Wednesday Newsletter
12/16/20
Harmony Science Academy Garland
Administrators:
Sofieh Hopovac- Campus Principal: shopovac@harmonytx.org
Brett Garrett- Dean of Academics: bgarrett@harmonytx.org
Timothy Clark- Dean of Students: tclark@harmonytx.org
Coordinators:
Heather Gregory- Engagement/Testing/Federal Programs- hgregory@harmonytx.org
Kyla McDade- Special Education- kmcdade@harmonytx.org
Tamara Yarborough- ESL- tyarborough@harmonytx.org
Milada Medinic-Kazazic- Gifted and Talented Education: mmedinic@harmonytx.orgOffice:
Paula Gonzalez- Business Manager- pgonzalez@harmonytx.org
Juveria Hussain- Student Recruitment- lahmed@harmonytx.org
Email: hgregory@harmonytx.org
Website: https://hsagarland.harmonytx.org/
Location: 2302 Firewheel Parkway, Garland, TX, USA
Phone: 972-212-4777
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HSAGarland/
December:
3-18 - 12 Days of Christmas (dress up days)
7-18 - STAAR Online Interim Assessments (3rd - 6th grades) - Check out this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0F5jUXLjEU
17 - Last Day to Order - Penguin Patch Online Holiday Store - Click Here and choose our campus: https://shop.penguinpatch.com/
17 - Virtual Parent Academy (Please RSVP Here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScdzvj-C1zlXCqWikKwRwhrjPPcwfEJY8dZiLGN6N78XeFiig/viewform?usp=sf_link)
21 - Jan. 5 - Holiday Break
Virtual Family Visits
Have you scheduled your family's virtual home visit yet?!
Our Virtual Home Visits are a 30-minute scheduled video call between a teacher and a student’s family, from the teacher’s home or classroom to the family’s home help parents establish strong relationships with the school and teachers, even when they cannot meet face-to-face. During these unprecedented times, HPS teachers and staff will continue to visit our families virtually until it is safe to return to campus.
Home visits has positive effects on student’s learning, and social and emotional improvement.
Benefits for students include:
- Students whose parents agree to home visits, have better behavior and conduct,
- Improved academic performance, student attendance
- A better ease at learning, and trust of their teacher,
- Forms a higher level of respect for teachers, themselves and others.
Benefits for parents include:
- Parents are secure knowing that teachers genuinely care for the welfare of their children.
- Creates a trusting bond between the teacher and parent.
- Parents feel confident that their child’s future is in the hands of teachers who go beyond the call of duty to guarantee each student’s prosperity.
- Allows parents to become a part of the school environment.
Harmony teachers visit more than 7,000 homes each year. We encourage you to contact your child's campus or fill out this form https://forms.gle/xVRxhRrkF8aqSNLH7 to request your virtual home visit today!
December 18th SSO Meal Distribution Notification:
On Friday, December 18, 2020, meal distribution will be at [Harmony School Of Innovation at 2250 Firewheel Parkway, Garland TX, 75040] from 3:00pm-4:00pm. We will distribute a 7 day meal box that includes breakfast, lunch and milk. SSO is a free meals program for all children ages 18 and under. Students 21 and under who are currently enrolled in a school and are identified as mentally or physically disabled are also eligible. Parents wishing to pick up a meal box without children present will need to present one of the following to verify guardianship: Individual student report cards, attendance record from parent portal of a school website, birth certificate, official letter/email from facility or school listing children enrolled, or other official ID cards (for example, IDs issued by a child care facility). Meal distribution will resume Wednesday, January 6, 2021 from 9am-10am. For additional resources and locations to mobile pantries in your area during the winter break, please visit: Tarrant Area Food Bank, North Texas Food Bank, or Central Texas Food Bank.
Have a safe and happy winter break.
Thank You & Sincerely,
Elva L. Reyes | Child Nutrition Assistant
Meals Over Break
Greetings HPS friends and family:
As we look forward to a wonderful holiday break, we wanted to make you aware of some changes regarding meal distribution for Friday, December 18, 2020.
Harmony School of Innovation-Garland located at 2250 Firewheel Pkwy, Garland, TX 75040 will not have SSO meal distribution from Monday, December 21, 2020 through Monday, January 4, 2021. Meal distribution will resume on Wednesday, January 6, 2021 from 9:00am-10:00am and Friday, January 8, 2021 from 3:00pm-4:00pm at this location. Meal distribution will continue every Monday (9:00am-10:00am) and Friday (3:00pm-4:00pm) thereafter for the month of January unless noted below due to student & staff holiday. All meal distribution dates beyond January will be communicated on a monthly basis.
On Friday, December 18, 2020, meal distribution will be at Harmony School of Innovation-Garland, 2250 Firewheel Pkwy, Garland, TX 75040 from 3:00pm-4:00pm. We will distribute a 7-day meal box that includes breakfast, lunch and milk.
SSO is a free meals program for all children ages 18 and under. Students 21 and under who are currently enrolled in a school and are identified as mentally or physically disabled are also eligible. Meal distribution is open to our students, their siblings, and the community.
Parents wishing to pick up a meal box without children present will need to present one of the following to verify guardianship:
∙ Individual student report cards
∙ Attendance record from parent portal of a school website
∙ Birth certificate
∙ Official letter/email from facility or school listing children enrolled
∙ Other official ID cards (for example, IDs issued by a child care facility)
While our goal is to be able to provide meal boxes to all families requesting one for each of their children, please note that meal boxes are on a first come, first serve basis.
