Panther Peridodical
HMS 2nd Nine Weeks Newsletter 2017-2018 School Year
2nd Nine Weeks Ahead
The end of the 1st Nine Weeks and the beginning of the 2nd has been quite busy, so please accept my apologies for the tardiness of the newsletter. By the time you get this newsletter report cards will already be on their way home with the students.
We know everyone has questions concerning the proposed renovations for Hueytown Middle School. We do as well. We hope to meet with the board representatives in time for the November CARE meeting and plan on sharing with the community what these entail. Please join us on November 6th at Brighton School at 6 PM to find out more.
In the month of October, we will begin meeting with students to discuss the results of the Fall administration of the Scantron Performance Series. As some of you know, the ACT Aspire contract was not renewed by the state and the Scantron assessments will be used in its place. The Fall administration set the baseline for our students this year. We will take another round beginning December 1st and a final round in the Spring. The state will use the Spring assessment on our 2018 A-F Report card. Each student will have a learning target generated for them by Scantron based on the results of the Fall administration. Students who meet or exceed their learning target on the December administration will be eligible to exempt the semester diagnostic in that subject as long as they have a "C" in the class. Please stress to your students the importance of doing their best on these assessments as they are part of OUR grade.
Please make sure you review the section on school attendance that follows below. Attendance is a very important piece of the Pride of the Panthers incentive program. We will have several more Panther Pass opportunities the 2nd Nine Weeks and students must have perfect attendance for the two weeks prior to participate in some of them.
Do not forget that we will have semester diagnostics the last week of school in December and students who have amassed enough Panther Passes and passing grades can exempt a diagnostic of their choice. See the Pride of the Panthers section below for more information.
We will continue making our weekly SchoolMessenger broadcasts on Saturdays. When the weekly broadcast runs long, expect it to be split into two parts with a second broadcast on Sunday afternoons. Please also check our Facebook page regularly as we are attempting to post updates their on a regular basis. Not all updates posted on the Facebook page will be posted through SchoolMessenger so as to not make the weekly message excessively long.
Every student received an agenda when they picked up their schedule this year so parents also have the student handbook. Please review the handbook to become aware of school policies and procedures.
Look for the 3rd Nine Weeks Newsletter the week we get out for Mid-Year Holidays. Until next time,
Go Panthers!
C.A.R.E.
Three times during the school year, the Hueytown Area Schools host a Citizens Advocating a Return to Excellence (CARE) meeting in one of the schools in which parents and community members are invited to hear about the great things that are going on in our schools. The principals from Brighton, Concord Elementary, Hueytown Elementary, Hueytown High, Hueytown Middle and North Highland Elementary Schools all make presentations. On occasion, local government, county government and county school leaders may also attend to provide additional information and updates to those in attendance. The format changes somewhat from time to time and may include presentations/performances from student groups from the host school. There may or may not be an open question time at the meetings but principals stay afterwards and freely answer any questions posed.
Next CARE Meeting Dates:
- November 6th, 2017, at Brighton School beginning at 6 PM
- January 22, 2018, at Hueytown Middle School beginning at 6 PM
- April 16, 2018, at Concord Elementary School beginning at 6 PM
- July 16, 2018 - North Highland Elementary School beginning at 10 AM
School Attendance
Under the state accountability guidelines, schools are required to maintain a 90% rate of attendance for all students for the entire year. Once a student misses nine days, that student is at 95%. 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.
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.
Grading Parameters
For the 2017-2018 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. The full schedule will be posted at the first of December. 1st Semester diagnostics will be begin December 14th and run through December 20th. Please keep this in mind when scheduling appointments.
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.
Pride of the Panthers/Panther Passes
For the 2017-2018 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.
Every two to three weeks, during morning gym time, students will have the opportunity to cash in their Panther Passes for various prizes.
We will be sending out the updated prize menu in the next week or two, so look for it on the school Facebook page soon. Prizes range from 1 Panther Pass for a random prize drawing to 30 Panther Passes to exempt one semester diagnostic providing the student has a “C” average in the class. It is possible that a student could save up enough passes to exempt more than one diagnostic.
Additionally, any student who has an overall “A” average at the end of the semester, no unexcused absences, unexcused tardies 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.
Important Dates for the 2nd Nine Weeks
Oct 16 - 20 - HMS Homecoming Week
Oct 16 - 17 - Homecoming Dance Tickets on sell before school $3
Oct 17 - PTA Meeting in HMS Cafeteria at 5 PM
Oct 17 - HMS Homecoming Dance for HMS students only 6-8 PM in Gym (Students must have their student ID to get into the dance)
Oct 18 - 1st NW Awards Day in HMS Cafeteria - 8:30 AM 6th Grade, 9:00 AM 7th Grade, 9:30 AM - 8th Grade
Oct 19 - HMS Homecoming Pep-Rally in Gym beginning around 1:45 PM
Oct 23 - 27 - Red Ribbon Week
Oct 23 - Baseball Tryouts after school on the HMS Baseball Field
Oct 24 - Debate Competition at Samford after school
Oct 26 - Hueytown's Got Talent Show 6 PM in HMS GYM (this is tentative as to location and date)
Oct 27 - School Closed for students - Teacher PD Day
Nov 1 - FCCLA Meeting after school in Home Ec Classroom
Nov 3 - PTA Sponsored Faculty vs Student Volleyball Game
Nov 5 - Daylight Savings Time Begins
Nov 6 - CARE Meeting at Brighton School 6 PM
Nov 7 - Progress Reports sent home with students
Nov 7 - FBLA Meeting after school in Business Tech Lab
Nov 7 - Newcomb Tournament for 6th Grade in HMS Gym after school
Nov 9 - HMS Football Banquet
Nov 10 - Veteran's Day - School Closed
Nov 13 - NJHS Meeting after school in Room 201
Nov 14 - Tentative Date for HMS Fall Festival 6 - 8 PM
Nov 20 - Nov 24 - Thanksgiving Holidays - School Closed
Nov 28 - Debate Competition at Samford after school
Nov 28 - PTA Meeting in HMS Cafeteria
Dec 5 - FBLA Meeting after school in Business Tech Lab
Dec 6 - FCCLA Meeting in Home Ec Classroom after school
Dec 11 - NJHS Meeting after school in Room 201
Dec 13 - 19 - 1st semester Diagnostics - we will run a modified schedule. The schedule will be posted the 1st of December
Dec 19 - End of 1st Semester and Last day for students
Dec 20 - Teacher Work Day - School closed for students
Dec 21 - Jan 3 - Mid-Year Holidays - School closed
Jan 4 - 5 - Teacher professional Development Days - School closed for students
Jan 8 - Students return
Jan 9 - Report cards will be sent home with students
These dates are current as of 10/11/2017. Additional dates and activities will be added over time. Please check the Facebook page on a regular basis.