Click here for The Blackhawk Beat-  This week's edition-  Main Page-  Archived Newsletters

Click here for The Blackhawk Beat—your source for this week’s updates, celebrations, and important campus information, including access to archived newsletters. 

Happy last 6-weeks! STAAR is next Tuesday for ELA. This has been an incredible week... with our 8th grade boys taking the district track title, our theatre troupe winning a superior rating, our math boot camp, and several of our soccer players making the All-Star game. Here is the  parent feedback form and we appreciate all that you to do support Harwood. 

Have a great weekend!

Cameron Ramirez
Principal

Happy Assistant Principal Week

Harwood Junior High is incredibly grateful for the leadership Kathryn Nunez brings every day. She leads with a servant’s heart, always stepping in to support students, staff, and families without hesitation. She’s the kind of person everyone can count on—steady, thoughtful, and always willing to help. Beyond that, she’s incredibly sharp and knows how to turn ideas into action in ways that make a real difference on campus. Kathryn plays a huge role in keeping Harwood strong, and our school is better because of her. 

Math Boot Camp

Dear Parents/Guardians,

We are excited to offer a STAAR & EOC Boot Camp to help students prepare for the upcoming exams on April 29. This Boot Camp will begin on April 7 and run for three weeks.

All sessions will take place in the library from 3:45–4:45 PM and are open to any student who would like additional support and preparation.

Please note that this Boot Camp is designed specifically to help students prepare for the upcoming STAAR and EOC exams. It is completely voluntary and is not connected to classroom grades. This is simply an opportunity for students to strengthen their skills and build confidence before their state test.

Schedule:

8th Grade (On-Level) – Mondays & Tuesdays

• April 7

• April 13 & 14

• April 20 & 21

• April 27

(6 sessions total)

Algebra EOC Students – Tuesdays & Wednesdays

• April 8 & 9

• April 15 & 16

• April 22 & 23

(6 sessions total)

Maintaining a focused and respectful learning environment is essential. Any student who is removed due to behavior will not be allowed to return to Boot Camp—no exceptions. We are committed to ensuring that every student has the opportunity to learn without disruptions, and no student will be allowed to take away from another child’s education due to inappropriate behavior or disruption of the learning environment.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please feel free to contact Ms G .  Her email is MelissaGonzalez@hebisd.edu

Thank you for your support

Go Time/ Homebase

Tomorrow is PAJAMA DAY for those who earned it. During Go-Time/Homebase students earned daily signatures by showing effort and focus. To recognize this, students who showed completed signatures received a blue wristband for a pajama pass the following day. Students who left materials at home are still able to participate by bringing them to the front office in the morning to verify and receive a wristband. 

Go-Time/Homebase STAAR intervention is off to a strong start. Students are engaged, groups are functioning as designed based on data, and materials are being used consistently to target skill gaps. The structure is allowing for focused support during the school day while maintaining clear accountability for completion and progress. 

🎓 9th Grade Banquet – Legacy Loading…

We are excited to invite you to our 9th Grade Awards & Banquet, Legacy Loading, on Friday, May 15, 2026. This special evening will celebrate the accomplishments, growth, and memories of our freshman class.

Event Schedule:
6:00–6:30 PM | Gym   Awards Ceremony (Parents and families are invited)

6:30–8:30 PM | Cafeteria  Student-Only Banquet & Celebration (Dinner, music, photo booth, and more)

Banquet Payment

The cost to attend the banquet is $15 per student. Please submit payment using the link below:

https://hebisd.schoolcashonline.com/Fee/Details/18952/191/False/True   (Cash will also be accepted on campus if needed.)

Slideshow Submissions – Legacy Loading

We are creating a special slideshow to showcase our students and their freshman year experience. Please complete the form here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfHT-ZhuDNYZ_TGnNe0u8e_vx3S0R17gsUV7f8hAyOgIsE8IQ/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=106980739535812558138

Save the Date - 7th and 8th grade Award Times

7th grade - Monday May 18th at 9:00 

8th grade Tuesday May 19th at 9:00 am 

Courtyard at Lunch

Our courtyard is currently being earned during lunch as we work together to improve responsibility and reduce distractions. Each day, one grade level is selected to enjoy the courtyard based on having the fewest tardies.  We’re proud to share that this initiative is already making a positive impact, not only improving behavior, but also reducing the number of tardies across campus!

Updates

• Yearbooks - Order now at https://tinyurl.com/HJHYearbook26

• Students who attend Trinity must go to Trinity in the afternoons. If they are in need of tutorials, they must attend in the mornings. 

Attention: 8th and 9th grade parents, it is never to early to start planning for college.  Who doesn't want to learn How to Pay for College Without Going Broke?  On April 22 you can! All HEB ISD families are invited to this special FREE program to help plan for college - for one night only!  All you have to do is RSVP NOW!

RSVP HERE: https://tinyurl.com/HEB2026

Hosted by the Trinity High School PTA + L.D. Bell High School PTA  - which also helps to fund their efforts and scholarships.

Celebrating a Great Week!

It has been a great week at Harwood. 

