News from Panther Headquarters
October 2019
From the desk of the Principal...
Hello Panther Families –
It is once again my pleasure to share pertinent information about HIJH to our Panther families. At HIJH, we have embraced the idea that in order to get the most out of their learning experiences, there needs to be Student AGENCY where students need to ‘Own their Learning”. This means that in order to maximize their growth throughout the year, students need to know and understand where they are in their learning journey, know where they are going (end results), and know the path it takes to get where they are going. This requires setting long-term and short-term Goals, collecting assessment data, and selecting artifacts of their work from all classes. All of this is placed in individual student portfolios in each of their classes. To that end, we will be engaged once again in Student-Led Conferences this school year that will take place within the window of October 22 through October 24 from 3:00-7:00. Before or after school meetings can also be arranged on Monday or Friday as needed. A Homeroom teacher or an SLT teacher should have contacted parents/guardians with time and date options through an electronic form such as PTC Fast or Sign-up Genius. Families will have an opportunity to let their child lead them through his or her learning experiences this year in 20-minute sessions. They are to select one or two content areas of choices to share goals and artifacts, share one HSE21 (Future Ready) life skill goal, and establish a 4th goal with their parents/guardians to work on throughout the rest of the school year. Teachers will be on hand as facilitators of the process, but the students themselves lead the conferences. This conference is not the time to discuss classroom specifics or address concerns with the teacher. Parents can set up teacher meetings at any time throughout the year for those purposes. The research on Student-Led Conferencing is overwhelming that giving the student the opportunity to understand and articulate their growth and achievement as a learner is powerful tool, and the National Middle School Association, The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform, and National Association of School Principals endorse them, among others. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with parents to support student achievement and appreciate your support throughout the year.
Respectfully,
Tim A. Mankin
Upcoming Important Dates
September 30-October 4 Camp Tecumseh
October 4 First Grading Period Ends
October 4 PTO Meeting - 9:30 am
October 7- Fundraiser Product Pick-up at HIJH-AUX GYM. Enter through Door #3,
3-7 pm *Parents must come to pick up products for their children.
October 9 Orchestra Concert - 7 pm in Panther Hall (Gr. 7/8)
October 14-18 - Fall Break
October 22-24 Student Led Conferences 3-7 pm
October 16 Dine to Donate - City BBQ 5-8 pm
October 24 Choir Concert - 7 pm in Panther Hall (Gr. 7/8)
October 24 Picture Retake
October 29 Band Concert - 7 pm in Panther Hall (Gr. 7/8)
Early Dismissals and Returning to School
Bus Notes
Pasta Bowl
The annual friendly Mudsock week competition within HSE Schools fueled the largest PastaBowl collection yet. In total, the 22 HSE Schools collected and donated 40,197 lbs. of pasta to Hamilton County food service organizations. This was a new PastaBowl record and an increase of more than 20,000 lbs. over last year’s record-setting donations.
- Hamilton Southeastern High School was the high school division and overall winner with 6,464 lbs. The Royals unseated Fishers High School who had won the high school division each previous year.
- Fall Creek Intermediate won the intermediate/junior high division with 3,176 lbs. They replaced Riverside Intermediate School who had been the only previous champion in that category.
- Cumberland Road Elementary won the elementary division with 3,394 lbs. Hoosier Road Elementary had been the perennial elementary champion.
- Sand Creek Elementary won biggest gain title by increasing their collection by 1,389% over 2018.
In addition to the schools listed above, Durbin Elementary, Hoosier Road Elementary and Riverside Intermediate are being awarded the honorable mention awards for 2019. Each of these schools collected over 3 lbs. of pasta per enrolled student.
Students from the winning schools will celebrate with a group photo at the Meijer on 96th street on Tuesday, October 1 at 4:30 pm and be recognized during the HSE Board of School Trustees meeting on October 9.
Our thanks to all who participated!
Book Fees and IPad Rental
Student Course Fees will be assigned in mid-September with a due date of October 11, 2019. A fee statement will be emailed to you when the fees are assigned and available for viewing.
Student Course Fees are based on each individual student’s schedule, but fees can range from approximately $90.00 to $150.00 for the year - not including rental of a iPad, which is an additional $80.00.
