HPMS Weekly Update - 8/19/22
Updates and resources for the families of HPMS students!
Dear Families,
We had a great first week at HPMS! I have been so pleased with how smooth this week has gone, and I am appreciative of the support and effort you all have given to help this be the case.
Car drop off and dismissal have gone smoothly this week, and I thank all of you who have followed our procedures to the letter. If you are unclear about the dismissal procedures, I have them listed along with a map below. We do ask that you follow them as they are listed to help us keep things running smoothly and safely. We have been at or under 10 minutes for car dismissal every day this week!
Chromebook distribution was another success this week, and now that our students have these in hand, please be aware of the following expectations that were shared with students on Thursday:
1. These Chromebooks are for school use. If you transfer out of the school the Chromebook and charger must be returned to the school.
2. The hard plastic cases must remain on the Chromebook at all times.
3. Please do not put any stickers anywhere on the Chromebook, charger or case.
4. Do not write on the Chromebook, case or charger.
5. Make sure there are not ANY objects between the screen and keyboard when closing the lid.
6. Please do not eat or drink over your Chromebook.
7. Charge your Chromebook at home every night and leave your charger at home.
8. Keep all of your usernames and passwords secure. DO NOT share them with others.
9. The first accidental damage is covered by the technology fee. Any additional damages or intentional damage will result in a bill being sent home.
10. Report any problems to your teacher who will send you to Mrs. Totman and Mrs. Gambrell as needed.
NEW THIS YEAR: the hinge cover must remain on your device. If it comes off, tell your teacher and bring it along with your Chromebook to the media center for repair. If you lose it or break it, the first replacement is no charge. Any following losses or damages will result in a $25 charge each.
We want you to be aware of these as well so that you can reinforce these expectations with your students to avoid fines or other complications with these devices.
Additionally, students were provided more information regarding our procedures for dress code, safety, discipline, the handbook, and many other aspects of our school environment for HPMS. We thank you in advance for working with your student to be familiar with how things are done here to make this a focused and safe school environment. I do want to ask also specifically for your help with dress code this year. Overall, everyone has done a truly great job with this; however, the main issues we have seen so far are shorts that are too short, shirts that are too short with leggings, and holes in pants that are above the inseam. Please speak with your students about this this weekend so that they can be in compliance with our procedures.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE HANDBOOK (DRESS CODE ON PAGES 8-9)
State Department Tutoring Resource
This is a great resource from the state for students and parents. The link below is a quick Screencastify video that shows how to go to the Tutor.com program through discus. (No audio)
https://watch.screencastify.com/v/xXFJ54tuo7maIx8GiJDr
Grade Level Newsletters/Agendas
Teachers will begin having these fully updated by this coming Friday, and you can use this information to help stay informed regarding updates in your child's classes.
Click Here for the 6th Grade Newsletter/Agenda
Click Here for the 7th Grade Newsletter/Agenda
Click Here for the 8th Grade Newsletter/Agenda
Free and Reduced Lunch Application
Please remember that lunch and breakfast are no longer provided free at this time for everyone; however, we do encourage everyone to fill out this form, regardless of your previous form status. Please view the application, fill it out, and have it returned to HPMS if you haven't already completed one!
Free and Reduced Meal Application Link
Thank you,
John Michael Hall, Principal of Honea Path Middle School
Chromebook Reminder
Tutor.com Information
The flyers above explain how students can utilize Tutor.com for free through scdiscus.org. Also, the link below is to a video tutorial that explains how it works and what features it offers. This is an excellent resource and we want to make sure all of our students have the information needed to access it.
General Information
Arrival and General Procedures
Please continue to assist us in the mornings with drop offs. It is very helpful to us and the other parents in line if you will pull forward, at least until the end of the brick flowerbed wall out front to let your child out if you are in the front of the line. We ask that other cars behind the lead car to pull forward as well. This adds only a few extra steps for your student, but it goes much faster for everyone and helps everyone get to class on time if we can unload 4 or more students at a time out front. Students must be in the building by 7:57 in order to be counted as on time.
Dress Code Information
We appreciate in advance your help with our updated dress code for this year. I ask you to please review these for yourself and with your students. They have been covered in school with the teachers, but we greatly appreciate your help at home. The most common issues we see are holes in pants that are far too large or too high, shorts that are too short, shirts that are too short or cut too low, exposed undergarments, and shirts/tops that aren't long enough over leggings. Please also note that we also don't allow blankets/pillows to be carried or hats/hoodies worn in the building.
CLICK HERE AND SCROLL TO PAGES 8 AND 9 FOR 22-23 DRESS CODE INFORMATION
PTO
If you’re interested in volunteering to help with the PTO, or if you're just interested in finding out ways to help support our students and teachers, please contact the PTO at hpmspto@gmail.com for more information! We would love to have you involved!
