Hosford Middle School

Dear Families,

Did you know that without PTSA leadership, we will not have after school clubs or supportive teaching materials like the ones above? Do you know families that would be willing to share some of the PTSA responsibilities? WE'D LOVE TO CONNECT. The experiences we can offer students are hugely impacted by the donations of time and money that you give. Thank you to all of our families who have already given in both of these ways. We see you and appreciate you.

On a different note, MAP testing is this week on Monday and Tuesday, and it's an early release day on Wednesday. Changes to the schedule can be hard for students so please help them get a good night's sleep. The end of the quarter is next Friday, January 23rd. Please check in with your child about missing assignments and things that are due. The family resource linked below is a good place to look for a review of what is happening in each class.

Have a wonderful week!

Jill Liddle, Principal

This resource tells what learning activities were assigned in each class. It is a great way to check on assignments with your child. Middle school is a time when students need help developing the routine of reflection and organizing materials. This resource is your support for those conversations.

• Important Dates
• Forecasting Updates
• Funds for Hosford
• Attendance Rates
• Lunch Detention
• Funds for Hosford
• PTSA Help Needed
• Cleveland Performing Arts

Reminders:

• Dine Out - January 18th
• Baxter Youth Leadership Program

• Winter After School Clubs and Classes

• High School Deadlines
• 6th Grade Outdoor School
• Arts Camp

• After School Theater
• Logging into Canvas @ Home

• Join the Hosford Community Loop

December

January 12th & 13th - MAP Testing

January 14th - Early Release

January 15th - 5:30 - 7:30 pm Know your rights event

January 18th - Dine Out Shami Cafe

January 19th - Martin Luther King Day - NO SCHOOL

January 23rd - End of Quarter 2

January 26th - Grading Day - NO SCHOOL

January 27th - Teacher Planning Day - NO SCHOOL

Forecasting updates for all grades:

8th grade:

Upcoming dates:

01/15 - Cleveland High School forecasting presentation in Mr. Yoder's classes.

01/22 - Cleveland forecasting due in Studentvue. Students will be called alphabetically to go over with Cleveland counselors before finalizing.

01/20 - Franklin High School forecasting presentation. Students will be called out of 5th period.

02/06 - Franklin forecasting due in Studentvue

TBD - Forecasting night at Benson. Last year it was mid February

Ongoing - other PPS high schools will send their forecasting info to Ms. Brown to do individually with students.

Students who have petitioned or lotteried for another school should still forecast for their neighborhood school. When the petitions/lottery is finalized, they can forecast for the new placement if needed. Forecasting will not affect lottery or petition results. Franklin and Cleveland will have students forecast using studentvue. If a student has petitioned for Cleveland or Franklin, they are welcome to attend the forecasting events for both schools until they receive a decision from enrollment and transfer.

Current 6th & 7th grade:

Ms. Benny Leo and Ms. Brown will go to 6th and 7th grade Social Sciences classes for forecasting 01/28 & 01/29. Forecasting will be due one week later. Students will enter their choices in a google form in class that may be redone at home if selections change. We will keep the latest version. The forecasting presentation will be shared in this newsletter and in Canvas for families to access at home.

Please reach out to Ms. Brown with any 8th grade to high school questions, Ms. Benny Leo for any current 7th graders, or either counselor for current 6th grade questions.

Thank you so much to everyone who has donated to the Funds for Hosford fundraiser! We have raised $9110 out of our goal of $10,000! Please help us close the gap to reach our goal. This money funds staff and teacher grants each year for supplies and programs directly benefiting Hosford students. Check out the example below.

Contribute a one-time donation here.

Set up a recurring donation here.

For corporate matching, please search by our Tax ID #93-1043415.

The map will:

• Support visual-spatial learning for students who struggle with text-heavy materials.

• Encourage discussion of world events and foster global connections (“we are all connected”).

• Build social-emotional learning by developing empathy and awareness of diverse cultures.

• Serve as a calming visual anchor in the classroom, supporting regulation and focus.

• Integrate with reading, writing, and social studies lessons (identifying story settings, migration routes, weather patterns, etc.).