If you choose to pay by efunds, please select the OPTIONAL FEES PAYMENT TAB.
FREE OR REDUCED lunch applications must be submitted online each year. Applications must be submitted after July 1, 2019 and before September 30, 2019. If your application is approved, your student will receive their course materials at no charge, including iPad rental.
If you have any questions, please contact Doty Gaertner, Treasurer at 317-594-4120.
Counselor's Corner
HIJH Student Services does everything in our power to help students and families in need, including academic, career exploration, and social/emotional needs.
School Counselors often receive information from outside resources which may benefit the needs of our families. We, the counselors, compile a list of available resources in the event that families ask for such information. When we exhaust the means available through the HIJH Student Services Department, we continue to try to help in any way we can.
Although we do not recommend any one service in particular, we can offer this compilation of community resources at your request. If you choose to seek outside services and would like to view information made available to HIJH, please contact us at your convenience. Please remember, all requests are kept confidential. Resources may include: food pantries, clothing distributers, prevention programs, and grief and loss counseling/therapy. We are here to serve you!
Planning for the Future. Getting one’s thoughts in order is a good start for planning the future. Simply sitting down with your child and asking, “What do you think you want to do with your life?” is a great way to start planning. Promote conversations that focus on where your child wants to be academically and what their career interests might be at this time. Take a half hour every other week to research some of the careers of interest discussed, as well as colleges, universities, and vocational school that support such careers. Simply open the door to future planning; you may be amazed at what you find!
This year we again will be talking with all students about college and career readiness over the next two months. Students will be provided a magazine titled Learn More. This magazine talks about college and career readiness, where some parts of the magazine will be discussed. Please feel free to talk with your students about the magazine.
Testing Dates to Note. Please mark your calendars to ensure your child is in attendance these testing periods.
ILEARN testing window - April 20 - May 15, 2020
It is extremely important that your child be in attendance and on time during these testing days. Please assist us by ensuring that your child is well rested and eats a healthy breakfast. Also, it would be advantageous to reschedule any appointments you have scheduled during these days. Thank you in advance for your assistance with this testing process.
Address & Bus Changes. Anyone requesting new bus transportation for their child, due to a move to a new home, MUST provide proof of residency to the attending school to make this change. Residency documents needed are posted on the corporation website under “For Parents” and “Enrolling Your Child”, Step 3, Residency Documents. Once documents are provided to the school, new bus information will be provided to you and will be available on Skyward within a 24-hour timeframe.
Click here Twenty-First Century Scholars.
Click here for Northwestern University's Midwest Academic Talent Search (NUMATS) information.
Messages from the Nurse
As school nurses, our priority is to provide care for students who are injured or become ill while in our school building. The clinic is not a substitute for your private physician's care. Nurses monitor for signs and symptoms of an illness; however, our scope of practice does not include diagnosing illness—that is the role of a physician. Additionally, we are here to assist students with medication administration and to help manage students' special medical conditions. If your student is well enough to come to school but needs allergy or cold meds, please administer them at home, as we do not stock these medications in the clinic.
***EMERGENCY MEDICATIONS*** If your student is carrying emergency medication on them while at school (Epi Pen or Inhaler) we MUST have a doctor's note on file. Please have your child's doctor fax a note to 317-594-4129. Please remind your child to wash hands frequently with soap and water throughout the day at school. Think of all the places hands touch that are “germy”-stair rails, door handles, etc. Washing hands is proven to be the best way to prevent the spread of germs.
Picture Make Up and Retake Day
We will have our picture make up/retake day on Wednesday, October 24th for students that did not get their picture taken during Panther Preview or would like a retake. If your student is having a retake done, please make sure they bring their picture packet with them to the LGI room. All students should have their picture taken for the yearbook. You are not required to purchase photos. If you would like to purchase photos visit mylifetouch.com, our ID is EVTFH4G3F.
