Great job to Mr. Ramos and the HHS Psych Club for helping many in the community get in the Holiday spirit! They went to Miller's Mary Manor and the Arc of Northwest Indiana to participate in their Holiday parties. The Club helped set up the halls, enjoyed dinner, and danced the night away before cleaning up and saying their good-byes. This has become a traditon for the Psych Club, and the students look forward to these events every year. Great job Brickies!

The Girl Scouts of Hobart were invited to attend the Hobart City Council meeting to be acknowledged for their community tree trim. The tree trim raised almost $2000, which the Girl Scouts will donate back for repairs to the Hobart Scout Cabin restrooms. The girls spoke about how they came up with the idea and the importance of community in Hobart. They truly appreciated this acknowledgment and the opportunity to partner with Hobart Special Events.

The Wolffgang had an outstanding performance on the Midwest BEAT with Tom Lounges at Lakeshore Public Media. They were able to talk about the group and sing some Christmas carols to get everyone into the holiday spirit. If you missed it, you can still hear it by clicking the link below and pressing play! Performers included were: Lexi Fouch, Mianna Ruiz, Andrea Ward, Abigail Ganske, Caitie Ramirez, Abbey Leonard, Brooke Rosenbaum, Mattie Willis, and of course Mr. Wolff! Thank you to Wolffgang for all of the community performances they do. They make the world a brighter place!

This newsletter could not be published without acknowledging a kind-spirited 5th grade student at Joan Martin Elementary, Chloe Richards! She collected books and games that were not being used and donated them to the school! Now so many students will have access to books and games that they may not have had or experienced before. Joan Martin has been impacted by your generosity, Chloe! Thank you!

Congratulations to Hailey Jenkins, Senior at Hobart High, for becoming one of the Legacy Foundation's Lilly Scholarship recipients for her outstanding achievement, character, and community service! Since it's start in 1998, the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program awards full-tuition scholarship to selected students from each county in Indiana. They look for students who demonstrate notable abilities, leadership skills, and civic potential through community service, exemplary school citizenship, and outstanding academic performance to be considered a candidate. Miss Jenkins is a perfect example of all of the above. Great job and best of luck in your future! See more coverage below:

A big congratulations to our own football coach, Ryan Turley! He was named the Post-Tribune's 2016 Football Coach of the Year! Coach Turley has been a Brickie his whole life, including being a member of Hobart's 1989 state championship team and captaining the 1990 state runner-up team. This year he guided the Brickies to their first sectional title in 19 years. Coach Turley has Hobart football running through his blood and his dedication to the sport shines. Thanks for your hard work coaching our Brickies, Coach Turley! Check out the article with the link below.

We loved Computer Science Education Week! During the week of December 5 - 11, classes took time to focus on an "Hour of Code" with their students. Computer programming is an important tool for our students to learn as we advance further toward a future geared toward technology and we will continue to code throughout the school year. The Hour of Code is a global movement reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries. Anyone, anywhere can participate in Hour of Code with hundreds of one-hour tutorials available in over 45 languages! No experience is needed and you can access all of them at any time, just visit https://hourofcode.com/us and get started! The tutorials range from pre-readers to grades 9+ and are based around popular themes such as: Minecraft, Moana, Star Wars, Frozen and also subjects like math, science, social studies, art and more! Children want to play on the computer, so take them to https://hourofcode.com/us and let them learn while playing! The tutorials are so engaging and interactive that they won't even realized they are programming! Visit our Cool Tools for a break down by grade level by clicking below.

Wake Up Call Special Presentation

Monday, February 27, 2017

Hobart High School

6:30-8:00 PM

Parents, Educators, and Community Members are invited to attend an eye-opening presentation taking place on Monday, February 27th at Hobart High School from 6:30 - 8:00pm. Free childcare is available for the event, as well as a complimentary pasta dinner that will be provided at 5:30pm.

Wake Up Call is a life-size exhibit of a teen's bedroom with more than 20 "red flags" that can signal drug or alcohol use. The Wake Up Call bedroom identifies spots where teens may hide drugs, household items that can be used as drug paraphernalia and ways teens try to cover up drug and alcohol use. The goal of this presentation is to educate parents and other adults who are influential in the lives of youth so they know what seemingly innocent items can actually be as indication of substance abuse.

In addition to learning about various hiding spots and items that may indicate use, audience members will also learn about the signs and symptoms associated with alcohol and drug abuse. There will also be an opportunity for participants to ask questions and get a closer look at the items located in the bedroom.

