November 19, 2018

 Dear Parents and Guardians-

 Our students and staff are continuing to connect, wonder, investigate, create, express and reflect. In other words, the Inquiry Process is alive and well at HMS! Please take a few minutes to peruse the HMS Live Feed and HMS News, and ask your children to fill you in on their recent learning experiences!

Literary Gala: Merry Stuhr and the planning team for this unique evening transformed HMS into a magical place, which featured our students’ creative voices. Students from all grade levels, along with families and staff, played and laughed together, while appreciating the wonder and gift of reading! The Gala was so much more than a book fair - it was an inspiring, community-building event. We were excited to see Merry’s vision for this gathering come to life!

 Our heartfelt thanks to Merry Stuhr and her team: Tracy Weinrich, Charlotte Agell, Molly Kilpatrick, Nancy Castonia, Melina Roberts, Laura Coroi, and Diane Campos!

 We are grateful to Royal River Books for their partnership and support. This event could not have happened without them!

 We greatly appreciate all of the following people, who added to the fun and success of this evening:

All Artists

Auction Donors

Poets

Review Writers

Why I Readers

Bookmark Makers

Bakers

Organizers

Helpers-in-General!

 PTO Sponsored Movie Night: The PTO will sponsor a movie night on Friday, November 30 in the HMS cafeteria. Doors open at 6:15. The movie (TBD by student vote!) will start by 6:30ish, as soon as everyone settles in. 

For parents of 7th Grade Students - Garageband Info.: All 7th grade students need to have Garageband loops installed on their laptops for General Music class. If your 7th grader has General Music in the second or third trimester, please remind her/him to complete this installation by November 20, 2018 (see attached for instructions). The installation takes a while to download so it will work best to do at home. If your child needs assistance with this, she/he can see Mr. Arsenault or Mrs. Allen in room 208.

Afternoon Plans: A reminder that all students who stay after school must be in settings supervised by an adult. Students can attend extracurricular activities after school, work in a classroom with their teacher(s), spend time in the library until 3:15, or go to the computer lab until 3:45. Students are also welcome to work in the main office until 4:00 while they are waiting for an activity to begin. Please check in with your child(ren) to ensure that she/he understands the plan for staying  after school.

 Casco Bay Tip Of The Month: Adults Are Positive Role Models - Celebrate Safely. Please see the attached information.

 DATES TO REMEMBER:

 -Thanksgiving Break - November 21-23 - NO SCHOOL

 -Alpine & Cross Country Ski Team Sports Information Night - November 27, from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM, at HMS

 -Trimester Ends - November 30 - The Parent Portal will be in flux while teachers finalize trimester reports.

 -Picture Retakes - December 4, from 8:10 AM to 10:30 AM

 -Jazz Concert - December 6, from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM, in the HMS Cafe

 
We wish you and yours a chance to unplug, unwind, and enjoy family and friends over the Thanksgiving break!

 
Thanks very much-

 Joan Adler and Tom McDowell

HMS Administrative Team