Hello Hunking Families,
We have concluded our first 5 day week of the school year! I wanted to express my gratitude for the continued support from all Hunking families as we are off to a very positive start to our school year! Please remember that it is our goal here at Hunking to build a partnership with our community that best supports all of our students!
With that being said, I wanted to update you all to let you know that we held grade level assemblies this week for all grades (except Kindergarten) to review and reiterate our school expectations. The theme of this discussion in each grade level revolved around two major focuses:
- Safety & Security
- Kindness, Respect, & Pride in ourselves, peers, staff, and school
Some of the topics and expectations discussed around these two themes included:
- Attendance/Tardy Policy
- Traveling throughout the building (lines)
- Bathroom expectations
- Cafeteria expectations
- Recess expectations
- Dismissal expectation (Bus/Walker/Parent pick-up)
- Policies that included (cell phone & dress code)-For middle school grade levels
The final message left with the students was if they all focused on the following 3 things consistently, that they would be superstars here at Hunking:
- Show up (1st key to success is to be in school on time each day)
- Try your best (Effort is the key. We discourage “I can’t”, “It’s too hard”, “I don’t want to”)
- Make good choices (We expect mistakes, but own your mistakes and learn from them)
Please feel free to talk to your students about these assemblies. They were all respectful audiences, and I am very impressed with the response thus far.
1st Annual Hunking Block Party: Once again, thank you to all of the students, staff, and families who participated in our 1st Annual Block Party last week. Congratulations to all of our raffle winners, and as promised, please click the link to be connected to an amazing slide show of the event: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dQUlsu4rXklAstrEEf8S4hwn9PKrpSS9/view
COMMUNITY HAPPENINGS:
Youth game design night: Family Game Design Day Flyer 2022 Middle School
(Spanish) Family Game Design Day Flyer 2022 Middle School
Walk for Peace:
Before & Afterschool Programs Flier:
2022-2023 Before After Hunking
PTO NEWS: The Meadow Farms fundraiser continues through September 28th and students have 13 days remaining to help reach our goal! There will be prizes for the class with the greatest participation!
We reached our $1000 fundraising goal from the Mum sale. Reminder that orders can be picked up this weekend at Cottage Gardens.
EDUCATIONAL HAPPENINGS:
** Exciting math news! This year we are offering a Drop-in Math Center from 8:00am – 8:30am Monday – Friday in the library. Mrs. Kim Surette, our Grade 5/6 Math Interventionist, will be running this center. We will begin with students in grades 5 and 6 and, based on attendance, may be able to open up to additional grade levels. If your child would like to participate, please have them join the Drop-in Math Center Google Classroom, code vhur2o4. Please note that students must provide their own transportation.
Congratulations! We needed 100% of our K-5 classes to access ST Math by September 16th and we did it! Our Teacher and Student Bobcats are truly #1! New to ST Math? Please reach out to me, Tiffany Corcoran, at tcorcoran@haverhill-ps.org and I’ll gladly discuss this exciting program with you! Stayed tuned for a school-wide progress chart coming soon!
We are excited to share that Hunking School will again be using the program i-Ready.
What is i-Ready?
i-Ready is an online program that will help us determine your child’s strengths and areas for growth, personalize their learning, and monitor their progress throughout the school year. i-Ready allows us to meet your child where they are and provides us with data to inform instruction.
The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions based on student responses. Each item a student receives is based on their answer to the previous question. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier ones. The purpose of this is not to give your child a score or grade but to determine how to best support their learning.
i-Ready Instruction provides students with lessons based on their individual strengths and areas for growth. These lessons are interactive and provide strategic supports to keep your child engaged as they learn.
Our math goal is for our students to pass two lessons per week. Students will be given time to work on their i-Ready instruction pathway during the WIN blocks or in guided math centers. Please reach out with any questions. Tiffany Corcoran
NEWS FROM OUR NURSES:
The Hunking nursing staff is requesting if your child needs an Epipen, inhaler or medication at school, please send it in to the health office with parental consent, doctor’s order and the medication in a pharmacy labeled box. Please contact the health office at 978-420-1913.
ATHLETIC NEWS:
Soccer: The 1st game for each team will be Thursday, 9/29 Home vs. Nettle (Girl’s playing first). The practice schedule for this coming week is as follows:
Boy’s soccer practice will be Tuesday, 9/20 from 3:00-4:15pm
Girl’s soccer practice will be Wednesday, 9/21 from 3:00-4:15pm
Cross Country: Starting this coming week…
Grades 4&5 Practices on Tuesdays 3-4:15
Grades 6-8 Practices on Thursdays 3-4:15
CLUB NEWS:
LEAD Program (Formerly VIP): For any 7th or 8th grader interested in being part of the LEAD program ( formerly called VIP) there will be an informational meeting with Ms Curry after school on Thursday, Sept 22 in Mr Schaefer’s room. It will be from 2:45 – 3:30.
GRIT: The first after school meeting of the GRIT program is on Monday, Sept. 19 from 2:45 – 4:30. All GRIT members need to see Ms Curry or Mr Schaefer if they WON’T be attending.
