Wonderful Falcon Families,

“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”– Maya Angelou

Today at church, Pastor Miles McPherson interviewed two of the SDSU basketball players, Nate Mensah and Matt Bradley, about their journey as basketball players. Nate Mensah is from Ghana and Matt Bradley is from San Bernadino. Both share a similar story of struggle and especially being a college basketball player during COVID and finally attending SDSU this year. Bradley shared that in middle school, he struggled with school and belonging that he ended up being kicked out of middle school and 5150'd by the police. 5150 is police code for a 72-hour hold in a mental facility. After being released, he became involved in basketball, which helped him to focus throughout high school. Bradley went on to play for UC Berkeley, In his junior year, COVID hit and he went through a depression phase because the the very thing he depended on was gone. Mensah was a basketball phenom who was brought to the United States to play basketball in a private school. He signed with SDSU for basketball. In a game against Cal Poly SLO during his freshman year, he was diagnosed with pulmonary embolism and had to sit out the remaining year. For both these players, basketball became the thing got them out of negative thinking to move forward. In losing basketball for a time, they both discovered that they are more than basketball and made personal decisions about who they are, and that they are defined by something greater than their circumstances and basketball. Bradley will be entering the NBA draft while Mensah will continue to play college basketball. Maya Angelou said this, “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” These two gentlemen certainly lived this quote. Falcons, you will be forever part of a generation who was deeply affected by a devasting pandemic. However, you get to decide if that event defines you in a positive or negative light. As we finish the school year, decide if the negative events in your life such as pandemic is going to shape you to be a person who is strong, not weak; joyful, not angry; resilient, not giving up; grateful, not resentful. These decisions translates to what your actions and words will be. I hope that you choose to not be reduced by the events that have occurred in your lives. Falcons, let's finish strong by choosing words and acts that demonstrate the strength of our characters.

Administrative Professional Day is April 26, 2023

As a school, we want to honor our administrative staff who make our school run smoothly and efficiently. Ms. Cobian, Ms. Garcia, Ms. Quintero, Ms. Sanchez, Ms. Hemilson, Ms. Puga, thank you for all you do! You are the best!!

Teacher Appreciation Week is May 1 - 5, 2023

Falcon families, we want to show appreciation to our teachers during this month. Please see the section below on what we would like for you and your childrent to do to show appreciation to our teachers.

Notice of Failing Classes for Semester 2

• Students with Fs in this progress report: this progress report serves as your final notice that you will be failing the class UNLESS you improve your grades before the end of the semester.
• Students with Ds in this progress report: you will receive an official notification of potential failure of the class from each teacher in whose class you have received a D.

Falcon Scolars Resumes This Week

Students, if you received poor grades (Ds and Fs) this past progress report, attend Falcon Scholars as much as possible to raise your grades up. Eighth graders, you have 25 days left before promotion. Seventh graders, you have 29 days before the end of the school year. Let's finish strong!

Important Dates for 8th Graders

Eighth graders, please read the section on Mark These Dates on Your Calendar so that you are aware and are ready for each event as they approach.

Eighth Grade Promotion Information

Families, this is a reminder that HTM's Eighth Grade Promotion will be held on May 31, 2023 at 6:00pm at Hilltop High Schools. Students will be expected to arrive one hour prior to the start of the ceremony to ensure that line up is ready for the procession. Guidelines for dress and behavior expectations will be coming shortly. At this time, no changes have been made to the requirement for participate. All 8th grades MUST pass all six (6) classes in order to promote. Additionally, each 8th grader will be given six (6) tickets for his/her guests on May 30, 2023. All attendees must show one of these tickets including all children in the family; the only exception is a child less than 1 year old. If you have questions about getting more tickets, please email Ms. Cruz at amy.cruz@sweetwaterschools.org.

Summer Bridge Program for Incoming 7th Graders

Families, if you have an incoming 7th grader, HTM will be offering Summer Bridge this summer for the very first time. It is a one-week program where students will be enrolled in two classes: 1) SEL/Study Skills Class and 2) Curriculum Camp. If you would like your incoming 7th grader to participate, please click HERE to enroll him. Our Summer Bridge Coordinate is Ms. Esparza. For questions, please email her at lilly.esparza@sweetwaterschools.org

Summer School for Current 7th Graders with Fs

7th Grade families, if your 7th grader has received an F in Science, World Cultures, Math and English, they will be signed up to attend summer school to recover up to 2 Fs. Please talk to your counselors regarding summer school. Summer School begins June 5 and ends June 23. 2023. Please see the Summer Programs Flyer below.

Math Acceleration Summer Program

Current 7th Graders, if you are currently receiving a C or higher in Integrated Math 7 and would like to take Integrated Math 1 (a high school class) in 8th grade, please check with your teacher to see if you qualify to attend. Please read Summer Program Flyer below.

Registration and Enrollment for 2023-2023 School Year

ALL students (current and incoming) MUST REGISTER for the following year. Please read the section on Registration Section below. All current 7th grade families, please complete this process for your 7th grader sooner than later. It helps us with master schedule building

Falcons, let's have a wonderful and safe week.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Finley

It is almost that time of year again when we celebrate our teachers. This year, Teacher Appreciation Week falls on the first full week of May; May 1- 5, 2023. We have planned a celebration for each day. Thursday, May 4th has been reserved for students and parents' day to celebrate them. This year, in addition to the teacher appreciation notes that students write for their teachers, we would like to give them a $10 gift card from you, the families. If you would like to donate a $10 gift card for a teacher, please bring them to school within the next two weeks so that we can include them in their gift bags. We have 41 teachers on campus. If you are able to donate, we will appreciate that very much. For whatever reason that you cannot donate at this time, please write them an appreciation note/card and bring to the front desk in the next two weeks. Students, click HERE to access the teacher appreciation note that teachers love to get. We will also have them in the front and in ASB for you to access. Families, let's flood our teachers with love.

Falcon Families,

It is that time again to register your children for the 2023-2023 school year. ALL students (current and incoming) MUST REGISTER for the following year. Online Registration (OLR) opens Monday, March 13, 2023.Below are all the links that are important for registration.

• Click HERE to access the registration page on our website.
• Click HERE to access Parent/Student Campus Portal to register.
• Click HERE to access the district transfer process.

Starting tomorrow, you can register your child for next year. Go to Campus Portal to register your child. If you have moved, you will need to complete the required documents.

New Students:

You should have received an email from the district with an activation key. If not, wait for it as you will need the activation key to open an account for the district. Click HERE to access all the required registration documents.

New Transfer Students

You will receive your email with the activation key from the district also. If you have not received it, please reach out to your home school and see if they have your email and/or activation key. Once you have that email, click HERE to create your district account. Then apply for an intra-district transfer in your Campus Portal Account. The transfer application is online and can be found in the tab that is titled "More." The open enrollment transfer window opens starting April 3, 2023 until May 5, 2023. Once your transfer has been approved, then you can start the registration process at HTM.

• Click on either English or Spanish version to access the Open Enrollment FAQs
• Click on either the English or Spanish version of the Open Enrollment Flowchart.
• Click either the English or Spanish version of the Open Enrollment Parent Letter.

For more information, please contact at school at 619.498.2700.