WINTER BREAK: There will be no school from 12/23/24-1/1/25. We wish everyone a very safe and happy holiday season, a happy New Year, and we will see everyone back here at Hunking on Thursday, 1/2/25!
Safety & Security: Arrival and Dismissal procedures
As a school we have been actively observing and working on our arrival and dismissal procedures in collaboration with District Leadership, the Haverhill Police Department, and Safe Routes to School Program. It is our intent to implement some necessary changes over the course of this school year, and then implement further changes as we plan for next school year. An additional communication will come out prior to students returning on January 2nd with more details about some of our immediate changes. Please stay tuned for that, and in the meantime…
Please see the attached report from Safe Routes to School Program which includes recommendations to improve our arrival and dismissal procedures and ensure the safety of all of our students: Dismissal Observation – Hunking, Haverhill_2024
THEME OF THE MONTH: We have embraced the theme of Generosity throughout the month of December. Generosity is the quality of being KIND and generous. This is a willingness to give help or support especially more than is usual or expected. It is giving beyond one’s means. Some ways to show generosity include, sharing or giving something that has meaning to you. Not expecting something in return. To support a cause that you believe in. To consider the benefits and embrace gratitude. We will announced the students who have best personified this theme throughout the month when we return from break. Stay tuned…
JANUARY BREAKFAST & LUNCH MENUS (If the links don’t work, you can visit www.fdmealplanner.com, and enter “Hunking” for the school location.)
COMMUNITY HAPPENINGS:
YMCA program:
PTO NEWS:
The Hunking PTO wishes you happy holidays! We’ll hit the ground running with our first PTO Meeting of the new year on Thursday, January 16th at 5:30om in the Hunking Conference Room! We’d love to see some new faces, so grab a friend and join us!
NEWS FROM GUIDANCE
School Counselor: Terri Carney terri.carney@haverhill-ps.org
HHS Schedules for 8th Graders
Sometime in January, look for information to be sent to you from HHS on taking part in the 9th grade class schedule. At that time, you can select options for electives. Schedules will not be finalized until back to school time, though! All students will select 10 or more electives in order to have a choice in their courses. Look for the course selection letter to be sent out! More information to follow!
Next Steps for HHS CTE, Classical Academy and various high school programs
Once a student has applied to the high school program of their choice, the next step is an interview which does not take place until Feb or March 2025.
You will not hear anything until the interview schedule is posted. Thank you for your patience!
HHS CTE practice interview questions are available on the School Counseling google classroom and CTE posts them on their application page: https://cte.haverhill-ps.org/application-process/.
8th grade School Counseling google classroom code
Students, join the google classroom with: egta65o
WVT does not release their interview questions.
Classical Academy @HHS
Classical Application 2023_2024.docx
Career Technical Education (CTE) @HHS
HHS Career Technical Education (CTE) Program: https://cte.haverhill-ps.org/
Whittier: Apply here and find important dates! https://whittiertech.go2cte.com/
Work Permits: Find all the information needed to obtain a work permit here:
https://www.haverhill-ps.org/work-permit-information
EDUCATIONAL HAPPENINGS:
Congratulations to our i-Ready Winter Growth Contest Winners!
Each student in the winning classrooms received a scratch off ticket good for one free snack and one ticket was the “golden ticket” good for a free lunch at Ari’s! Thank you to our incredible PTO for sponsoring this event.
7th Grade Social Studies: Gold Team students presented their sales pitch to try and convince the shark investors to invest in their product. Each team created a Google slide and presented it to a team of teachers who chose one product in each class to invest in.
7th Grade ELA: In Mrs. Seed’s class, students crafted descriptive Holiday House real estate advertisements to hone their informational writing skills. Students could work independently or in groups to incorporate real estate vocabulary in their writing so they can persuade someone to “buy” their house.
8th Grade: The 8th Grade took a field trip this week to see a panto performance of “A Christmas Carol” and also enjoyed a festive Fun Friday. The 8th Grade team warmly wishes all families a peaceful and restful holiday and look forward to welcoming students back in 2025.
ELA: Students conducted their Literature Circle discussions, which went really well. When we return from vacation, students will begin the novel Refugee by Alan Gratz.
Math: Students finished the unit on similarity and dilations and will be beginning Module 4 after vacation. Module 4 is algebraic equations.
Civics: Students continued learning about the executive branch of the government and the president’s roles and requirements. They took a quiz midweek.
Science: Students learned more about climate change this week and continued working on their climate projects.
WIN block: One lucky win block got to be “editors” for Ms. Hall’s third graders last week! We’re all learning what effective writing looks like and how to ask for and give help improving our work.
ML News: It’s the most wonderful time of the year! December is a busy month and the students have been working hard. The ACCESS test begins in January, and your child will demonstrate understanding in the four language domains: listening, reading, writing, and speaking.
Speaking Tips:
- Encourage students to start recording when they are confident they have a response.
- Advise students to give lengthy responses; this allows students to demonstrate their vocabulary and ability to connect ideas.
- Advise students not to press the stop button until they are completely finished speaking.
- Remind students to speak loudly and clearly into the microphone.
Writing Tips:
- Students’ writing is fully comprehensible and appropriate to purpose, situation, and audience.
- Students are writing in complete sentences and including proper punctuation.
- Students are using academic vocabulary in their writing.
Did You Know? The most used adjective in the English language is ‘good.’
NEWS FROM OUR NURSES: Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to you and your friends and family. If you have received a referral for vision or hearing, please send it back as soon as possible. If your child has a physical, please send a copy to the health office so we may keep track of your child’s health needs at school.
If you send your child in with a water bottle, please make sure it is not glass.
Cold and flu season has arrived. Please make sure your child is wearing appropriate clothes for the weather and using good hand hygiene to prevent getting sick. Proper cough etiquette is important to keep from spreading germs so please sneeze or cough into your elbow or a tissue.
CLUB NEWS:
Guitar Ensemble: The Hunking Guitar Ensemble is open to any students in grades 5-8. Students do not need prior experience or a guitar. We will meet on Friday afternoons from 2:45-3:30 (starting January 17th). For more information or if you have any questions, please contact Mrs Fairbrother.
Chorus: Congratulations to the Hunking Chorus on an amazing performance Tuesday night! I couldn’t be prouder of you all. We will resume rehearsals the second week of January. Have a wonderful Holiday Break!! ~Ms. A
NJHS: The NJHS calendar can be found here. See you on January 10th for our meeting! Friday we spread some holiday cheer with our Bobcat Buddies by creating a snow-person ornament and singing some carols.
GSA: The calendar for the GSA can be found here.
LEGO Club: The LEGO Club calendar can be found here.
Student Council: Student Council Meeting Calendar can be found here. At last week’s meeting, Student Council enjoyed a pizza party from PTO for their help with the Holiday Shop and they created holiday cards for “someone special” at the Hannah Dustin Healthcare Center.
Student council also held their 2nd annual K-2 Winter Fun Afternoon making crafts, watching “Frosty” and snacking through a read aloud!
Plans for a grades 3-4 fun afternoon event are in the works. Happy Holidays to our Hunking community.
Model UN: Our Hunking kiddos did a fantastic job at last week’s Hillie MUN conference! We won Best Delegation of the Conference and the following students won individual awards:
Grade 7:
Ava M
Jeffrey G
Grace L
George K (Honorable Mention)
Grade 8:
Kiptyn Z
Ellayna L
Kudos to all the members—your hard work and dedication truly paid off. Be on the lookout after school vacation for a celebration!
ODDS & ENDS:
-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:
-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