Bobcat Bulletin 5/12/23

Book Fair News! The ELA coaches are excited to announce that Hunking will be hosting a Scholastic Book Fair May 30-June 5. This will be a great way to kick off summer reading! The fair will be held in the library during school hours. More information is to come. Parents, if you are interested in volunteering at the fair please contact our ELA coaches:

 

Kristin Bisegna: kristin.bisegna@haverhill-ps.org

Ali LaCoste: alacoste@haverhill-ps.org

 

Summer Reading: If you would like to keep your student reading this summer, check out the Haverhill YMCA Literacy Academy.  See attached flyer- HAV_SLLP_2023

 

FAMILY ENGAGEMENT SURVEY: Thank you so much to the 400 families who took the time to participate and complete our family engagement survey! The 400 responses included 521 of our students which is 48.3% of our total population. We are going to be able to take all of this important data and analyze it in order to help us with planning for next school year and beyond. Please stay tuned for us to share more information out to you all. 

English Version: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSczVcW4usefl3sxZxhPWbueg3ABmKfw182N_ujDj9CF7Fcfnw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Spanish Version: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdJbvXHJY8mHYs10YNDM2sqK3pBBJ3h-9FNoAVPz7eyoieSyQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Portuguese Version: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeVP-X-iMhbRGmDMh_dgI90i9T93-Y8DeMUEWoqakmvbO8OmQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

 

MCAS Grade 3-8 Schedule: We are now in the midst of MCAS testing. We will be continuing testing in the upcoming week with Science (Grades 5 & 8). Please see the MCAS schedule link below for specific details. With testing going on, please note that it is imperative that ALL students be respectful of the students testing each day, and what that means is that we will be utilizing all spaces throughout the building for testing, so please be mindful of moving throughout the building quietly and respectfully and do not disrupt or disturb students who are testing. Please be aware that on testing days, all cell phones AND apple watches will be collected while testing is going on in your particular grade. Thank you everyone. It should also be noted that attendance on testing days is of utmost importance. Please make sure your students get a good night’s sleep, eat a healthy breakfast, and are at school on time. We appreciate your support. 

Hunking MCAS Calendar

 

HUNKING THEME OF THE MONTH: Hunking will be embracing a theme of the month which will be focused on in and around our School building throughout each month. Hunking staff will promote and nominate students each month who they feel have personified the monthly theme on a consistent basis. Based on those nominations, one boy and one girl in each grade will be recognized as a “Hunking Hero” and receive a t-shirt. 

Throughout the month of May, we are embracing the theme of Honesty.   Honesty is the quality or fact of being honest; uprightness and fairness. It is truthfulness, sincerity, or frankness and freedom from deceit or fraud.. Staff will be on the lookout this month for the students who personify honesty. 

Future themes will include: 

June – Pride: 

                      

 

              

COMMUNITY HAPPENINGS: 

 

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION NEWS:

 

MAKE IT HAVERHILL ELL CLASSES:

 

 

PTO NEWS:  

 

    • A HUGE thank you to everyone who helped make Teacher Appreciation Week a success!
  • Drama’s next performance is Xanadu, Jr.!
    May 19 @7:00pm / May 21 @ 12:00pm / May 21 @ 3:00pm Xanadu J. is a moving,electrifying tale of endless fun that will keep audiences in stitches while the original, legendary chart-topping tunes lift them out of their seats. Buy your tickets at: https://hunking-drama-xanadu-jr.cheddarup.com 
  • The next PTO meeting is Thursday, May 25th at 6:15. Only 2 meetings to go! We do need some new Board Members for the 2023-2024 school year…if you’re interested in learning more about our open positions, please plan to come to our next meeting or reach out to HunkingPTO28@gmail.com.

 

NEWS FROM GUIDANCE:

 

Your School Counselors:

Sarah Petrick k-4 School Counselor   sarah.petrick@haverhill-ps.org

Terri Carney 5-8 School Counselor     terri.carney@haverhill-ps.org

 

FYI: The LOOP Program will not be taking place on May 16 and 17 because of MCAS testing. 

 

Work Permits

Students are applying for their first jobs! Work permit information can be found here:

https://www.haverhill-ps.org/work-permit-information/

 

Guidance Information

We are introducing a new avenue for you to access all information regarding applications and the transition to high school. We recommend you utilize this resource as often as possible, as we will consistently update this site throughout the week. We at Hunking believe that working together to support student success is paramount. 

https://sites.google.com/haverhill-ps.org/roadmaptohighschool/hunking-home-hnk

 

 

EDUCATIONAL HAPPENINGS: 

 

4th Grade: We are looking forward to hosting the Cardboard Carnival once again this year! We would love your help in gathering supplies for our engineers. We will be collecting recyclables for the next 4 weeks.

The following is a list of items that we need: 

~ boxes (small, medium, large, Amazon, etc.)

~ toilet/paper towel rolls

~ shoeboxes
~ duct tape, painter’s tape, masking tape 

~ anything else plastic or cardboard that is recyclable.


Donations can be dropped off to any of the 4th grade classrooms! 


8TH GRADE PROMOTION: SAVE THE DATE – Attention 8th grade families: The 8th grade promotion will be held on Thursday, June 22nd at 6pm with the promotion dance to immediately follow the ceremony. Please stay tuned for more specific details as we get closer to the event. 

