For the Week of 2/21 - 2/24

Welcome Message from Dr. Clapp
Classroom Peeks
HKMS Happenings
Policy Highlights
Ways to get Involved
and...Upcoming Events!

Dear HKMS families,

March is Middle Level Education month, woohoo! This coming month we will be celebrating all the amazing things and people that make middle school so special, challenging. and rewarding! Besides birth-to-three years old, students grow and develop more in these three years than they do in the rest of their lives! That means they are not just taller, they are more able to learn, understand, and expand their knowledge at new levels. They have a whole new array of pretty intense emotions (that are hard to control), they are developing new interests, and are argumentative (and good at it)! They are forming new relationships, and exploring their developing identity. They are more creative and better problem solvers. They are becoming more confident and still seeking our approval. They want more independence and are more dependent, and boy, can they eat!!

The educators here at HKMS have dedicated their lives to these special years. They are experts in both their content area and the developmental abilities of our students. They are healers of emotional bruises, and correctors of misaligned thoughts. They are negotiators, deal makers, enforcers, teammates, coaches and cheerleaders all wrapped up into one. Think about it, who wants to go back to relive their middle school years (virtually no one, right)? Yet, our educators do exactly that everyday and they do it so well. Indeed, we are lucky to have such amazing professionals working with our children.

Sometime in the near future, while your young adolescent is telling you why you are wrong because their 13-year old friend knows better (yup, that happens to all of us), remember to relish this incredible time of life with them. The wisdom you teach them now, the model of a productive adult you set for them everyday, and how you treat and talk about others, will be the most impactful lessons you will give them on their journey to adulthood. Enjoy it!

Sincerely,

Steve Clapp

Principal

Helen Keller Middle School

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

Grade 6

Our young scientists are sharpening their pencils as they create precise graphs for Mrs. Maggi. Be careful ---any careless lines and she will send you back to work on it again! I knew when I saw Mrs. Maggi with graph paper this morning she was plotting something!

In ILA Mrs. Burke's students are using a non-fiction biography of the champion fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad to practice their sequencing skills.

Grade 7

Some of Mrs. Mancini's students are finding the area of composite shapes! Partial circles, rectangles, and squares are combined to make up these tricky shapes!

While other seventh-grade students got to travel to different countries to practice solving real world percent problems involving tax, discount, and mark up.

While students are developing their argument essays independently, Mr. Rogers is conferring with each student on their recent NWEA/MAP assessment results. We typically expect six (n=6) points of growth in a year, and three (n=3) points by midyear. Overall we saw amazing growth in 7th grade, with the average being above Five (n=+5) points. We had a couple of students who grew by more then 17 points, (which would be nearly three years of growth)!

Mrs. Rose's social scientists are researching various aspects of Asian culture. From sports and animals to folklore and history, they all can shed some light on natural and human influences that impact the Asian world view and way of life.

Dr. Baca's scientists are exploring the process of mechanical and physical weathering, using (but not eating) sugar cubes!

Grade 8

Welcome Mr. Crawford!

Above: Evidence of the first lesson of his HKMS career!

Below: Guiding students through some coordinate plotting work!

Is the use of force justified just because one is more powerful, or "does might equal right?" Mr D's social scientists are researching and developing an argument about this age old question.

FPA

Mrs. Gidley orchestrates beautiful music in strings class!

What is 4-way volleyball? Imagine two intersecting nets forming 4 quadrants. Add in 4 teams, a few rule adjustments, and you have 4-way volleyball!

In health, the 6th graders are making a lifesize Venn Diagram to compare and contrast Micronutrients and Macronutrients.

Hawaiian Party Permission Slip

Aloha!

The HKMS Student Government

Hawaiian Party is Coming!

Friday, March 10th after school until 5:30 pm

$10 Ticket includes a slice of Pizza and an Ice Cream

Permission slip (linked to the left) must be completed

Music, food, basketball, and other fun activates are planned!

