Week of 3/3 - 3/7
Embedded Files
A Message from Dr. Clapp
Classroom Peeks
Nurse's Notes
Happenings
Get Involved
Policy Update
Community Clicks
Upcoming Events
Dear HKMS Families,
We have had a fantastic start to March! The outstanding performances from The Wizard of Oz and our school wide fundraiser, Mikey's Madness, are overflowing our cups with positive vibes and inspirational efforts! My deepest gratitude to the adults that made the musical happen including the producers Allison Gale and Joann Bujdud, Penny Jacobis who came back (again) to help with the stage crew, lighting and set design, and of course our amazing directors, Eli and Christi Newsome worked their magic once again. The cast and crew (made up of all students) worked tirelessly for the past few months to make sure the production was perfect, and it was! If you did not get a chance to see our school musical we have included dozens of pictures and full videos in the Happenings section of this newsletter.
We also kicked off our month-long fundraiser for Mikey's Way, called Mikey's Madness! This is truly a Keller kind of fundraiser. All the event ideas come from students and are for students, with a little help from an adult assistant. HKMS staff members are volunteering their time to organize and run these events. Events are low cost, usually a few dollars and pop-up through out the month. From spirit days to a pet show, a bake off, and of course a school-wide basketball tournament. So many exciting events and ways for students to get involved all month long! Check out the calendar linked below.
It's hard to believe but next week bring the close of Trimester Two to our school year! Grades will officially close on Thursday 3/13. This is a great weekend to dive deep into Powerschool and Google Classroom with your child(ren). Notice I said "WITH you children," that is the key. Solo traversing Powerschool may leave you scratching your head as some assignments may not be graded, some may hold little weight, while others seem to disproportionately impact the grade. This is where its impotent to know a teachers grading policy and help our middle schoolers deconstruct how grades are calculated. This can develop strategic approaches to the syllabi they will be using through out high-school and college.
Let's not forget about all the amazing teaching and learning going on this month. With a long string of 5-day weeks some of the deepest, most challenging, and most creative learning tasks are being assigned this month. You will get a taste of all of this in this weeks newsletter!
I hope you all have a lovely weekend,
Steve Clapp, Ed.D.
Check out the Mikey's Madness Intro Video by clicking on the image below:
MIKEY'S MADNESS FOR NEXT WEEK
Monday, March 10th
Card Making & Read Aloud Recordings for Patients
Kindness Grams for Sale ($1)
6th-Piacente
7th-Caldara
8th: de St Croix
($1 per guess)
begins today through 3/27
in the 214A -Learning Lab
Tuesday, March 11th
6th grade preliminary Volleyball game before school 7:15
Mikey's 4 Way Volleyball Tournament Waiver Form
Kindness Grams for Sale ($1)
6th-Piacente
7th-Caldara
8th: de St Croix
Wednesday, March 12th
Painting Kindness Rocks For Smilow’s Garden
All Lunch Waves
$1
Prizes will be Awarded!
Kindness Grams for Sale ($1)
6th-Piacente
7th-Caldara
8th: de St Croix
Grade Six
Sixth grade social studies students debated the essential question, "Was Athens truly a democracy?"
6th Grade ILA Students are starting their non-fiction book clubs this week!
Grade Seven
7th Spanish students are analyzing actual data about chores completed by different family members in different parts of the world.
The show SHARK TANK has come to 7th grade science. Teams of students are presenting their designs for vehicles that can safely transport Dr. Baca to the center of the earth.
In ILA, students are reading their core novel, The Outsiders, aloud as a whole class. They also started their "historical fiction" club groups. Reading both books gives Mr. Rogers ways to model how we unpack novels, while also giving students a chance to work on those reading skills in small groups and independently.
Grade Eight
A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in a language. Morphemes can be whole words, word parts, or even single letters. They are the foundation of language and syntax. Seen here students are using morphemes to construct their own nonsense words for a pictionary type game.