 

Hunking’s ST Math Puzzle Clubs!

Hunking’s 500 Puzzle Club

Hunking’s 1,000 Puzzle Club

Hunking’s Finishers Club

 

ST MATH- BIG shout out and congrats to Keren M. in Mrs.Fieldings 5th grade class who has passed 5th, 6th and 7th grade ST math curriculum and is starting the 8th grade curriculum on ST Math- way to go Keren!!!!

 

NEWS FROM OUR NURSES:    With the warmer weather upon us, please make sure to send your child to school with a water bottle

 

LOST AND FOUND: Our lost and found for any clothing items is located in the locker room area in the main hallway of the school. Any lost lunch boxes or water bottles can be found on the shelves in our cafeteria. We encourage you to have your students check frequently, as all unclaimed clothing at the end of each month is then donated by the school. 

 

ATHLETIC NEWS: 

TRACK:

Haverhill Middle School Track has been invited to attend Thursday Meets at North Andover High School!

  • Athletes need their own transportation to and from North Andover High School. 

If you are unable to attend we will still have practice held at school as regularly scheduled.

The dates for the meets are:

  • Thursday May 25
  • Thursday June 1

The meets start at 4:00 and conclude at 5:30 pm.

There are no sign ups and athletes can participate in as many events as they want! 

This is a GREAT opportunity for our runners and hope you are able to take advantage of it! 

Coach Law will be at the meets so be sure to check in with her upon arrival! 

 

CLUB NEWS:

 

LEGO Club: The calendar containing all dates through the end of the year can be found here. Just a reminder that parent pick-up is at the middle school entrance on the far end of the building (not the main or elementary entrances). 

 

LEAD Program (Formerly VIP):  There is a meeting on Thursday, May 18 until 4 pm

 

GRIT: The next meeting is Monday, May 15 but the following week we are meeting on a TUESDAY, May 23. All meetings are until 4:30. 

 

GSA: The final meetings of the GSA this year will be May 19, and June 9. All meetings will take place in room 300 until 4:00. Please see Mr. Molloy with any questions. 

 

CHORUS: After our hugely successful concert this week, chorus is done for the year! Thanks for everything and we’ll see you next year!! 

 

DRAMA CLUB:   Xanadu Jr. is one weeks away. Friday May 19, 2023 at 7 pm and Sunday May 21, 2023 a show at 12:00 and a show at 3:30. Tickets will be available at the door and online Xanadu Jr. Box-office.  The 3:00 show is starting at 3:30, doors will open at 3:00.

We are still looking for anything neon or 80s style clothing.  

 

GUITAR ENSEMBLE:  A HUGE thank you for your wonderful performance Tuesday night!  I am proud of you for all your hard work and dedication.  We will not meet again until next year so enjoy your Thursday mornings (now we even have nice weather) and I’m excited to see you next fall!

 

YEARBOOK: Mr. Thornton (Yearbook Advisor) will be on paternity leave starting May 15th. Please email Shelley MacRae with any yearbook related questions.

 

The deadline to design custom pages for the yearbook is May 26th. 

 

ODDS & ENDS: 

 

-All students in grades 5-8 have been issued school IDs. It is required that they bring and wear their ID badges each day. 

-Please make sure that your student(s) are coming to school daily with a fully charged chromebook. 

-Please make sure that you are sending your student(s) with a water bottle. We have a limited supply of cups and we do not have access to water fountains, only water bottle filling stations. 

 

SCHOOL POLICIES: 

 

MORNING DROP OFF: To all families that drop their students off in the morning, please remember to drop your students off at the proper end of the building. All K-4 students should be dropped on the lower school side of the building. All 5-8 students should be dropped off on the upper school side of the building. Please be aware that there should be NO DROP OFFS AT THE FRONT OF THE BUILDING BETWEEN 8:00AM-8:30AM. This is for safety reasons. We appreciate everyone’s support and cooperation with this procedure. Thank you!

 

UPPER SCHOOL DROP OFF: Parents and Guardians, please be aware that the safety and security of our students is the number one priority. We kindly ask that all parents/guardians who drop students off in the morning on the upper school side of the building, please follow the proper traffic pattern to ensure everyone’s safety. Please do not cut across the parking lot. We ask that you drive slow while on school grounds, and we appreciate your patience as we are aware that many people have places to be after dropping off. Again, we appreciate you prioritizing the safety of our students. Thank you!

 

CAR PICK UP & DROP OFF: Safety and Security of our students, staff, and families is our number one priority, so we would like to ask that those families who utilize car pick up and drop off be cognizant of our security guards directing traffic. Security would like to emphasize the use of turn signals when picking-up or dropping-off your student. If you are not turning, please flash your headlights so that they are aware that you are continuing straight. We want to make sure everyone remains safe. We greatly appreciate your attention and support with this matter. 

 

Lower school pick up: If you are walking to pick up your K student please wait near the kindergarten doors and if you are walking to pick up your grade 1-4 student please wait at the lower school walker pick up door. DO NOT come to the lower school playground to pick up your child. The students in the playground area are waiting for car pick up only. 

 

Student Dress Code: 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 determine 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 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 bearing 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: 

-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 phones 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.