Panther Periodical
HMS 1st Nine Weeks Newsletter 2018-2019 School Year
Welcome Back
First of all , for those who do not know me, let me introduce myself. My name is Christopher Anders and I am the principal of Hueytown Middle School. This year starts my seventh year at Hueytown Middle School and marks my twenty-second year in education, the last thirteen of which have been in middle school.
We would like to thank all of our parents for their patience with the new online registration this summer as we had to transition back from paper and pencil. Ms. Amanda has been working diligently to get all of our new students into the system as fast as possible. Some of the issues have been out of our control and we apologize for the delay.
Our school website is still a work in progress, is still not completely functional at the moment and at some point soon will be replaced with another platform. We do not have a timeline for that transition so we strongly recommend that you visit our Facebook page for the most up to date announcements. We want to keep you informed of the events and activities at Hueytown Middle School so please like the page so you can get notifications when new information is posted.
Per district policy, all progress reports as well as the report cards for the 1st through 3rd Nine Weeks along with the progress report for the 4th Nine Weeks will be sent home with the student. We will send out a SchoolMessenger broadcast to let parents know when they are coming home. The 4th Nine Weeks Report Card is the only one that will be mailed home to parents.
The school agenda and local school handbook have again been combined this year into one. Every student has received an agenda this year so parents also have the student handbook. Please review the handbook to become aware of school policies and procedures.
The Jefferson County Student Code of Conduct is digital this year and can be accessed by following this link:
Student Code of Conduct in Spanish
Please be sure to review p. 20 & 21 of the Student Code of Conduct for Dress & Grooming Guidelines.
Parents please remember that all car-rides must be dropped off and picked up through the car-line at the gym entrance. No student may be picked up under the trees in front of the school, across the street or in the street. All students crossing the parking lot or the street must use the crosswalks. This is a safety issue. Students not using the crosswalk will be written up. Please remind your students to be attentive and looking for their ride in the afternoon. If your child does not come to your car when you reach the front of the line, please be courteous and pull back around so that those parents whose children have been paying attention can exit the parking lot.
From time to time, you will hear references to "The Zone" in our flyers, announcements, broadcasts and so forth. "The Zone" refers to the collaboration of the Hueytown and Pleasant Grove Area Schools in an effort to provide more consistent support and opportunities to all of the students in our combined community. Our collaboration efforts began at the administrative level several years ago and saw several other Zone wide collaborations throughout last year. We have several other Zone-wide collaborative activities in development already.
Until next, time welcome to the Zone, where
We Own it...
We Build it... &
We Lead it...
Go Panthers!
School Attendance
Under State Department of Education requirements for accountability, schools are penalized for every student that misses 15 or more days (both excused and unexcused count) as being Chronically Absent. Because of the way the College and Career Readiness Standards rely on cooperative learning, it is very difficult to duplicate cooperative learning groups in make-up work. When scheduling appointments please be mindful of the attendance requirement.
Parents may write an excuse to cover seven (7) days for the year. After the seventh day, only doctor’s excuses may be accepted. Please keep this in mind when scheduling family trips because once those seven days are used they are gone for the year.
District attendance policy states that students who miss 14 or days for a year long class (or 7 for a semester class) can fail the class based on attendance. Please keep this in mind when considering keeping your child at home from school.
Please also keep in mind that students have three school days in which to bring in their excuse for an absence. After three days, the absences become unexcused and no make-up work will be given out. Work missed for unexcused absences will be recorded in the grade-book as zeros.
Students who have perfect attendance for the year will be recognized at our end of the year awards program.
Grading Parameters
For the 2018-2019 school year, middle school grading will remain as last year with the following parameters:
75% Assessments
25% Classwork/Homework
Consequently, we do not administer nine weeks assessments. At the end of the 1st and 2nd Semester, we will administer semester diagnostics on a modified schedule (more information on the semester diagnostic schedule in the 2nd Nine Weeks’ Newsletter).