COVID Contact/Positive Test Procedure
It is critical that you let us know if someone in your household has been diagnosed with COVID or your student has been named a close contact due to a contact that occurred outside of school. If you become aware of this after school hours or on the weekend, please feel free to email me at jmhall@asd2.org AND Nurse Snipes at msnipes@asd2.org. We also encourage you to call during school hours ASAP and hold your student out of school until you receive more information from us based on our guidelines from DHEC. Your help with this is critical to keeping the school safe for everyone.
HPMS Parent/Student Handbook
This is our updated version and we ask all parents to familiarize yourself with our policies and procedures.
CLICK HERE FOR THE 22-23 STUDENT HANDBOOK
Links to Information (You may have to right-click on some links to open them)
Car Rider Dismissal Procedures
If you have more than one student attending HPMS, we ask that you follow the procedure for the eldest student. If you are carpooling, we ask that you follow the procedure for 8th graders.
6th Grade - 6th grade students will be dismissed to the front car line, and we will continue to have parents pull forward until you reach your child. 6th graders will be waiting down at the end of the sidewalk in front of the 4K building (except in cases of severe weather). We ask 6th grade parents to approach the school from the Main Street side of Central Avenue. This will keep us from backing up on to 252 from Brock, and it should require very little driving out of the way to get in line. We ask that you do not attempt to turn left from Brock into the front of the school as this is against the traffic laws on that road during school hours.
7th Grade - 7th grade students will cross the road to get in cars which will be on Park Ave. on the right side of the road. Please do not block the entrance/exit to the parking lot in front of the school when you are in line. Park Ave. is wide enough that if you will pull to the right, it will still allow traffic through on Park as needed. Once you pick up your student, please turn left onto Brock Ave. to help us keep that crosswalk cleared. We also prefer that you would get in line from the part of Central Ave. that runs behind the football field to avoid backing up traffic on Park. We realize this may not be practical for all.
8th Grade and Carpooling Students - 8th grade students will go to the parking lot across the street for dismissal. To make leaving easier for you, please park in the center column of spaces in the lot. We are also asking that you turn left out of the parking lot when you leave. We realize that this is less convenient for those of you who normally turn right, but it will keep from having two sets of traffic turning onto Brock Ave. at the same time and creating a bottleneck. If you are picking up two or more students, you are welcomed to use this lot as well, regardless of grade level.
We ask that you drive carefully around the school because there will be several different valves of traffic going to and from the school.
Google Classroom Cheat Sheet for Parents and Students
Upcoming Events
- 8/24 - Fall Reading Diagnostic Test
- 8/24 - Football Scrimmage @ Palmetto - 6 PM
- 8/29 - HPMS Volleyball @ Riverside - AWAY - 5:30 PM
- 8/30 - AOP Football Jamboree @ TL Hanna
- 8/31 - Fall Math Diagnostic Test
- 8/31 - Wahalla Middle v HPMS Volleyball - HOME - 5:30 PM
- 9/5 - Labor Day - No School
- 9/5 - HPMS Volleyball @ West-Oak - AWAY - 5:30 PM
- 9/7 - Palmetto Middle v HPMS Volleyball - HOME - 5:30 PM
- 9/8 - West-Oak Middle v HPMS Football - HOME - 5:30 PM
- 9/12 - HPMS Volleyball @ Liberty Middle - AWAY - 5:30 PM
- 9/14 - Belton Middle v HPMS Volleyball - HOME - 5:30 PM
- 9/15 - Riverside Middle v HPMS Football - HOME - 5:30 PM
- 9/19 - HPMS Volleyball @ Dacusville - AWAY - 5:30 PM
- 9/21 - HPMS Volleyball @ Walhalla - AWAY - 5:30 PM
- 9/22 - Pickens Middle v HPMS Football - HOME - 5:30 PM
- 9/26 - HPMS Volleyball @ Starr-Iva Middle - AWAY - 5:30 PM
- 9/28 - Liberty Middle v HPMS Volleyball - Home - 5:30
- 9/30 - Farm Day
- 10/3 - HPMS Volleyball @ Belton Middle - AWAY - 5:30 PM
- 10/5 - Dacusville Middle v HPMS Volleyball - HOME - 5:30 PM
- 10/6 - Football @ McCants (TL Hanna) - AWAY - 5:30 PM
- 10/12 - Starr-Iva Middle v HPMS Volleyball - HOME - 5:30 PM
- 10/13 - Football @ Starr-Iva - AWAY - 5:30 PM
- 10/20 - Belton Middle v HPMS Football - 5:30 PM
- 10/27 - Football @ Liberty Middle - AWAY - 5:30 PM