During ELT students from both Math 8 and Algebra are working together on posters that explain algebraic operations and functions!
FPA
It's messy but rewarding work as kids develop their clay modeling skills and techniques in art class this week.
The "clients" of our 6th grade furniture designers are very demanding! Our students are coming up with highly creative and detailed designs!
Instead of just playing open games of basketball, Mr. Breyer spends time teaching the technical skills needed for proper passing.
Two 7th grade students were guest speakers in health classes this past week as they discussed healthy relationships and consent. These students also shared their connection to the Center for Family Justice in Bridgeport.
Monday Morning Meeting
Enjoy this week's official HKMS newscast, The Den! (Just click on the image below).
Attention Keller Families:
There are many illnesses are going around the school-stomach bugs, Flu A/B, different viruses etc. If your child is not feeling well it is best to keep them home for the day. If they were unwell the night before and still aren't feeling well in the morning, please do not allow them to sleep in to reevaluate their symptoms and send them to school late. Thank you for your help in keeping HKMS happy and healthy!
Thank you :)
Sarah Grega, RN
HKMS Nurse
The Wizard of Oz!
Amazing individual performances, well-choreographed group numbers, a wonderful production, and great work by our stage crew helped make this year's school musical an inspirational and joyous event for all who participated and attended!
video 1.mp4Wizard of Oz Part 1
video 2.mp4Wizard of Oz Part 2
video 3.mp4Wizard of Oz Part 3
video 4.mp4Wizard of Oz Part 4
THE POWER OF OUR WORDS!
During this week's faculty meeting, 9th graders from Barlow returned to help launch, "the power of our words" school climate initiative. This work started last year, when the results of our climate survey found students were using and typing vulgar, insensitive, and hurtful language with each other. Our students wrote and produced their own podcast as a call to action for their fellow classmates. This podcast was played for the HKMS staff for the first time this week as we plan the next steps of this work together.
Easton SEPTA
It has been a wonderful first year for our special education PTA group. Whether you have a child with learning needs or not, please consider getting involved in SEPTA. Here are their upcoming meetings (all via Zoom).
Tuesday, April 1st at 8 pm
Tuesday, June 3rd at 8 pm
Powerschool Attendance Codes
As part of our ongoing efforts to ensure clear communication and accurate record-keeping, we are writing to clarify our attendance codes and explain how these codes are applied.
The following attendance codes are used to reflect students’ attendance for partial school days circumstances:
Tardy-Absent: Indicates that a student arrived late and was not present for at least half of the school day.
Tardy-Present: Indicates that a student arrived late but was present for half the school day or more.
Early Dismissal-Absent: Indicates that a student left early and was not present for at least half of the school day.
Early Dismissal-Present: Indicates that a student left early but was present for half the school day or more.
Our district utilize a simple calculation to determine what constitutes half the school day. If a student is present for at least 50% of the total instructional time on a given day, they will be marked as “Present” under these special circumstances.
As our school day is 6 hours and 45 minutes, students need to be present for 3 hours 23 minutes to be considered “present” for the day. HKMS -8:05 AM - 11:28 AM = 3 hours 23 min (or present from 11:27 AM - 2:50 PM)
These updates are designed to provide a more precise understanding of student attendance and support both families and staff in maintaining accountability for instructional time. Please note that regular attendance remains a critical component of student success, and we appreciate your support in ensuring your child attends school consistently and on time.
If you have any questions or require further clarification, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child’s school office.
Thank you for your continued partnership in supporting your child's education.
Grade 8 Important Dates:
Joel Barlow High School is hosting a dance for the 8th graders of HKMS and JRMS on March 28th. Permission slip linked below!
Every 8th grade student will be presenting their Person Interest Projects to a panel of distinguished guests. Please consider attending your child's presentation. Closer to the dates, you will receive info about the specific date and time of your child's presentation. This simply serves as a "save the date".
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