SCHOOL POLICIES:
Chromebook Insurance Policy: Haverhill Public Schools has chosen School Device Coverage (SDC) to insure the devices that will be given to your student as part of this year’s 1:1 device program. For only $20 per student, this insurance program will protect you and your student(s) in the event that your device is lost, stolen, or damaged accidentally over the course of the school year. Please follow this link for more information and to sign up. Haverhill Student Device Insurance
This information is also posted on the Parent and Student Resources page, Our Technology page, and the HPS Student Technology Device Policy (Spanish Version) document.
https://www.haverhill-ps.org/technology/device-insurance/
Attendance:
For Middle School Parents:
Showing up matters for R.E.A.L because it is an opportunity to:
- Build Routines
- Increase Engagement
- Provide Access to resources
- Support Learning
Routines: Establishing a routine of daily attendance helps reduce stress at home and supports a habit of attendance that will help your teenager get and keep a job.
Engagement: Being in school helps students to get to know each other and school staff and builds relationships that can motivate participation in learning.
Access to Resources: Schools provide access to valuable resources such as meals, health, mental health supports and fun enrichment activities such as sports, clubs, music, and other afterschool and summer programs.
Learning: Students who attend school regularly do better academically in middle school and are more likely to graduate from high school.
For Elementary/PreK/K School Parents:
Showing up matters for R.E.A.L because it is an opportunity to:
- Build Routines
- Increase Engagement
- Provide Access to resources
- Support Learning
Routines: Daily attendance routines can reduce stress, increase your child’s self-confidence, and lay a foundation for good attendance in later grades.
Engagement: Participation in school helps your child connect with other children and adults and get excited about learning.
Access to Resources: Schools can give you access to meals, physical and mental health care and other supports, and fun enrichment activities (sports, clubs, music, afterschool, and summer programs, etc.).
Learning: Children learn best from hand-on activities and through meaningful interactions with their teacher and other students.
Tardy Policy: All students should report to school daily and on time. Students should be in school and in class by 8:30am. If a student in grade 5-8 receives 5 unexcused tardies, this will lead to an after school detention. Further tardies will require a parent meeting and formal attendance contract.
Families of students in K-4 with 5 unexcused tardies will be contacted by our attendance team to initiate a meeting.
Student Dress Code: We have had several questions this week about the dress code policy at Hunking. I have attached the dress code policy that can be found on page 23 of the HPS student handbook for all families to review:
“The responsibility for the dress and appearance of the students will rest with individual students and parents.
They have the right to dermine how the student will dress providing that attire is not destructive to school property, complies with requirements for health and safety, and does not cause disorder or disruption. The administration is authorized to take action in instances where individual dress does not meet the stated requirements.
This does not mean that student, faculty, or parent groups may not recommend appropriate dress for school or special occasions. It means that students will not be prevented from attending school or a school function, or otherwise be discriminated against, so long as their dress and appearance meet the requirements set forth above.
Students are not permitted to dress in any manner that is distracting to teaching or learning, to other students or disrupting to the educational process or environment of the school. Clothing that is considered to be distracting includes but may not be limited to the following:
- Extremely short skirts or shorts rising more than 7″ above the knee.
- Shirts or blouses baring midriffs.
- See-through clothing.
- Halters or tank tops with less than 1″ straps, tube-tops, or blouses with excessively low cut tops.
- Low rider pants and pants that do not cover underwear.
- Clothing or jewelry that advertises or promotes products or activities that are illegal.
- Clothing containing inappropriate or suggestive language or pictures.
- Clothing that identifies students as members of a gang or an imitation of gang paraphernalia will not be permitted. This includes but is not limited to bandanas, pins, insignias, colors, jewelry, emblems, wave caps, etc.
- Studded accessories such as belt buckles, bracelets, chains, etc. are not permitted.
- Any other dress that distracts, disrupts, intimidates or provokes can be deemed inappropriate by the Principal or Assistant Principal.
The Principal and Assistant Principal have the final decision in making the determination that there has been a violation of the dress code policy. In the event that the Principal is unavailable, the Assistant Principal has the full authority to make the final determination on whether a student’s clothing is in violation of the dress code policy.”
CELL PHONE POLICY:
It seems we are off to a positive start with cell phones. We would like to remind all students and families of our cell phone policy.
-Cell phones are not allowed to be used throughout the school day. The expectation is that the phone is turned off and put away.
-If students are found to be using their cell phone for any purpose the following policy will be followed:
-1st offense: Cell phone will be confiscated and submitted to the main office where the student can get the phone back at the end of the day with a warning.
-2nd offense: Cell phone will be confiscated and submitted to the main office where a parent/guardian will need to pick up the phone.
-3rd offense: Cell phone will be confiscated and submitted to the main office where a parent/guardian will need to pick up the phone and the student will be issued an office detention.
-4th offense: Cell phone will be confiscated and submitted to the main office where a parent/guardian will need to pick up the phone and a meeting will need to take place in order to establish a contract where phone can either be dropped off at arrival time and picked up at dismissal, or the phone is not allowed in school.
-Students will not be allowed to have cell phones in the bathroom. Students will need to leave their phones face down on their desk when leaving for the bathroom.
-We recognize the importance for students to have cell phones, but we respectfully ask for your support in reinforcing the cell phone rules. If there is ever a reason for a student to call home, I am happy to allow them to utilize my office phone. Also, if you have to get in touch with your student, we would ask that you please contact the main office during school hours.