These diagnostics will be teacher created and cover the content to be covered for that semester. The diagnostics will count as a 100 point assessment in the 75% assessment category for the 2nd and 4th Nine Weeks, respectively.
Parents should expect to see a minimum of one grade entered every week by each teacher. The district is currently reviewing the minimum number of assessments required for each nine weeks. Originally, the district was going to require 4 assessments a nine weeks, then it was eight. A final decision has not been made. We hope to have that information for you soon.
Pride of the Panthers/Panther Passes
For the 2018-2019 year, we are continuing our efforts to improve student attendance and encourage students to do the right thing. Students who are caught doing the right thing can receive “Panther Passes.” We also give Panther Passes on random days to students who are present and on time to 1st period so do not forget that school starts at 7:55 AM. Other examples of ways students can earn a Panther Pass include (but are not limited to): going out of the way to help another student, working diligently on an assignment while others are goofing off, etc...
Once earned, a Panther Pass can never be taken away.
The link to the updated prize menu is below:
Additionally, any student who has an overall “A” average at the end of the semester, no unexcused absences, no unexcused tardies, no unexcused check-ins/check-outs and no discipline referrals will be eligible to exempt all semester diagnostics for that semester and will receive a free “T-Shirt.” Students who are eligible both semesters will be recognized at the end of the year awards ceremony and will receive a special prize.
State Testing and the Scantron Performance Series
The Scantron Performance Series (formally known as Global Scholar) will be used as the state assessment for accountability again this year. It will be replaced by a new assessment beginning with the 2019-2020 School Year. Students will take the assessment three times this year. All students will take Math and Reading. 7th Grade students will also take the assessment in Science. It is imperative that students take the assessment seriously each time. The Fall administration for Hueytown Middle School will begin in August. This administration will set the baseline for our students and an individualized learning goal will be generated by the system for each student based on their initial score. Beginning, December 1st, we will begin the Winter administration. As an incentive to our students, students who successfully meet their learning goal in Math or Reading (or Science for 7th Grade) by the Winter administration will be eligible to exempt their 1st Semester diagnostic as long as they have a "C" average in the class. We will do something similar in the Spring.
Important Dates for the 1st Nine Weeks
August 20th-24th - HMS Boys Basketball Tryouts Sign-Ups in Boys PE (Current 7th & 8th Grade only)
August 20th - Volleyball Tryouts after school
August 20th - 6th Grade Parent night - HMS Gym @ 6 PM
August 21st - Cross-Country Track Mandatory Parent Meeting @ 4:15 PM
August 21st - 7th Grade Parent night - HMS Gym @ 6 PM
August 27th - 8th Grade Parent night - HMS Gym @ 6 PM
September 3rd - Labor Day - School Closed
September 4th - Monthly FBLA Meeting in the Business Tech Lab after school
September 5th - Fall Pictures in PE - students must be in dress code to take pictures
September 5th - Monthly FCCLA Meeting in the FACS Classroom after school
September 6th - Pep Rally in the Gym for the first home game (we will begin loading the gym around 1:50 PM)
September 11th - FCCLA Parent meeting in FACS Classroom @ 5:30 PM
September 13th - Progress reports will be sent home with students (tentative date)
September 14th - HMS Boys Basketball Tryouts after school to fill the remaining spots October 1st-5th - HMS Homecoming Week
October 2nd - Monthly FBLA Meeting after school
October 2nd - HMS Homecoming Dance in the Gym beginning at 6 PM (For HMS Students only and they must have their student ID to enter)
October 3rd - Monthly FCCLA Meeting after school
October 4th - HMS Homecoming Pep-Rally beginning @ 2 PM in the Gym
October 5th - End of 1st Nine Weeks
October 8th - Teacher Work Day - School closed for students
October 9th - Fall Pictures Make-Up - only for students who missed Fall Picture Day
October 11th - Report cards sent home with students
These dates are current as of 8/17/2018. Additional dates and activities will be added over time. Please check the Facebook page on a regular basis.
Athletic Schedules
HMS Basketball and Volleyball schedules are still pending