For more information or to register for this FREE event, please visit:

https://wakeupcallhobart.eventbrite.com - be sure to indicate if you will need childcare and would like to reserve a spot for dinner.

This event is sponsored by the School City of Hobart, Your Choice to Live, Inc. and Rosecrance

For questions about the Wake Up Call presentation, please contact Sarah Ramos at (219) 942-8885 or sramos@hobart.k12.in.us or Sandi Lybert at (262) 367-9901

The Go For Launch! program is a 3-day program for high school students, running from 9am - 5pm each day, that uses Space Exploration as a platform to launch student involvement in:

• STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Math)
  
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Leadership

You can expect to learn about human spaceflight directly from experts in the fields of space & STEAM including:

• An Astronaut and Astronaut Instructor
• International Space Station Flight Controller
• Scientists and Engineers

Students will work in teams on collaborative activities over the 3 days and define and design their own space experiment! They will present this to the judges of the Space and STEAM fields and if chosen the winner, will continue on to compete against other projects in the same division. The winning experiment will be launched into space!

Go For Launch! is a unique experience that gives high school students the tools and skills that can lead to success in any venture that requires imagination, leadership, teamwork, and problem solving skills. To register your high school students and for more information visit http://higherorbits.org/student-programs/go-for-launch/hobart-college-2017/

The Legacy Foundation's Common Application is now open! Deadline to apply for scholarships is Feb. 15! Need tips? Attend a scholarship "How-To" event for tips on your essays, best defining extra-curriculars, what community service is, and so much more! These events are being held at 3 different times and locations. See the flyer below or visit, http://www.legacyfdn.org/scholarships.php

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy written by William Shakespeare. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, to Hippolyta. These include the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of six amateur actors who are controlled and manipulated by the fairies who inhabit the forest in which most of the play is set. The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular works for the stage and is widely performed across the world. Come see our Brickies bring it to life!

March 10th,11th, and 12th! More details will come in future newsletters!

School Delays and Closings
Due to Inclement Weather

The School City of Hobart's first priority is the safety of our students and personnel. We encourage you to have a plan in place for school delays, cancellations, and emergency dismissal situations.

Many factors go into the decision to close or delay the opening of school. It is important for you to know the process.

Monitoring Current Conditions & Forecasts: School City of Hobart personnel continually monitor forecasts and live radar. Depending on the certainty of weather conditions, the close or delay school call may be made the prior evening.

Personnel on the Street: The School City of Hobart and City personnel (Hobart Police Department and Street Department) drive Hobart's streets to determine actual road conditions. They begin the process as early as 2:00 am when bad weather is expected. The roads are continually assessed for safety, and we remain in contact with city, county, and state transportation departments. If by 6:00 am the roads are favorable and conditions are expected to be good to get the students safely to school, then school will be open.

Ability to Clear Pathways: The School City of Hobart also factors in our ability to clear school sidewalks and parking lots in a timely manner, or if snow will accumulate faster than we can clear.

Visibility: Blowing snow is also a factor in a delay or cancellation.

Beliefs

• Parents have a child specific perspective regarding their child and the threat of inclement weather.
• A parent may make a determination for their child, and should respect the perspective of another parent regarding their child.
• The School City of Hobart respects a parent’s determination regarding their child’s attendance at school during inclement weather. If school is open, or delayed, because of inclement weather, the school will respect the parent’s decision to keep their child at home. Parents are expected to contact the school and inform school officials of their determination. The student will be counted as absent, per state code, and students will be given an opportunity to complete their academic work in the same manner as an excused absence from school.
• The School City of Hobart believes the public expects schools to be open and to provide education, supervision, and other services to its students (including meals that are provided for free and reduced lunch children).
• The School City of Hobart believes all parents are committed to keeping children safe and these parents will dress their children appropriately for the weather when sending the children to school.
• Variable weather conditions are to be expected in Northwest Indiana. The School City of Hobart believes parents have plans in place for weather related delays and closures.

Delaying or Closing School is Based on Multiple Variables

Freezing Rain/Sleet

• The most unpredictable weather variable is freezing rain/sleet. Freezing rain/sleet is temperature sensitive and fast-occurring. It begins and ends with little notice. When freezing rain/sleet are predicted, the decision regarding school is delayed until the latest possible time in an effort to observe the most current and local conditions. Such a decision will generally be made in the morning.

Snowfall

• Snowfall is more predictable than freezing rain/sleet. Meteorologists generally give a 2 inch variable when predicting snow accumulation. Because the variation in actual snowfall, when compared to predicted snowfall, the decision regarding school status is delayed until the snow accumulation indicates a need for action. Such a decision, except in extreme situations, will generally be made in the morning.

