• Welcome message from Dr. Clapp

• Classroom "Peeks"

• Counselor's Corner

• HKMS "Happenings"

• Ways to get involved at HKMS

• and...Upcoming Events!

Grade 6

Mrs. Maggi's scientists are calculating which specific troposphere gas is consumed during combustion (burning) and how much of it is lost during this process. They utilize qualitative and quantitative data to explain the validity of a given hypothesis and explain relationships between the tested variables and observed results.

Grade 7

Grade 8

Grade 8 French and Spanish students are conducting interviews with their classmates around the topic of family.  These interviews are completed in the target language. 

FPA

Our young artists creating their portfolios to store their work and creatively express their names this week!

Sara Terry, MS, NCC, LPCA
School Counselor

Throughout the month of October, eighth graders excitingly attended alternative high school presentations! Although most students will go on to attend Joel Barlow (which is an awesome school), it is exciting for students to begin planning their high school career and really start digging deep as to what their interests are versus disinterests and attend information sessions on alternative high schools. We had the pleasure of hosting Trumbull Agriscience, Fairchild Wheeler, and the Regional Center for the Arts thus far. Abbott Tech has sent over some great information, including open house dates for interested students.

Next steps for high school transition include sifting through the Barlow Program of Studies and talking about course placements. Here at HKMS, we use many forms of data to make informed decisions as to high school course placements for math and science. All 9th graders take the same ILA and Social Studies course or have the option of taking a hybrid ILA/SS. Students will begin to look into elective courses that match student interests and talk about the big word “credits.” Vocabulary is essential to understand when completing course selections in January/February, therefore, Allison Gale (Library Media Specialist) and I have partnered together this year to develop classroom lessons that will incorporate college and career readiness vocabulary, such as “credits” or “transcript” or “Honors vs AP.”

These are fun times that can feel a bit stressful and overwhelming for our scholars. My recommendation is to continue this step-by-step process that will ultimately bring us to the biggest picture which is preparedness for course selection by February 2023. Have conversations with your child(ren)- ask them what some of their interests are and what careers look interesting to them. I know this will change a hundred times, but the whole purpose of college & career readiness at this point in their lives focuses on exploring interests and starting to develop a sense of who they are, what their skillset looks like, and who they can picture to be. I look forward to continuing this journey with our 8th graders!

Dear HKMS Parents and Guardians,

The climate of a community lives and breathes in the words we speak, the actions we display, and a deep commitment to learning and connecting.  Listening...truly listening to our students is the key to continuous growth and improvement of their learning environment,  

Last year, HKMS ran a school climate advisory committee made up of  HKMS parent volunteers, HKMS staff volunteers, and HKMS student representatives.  This committee comes together a few times during the school year to listen to student voice and brainstorm ideas to share out with community groups that raise awareness of concerns and infuse even more joy into our school.   It was an awesome experience last year 

and we can't wait to get started for this year!!

Volunteers Needed

• We are in need of 6 parent volunteers to be a part of our committee this year.

• The committee will meet 5 times total throughout the school year.  It is best if volunteers are able to commit to attending all 5 meetings to help with the consistency of the participants and the work.

• These meetings will take place during the school day so that students are able to attend.   

Please email me if you are interested and able to be part of our committee this year. It is essential you are able to be here during the school day to participate in these inspirational and busy work sessions. My email address is amohr@er9.org.

The magic of HKMS is that we all feel a shared responsibility for the well-being of our students and believe that student voice is the key to creating a supportive and growth-minded learning environment.  

Thank you in advance.

Sincerely,

Annie Mohr, 

Assistant Principal

Helen Keller Middle School

Find your strength, build upon it, and share it!