Greetings Houston Middle School Community,

The 2018-2019 school year got off to a wonderful start! It didn't take long for students and staff alike to get busy in the day-to-day operations of our school. It's been great visiting with students and seeing our classrooms and hallways filled with activity. As the school year continues, I will send out monthly HMS News so our parents, guardians, and community can keep informed about all that is happening during the month. September promises to be a busy month. Please take a few minutes to read our monthly newsletter for September. There are lots of great things happening at HMS. I hope everyone has a splendid September!

-Mr. Howard

HMS will offer after school tutoring (funded by Title I) Monday thru Thursday of each week, beginning on Monday, September 17th from 2:15 PM - 4:00 PM. Please contact Ms. Young @ 892-9533 for questions. Permission slips to participate are located at the front office.

Week of 9/10/18: Student Government Campaigns
Thursday, 9/13/17: Student Government speeches in gym @ 8:00 AM

Friday, 9/14/17: Student Government Elections during Hawk Talk

• sign up to participate online by September 21st
• tryouts are on September 27th and September 28th
• practices starts September 27th

Parent/Guardians - please sign up for HMS sports/activities using iPlay and pay fees through SchoolCash Online. Both can be accessed on the MSBSD website.

HMS will host Fun Friday on Friday, September 28th. Teachers host different fun activities during the last hour of the day for students with no D's, F's, or incomplete grades. Students who need to make up assignments will be assigned to a study hall.

There is exciting brain research happening everyday that is beginning to unwrap the mysteries of how people learn and also myth-bust long held beliefs about learning. Understanding growth mindset is a critical piece to new research. Watch the video below to learn more about Growth Mindset. Think about what defines good practice and how the right kind of practice is proving people cam learn almost anything the want to.

It's already been a busy school year in the Nurse's Office. The following are updates and reminders:

• CareDox is the new MSBSD Electronic Health Record Platform. It is a secure system compliant with federal HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act) regulations.
• Please make sure you have completed your students CareDox registration so I have the information needed to help your student when they come to the nurses office. With the new health registration system you will also be getting notifications via email when you student visits the nurses office and why they visited the nurses office.
• If you have not already done so, please go into your iParent account click on the CareDox tab and complete your student’s enrollment by providing the Health registration information required by the school district.
  
• If you do not have an iParent account, please go onto the district website under the parent tab and get set up for your iParent account.
• You can also complete the Health registration information by clicking on the link provided to you in your email from CareDox which includes an invite code form the district.

If you have questions regarding Caredox please contact them at support@caredox.com

On September 26, 1960 - The first-ever televised presidential debate occurred between presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon. Many who watched were inclined to say Kennedy 'won' the debate, while those who listened only to the radio thought Nixon did better. Nixon, who declined to use makeup, appeared somewhat haggard looking on TV in contrast to Kennedy.