The clock will:

• Improve time awareness, pacing, and transitions.

• Help students self-monitor class periods with the timer and alarms serving as visual cues for structure.

• Act as a tool to scaffold executive functioning, reduce student anxiety around time, and create a more consistent and supportive environment for learning.

Do you know your child's attendance rate? We are looking for students to have attendance greater than 90%. Of course students get sick and should stay home then, but otherwise, please help them focus on being in school on time and ready for learning.

Our school's current rates are below. Every day counts!

We are working hard at Hosford to instill a sense of accountability for students to arrive to their classes on time! We have started monthly On Time Challenges and Quarterly Reward Tickets as incentives for being on time to class and ready for learning.

Now we will be starting lunch detention this week on Wednesday and Thursday for students that have had 6 or more tardies last week and/or skipped 1 or more classes.

Students will be notified on Tuesday (1.13) if they have been assigned lunch detention and parents will receive an email notification as well. Students assigned lunch detention will be given a pass to pick up their lunch from the cafeteria 5 minutes before lunch begins on their assigned day (Wednesday or Thursday) and will then head upstairs to room 220 to eat their lunch and complete a reflection form.

If students serve their lunch detention, complete the reflection form, and have under 6 tardies/no skips the following week, they will not be assigned detention. Students that are absent or skip their detention will be assigned detention the following week, and receive a stage 2 office referral. Please review this with your child. We will also review it on the morning announcements.

The Hosford PTSA needs more helpers. We are currently operating without a president and vice president among other board members. Please consider helping even if you want to do just a small one-time task. The PTSA is responsible for fundraising and distributing around $10,000 for teacher and staff needs every school year, as well as supporting events for students and staff. We could really use help with the following events and tasks:

• Communications help - admin for Facebook and/or Instagram (low volume posting for restaurant dine-outs and news)
• Staff Appreciation help - coordinate one or more snack events for staff; do something for Staff Appreciation Week in May; coordinate end-of-year staff party
• 8th Grade Oaks Park field trip help - help organize meal for the 8th graders at their end-of-year field trip in June
• 8th Grade Promotion help - help organize reception refreshments at 8th grade promotion in June

Open Positions:

• Member-at-Large
• Communications Chair
• Staff Appreciation Chair
• President
• Vice President

Please email ptsahosford@gmail with any questions. Thank you!

Cleveland Performing Arts came to Hosford this past Friday. It was a goose bump giving performance by so many of our former Huskies.

This comprehensive After School Enrichment Program for 6th-8th graders engages students in a variety of dynamic and interactive activities designed to transform them into confident, capable, and well-rounded young leaders.

We will actively coach students on key skills such as: how to lead, how to be coachable; how to handle pressure, and how to communicate effectively.

Participants will not only enhance their immediate performance in school and extracurricular activities but also build a powerful foundation for future success in college, career, and life.

8th grade families, please remember the deadline to apply for Benson, MLC, or Jefferson, or to petition for a neighborhood school is December 12th. Application links and info can be found here.

Upcoming forecasting dates:

• 01/15 Cleveland High School counselors visit social science classes for forecasting
• 01/22 CHS forecasting pick up with counselor
• TBD Late January/ early February - Franklin high school to visit for forecasting
• TBD Benson forecasting night and all other high schools

Please contact Ms. Brown with any questions

Parentsquare is the new communication platform for PPS. Teachers are noticing that families are not viewing or responding to messages sent at the same frequency as remind. You may want to check your settings. Please see the videos below.

2 Minute Tip: Notification Settings

English Video

French Video

Spanish Video

Arabic Video

Vietnamese Video

Chinese (Mandarin) Video

Chinese (Cantonese) Video

Need more help with Parentsquare? Click here. Your invitation to join Hosford will be in your email from August 21st, if your student started at Hosford in the beginning of the year.

Our dates for Outdoor School are here! Please mark your calendars for May19th - 22nd. Camp assignments and groups will be sent out by science teachers in mid-January.

To log into Canvas at home, students need to sign into Google with their user name and password. Then, go to my.pps.net.