HMS Parent Newsletter

Parents,

We loved seeing you at registration and open house! We love partnering with you, chatting with you, and welcoming you and your students back. We certainly enjoy our time off in the summer, but we LOVE being back with our HMS kiddos! We are all here because we love kids and specifically, we love YOUR kids. You are entrusting us with your most "prized possessions" on a daily basis, and that is not something we take lightly. We are thankful for another year of opportunities to serve your children.

Welcome Back!

I am super excited to serve as your building principal again for the 2017-2018 school year. Partnership between home and school is critical. “Our kiddos” need to know we are on the same page and want them to be successful. We will do our part at HMS to ensure your child is meeting expectations. Please do your part by checking Skyward on a weekly basis, communicating with your child’s teachers, and maintaining an open line of communication between home and school.

Here’s to a fabulous year! Brickie Up!

Well, as I'm sure your kids have told you, it is finally here... our brand new cafeteria! It is everything we had hoped for and more: sunny, bright, cheery, spacious, noise-absorbant (lol), and it has a mix of round and oval tables to accommodate all types of seating arrangements! Plus, we have a stage, a state-of-the-art kitchen, and tv monitors to help us disseminate information. Did I mention the gorgeous mural? By the time you read this, you will have seen it all for yourself if you attend the HMS Open House! We are thrilled with our new cafeteria, and the kids have told us that they feel more grown up in this new space.

• Our weekly announcements are posted on our website every Monday by 9am. When events are cancelled or times change, we announce that information during the school day. Please check our website for info and remind your child to listen to announcements!
  

For the HMS webpage, click here:

https://in01000440.schoolwires.net/Page/2209

• Athletic competition schedules are on available on our website (under athletics).
  

• Our official HMS Facebook link (Hobart Middle School Brickies) is below.
  

https://www.facebook.com/HobartMiddleSchoolOfNwi/

• Finally, very important information will be delivered via the "Neeley Notable" phone call. These go out on Monday evenings. Some weeks require more than one call depending on what we have going on that week!

Just a few reminders/tidbits:

Backpacks: Students are not permitted to carry backpacks throughout the building. Of course, they may use a backpack between home and school, but once at school, it needs to be stored in their lockers.

Chromebook cases: These cases are meant to hold the Chromebook only. Please remind your child of this so that the Chromebook can remain as safe as possible!

Chromebook insurance: If you have not purchased this yet, you can still do so in the Main Office. The cost of insurance is $18, and you can send your child with cash or a check payable to HMS. The insurance coverage starts once you have made the payment. We HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you purchase this Chromebook insurance! We are still collecting payments for last year's damages, and if we can prevent you from having to pay for damages this year, we would love to do so! Insurance, insurance, insurance!

Passing periods: Students have 4 minutes to pass between classes. Even though they do not carry backpacks, they still do not need to stop at their lockers between every class. Many of the books are paperback and students can carry enough for two classes in a row. We are here to help problem solve, so if your child is having a problem getting to class on time, please have him/her speak to us during lunch! We are always in the cafeteria!

Healthy Start to School…Drink water throughout the day campaign!

All students were given a Hobart Brickie water bottle to be used throughout their school day.

The water bottles have the slogan,

“Brickies who Work, Work, Work are Healthy and Drink Plenty of Water!”

Our bodies are composed of about 60 percent water with our brains made up of 75 percent water. That’s a lot of water!

Here’s four reasons to drink more water:

1. Water helps your body perform basic tasks like creating saliva, digesting food, transporting nutrients and maintaining proper body temperature. Your body also loses water each day from sweating, urinating, bowel movements and even breathing. Replacing water each day is necessary to keep your body healthy. When your body is healthy you feel good and are in a good mood to begin your day!

2. Drinking enough water throughout the day helps us maintain a healthy weight. Drinking water makes us feel full and eat fewer calories. Water contains no calories but is essential to keep us healthy and reduces our risk for diseases. Type 2 diabetes is easier to prevent than to treat.

3. Drinking water helps you be a better thinker! When you stay hydrated throughout the day, you will have more energy, be able to concentrate longer, to solve abstract problems easier and have sharper memories. (Ace your next test!)

4. Want to have healthy looking skin and hair? Water hydrates the skin and gives it a healthy glow. Water cleanses toxins from the body (zits) and makes it look clean and clear.

Softy and silky hair will remain that way by drinking water throughout each day!

So encourage your child to “Brickie Up” and carry their Hobart Brickie Water Bottle each day!

Our physical education classes are literally “off and running”! The students perform a set of warm up exercises that strengthen their core, upper and lower bodies. Then they engage in a cardio running event. Weather permitting, our Brickies run the ½ mile “HMS TRIANGLE” path. Every student has their time recorded and tracked on a daily basis. The goal is for students to run a little faster each day and to track their progress. Students support one another and celebrate their successes!
Sport skills being taught and practiced at this time are Volleyball, Basketball, Soccer and 8th Boys Football.

All students will begin swimming, as our pool is now up and running! The Freestyle, Backstroke, Elementary Back Stroke and Breaststroke will be taught. Students will also be taught beginner dives off the deck such as: knee dive, stride dive, and standing dive. Board dives will be introduced once beginner dives are performed correctly. Students will alternate activities with one day being a “swim day” and the next day being an “activity day”. All students will wear their own swim suits. Girls need a one piece tank suit.

Miss Funkhouser

Students can purchase shirts from Mrs. Johnson in room 8361. Cash or checks made out to HMS. Mrs. Johnson's email is ljohnsonclass@hobart.k12.in.us if you have any questions!

T-shirt (pictured below) $10

Long sleeve shirt $15

Baseball style shirt (pictured above) $16

Sweatshirt $27

If you haven't gotten your vaccinations that are needed for new students or 6th grade, please get them done ASAP ( example: meningococcal and T-dap ). If you have any questions about this, please call Nurse Jamie at 219-842-8541 ext: 8310.

We know that conversations with your middle schooler may go something like this:

"How was school?"

"Fine."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing."

So I will include a section of talking points whenever possible so that you can drive the conversation.

This past week, all HMS students participated in Rachel's Challenge. 6th and 8th grade participated in presentations in the auditorium, and 7th grade participated in "Chain Reaction" at HHS. You can ask your child about the program, what his/her take-away's were, and so on. Chain Reaction, specifically, focuses on helping students "take their masks off" and recognize that they have things in common with people they may not have realized. One of the common things I heard kids say after Chain Reaction is, "I realized I am not alone." This is powerful, along with, "It changed the way I view people and reminded me not to judge them." Talk to your kids about Rachel's Challenge and ways they can start their own chain reaction of kindness. It doesn't have to be a big thing; it is often the smallest acts of kindness that make a huge impact. For more information on Rachel's Challenge, click on the link below:

https://rachelschallenge.org/

I will send out a newsletter all about digital safety in the near future. For now, though, I will give you the best piece of advice I have come across: keep all of your child's devices in your room at night. This does a few things:

1. Your child cannot use the device when he/she is supposed to be sleeping (nothing good happens online in the middle of the night!)

2. You can hear and see who is texting your child "after hours" (you should have all of your child's passwords!)

Is your child's phone his alarm clock? I promise you, one of the best investments you can make is to purchase a cheap alarm clock so that there is no excuse for him to keep the phone in his room. I will share more about all of this in an upcoming "Special Edition" newsletter. For now, I promise you, this simple step can spare you and your child from a lot of headaches.

Scholastic Book Fair 10/2-10/6. Volunteers are needed! Please contact Ms. Pickett at ext.8384 or tpickettclass@hobart.k12.in.us