Week of 1/27/2019

Quote of the Week: 


Happy Sunday Panther Nation!

We have been busy at Hilsman Middle School the last several weeks. There is so much to celebrate in the Panther Nation! Shout out to our girls and boys basketball teams. The girls placed second while the boys brought home the championship trophy! It is also important to point out that both teams had a great number of players to earn Honor Roll! Super congratulations are also in order for Ryan Xiao for winning our school spelling bee. Ella Johnson was not far behind him in 2nd place. Ryan will represent Hilsman in the district's spelling bee that will be held on February 7, 2019, at 9:30 in Cedar Shoals High School's Theater. Still clapping loudly, we want to celebrate Ellie Crane, Tory Ratzjczak, and Ella Johnson who all placed 1st place in the FFA Northeast Georgia Regional Science Fair. Finally, we had a host of 6 graders represent HMS at the Regional Science Fair. Way to go Panther Nation! 

As evident by the number of Dress Down Fridays, our students are settled and our race to the end of the year is well on its way! We are excited about the many positive learning opportunities that our students have been engaging in and are looking forward to our students growing and excelling on the Georgia Milestone Assessments. Although we are showing growth, we still have work to do at Hilsman. As we gear up to break down the Milestones, I want to reiterate the hard work that must be done by every member of our school community. If your scholar is in need of remediation, please be sure that they are participating in tutoring provided by their grade level teachers. The Milestone Assessments measures your child knowledge of the standards. The standards are taught daily in the classrooms. At this time we have less than 30% of our students that are on track to master the Milestone. Our Pathways to Success Program began in September. At this time we have less than 50 students that consistently participate weekly. This program is free of charge, offers remediation as well as preparation for the Milestone Assessments. Beginning February 2nd, we will begin our Breaking Down the Georgia Milestone Saturday School Program. This program is NOT just to remediate but will also offer students testing strategies and academic advisement to help them exceed the standards! Please get your child signed up ASAP. Applications were distributed last week to students and are due no later than Wednesday, January 30, 2019.

Panther Nation, it is imperative that we remain focused on teaching and learning for the remainder of the year. Everyone must put their best efforts forward to help ensure that our students are proficient in literacy and numeracy. WE can do it and WE will do it! Let us all work together to provide every student with the opportunity to experience success. Please continue to look for opportunities to get involved at Hilsman to positively impact the education of a child. I look forward to seeing you soon!

In partnership with you,

Principal Tolbert

Announcements

Elevate K-12 Spanish

Great news! Elevate K-12 has been successfully implemented with our 7th graders who are enrolled in what is formerly known as Mr. Mundy's class. The students have been highly engaged and are doing a great job of interacting with the teacher. Mr. Scott is supervising the students during their instructional time and is doing a phenomenal job!

Chorus Update

Unfortunately, we have not found a committed Chorus teacher despite our best efforts. Our students were split among other Connection teachers for most of the first 2 quarters. Although our Connection teachers have done a great job of supervising and monitoring the learning of the students, the classroom sizes have admittedly caused some challenges. Starting Monday 1/28/19, students enrolled in Chorus and General Music will no longer have their class split to other classes. Alternatively, we will have students report back to their grade level to work with teachers for extension/remediation and support with academics such as reading, math, science, social studies and GA Milestones prep.

We look forward to providing our students with additional opportunities to engage in academic content and focus on being successful.

If you have any questions or concerns, please let us know. 

Outside Food Reminder

Our faculty and staff encourage you to come in and eat lunch with your child. We do want to remind you that outside food is not allowed in the cafeteria. If you want to enjoy lunch with your child, we invite you to join them in the cafeteria or find alternative space in the school to enjoy your lunch. We also want to remind you that food deliveries are NOT allowed for students. We have noticed an increase in food deliveries for students. Please do not order food and have it sent to the school for your child.