"13!" The HKMS musical is HERE!!!

Next Thursday and Friday (Curtain at 6:00pm sharp)

Next Saturday (Matinee at 2:30pm sharp)

Tickets are for sale at the door :

$15 Adults
$10 Students and Seniors
Matinee students and other children get in for just $5!
CASH or CHECK only!

(Please plan for a few minutes of processing time when you arrive)

Cast and crew alike are putting scenes and scenery together! (Pictures by Ashley)

It's baaack....the return of the 3 v 3 basketball tournament!

$20 per team - Proceeds go to the GoFundMe set up for the Terry Family!
Student champs play the staff team for the ultimate championship on 3/17!
The sign up link will be sent out to STUDENTS at 7pm on Monday, February 27th. Only ONE team member should sign up the full team on the Google Form.

Tri-District Concert

This year's Tri-District Concert will take place on Thursday, March 23rd at Joel Barlow High School. The concert features groups from all of the ER9 schools, and is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our K-12 music program. HKMS students in Jazz Band and 6th, 7th and 8th grade Chorus will be performing this year. Chorus families, please take a moment to fill out the following Google Form (to the left) so that Mrs. Gidley knows which students are able to attend.

From our Friends at the Easton Public Library...

Please register ahead of time using this link: https://www.eventkeeper.com/mars/xpages/xp_newpopevent.cfm?zeeOrg=EASTONPL&EventID=7130915&sw=1280

Tardy, Early Dismissal, and Attendance Policy Reminder and Reboot

“Middle school attendance and GPA provide the best indication of how students will perform in high school classes. These are better indicators than test scores or background characteristics, such as race and neighborhood poverty level, for identifying which students are at risk of failing ninth-grade classes or earning low grades in high school (Allensworth, et al., p. 1, 2014, link).

Some recent trends related to being present and on time to school have emerged over the last few weeks and we thought this was a good time to share some reminders about tardiness, early dismissals, and absences.

Tardiness Guidelines:

Any student arriving to their homeroom after 8:05 is considered tardy.
Tardys are only excused if a note is provided from your Physician/Dentist noting the appointment date and time or if there is a family emergency.
Chronic tardiness results in consequences such as a before school detention at 7:25 a.m.
Please see the HKMS Student Handbook p. 25 for more information.

Early Dismissal Guidelines:

Early Dismissals should be avoided.
To avoid interfering with the bus line or further disrupting the orderly operation of school there is an early dismissal “blackout period” from 2:30 - 2:50 (barring an emergency).
Please see the HKMS Student Handbook p. 25 for more information.

Note: The car pickup line moves very smoothly. All cars are out and on the road well before 3:00. Being at or near the front of this line is the best way to get a jump on traffic.

Absence Guidelines:

Parents/guardians can excuse students from school up to nine times per school year for any reason at their own discretion. All absences no matter the reason should be reported to the HKMS attendance line.
To be considered “excused” after the ninth, an absence must be accompanied by a note for one of the following reasons: student illness (w/ documentation), religious holiday. death in the family, mandated court appearances, bussing issues, an extraordinary educational opportunity, or a mental health day.
Any absence not listed above after the ninth will be considered unexcused.
After the sixth unexcused absence the student is considered truant and an intervention plan must be implemented.
If there are ten or more unexcused absences in a year, or four in a month, the family must be referred to a community service provider, like DCF for further support and guidance.
Linked here are the full state attendance guidelines provided by the Connecticut Department of Education.

Even a few days makes a difference. In the example above a 6% difference in attendance means a difference of only 5 days over the course of 180 school days.

(Figure above from Allensworth, et al.,p. 11, 2014, link)

School Spiritwear Store!

https://stapleskellerspiritwear.com/

Keller Educational Discussions

Do you have an area of expertise middle schoolers can learn from? Do you like sharing? We want you to give a KED-Talk! Click here for more information and to sign up!