Free Math Help
Attention all parents of 8th Graders
Attention all 8th grade parents: The deadline to register for the 8th grade Washington DC trip has passed and the planning for the trip has begun! Our next step will be a student-only roommate selection meeting which is tentatively scheduled for all registered HIJH students on Friday December 6th at 7am in the main gym. For other general trip information please go to www.dctrip.info or contact Eric Brown (ebrown@hse.k12.in.us).
Band Notes
Orchestra News
Hallo-Grams
Student Council will be selling Hal-o-Grams October 21st- October 29th! What are Hal-o-Grams, you ask? It's a fall themed postcard that student's can purchase for $1.00 during their lunch. They write a message to a fellow HIJH student on the postcard. They must know the FULL name and Homeroom/SLT of the recipient. The Hal-o-Gram will then be delivered to the recipient on Halloween day. All proceeds collected will go to Riley Children's Hospital.
Ultimate Frisbee
Ultimate Frisbee Club has started at HIJH! Ultimate Frisbee is a no fee, no commitment club open to all students in all grade levels (including HIJH graduates). If your student is looking for a great workout and an opportunity to meet new people, come join the Club! We will work on frisbee skills at the beginning of practice, then break into teams and scrimmage. We will meet immediately after school in Mr. Beesley's room (room 321). Students must have their rides pick them up at the main office (Door 1) at 4:15. Please bring water bottles and some athletic wear. New ultimate frisbee shirts will be available for purchase shortly for students in the club.
Coats for Kids
Connect Club
PTO News
PTO Website. Checkout our PTO website (www.hijhpto.wordpress.com) for the 2019-20 PTO calendar, PTO meeting schedule, past meeting minutes, newsletters, and more.
Next PTO Meeting. The next PTO meeting will be Friday, Oct 4th at 9:30 AM at HIJH Conference room. All parents are invited to join us.
Spirit Wear. The Spiritwear orders should be passed out the first week of October. Any inquiries please direct via email to Janyll at janyll@att.net. Thanks for supporting the HIJH PTO!
Dine to Donate. The next Dine to Donate is on Saturday October 16th at City BBQ from 10:30 AM – 10 PM. You MUST show your server the BARCODE on the flyer in order for the HIJH PTO to get credit. Click here for the flyer.
Market Day to Delivered to Your Door. Market Day is coming back, and it is easier than ever! Now, you order food from your phone or laptop, and it is delivered to your home or office! This is a brand new program, but we are excited to try it out. We will be posting more information soon. If you remember Market Day from the past, flyers were sent home and you had to go to the school to pick up items. All that is changing. You will be able to order online and your food is delivered directly to your house. No longer do you have to rush to school during the night to pick up that delicious food! Stay tuned for more details…
Panther Rewards. Kroger: HIJH families who link their Kroger card number to our school help earn our school money. It’s an easy way to support the PTO without costing you (or your fuel points) anything! Go to kroger.com/communityrewards, click “I’m With An Organization…” then “Request Your Kroger Plus Card” and create an account or sign in. Find HIJH-PTO (WT583) and link your card to our account.
Amazon: is another simple way to help our school money. Go to HTTP://smile.amazon.com/ and type HSJH PTO under “supporting”. You will need to go to smile.amazon.com each time (rather than use the app)- saving it under bookmarks makes it easy to use.
Coke Rewards: Enter online or send them in with your child.
Box Tops: Keep clipping & scanning Box Tops & send the clipped ones in with your child's name, grade, teacher. Raffle prizes will be drawn each semester for those who enter 25 or more.
HIJH School Fundraiser
All School Fundraiser pickup will be Monday, October 7th from 3 – 7 pm. Please enter door 3 for pick up.
E-Waste Recycling Program
Middle Years
October Multicultural Holidays
Click here to find out about October Multicultural Holidays.
NEWS AROUND THE DISTRICT
Permitted use of school newsletters as required by the Equal Access Act is not an endorsement of this group or this group’s beliefs by Hamilton Southeastern Schools or the Board of School Trustees.
Hamilton Southeastern Intermediate/Junior High
Ph: 317-594-4120
Attendance: 317-594-4126
Guidance: 317-594-4124
Fax: 317-594-4129
hse.k12.in.us/hij/home.aspx
Twitter: @HIJPanthers
Athletics Twitter: @HIJathletics