Wonderful Falcon Families,

“Don’t be afraid to be ambitious about your goals. Hard work never stops. Neither should your dreams.” ~Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

May is Asian Pacific Heritage Month. Efforts in congress to celebrate the contributions of Asian Pacific Americans began in 1977 but in 1992 President George H. W. Bush formally designated May as the month to publicly recognized the efforts and contributions of Asian Pacific Americans to America. One Filipino whose contributions to organized labor groups has often been shadowed by the great Cesar Chavez is Larry Itliong who immigrated to the United States in 1929 and at the age of 15, he began as a labor up and down the west coast. His efforts to gain higher wages began in 1930 when he joined the striking lettuce pickers in Washington. This began decades of working as a labor organizer and eventually formed the Filipino Farm Labor Union in 1956. In 1965, along with his union members, Itliong organized the Delano Grape Strike where 1,500 Filipino grape-pickers walked out and demanded higher wages and improved working conditions. This was the initial grassroots movement that compelled Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez of the National Farm Workers Association to join Itliong that led the two union groups to form the United Farm Workers. The strike that began with Itliong ended in 1970; this led to the first efforts to improve agricultural practices regardless of race; this included higher wages, clinics, daycare, medical plans for workers and a school for their children. Yes, it took that long! Falcons, as you finish out the year, it is important to look at efforts by Itliong, Huerta and Chavez and learn from how they perservered and fought for a better life. As you finish out the year and want to give up, I want you to remember the work of Itliong and how he stayed the course to see his goals through through the hardships he endured. He was your age when he began working the fields in the San Joaquin Valley of California. He saw injustice and sought to seek solutions to make life better for his fellow farm workers. The strike alone continued for five years. Falcons, don't give up if you are experiencing helplessness of your situation. Stay in the fight and stay the course. That is where you become mentally strong.

Support Staff Appreciation Week: May 8 - 12, 2023

Falcons, there are many staff members who support our work of teaching. You see them working in the main office, on the grounds, in the classrooms, and in the cafeteria. Let's show them our appreciation by writing them thank you notes. Click HERE to access the appreciation template. Send all completed notes to Ms. Barnachia in the ASB or by email at beatriz.barnachia@sweetwaterschools.org.

Future Falcon Fair on May 22, 2023

Families, if you have a future Falcon coming next year, please read the section below on this important event. We hope to see you there!

Falcon Scolars and Saturday Academy Available This Week

Students, if you received poor grades (Ds and Fs) this past progress report, attend Falcon Scholars and Saturday Academy as much as possible to raise your grades up. Eighth graders, you have 20 days left before promotion. Seventh graders, you have 24 days before the end of the school year. Let's finish strong!

Important Dates for All Families

Families, please read Important Dates for All Families section below and mark the dates on your calendar. Thanks.

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. Additionally, Ms. Cruz will be sending a detailed letter with all the information regarding promotion day. Please read it thoroughly so that you know what to do on that day.

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 2023-2024 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

This is Support Staff Appreciation Week. Teaching requires the support of many non-classroom personnel such as main office staff, custodians, campus assistants, instructional assistants, nutrition staff, speech pathologist and hard-of-hearing specialist. Without them, our school would not function well. We would like to flood our support staff with appreciation notes from you, the students and families. Click HERE to write a note for a support staff. Send all notes to Ms. Barnachia in person or by mail at beatriz.barnachia@sweetwaterschools.org. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!

Read the information below regarding promotion. Once again, many of you have been asking if there has been a change in promotion requirements. To date, the requirements for participating in promotion is that you have to pass all your classes this semester. If we receive new information, I will pass the information to you as soon as we get it. If you are have not taken the time to attend tutoring, this week is a great week to start. Ms. Cruz will send out the detailed information this week for promotion. Make sure that you read it thoroughly so that you know what to do on promotion day.

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.