Extreme Snowfall Situations

• When snow has accumulated to a significant level, or is at such a level with more snowfall predicted, then the decision regarding school may be made the previous evening. A significant level is one in which local authorities have indicated it is unlikely streets will be passable by the following morning.

Extreme Cold

• Temperature prediction is increasingly accurate. The School City of Hobart uses the hourly temperature predictions for its zip code from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (noaa.gov). If air temperature is predicted by NOAA to be -10 degrees or below (the starting point for wind chill concerns with calm wind) at 6:30/7:00 a.m. the school will consider a two-hour delay for the start of school. If the air temperature is predicted to remain at -10 degrees or below at 9:00 a.m. the school will consider closing. Such a determination will be made as early as possible, perhaps the evening before, but certainly by 6:00 a.m. in the morning.

Extreme Wind Chill

• Wind chill prediction is not as accurate as temperature prediction because wind speed is more variable by time and location. While NOAA observations and predictions are based upon the open conditions of the Gary Airport, these conditions are often different Northwest Indiana. Local observations of wind speed will affect the decision regarding delaying or closing school. Wind chill concerns emerge at a predicted wind chill temperature of -20 degrees. If wind chill is predicted by NOAA to be -20 degrees or below and local wind conditions are predicted to mirror the airport wind conditions at 6:30/7:00 a.m., the school will consider a two-hour delay for the start of school. If the wind chill is predicted to remain at -20 degrees or below and local conditions mirror the airport wind conditions at 9:00 a.m., the school will consider closing. The variability of wind speed is a key factor. Such a determination will be made as early as possible, perhaps the evening before, but certainly by 6:00 a.m. in the morning.

Functional Facilities and Transportation

• Utility issues (gas, electricity, water) may cause a school to close. Issues associated with cold, including water supply to a building and electricity to a building or neighborhood, may cause school to be cancelled.
• Buses are critical to transporting students. Issues associated with cold, including not starting, may cause school to be delayed or cancelled depending on the severity of the situation.

Delayed Start

In order to provide time for roads and weather conditions to improve and become safer for travel, the School City of Hobart may use a delayed start of school.

A delayed start to school allows the school district to do the following:

1. Provide more time to assess for safe conditions to start school including roads, buildings, and transportation.

2. Project whether a closure of school is needed.

3. Allow school to be held with improved conditions and not have to make up a weather day because of a school closure.

If a two-hour delay is called lunch will be served.

The following schedule for classes will be used:
Hobart High School will start at 9:45 a.m.
Hobart Middle School will start at 9:45 a.m.
Elementary Schools will start at 10:55 a.m.
Early Learning Center @ GE will start at 11:10 a.m.
*When riding a bus, please catch the bus two hours later than you normally would.

School Cancellation

All School City of Hobart schools will be cancelled. This includes all after-school events, meetings, and practices. Exceptions may occur with approval by the Superintendent if the emergency situation no longer exists, but will be on a case to case basis. The state of Indiana requires 180 student days. Please refer to the school calendar regarding make-up days. Additionally, the School City of Hobart will communicate these dates with you on the School City of Hobart Website, Facebook, and Twitter.

Emergency Closings and Delays

In the event of inclement weather or other conditions, notifications regarding delays and closures may be obtained from the following:

Radio: WAKE (1500am), INDIANA (105.5fm), WZVN (107.1fm), WGN (720am), WBBM (780am)

Television: CBS (Channel 2), NBC (Channel 5), ABC (Channel 7), WGN (Channel 9), FOX (Channel 32), CLTV, Lakeshore Public TV

Internet: School City of Hobart Website: Information will be posted in large red letters; please make sure to refresh your web browser each time you check. Information is also posted on Facebook and Twitter.

Phone: School Messenger Notification System: Parents can control what numbers are contacted in an emergency through Skyward under the Skylerts tab. Please ensure that your contact information is updated.

Emergency Closing Center: Emergency Closing Center

Parents and students are responsible for knowing about emergency closings and delays.

Here Comes the Bus

Parents and students are encouraged to use Here Comes the Bus to determine when the bus is approaching and know when to go to the bus stop. Here Comes the Bus allows for the monitoring of bus location with GPS. If you need more information, or to sign up for Here Comes the Bus, visit the Here Comes the Bus website. The school code to sign up is 46342. Please contact the Transportation Department for assistance. (219) 947-2413.

Dr. Peggy Buffington and Sarah Ramos

The School City of Hobart does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, sexual orientation, marital status, genetic information, or disability, including limited English proficiency.

Contact us through the directory.