NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY, JANUARY 15TH: MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY

MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL: 

All students took part in grade level assemblies over the past week. These assemblies focused on reminding students and reiterating the expectations here at Hunking. Some of the highlights included:

-The Number 1 Rule at Hunking: Be Kind & Respectful

All other rules and expectations can fall under this main rule. 

-3 Things for ALL students to do to be successful throughout their time at Hunking:

–Show Up: The number one step to success is to be in school on time consistently. We discussed the importance of attendance. 

–Make Good Choices: We talked about making mistakes and how to learn from those mistakes, and move forward. This discussion also included a conversation about honesty, responsibility, and accountability. 

–Try your best: All students have different strengths and challenges, and we discussed that all that matters is that we all put in our best effort each day. 

-We finally discussed my number one priority which is the safety of all students & staff and how we need to work together to follow the above expectations to ensure that everyone is and feels safe each and every day. 

As always, I appreciate the support of each and every one of our families and community members. Please feel free to speak with your students about their assembly and help reinforce the above expectations. Thank you!

HUNKING THEME OF THE MONTH: We are embracing the theme of ACCOUNTABILITY throughout the month of January. Accountability is the act or condition of being responsible. Accountability is the acceptance of responsibility for honest and ethical conduct toward others. Finally it is an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s own actions. Staff will be on the look out this month for students who are holding themselves accountable for their own goals and actions. 

Congratulations to all of our winners from December, who personified the theme of Generosity: 

COMMUNITY HAPPENINGS: 

Before & After School YMCA Program: Please see attached newsletter below. We explored a lot of dinosaurs and dinosaur activities! If you have not received an email from John Crane for February break I have attached the link to sign up, space is limited!

 https://docs.google.com/forms/u/2/d/e/1FAIpQLSeD-ZjXmdfPHN8ZIZwPmP6eeOWRNXI3havXcX-ttDP_-9TaxQ/viewform

FEBRUARY VACATION ACADEMY:

February 2024 Vacation Academy

February 2024 Vacation Academy – Arabic

February 2024 Vacation Academy – Haitian Creole

February 2024 Vacation Academy – Spanish (1)

February 2024 Vacation Academy – Portuguese

WASHINGTON, DC GRADE 8:

• NOTE!!! All registered students must have a signed District Permission Slip AND Student Participation Contract (please make sure you fill out the medical form on the 2nd page of the permission slip as well).  Please make the $125 non refundable payment today.   Check the DC google classroom for updates! 
• An 8th Grade assembly will be held next Monday & DC info will be discussed including behavior contracts and expectations now that it is January. Hard copies have been provided to homerooms. Return signed forms to the homeroom teacher. Your registered student has been emailed a reminder.
• Update: 104 students are registered! 5 staff chaperones and 7 parent/guardian chaperones have been assigned and notified (please contact Meg Arivella for Cori paperwork and fingerprinting instructions).  Once you have registered, your student will be added. However, just registering with no payment does not hold your spot. Chaperones, registration will be after Feb. 12th. Stay tuned. 

Dates/Info to remember:

• • January 24th- 6pm at Hunking /Held to answer questions and allow for any last minute signups. Nurse leader will be here to discuss medication.
  • Feb. 9th-2nd payment $225 

• February 12, 2024: Sign-ups for trip close. No exceptions. District Permission slip due with insurance information.

• Questions????- Megan.arivella@haverhill-ps.org

PTO NEWS: 

• The next PTO meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 18th at 6:30pm in the Hunking conference room! We’ll have babysitters on site!
• The Someone Special Dance is scheduled for Friday, February 2nd in the Hunking cafeteria! K-2 is from 5:00-6:00pm; and grades 3-4 are from 6:30-7:30pm. Tickets are $5.00/each and can be purchased at: my.cheddarup.com/c/2024-someone-special-dance. (Students and their “someone special” both require a ticket). Cash concessions will be available! Someone Special
• The online auction is coming and we need your help! We’re looking for the following…please reach out HunkingPTO28@gmail.com with any questions:
  • Gift basket donations (movie night, game night, wine night, pampering night, etc)
  • Item donations (we will happily take those holiday gifts you don’t want!) so we can create a basket
  • Anything else you’d like to donate!

NEWS FROM GUIDANCE:

Meet your school counselors!

Grades 5 and 6: Sarah Petrick  sarah.petrick@haverhill-ps.org    

Grades 7 and 8: Terri Carney   terri.carney@haverhill-ps-org

NEED A WORK PERMIT? 

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

Haverhill High School

https://hhs.haverhill-ps.org/

HHS Programs:

Classical Academy: DEADLINE JAN 19th (please allow me time to process the application! Submit application as soon as possible!!)

https://hhs.haverhill-ps.org/classical-academy-3/ 

Apply: CA One-Pager (updated fall 2020)

Career Technical Education (CTE): DEADLINE FEB 16th (please allow me time to process the application! Submit application as soon as possible!!)

https://cte.haverhill-ps.org/ 

Apply: https://haverhill.go2cte.com/

Early College Information:  https://hhs.haverhill-ps.org/early-college/

Students can begin taking Early College Classes in 10th grade! 