Great News

7th Graders interested in architecture, construction, landscape design, and interior design: New after school program! *design challenges *guest speakers from the design fields *skill-building activities *field trips to construction/building sites Begins February 6th Wednesdays 4:00-5:30 7th grade only Contact Ms. Seymour for more information or to sign up! seymoure@clarke.k12.ga.us

Family Education Night #4: Nacho Night Hilsman Families are invited to join us in the HMS Cafeteria on Wednesday, January 30th from 6-7:30 for a Q&A panel about the parent portal, upcoming testing, teen behavior management strategies, and more! Free nacho bar and child care--bring the whole family!

Athens Community Career Academy Info Night and Spaghetti Dinner: Drop by the Career Academy (440 Dearing Ext.) on Thursday, Jan. 31st between 5:30 and 7:30 to learn about Career Academy and internship opportunities in high school and beyond! Free spaghetti prepared by ACCA Culinary Arts students, blood pressure screenings, college information, and prizes.

Uniform Reminder

Please remind and ensure that your child arrives at school dressed in the appropriate attire. Students are permitted to wear khaki or black bottoms. Black, gold, or white polo style shirts are permitted. Jackets must be black, gold, grey, or white with minimal writing. Hilsman hoodies are permitted.

Week at a Glance

Monday-
PSP/21st Century
Nursery Landscape and Agriscience Fair- Practice 4:00-5:00

Tuesday
PSP/21st Century
FFA Meeting Tuesday January 29. The leadership team is going to playing fun games all related to the number 19 for our New Year Party Meeting! Leaders, please let me know what your game will be on the post on Google Classroom by Sunday Night!

Wednesday
21st Century

Thursday
21st Century
Nursery Landscape and Agriscience Fair 7:15-8:00 am.

Friday
21st Century

Week of 1/6/2019

Happy New Year Panther Nation! 

Are you refreshed, refocused, and ready to send your scholars back to school? A little voice whispered to me that many of you are willing to give them all back to us early Monday morning! We are ready to receive every one of them back with a great big smile and open arms. I hope each of you had a relaxing Winter Break and celebrated the holidays with those that are dearest to you. The blog this week will be lengthy as I want to be sure to provide you with some reminders and information that will be important to you as we return back to school. 

Thank you for the many emails of concerns following the incident that took place on December 20, 2018. The student is doing well and is looking forward to returning to school. Parent communication was sent out to our school community to provide you with clarity regarding the incident. I will also host a Parent Coffee soon to review our emergency procedures and to provide you with data related to our School Growth Plan. 

As we are preparing to return to school, I want to take a moment to review and reiterate our vision and mission for Hilsman Middle School. 

Our vision at HMS is to build a culture of high expectations and equity where all students will grow academically and socially to improve our community and our world.

Our mission reflects the district's mission which is as followed: CCSD is an ambitious community of learners in a diverse and culturally rich county. We are committed to equity and excellence by the implementation of rigorous standards-based instruction in a safe and supportive environment - on every campus, in every classroom, and for every child.

As you reflect on what is written, I challenge you to join us in our quest to improve our school community academically and socially. There is much work to be done for us to reach our goals! Our school goals were shared with the community at the beginning of the year. As you are aware, there is no room for continued poor performance. There is a little less than 4 months of school left. It is imperative that we work together to do what is in the best interest of children. Admittedly, we have had our share of challenges this year however we can not allow them to continue to impact the work that must be done to teach our students. We will continue to place a strong emphasis on teaching and learning. If your child is signed up to participate in PSP or is in need of after-school tutoring, you are encouraged to work with teachers to make it happen. Saturday School will begin later this month. If your child receives an invitation, please make sure that they are in attendance every Saturday. Please work with us as we help our students avoid discipline infractions that are impeding their learning and resulting in suspension. We want every student to be present every day to learn like champions for the remainder of the year. Remember that it takes a village! It is time for our village to unite, push through the obstacles and raise student achievement at HMS. We must pledge to make the remaining two quarters of the year our BEST!

For the children,

Principal Tolbert

Announcements

New Building Update

Wowsers! Our new building is coming along well. I met with the architects before the break to select the flooring and colors! Remembering the concerns of the Building Construction Committee, I was sure to select colors that were a representation of our students! They are lively yet subtle. I will share the color board for feedback as early as next week. As of December 18, 2018, the projected date of completion is September 1, 2019. I will keep you posted as information is shared with me.

