October 2, 2020
Dear HMS Families,
We’re continuing to celebrate this wonderful weather, which enables us to spend time outside throughout the day! We appreciate your questions and input as we settle into the school year, and we encourage you to keep in touch and let us know how things are going for your child(ren).
We share the following article, The Mental Health Benefits of Gratitude, in hopes that you find it useful during this challenging time. We will share other text-based and/or video resources with you throughout the year.
Thank you for taking the time to review the updates below. Some of them are related to our students’ safety - we know we can impact this in a positive way if we work
With Thanks,
Joan Adler and Tom McDowell
HMS Administrative Team
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Student Safety During Drop Off and Pick Up
For our students’ safety:
- Please approach HMS slowly and carefully and move around the circle in an orderly manner, adhering to the speed limit.
- Do not cut into a line of cars waiting to drop off or pick up their children. This is unsafe and has created some concerning near accidents in the recent weeks. Please do not linger longer than necessary in the line of cars once your child has entered or exited the car.
Bike Safety
We have many more students riding bicycles to school this fall, which is wonderful. We also want to make sure our bike riders are being as safe and responsible as possible. Please talk with your children about the importance of using the sidewalks when riding near the school and when on McCartney Street. Students should not veer off of the sidewalks onto the street. Students should use the marked crosswalks to cross the street. Lastly, Maine law states that all bike riders under the age of 16 must wear a helmet.
Bus Notes
Students who are going to take the bus home with a friend need to bring a note to the office that gives parent permission to do so. We will then give students a note to take the bus.
Updating the Powerschool Portal
Every year we ask you to go into the Powerschool Portal to review and/or update the information that we have for all of our students and make sure that your contact information is accurate. To update Student Information on the portal, please go to the HMS Powerschool Help page. This 2 minute video will provide you with step-by-step instructions about how to update your child's account. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Inspiring Student News
Thanks to Morgan Cuthbert for sharing this with us: Congratulations to last year's 7th grade student scientists Taylor Oranellas, Maya Faulstich, Zach Lattanzi, Bryce Arsenault, and Breanna Young on the publication of their work in the Gulf of Maine Research Institute's Findings in the Field, Volume 3! Check out their articles here: https://findings.gmri.org/journal/. Findings from the Field is a middle school journal of ecological and environmental scientific investigations. This journal was launched in 2017 and is produced by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in collaboration with a community of student scientists and teachers from across Maine and New Hampshire. Through Findings, students engage in and communicate about authentic scientific inquiry.
Social Emotional Learning Through Books
I am pleased to share this unique (free : ) virtual learning opportunity with all of you, brought to you by Charlotte Agell and this fascinating team of authors!
Friday Remote Book Pickups!
Huge thanks to Ms. Burrows, our HMS librarian, for providing curbside pickup for our students who are learning in the fully remote option. She was joined by seventh grade teachers Stephanie Hill, Tate Gale, and Michelle Raber, who wanted to say hello to their students. Happy reading!
Stephanie Hill, Tate Gale, Brandie Burrows and Michelle Raber