Whittier Tech DEADLINE FEB 1ST (please allow me time to process the application. Submit application as soon as possible!!)

https://whittiertech.org/

Apply: https://whittiertech.go2cte.com/

Information on Private Schools

Private School Info 23/24

EDUCATIONAL HAPPENINGS: 

Kindergarten: In science, students have begun learning about plant needs. Classes are in the middle of a watering experiment. In math, we are beginning our unit about comparisons. Students will learn to compare heights, lengths, weights and numbers. 

7th Grade Social Studies: Students worked in groups to create a sales pitch for an ancient invention. They modeled their pitch after the TV show Shark Tank. The most convincing sales pitch in each class was rewarded with an investment. Pictured below is two of our winning inventors. 

7th Grade Science: Students began a new unit this week. They have been analyzing and interpreting data on the changes in ph in the Adirondack lakes, acid rain, weather patterns, the water cycle and the decrease in the fish population over the years 

NEWS FROM OUR NURSES:  Hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend. If your child is out for an illness please reach out to the nurses at 978-420-1913.  Weather is getting really cold and we have had some snow recently. Please send your child in with proper attire. Make up and repeat vision and hearing screening will be continued in January. If your child was given a referral, please make sure it is sent back in after seeing an eye or hearing specialist. Stay healthy. 

ATHLETIC NEWS: 

Basketball: Our basketball teams will not be back in action until their final regular season game which will occur on Tuesday, January 23rd when we host Sacred Hearts. 

Girls basketball practices are on Mondays after school until 4:30pm

Boys basketball practices are on Fridays after school until 4:30pm

ATTENTION SPRING TRACK CREW: 

We know the snow has just begun, but we cannot wait for Spring! My fellow coaches and I are already excited for our upcoming 2024 track season! I am hoping to get a good idea as to how many kiddos are interested in joining us this year, so I wanted to create this form to make sign-ups easier.

Please fill out below if your student would like to participate in this upcoming season. 

Your kiddos BIGGEST fans,

Coaches Law, Molina & Gibbs 

HUNKING TRACK EARLY SIGN UP

CLUB NEWS: 

GSA (Gender-Sexuality Alliance): The GSA calendar can be found here. 

LEGO Club: The LEGO club calendar can be found here. 

NJHS: The NJHS calendar can be found here. 

Student Council:  The next student council meeting will be Tuesday January 16th in room 301 from 2:45-3:45 pm.  The meeting agenda has been set by our new executive board:  President T.J. DiStefano (grade 8), Vice President Audrey Keller (grade 6), Treasurer Kiptyn Ziminski (grade 7), and Secretary Jacoby Schena (grade 5). 

Guitar Ensemble:  We WILL meet on Thursday (1/18)!! I’m excited to share our Spring songs with you and to get back into the swing of things.  New members are welcome grades 5-8.

Drama Club:  Rehearsals for Mean Girls Jr. will take place Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:45 to 4:45 in the music room for the month of January. This is for all cast members. Techies are not required at these rehearsals. Techies will be receiving a schedule some time at the end of February. 

GRIT:  Due to no school on Monday (MLK Day), GRIT will meet on Wednesday, Jan. 17. The following week we return to our Monday schedule. Therefore, the next meeting after Jan. 17 will be Mon., Jan 22. 

Mentor/Mentee: Students have really been enjoying the bonds they are building in the mentor/mentee program. There are over 50 students in grades 1 – 4 that are partnered with a 7th or 8th grader and most meet once per week. 

YEARBOOK: The Hunking Yearbook Team needs your help! Do you have photos you would like to contribute to the yearbook? Please see attached flyer for instructions

ODDS & ENDS: 

-All students have been issued school IDs. It is required that they bring and wear their ID badges each day. These badges are also used for breakfast and lunches as well as to “swipe” on & off the bus. 

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

HPS has chosen School Device Coverage (SDC) to insure the Chromebooks that students have been issued. The cost of coverage for the year is $20 and includes accidental damage, loss, fire, and theft. As of right now, families have the option to sign up during the month of September (we will let you know if it extends). After sign up closes, only new students will be given a special code to sign up at registration. Our website explains SDC and has instructions on how to signing up online:

https://www.haverhill-ps.org/technology/device-insurance/

Qustodio: a FREE student safety, digital wellbeing platform that helps parents/guardians control their child’s access to the internet on their school issued devices. Qustodio is FREE for HPS Students/Families. More information and how to sign up for Qustodio can be found on our website at:

https://www.haverhill-ps.org/technology/athome/student-safety-and-digital-wellbeing-platform/

-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: Please click on the link below to review Hunking policies including cell phone, dress code, and pick up & drop off procedures: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OOOIPyskLX9WyYSuAWqfyQCB0ZJZ8JFsTTgB_sNW8d4/edit?usp=sharing