For additional resources and locations to mobile pantries in your area, please visit: Tarrant Area Food Bank, North Texas Food Bank, or Central Texas Food Bank
If you have any questions, please contact Elva Reyes, Child Nutrition Assistant, at elva.reyes@harmonytx.org
*Alternate meal distribution dates due to student & staff holidays in January:
- Tuesday, January 19th, 9:00am-10:00am (the meal box provided on Friday, January 15th will be for 3 days)
FREE AND REDUCED LUNCH INSTRUCTIONS
Harmony Public Schools is required to collect and report the socioeconomic status of each student to the Texas Education Agency for purposes of the annual state accountability ratings and for federal reporting. The data collected is also used by educational agencies to determine funding which may be used for various enrichment and additional services. If you have not already received a notice stating that your child for free or reduced price meals, please complete the "CONFIDENTIAL Household" form in Skyward. Upon login to Skyward, this form is accessible from the main screen.
Down below you will find the steps on how to complete the form in Skyward.
Queridas familias:
La Escuela Pública Harmony está obligada a recopilar e informar el estado socioeconómico de cada estudiante a la Agencia de Educación de Texas para los propósitos de las calificaciones anuales de responsabilidad estatal y para los informes federales. Los datos recopilados también son utilizados por las agencias educativas para determinar los fondos que pueden usarse para diversos servicios de enriquecimiento y adicionales. Si aún no ha recibido un aviso que indique que su hijo califica para comidas gratuitas o de precio reducido, complete el formulario "Hogar confidencial" en Skyward. Al iniciar sesión en Skyward, se puede acceder a este formulario desde la pantalla principal. Si tiene alguna pregunta, no dude en enviarme un correo electrónico. Si ya envió el formulario Confidential Household, ignore este mensaje.
If you have any questions, please contact the Child Nutrition Assistant.
Open Enrollment for 2021-2022
Now Underway
There has never been a more important time than now to choose the right school. If you have family or friends looking to make a change, be sure to let them know Harmony’s annual Open Enrollment period is now underway! Harmony Public Schools have a 20-year history of helping students close performance gaps so every child can succeed. The application period for open enrollment for the 2021-22 school year is NOW LIVE for new students and students wishing to change campuses next year. The Open Enrollment period ends Feb. 10, 2021.
Character Principle #5
Just a quick recap of our previous weeks:
Principle 1 - Core values are defined, implemented, and embedded into school culture.
Principle 2 - The school defines character comprehensively to include thinking, feeling, and doing.
Principle 3 - The school uses a comprehensive, intentional, and proactive approach to develop character.
Principle 4 - The school creates a caring community. A school committed to character strives to become a civil, caring, and just society by creating a space that helps all its members form respectful relationships that foster both the desire to learn and to be a good person.
Principle 5- The school provides students with opportunities for moral action. Students need many opportunities to grapple with real-life challenges such as planning and carrying out important responsibilities, working as part of a team, negotiating peaceable solutions, recognizing and resolving ethical dilemmas, and identifying and meeting school and community needs. These challenges develop the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects of their character.
5.1- The school expects students to engage in service, both community service and service-learning.
Artifacts demonstrate how the school's expectations engage students to advance ethical behavior such as peaceful conflict resolution, academic integrity, good sportsmanship, and service to others. Students can describe how these things have been taught by their teachers and what they have learned through their own activities to support ethical behavior.
5.2- The school provides all students with opportunities for service and service-learning within the school and time to reflect about them (i.e. peer tutoring, student body governance, service projects).
Teachers connect service within the school to our core values, and also help students engage in the practice of conflict resolution, ethical decision making, and academic integrity. Programs such as peer mentoring and leadership organizations lead the way in these projects.
5.3- The school provides all students with repeated opportunities for service and service-learning outside the school and time to reflect about them (i.e. working with elderly, homeless, those in need, or animals.
Teachers connect outside community service projects with our core values and set aside time for students to discuss community needs as well as create ideas to address them, such as through PBLs or clubs.
FALL READING CHALLENGE
Our Fall Reading Challenge starts Monday, Oct. 5! We are encouraging students to read a variety of texts of their choice and submit the titles of the books they have read.
Campus administration will share a link to a campus form. Teachers will post it to Schoology for students to fill out once they have read a book.
The challenge is:
- Kindergarten-2nd grade: Read 20 books in RAZ Plus between Oct. 5 and Jan. 3.
- 3rd-5th: Read 3 fiction, 3 non-fiction, 1 poetry, and 3 books of the student's choice between Oct. 5 and Jan. 3.
- 6th-8th: Read 4 fiction, 4 non-fiction, 1 poetry, and 2 books of the student's choice between Oct. 5 and Jan. 3.
- 9th-12th: Read 4 fiction, 4 non-fiction, 1 poetry, and 3 books of the student's choice between Oct. 5 and Jan. 3.
If your child meets these goals, they can earn money toward additional classroom books! Please reach out to your Dean of Academics with questions.
DFW Parent/Student Support Resources
Annual AHERA Notification to Parents, Teachers and Staff
Dear Parents, Teachers and Staff,
In accordance with the 40 CFR Part 763 (enacted by Congress in 1986) of the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA). Section 763.93 pertaining to the Asbestos in School Identification and Notification Rule, Harmony Science Academy – Garland hereby notifies all parties of the Asbestos Management Plan availability.
The Asbestos Management Plan is available for review at the administrative office during regular campus operating hours.
We would like to inform you that there are currently no asbestos-containing building materials at our campus.
For additional information about AHERA or any specific questions regarding the Asbestos Management Plan, you may contact the campus operations manager, Paula Gonzalez at pgonzalez@harmonytx.org.
Harmony Back to School Playbook
La Guía de Regreso a la Escuela ya está disponible en inglés y español. https://www.harmonytx.org/playbook
Emergency Phone Number
You can also reach Mrs. Hopovac at (972) 729-9127 (texting works best!)