Good News

Shout Out to Ms. Katie Shanhope and Mrs. Floyd for the establishment of the HMS Food Pantry!

Hilsman Middle School plans to establish a food pantry that will be stocked with dry, non-perishable food and hygiene products available to students and families in need. Katie Stanhope is the Hilsman Middle School AmeriCorps VISTA service member who is organizing the effort to set up the food pantry as requested by the principal, Utevia Tolbert and in coordination with the school counselors, Hilsman PTO, parents, and other community members. Funds have been raised through a school produce market at a total of $163. Hilsman has been awarded a $500 grant from ALDI. All of the funds will be used to purchase non-perishable food and hygiene products from the Northeast Georgia Food Bank as well as storage materials and office supplies. We plan to have the pantry up and running by mid-January. It will be located in the office of the school social worker Ms. Kellee Williams. The Food Pantry Coordinators will work with students/families to communicate how to access the pantry. 

Spanish

We have been given the District's approval to move forward and will implement Elevate K-12 in Spanish. This program will allow our students that were formerly served by Mr. Mundy to receive Spanish instruction live online at school. We will begin implementing the program January 14, 2019. A short video and more information are linked below to provide you with more insight about this great learning opportunity for our students.

Elevate K-12 Parent Letter

Elevate K-12

Elevate K-12 Presentation

Frequented Asked Questions Elevate K-12

Chorus

We have experienced great difficulty hiring and retaining a Chorus teacher this school year. At this time our students are divided among other Connection classes to provide them with a structured learning environment. We are continuing our search for a qualified candidate to serve our students. Thank you for patience and continued support!

Report Cards

Report cards will be sent home Thursday with the students. Parent Portal is not accessible at this time as teachers are working to post grades. It will reopen Friday.

New Additions

Please welcome Ms. Christy Navarro and Fabian Jones to the Panther Nation! Ms. Navarro is the new Registrar and is coming to us from Fowler Drive Elementary School. Mr. Fabian Jones will also officially join us as an Assistant Principal. Mr. Jones is no stranger to our community as he is a native of Athens and formerly served as the Director of Transportation. We are excited to have them join our team and is looking forward to a great rest of the school year!

Reminders

The doors of the school are open to students at 7:45 am.  I want to stress the importance of not dropping your child off at school before 7:45 am. This poses a huge safety concern as there is no supervision for students at this time. Students are also leaving campus to go to local stores and restaurants. To help ensure the safety of our students please do not drop your child off before 7:45 am. Remember class begins at 8:25 am and students arriving after this time will be marked tardy. 

Uniforms

Students should arrive at school Monday dressed in their uniform. Students are permitted to wear black or khaki bottoms (no jeans, leggings, or joggers). the shirts should be black, white, or gold polo style. They are not permitted to wear black shirts with black pants. Bandanas of any color are not permitted. Jackets or hoodies should be black, white, gold, or gray with minimum writing. Hilsman hoodies are permissible. Please be advised that this does not apply to outer coats. Students should leave outer coats in their homeroom along with their bookbags throughout the school day.

No Flex Zone

Please be reminded that students are not permitted to use their cell phones between the hours of 8:25 am-3:45 pm. Telephones are in every classroom and students will be allowed to call you if there is an emergency. If students' phones are confiscated by an administrator or the SRO they can be retrieved on Tuesdays and Thursdays between the hours of 4:00 pm-5:30 pm. 

Early Check-Out 

We respectfully ask that parents refrain from checking students out after 3:15 pm. If you must check your child out of school early please arrive before 3:15 pm and be sure to bring a picture id.


Grade Level Blogs-Please be sure to read your grade level blog for specific information for your child's grade.

6th Grade: hilsman6.blogspot.com

7th Grade: www.hilsman7.blogspot.com

8th Grade: http://hilsman8.blogspot.com/ 


The Week at a Glance

Monday
21st Century


Tuesday
21st Century

Wednesday
21st Century

Thursday
21st Century

Hilsman vs. BHL When: Thursday, January 10, 2019 Time: Girls - 4:30, Boys-5:30 Location: Hilsman Middle Gymnasium

Friday
21st Century