This week is Assistant Principals Appreciation Week, and we want to give a big shoutout to Mrs. Nunez! As a former Harwood student, she was named Mrs. HJH and later returned as a teacher, earning both Harwood Teacher of the Year and HEB ISD Secondary Teacher of the Year.

Now as our Assistant Principal, she continues to do an amazing job supporting all of us.

If you see Mrs. Nunez today, make sure to tell her thank you!

At the end of March, Harwood students had the unique opportunity to host exchange students from Lyon, France. During their visit, the students attended classes, collaborated with their Harwood peers, and shared insights about French culture and daily life.

To celebrate this special exchange, our French teacher, Madame Reynaud, organized an after-school Texas-themed event for the visiting students and their hosts. The celebration featured snacks, a Texas-themed craft led by Ms. Moss, and line dancing with Coach Henderson—creating a memorable cultural experience for all involved.

Last month, in honor of Women’s History Month, students were challenged to submit artwork highlighting a famous woman in history. We received so many amazing entries!

Congratulations to our winners — 8th grader Zihan Chen and 9th grader Elaina Lopez!

Great job, and thank you to everyone who participated!

We are excited to recognize our Texas PTA Reflections winner, Kaylee Sadler, for her video production titled “You Belong.”

The PTA Reflections program is a nationwide arts program that encourages students to express their creativity through dance, film, literature, music, photography, and visual arts based on a yearly theme. If you would like to see her video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1811D3PqkiQTtl2klVS2Qp3SmoQuSBqEM/view?usp=sharing 

Kaylee received the Harwood PTA Award of Excellence, the HEB ISD Council of PTA Award of Excellence, and the Texas PTA Honorable Mention Award!

Congratulations, Kaylee, on this outstanding achievement!

Theatre

The Troupe/Production class performed the one act Still Life with Iris at the Texas Thespians Short Play Contest yesterday. We received the following awards! 

Overall Performance Rating: Superior 

Individual Awards: 

Zoe McCormick- Superior Performance

Zion Wagema- Superior Performance

Alexander Whitney- Superior Performance

Alanna Grady- Excellent Performance

Daniel Clark- Excellent Performance 

Olivia Lund- Excellent Performance

Naomi Hall- Excellent Performance

Sara Hill- Outstanding Performance

Alexandrea Haagenson- Outstanding Performance

Lailah Juuko- Superior Sound Design

Izaaz Sassano- Superior Stage Management

Track & Field- Boys (4/7)

This week at the Big 12 Night of Champions between HEB and Birdville ISD, our Blackhawks showed up in a big way!

Our 7th grade boys competed at a high level and earned 4th place with a total of 79 points. Standout performances came from Carson Neely, Anthony Gray, Jezik Holmes, Andrew Jackson, Tyler Savage, Braydon Howard, and Luis Torrez.

Performance of the Night:
The 4x100 Relay team — James Dawson, Jackson McCormick, Ezekiel Norman, and Troy White — blazed their way to an incredible 48.5 seconds!

Our 8th grade boys delivered an absolutely dominant performance. After finishing 6th last year with 53 points, they came back stronger than ever, scoring 128 points to claim 1st place and become BIG 12 CHAMPIONS!

Champions:
Arjae Berlingieri, Julian Castellanos, Lucas Cruz, Brandon Danna, Cameron Deleon, David Donkor, Liam Denny, Aiden Ferguson, Marlin Jones, Coen Martin, Pharaoh Mimms, Princeton Mimms, Jacob Parkison, Tyrone Swaby, Darius Vea, and Justice Williams

If you see these athletes today, be sure to congratulate them on their hard work and dedication all season long.

These young men—and everyone who put in the work alongside them—are truly BLACKHAWK BUILT! 

GO HAWKS!!!!!

Track & Field- Girls (4/7)

Our girl's track team showed up and showed out at last night's meet! This was the Meet of Champions, where all middle schools in Birdville and HEB face off! Out of all twelve schools, Harwood girls 7th grade took 2nd, and 8th took 4th overall. Make sure to congratulate these awesome athletes for a job well done!

Here are our Champions in 7th grade: 

London Mosby - 1st in the 100m and 200m dash!

Makiah Shields - 1st in the 400m and 800m!

Morgan Tribble - 1st in 300m Hurdles!

Josephine Sullins - 2nd in Pole Vault!

The 4*100 relay team -  Khylie Washington , Aubrey Wyrick , Charity Winston , and London Mosby got 2nd by 5 hundredths of a second!

The4*400 relay team - Mariah Hayes , Hauwa Lawal , Landry Tribble ,  and Makiah Shields finished in a strong 3rd!

Here are our Champions of 8th grade: 

Annalise Jackson - 1st in 100m Hurdles!

Lydia Torrez - 3rd in 400m!

Yamam Osman - 3rd in 1600m and 2400m!

The 4*100 relay team finished in 3rd place - Paige Jackson , Briana Lynch Crawford , Lydia Torrez , and Annalise Jackson

We are proud of the work and dedication you all put in over this season. We saw personal records broken and goals reached all while being positive and having fun. Great job Blackhawks!