Heartland MS Family Newsletter
Heartland Happenings - January 28, 2024
Notes From Ms. Johnson
January is now in the rearview mirror and we're heading face-first into February. This February/March time tends to be the most difficult. There aren't many scheduled breaks that allow the students to rest and recharge. They just have to put their head down, persevere, and weather the storm until we hit Spring break. If you should have a student struggling be sure to remember that warmer weather and Spring are just on the horizon. Spring sports organization meetings are happening and we are looking forward to getting back outside! Baseball, track, golf and tennis are on the agenda for this Spring and I'm looking forward to cheering our teams to victory! Please remember, if you have a 7th or 8th-grade student who is playing a Spring sport and has not participated in any other sports this year - they will need to have a physical on file prior to starting practices or tryouts.
Can I take a moment to reflect on how well we have transitioned into virtual learning over the past couple of weeks? Hopefully, that days have been easy to navigate for your student. As you can imagine, most of our Heartland teachers have been through that several times but we do have a few who were doing that for the first time. It can be a journey for sure. It was good to see your students participating in the question-and-answer sessions on Google. I did find it funny when teachers would ask if there were any questions and inevitably someone would say -- "I'm only on here because my mom made me." Two things with that, 1) go mom! and 2) I know the feeling! Luckily, it looks like we have some sun to look forward to in the coming days so we are going to take advantage! Tomorrow (1/29/24), the weather will be sunny and 60s so we are going to conduct an evacuation drill. The State requires us to conduct so many drills each semester so please do not be alarmed should you hear from your student. It's just a routine safety drill.
Before I go, as many of you know Edmond Public High Schools participates in a rather large philanthropic week in which hundreds of thousands of dollars are raised to give to a local organization or charity. Heartland MS contributes to the cause in our own small version of SFHS's Double Wolf Dare Week. Our week is coined...Double "PUP" Dare Week where we focus on People Uplifting People! During the month of February, we will be hosting multiple events to help raise money for EPS's common thread, Project 66. Learn more about the organization by clicking HERE. We have started to plan and organize events/activities that our students will surely enjoy...all for a great cause! Stay tuned!
I look forward to another phenomenal week here at the Heart! As always, should you have any questions, suggestions or ideas please feel free to reach out to our office!
WE ARE...HEARTLAND!
Respectfully,
Veronica Johnson
Principal, Heartland Middle School
405-340-2972
Grade Level Newsletters
Future Freshman Enrollment! Our Hawks will soon become Wolves!
6th & 8th Grade Parents - Oklahoma Preventative Needs Assessment
Dear Parent or Guardian:
The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services is conducting an important survey on student behaviors and beliefs. The survey is called the Oklahoma Prevention Needs Assessment(OPNA) Survey. Your child’s class is set to take this survey on February 6, 2024. The purpose of the survey is to gather information needed to plan prevention and intervention programs in our community and schools. These programs will address problems of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use, school dropout, delinquency, violence, mental health, and other issues in our schools and communities. Please click the button below for more information.
8th Grade Author Visit - Jennifer A. Nielson
New York Times Bestselling author Jennifer A. Nielsen will be visiting Heartland on Monday, January 29. She will give a presentation to our 8th graders and will be signing books in the media center during advisory. If students of any grade level already own any of her books, they are welcome to bring them for her to sign. Students may also purchase books that morning. Paperbacks will be $8 and hardcovers will be $15 (cash or card only).
Congrats, Ms. Mikayla McKinzie, Heartland MS 23/24 Rookie Teacher of the Year!
SMART SOCIAL
Our social media feeds often include the latest challenges which can be a fun way for students and adults to feel connected with their community on social media. Depending on the challenge, they can also be dangerous or harmful. It is important for parents and families to be aware of what’s popular on social media so you can help your student navigate the positives and negatives of these trends. This month’s Smart Social tip includes information about social media challenges and some ideas for how to have these conversations with your students. To access this information, just click on this link: https://smartsocial.com/post/social-media-challenges?org=edmond. And, remember, if you haven’t signed up for Smart Social yet, EPS is providing this resource to all of our families for free for this school year. When you click the link, it’ll prompt you to sign up for your free EPS account. We hope you continue to find this information useful!
Email From District Regarding the Upcoming Bond Election
January 22, 2024
Edmond Families,
I am writing to share some important information on our upcoming EPS bond election on Tuesday, February 13th.
Please watch this short video highlighting a couple of our proposed projects: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-MOk62r1aY
We’ll be sharing more of these messages on the next few Mondays leading up to the election. As I mentioned in the video, it’s important to remember these propositions are not planned to raise taxes, any registered voters who live in EPS boundaries can vote, and they take 60% of the vote to pass.
More information about the bond proposals is available at edmondschools.net/bond.
Thank you for your continued partnership to educate our students.
Dr. Angela Grunewald
Superintendent, EPS
Heartland Thunderhawk Sports Information 2023-2024
ATHLETIC ELIGIBILITY
- Eligibility is run mid-week. For example - we run eligibility on Thursday morning based on grades posted on Wednesday evening. If a student is listed as "ineligible" - that means they can not participate in any OSSAA games scheduled for the next calendar week of Sunday - Sunday. By OSSAA rules - students can still practice during that time. However, individual coaches may have other team rules regarding practice.
- Probation vs. Ineligible. The first week a student has a grade that qualifies them for the eligibility report - they are listed as "on Probation"... At that point in time - they can still participate and play in games. (Again - team rules may be more strict) If the student raises the grade by the next eligibility report run - their name comes off the list and they are good to go. If there is still a grade in question - the student becomes ineligible.
- If a student is listed as ineligible - AND - raises their grade (yay!!) the next time there is a grade in question -- they move back to the probation category. Therefore, there is always a week of grace after a student has worked to get their name off of the list.
Please feel free to contact Heartland Athletic Director Laura Brown with questions as I know it can be confusing.
of nutritious food for Heartland students and their families in need of
extra support.
Heartland Parent Organization News!
President: Cassie Niemann
Vice President: Trish Harrison
Treasurer: Jamila Woodard
Secretary: Belinda James
Staff Appreciation: Angela Spitler/Kala Phillips
Thunderhawk Shop: Chelsea Coulter/Kelsey Clift
Future Freshman Section - Santa Fe High School
Bus Information
Click the link and enter your address to find your bus number, bus stop, and pick/drop-off times.
Meal Pay Online and Free Reduced Applications
Add money to your child's lunch account HERE. Apply for free or reduced lunch: CLICK HERE TO APPLY!!
Child Nutrition Website
HEARTLAND CORE CHARACTER VALUES
Honesty - Being truthful in what I say and do
Enthusiasm - Expressing interest and excitement in what I do
Attentiveness - Concentrating on the person or task before me
Resiliency - Recovering from adversity and finding the inner strength to withstand stress
and do my best
Tolerance- Demonstrating respect for others who do not share my perspective
Leadership- Knowing the way. Going the way. Showing the way.
Accountability - Accepting responsibility for my actions
Nice- Dude. Be Nice!
Discipline- Choosing behaviors to help me reach my goals and finish strong!
Heartland Middle School
Veronica Johnson - Lead Principal, 6th Grade
Laura Brown - Asst. Principal, 7th Grade
Paul McQueen - Asst. Principal, 8th Grade
Kim Treece - 6th Grade Counselor
Neika Jackson - 7th Grade Counselor
Cara Bowerman - 8th Grade Counselor
Email: heartland.middleschool@edmondschools.net
Website: https://heartland.edmondschools.net/
Location: Heartland Middle School, Explorer Drive, Edmond, OK, USA
Phone: (405)340-2972
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heartlandmiddleschool