made it to the district finals! And despite the sudden cold Cross Country is still out there running. Go Huskies!
Late Fall sports have begun. For the first time Hamilton has a 6th grade Volleyball team! Dates and times for Flag Football, Volleyball & 6th Grade Volleyball games are available at http://hamilton.dpsk12.org/ Cancelation info is shared via SchoolDeets. Please come out and cheer on our Huskies!
Calling all Vocalists
This year, Ms. Heather Williams, choral music director at MLK, will be conducting the Middle School choir – we’re so excited to have her working with our students this year! You can access the music, as well as other important Citywide information, on the Google site:https://sites.google.com/site/dpscitywideartsevents/music-events/choir/middle-school-choir
If your child would like to audition s/he should pick up a form outside of Ms, Saba's room - 126.
ARTS news
Who will Dorothy meet in Wonderland? She’s certainly not in Kansas anymore. Find out at the fall play on November 8 & 9.
Ms. Shaw is happy to announce that at ALL of our band and orchestra students now have instruments to play! The instrumental program is always looking for donations of gently used instruments. Please contact Ms. Shaw if you would like to make a donation.
Ms. Baker's art students are looking forward to sharing their talents on our fall Showcase Night on November 15.
Community Updates
The Hamilton Huskies Support CTKD
The Hamilton community is a proud longtime supporter of local non-profit, Clothes to Kids of Denver (CTKD). The CTKD mission is simple – to provide school clothes to students in need or in crisis. Last year, CTKD provided over 8000 students with properly fitting, seasonally appropriate wardrobes. That couldn’t happen without your support!
Founded in 2008 by a group of moms looking to make a difference, CTKD is the only organization of its kind in Denver open year-round to serve students of all ages. CTKD serves students in preschool through 12th grade, so they gladly accept gently used or new clothing sized 4T-adult as well as shoes from size 8T up to adult sizes.
You can help students dress for success by donating clothing that is clean and ready to wear. Bring your donations to school any time and place them in the grey CTKD bin located in the main lobby.
Questions? Contact your school’s Bin Champion, Eileen Robinson at emrobinson@live.com. For more information about CTKD, visit their website http://www.clothestokidsdenver.org.
Transportation Survey
CU Denver and DPS want to hear from families about their transportation experience! Please share this survey with your parents and families and they can win one of ten $50 gift cards.
For parents in Denver
Focused on safety on the trip to school
Takes less than four minutes
http://faceinfo.dpsk12.org/e/268302/s3-3774545-School-Trips/336xq/47640535
From our Councilwoman Kendra Black
We hear you! Southeast Denver residents want Hampden to be more attractive and safer for drivers and pedestrians. Join us to help the study’s project team:
•Identify short-term improvements
•Create a community-driven long-term vision
2017 Town Hall Meeting Wednesday, November 1 5:30 pm.
Free pizza & drinks - bring the family!
For more information call 720-337-4444
PTA News
We’re happy to introduce our new Parent Teacher Association (PTA) officers: President Maria (Jess) Gonzalez, Treaurer Teri Hetzel, and Secretary Casey Hendrick.
And we’d like to thank our outgoing Presidents Tami Patzer & Candace Polk for their service to our school community.
A huge Husky Howl of thanks from our scholars to all who supported our fall fundraiser with BelieveKids. Orders are expected to arrive at the end of October.
Please join us for the next PTA meeting on Tuesday, October 10 at 6:30 pm in the Hamilton Community Room. We will be planning for how to support the Hamilton Fall Social on Thursday, November 2.
For more information on our PTA visit http://hamiltonmiddleschoolptsa.yolasite.com/
ELA PAC
Thank you to the many families who joined us for our first ELA PAC meeting of the year. We enjoyed a presentation by Dr. Sawyer, learned about our rights as parents in a Title 1 school and how we can help our children to be better readers of English. Our next meeting will be Saturday, November 18.
A group of ELA parents and teachers will attend the Superintendent Parent Forum and ELA DAC on Wednesday, November 1. We hope you can join us. The topic is “Supporting Families in Being their Child’s First Educator and Advocate.”
DPS invites all families to take part in the ELA DAC: Family Leadership Institute. The institute brings together families from across the district to enhance their advocacy skills at the home, the school, and the district level. The first session is October 19. Contact carolyn_leahy@dpsk12.org for more information.
Sea Camp San Diego
This trip is open to 7th & 8th grade scholars. Interested parents MUST attend a meeting in room 126 on Friday, October 13 at 8:30 am or 3:00 pm.
Please contact Alexandra_Saba@dpsk12.org with any questions.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Collaborative School Committee (CSC) meeting & discussion of how to spend Title 1 funds for Parent Engagement: Tuesday, October 10, 2017 5:00 pm
PTA meeting: Tuesday, October 10, 2017 6:30 pm
Immunization Clinic: Friday, October 13, 2017
Sea Camp Parent Meeting: Friday, October 13, 2017 7:30 am or 3:00 pm
ELA DAC: Family Leadership Institute: October 19
8th Grade High School Options Night: October 25
Parent-Teacher Conferences: November 1 & 2 from 3:30- 7:00 pm.
Superintendent Parent Forum & ELA DAC: November 1, 2017
Upcoming No School Days: Thursday, October 26, 2017
Friday, October 27, 2017
Friday, November 3, 2017
PROSPECTIVE SCHOLARS
Hamilton Middle School welcomes prospective Huskies and their families to visit Hamilton for tours or shadow experiences. For more information visit http://hamilton.dpsk12.org/ Our Open House will be the evening of Wednesday, November 29. We look forward to meeting you!