Dear HKMS Families,

Two of the most important factors in student's school success are pretty simple, attendance and involvement.  Studies show dramatic declines in student performance once a student becomes chronically absent, defined as more than 10% of the year or 18 days (see www.attendanceworks.org).  At Keller we notice drop off in academic performance and increases in undesirable behaviors after just 10 absences.  Being here is so important.  This years absence rate is 2.2%.  Which can be interpreted to mean between 6-7 students per day are missing all or part of the day.  This is way down from past years rates which was 3.9% between 2013/2014- 2023/2024.  This means you have nearly cut the absence rate in half!  Although we are still in the early days,  if we can keep this up I expect one of the best years of student performance and overall well being in more than a decade! 

Involvement is the other key to student success.  For middle schoolers that means extracurricular activities.  Again, it is not hard to find numerous studies and peer-reviewed research that demonstrate a strong correlation, between students who are involved in before/after school activities (see: Extracurricular Participation and Student Engagement and  The Impact of Extracurriculars on Academic Performance and School Perception).  Students involved in extracurriculars have better grades, perform better on standardized tests, report stronger friendships, have more developed social skills, higher self-esteem, develop strong leadership skills, have better time-management skills, and are less likely to use alcohol and drugs.  These students feel more connected to their school, and their absence rates are also lower! There is no other aspect of school that has such a profound and pervasive impact on desirable student outcomes than involvement in extracurricular activities.  

Check out the "Happenings" section of this newsletter for full descriptions of the eight (n=8) extracurriculars that are currently running or soon to start.  This year we expect to run at least twenty-two (n=22) extracurriculars and we are always adding.  For example, we just approved the Video Game Club and the Pokemon Club which are starting up 9/23 and 10/3 respectively.  If there is a club your child wants to see run, just let us know.  If the clubs aligns with our core values and mission and we can find a teacher to facilitate, we will get it going! 

Next week is a big one for us as it features our annual Back to School Night Open House.  Please plan to be in the cafeteria at 6:30 (we start all our events promptly) on Thursday.  Your child will be bringing home a schedule for you to follow (and we'll have backups here too) so you can meet all the teachers and put faces to the names you've heard all about. I look forward to seeing you all there Thursday evening.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Sincerely,

Steve Clapp, Ed.D.

Welcome to 2024-25 School Year 

Sara Terry, MS, NCC, LPC

504 Coordinator, School Counselor

A warm welcome from the counseling team! We hope your child's year is off to a wonderful start.  The counseling team is here to support all students in all domains to promote a happy and healthy life. We support students academically, socially, emotionally, and behaviorally. We want to bridge home and school any way possible, so please do not hesitate to reach out! Our counseling team this year is as follows:

• Sara Terry, School Counselor

• Jamie Besnoff, Academic Mentor

• Bailey Keehan, Social Worker

• Dominika Pellegrini, School Psychologist

Every year, each student participates in developmental guidance lessons, which are lessons that support students' learning beyond the academics, such as multiple intelligences, growth mindset, positive self-talk, and boundaries. 8th graders will focus on high school transition and set goals for their future selves. 

Mrs. Terry had the opportunity to meet with all 7th graders to complete their first developmental guidance lesson of the year! Our school theme of the year is the power of words. How do your words impact others? How do your words impact yourself? How can your words support others through challenging times? We discussed how middle school can be a time of constant change, between the body growing, hormones pumping, friendship changes, and new academic rigor. Our words have the power to either make or break us. How can we continue to motivate, empower, and support ourselves and each other within our school community? We read the book, The Magic of Words by Amy Mucci, and identified "Our Three Words." 

Some examples include:

• Do your best.

• Always be kind.

• You got this. 

• Make an impact.

• Take your time.

• Breathe. Smile. Believe.

• Never give up.

• You are beautiful. 

• Keep on believing. 

• Try again instead.

• Give your all. 

• -Live your story.

Every grade level will continue to meet as a group with Mrs. Terry, our School Counselor, to participate in developmental guidance lessons.

The ceiling and walls of the HKMS cafeteria will once again be adorned with flags that represent the various ethnicities, nationalities, and heritage of all our students and staff.  Last year we had 44 flags flying!  With new students and staff joining HKMS we want to update our flags to represent the 2024-25 HKMS community.  Please fill out the form  below and indicate what nationality is important to your family's heritage (even if you have in the past, to be sure we keep the right flags up). Thank You!