July 23, 2018
Greetings Panther Nation,
What a busy summer for Hilsman 2.0. We have officially moved into our new home, Hilsman 2.0. Although we have fun memories of our dear Hilsman Middle School, we are excited about the new memories that we will build this year while we wait to return to our new building! Change is inevitable and can be extremely difficult. We will continue to promote high student achievement and a safe and inviting school culture. Allow me to encourage you to embrace our temporary building. The teachers and staff are really working hard to make it more “Panther” like and comfortable. Remember that in 18 months, we will move back into a beautiful new building. Until then, we will continue to enjoy Hilsman 2.0. It is the people that make us Hilsman, not the building! It will be a great year!
This year our school community will place an intentional focus on equity and preparing EVERY child to be college and career ready. To help with this initiative, several members of our staff participated in an AVID Summer Institute. During this training, our staff engaged in training with high yielding teaching strategies to help increase rigor in every classroom for every child. As we begin to transform our school culture, please plan to participate in the scheduled school events to educate, as well as promote AVID at Hilsman.
A scheduling team that consisted of a variety of teachers met to carefully build and place your scholar for the 2018-2019 school year. It is our goal to have all student schedules completed this week and prepared to distribute to students on the first day of school. Every teacher at Hilsman is equipped to provide innovative, rigorous, and engaging instruction. Therefore, requests for specific teachers will not be honored. However, if we find that there is an error with placement or a schedule change is necessary due to extenuating circumstances, I will work to accommodate your request.
Due to unforeseen circumstances with our move to Hilsman 2.0, we were unable to offer a 6th Grade Transition Camp. We recognize the potential negative impact that this could have on our school culture and would like to offer our new families an opportunity to have a Meet and Greet with the administrators on August 2, 2018 from 6:00pm-7:00pm. During this time, we will answer your questions and address any of your concerns related to Hilsman. We are also in the process of scheduling grade level family nights to give you an opportunity to meet your child’s teachers in a more formal manner.
Hilfest will be held August 4th from 10:00am-1:00pm on the school’s back field. This is a time for our school community to come together and celebrate the beginning of a new school year! The theme this year is “It Takes a Village.” If you would like additional information or would like to make a donation towards this event, please contact Mr. Diarra Mosely or Alexis Zabetakis at 706-548-7281.
We are excited about our new year and is looking forward to becoming better everyday! I am committed to lead by example and challenge all of you to embrace our mission to provide a quality, innovative, and equal education to ALL children to make learning BETTER EVERY DAY at Hilsman Middle School.
I look forward to seeing you all soon.
Best,
Principal Tolbert
Uniforms:
An official dress code letter is attached below for you to view. It will provide you with detailed information related to our uniform expectations. Walmart, Old Navy, Target, and GAP are suggested places to check to purchase your uniforms. Purses are permissible but can not be large enough to hold books.
Schedules:
The school’s master schedule for 2018-2019 is attached below for you to reference. It is important to note that we will not be offering ELT in the same format as we have in the past years. Students will have their first academic class beginning at 8:23. Please make every effort to get your child to school on time to avoid missing instructional time. Parent Portal will not be open until after the first week of school. Your child will receive their homeroom teacher during Hilfest and will be provided a schedule the first day of school.
Our school day begins at 8:25 and ends at 3:45. Students should not arrive to school before 8:00 unless they are enrolled in 21st Century. Please be advised that if you drop your child off before 8:00, they will be unsupervised which is a huge safety risk.
Car riders will be dropped off and picked up at the front entrance of Hilsman 2.0. Buses will enter the campus using Civitan Club Drive. During dismissal, car riders and walkers will be dismissed first followed by the bus riders. A map is attached to provide you with a visual of the route. If you have any questions, please contact the school at 706-548-7281.
Foreign Language: IMPORTANT
All students are being provided with an opportunity to take Spanish. Students will be taking either an on level Spanish class for 18 weeks, and 18 weeks in a study skills class, or they will be placed in a year long advanced Spanish course. The attached letter was shared at the beginning of our journey to hire a new French teacher. We now have 3 Spanish teachers and have moved forward with our plan to provide Spanish at all 3 grade levels as a content class.
Bike Racks:
There are bike racks for our bikers to secure their bikes. They are located on the 7th grade wing of Hilsman 2.0. Students will need to provide their own lock and chain.
Hilfest:
Hilfest will be held on August 4th on the back field of Hilsman 2.0 from 10:00am-1:00pm. Parking will not be available at the school but parents are welcome to park in the Ollies/Goodwill parking lot. Additional parking will be available at Cedar Shoals where a shuttle has been arranged to transport attendees to Hilsman 2.0.
Bricks from HMS:
I am still working on securing permission to sell the bricks as a fundraiser! Once permission is granted I will provide the community with how to purchase a memory of Hilsman.
School Supply List
