HIS Family News

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Thank you so much for those of you who were able to attend conferences this week! If you were unable to attend and need to meet with a teacher, please reach out to that teacher directly to schedule a time to meet. Also, please take a moment to fill out the conference feedback form linked below. This will help us evaluate our current practices and decide on any changes that need to be made going forward.

Reminder that we do not have school on Monday, Oct. 12th!

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Dr. Becky Jones

Principal, Halstead Intermediate School

Cell - 316-706-0208

Office - 316-835-2694

Email - bjones@usd440.com

Want to add the BPS/HIS breakfast and lunch calendars to your family online calendar? Use the button below!

We love seeing our students and families come out to support our school teams! Sporting events are a great opportunity for our students to show school spirit, spend time with friends, and cheer on our athletes.

However, we have noticed an increasing number of students attending sporting events without adequate adult supervision. Students have been running around, playing in areas away from the games, and engaging in behaviors that create safety concerns.

We want to remind families that parents and guardians are responsible for supervising their children while attending school sporting events. These events are intended for spectators to enjoy the games, and school staff members who are working the events are not available to supervise students.

To help keep everyone safe, we ask that families follow a few simple expectations:

• Students are expected to follow school rules and demonstrate appropriate behavior.

• Parents and guardians should know where their children are throughout the event.

Our goal is not to discourage students from attending games. We want our students to enjoy these opportunities while making sure everyone has a safe and positive experience.

We appreciate your help in addressing this concern and keeping our sporting events enjoyable for our athletes, families, and community.

Thank you for your cooperation and continued support!

Essential skills are the most important things we want student to know and be able to do in each subject. Teachers cover many standards throughout the year, but some skills are especially important because students need them to be successful with future learning. As part of our Professional Learning Community (PLC) process, teachers work together to identify those essential skills, decide what it looks like when a student has learned them, and regularly check student progress. If a student hasn't learned and essential skill yet, we provide additional instruction and support. If they already understand it, we look for opportunities to extend their learning. Click on a teacher's name below to see their essential skills for this year.

Please take a moment to review the attendance polices in our student handbook for Halstead Intermediate School and let us know if you have any questions.

- PreK's new office entrance will not be available for another few weeks so we will continue with drop off and pick up as we have been.

- Our activities entrance, concession stand, and new restrooms are up and running!

The HJSHS Culinary program is partnering with Kids Feeding Kids to supply meals to community families in need! Distribution will be on Oct. 30th 8am-12pm in the HJSHS Culinary/FACS room (room 71).

Our activities entrance is open for business! When you come in for a sporting event, please use the southernmost doors on the west side of the building (they will be marked). The northernmost doors will only be used as pick up for our Dragon Kids program or as an exit. There are handicapped spots close to those doors for spectators who need them.

Our 6th graders are currently collecting aluminum cans to help benefit the American Legion's Kansas Honor Flight Program. If you have cans at your house that you would be willing to bring in, have your child bring them to the school and drop them off in the collection bin in the 6th grade hallway!

We are continuing to work on educating our students on how to handle tough situations with peers. Having someone be mean or rude to you at school can be very upsetting and our goal is to help our students understand the difference between someone who is rude, someone who is mean, and someone who is bullying. Below is a description of how we approach this with students so we can understand the gravity of the situation and help them accordingly. Please take a moment to look this over, talk with your student about it, and let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

We believe recess is an important part of every student's day. Students will not lose recess because they are struggling academically or simply need additional time. When a student chooses not to work despite support and redirection, a limited portion of recess may be used as a logical consequence—up to 5 minutes initially and up to 10 minutes for repeated refusal. If work refusal becomes an ongoing pattern, we will shift from increasing consequences to working with the student and family to identify appropriate supports and interventions. SUPPORT + ACCOUNTABILITY + PROTECTED RECESS Helping students develop the skills and responsibility they need to be successful.

We encourage our parents/guardians to communicate regularly with the school so we can be aware of concerns or questions that they may have. Please take a look at the Lines of Communication page on our USD 440 website to know where your concern or question should be directed first so we can solve the issue at the lowest level possible.

**There is no assistant principal at HMS. Should you need to escalate your concern after speaking with the teacher, please go directly to Dr. Jones**

This is the traffic pattern for drop off and pick up at HIS and HJSHS. Please note "entrance only" and "exit only" drives If you have any questions, please reach out.

As we prepare to welcome students for the new school year, we want to share some updated preschool drop off and pick up procedures that are designed to help us maintain a safe and secure environment for our students and staff. Beginning this school year, parents and guardians will no longer enter the PreK hallway during arrival or dismissal.

While our new PreK office is being completed, we will use the following procedures:

- Parents/guardians will use the far south door at the end of the PreK hallway for both drop off and pick up. Upon arrival, please bring your child to the door and use the Smart Care app on your personal device to check your child in and out.

- Parents/guardians will not enter the PreK hallway to pick up their child. At dismissal, staff members will either escort students to the door or have them waiting outside, depending on the weather.

- If your child arrives late or needs to be picked up outside of regular drop off or dismissal times, please report to the HIS front office. A staff member will escort your child to or from the classroom.

Once our permanent PreK office is complete, the same check-in and check-out procedures using the Smart Care app will remain in place. However, all drop off and pick up will take place through the new PreK office entrance, where staff members will be able to assist students to and from their classrooms.

Providing a safe and secure learning environment for every student is one of our highest priorities, and these procedures will help us accomplish that goal. We appreciate your cooperation and partnership as we implement these changes. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact Dr. Jones.

Please take a moment to sign up for SmartCare. This will be our primary check-in/check-out program, you can also add authorized pick up persons, pay invoices, and other features to help make our PreK system more streamlined.

If you have any information that you need your child's teacher to know during the school day, please call our front office so we can get that information to them quickly. Our little ones keep our staff pretty busy down there so they don't always get the chance to check email or SeeSaw messages until after students have left for the day. The number to our front office is 316-835-2694.

Welcome Back Halstead families! My name is Quinn Torgerson, and I am very excited to join the community to serve as a school counselor for Halstead Intermediate School.

I was born and raised in Wichita, and attended Wichita State for my undergraduate and graduate degrees. When I am not at school, I stay heavily involved in my church, love spending time outdoors, playing games with friends, reading or crafting! I'm also a big sports fan, so you'll find me following my favorite teams throughout the year.

My goal as a school counselor is to support both students and families to make sure they feel seen, valued, supported, and loved. I am looking forward to getting to know each of our students and families. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any concerns or need anything! I am here for you!

Please take a moment and browse through the link on the Health section of our district Parent Resources page. You will find immunization information and important forms that need to be completed for students who take medicine at school. If you have any questions, please reach out to our new district nurse, Ms. Rylie Womochil at rwomochil@usd440.com.

Watch here for PTO News!

Building Procedures

• When entering the building, please make sure you go through the front office so you can obtain a visitor badge and check out with the office before you leave. Our number one priority is student and staff safety and we need to maintain accountability of visitors in our building.
• The first and best contact for any of your concerns is your child’s teacher. If you bring up concerns to your child’s teacher and do not feel they have sufficiently been addressed, please let me know.
  
• If you need to speak to a teacher, please make arrangements with them in advance.
• Morning supervision - please remember that our doors do not open until 7:20am. We will not have supervision available until that time so students who arrive early will have to wait outside until 7:20.
• After school pick up - we understand that life happens. If you are running late to pick up your student, please contact the front office so we know they have a ride coming, and we can make sure they are ready to go when you get to the school.

Construction

• Please talk with your child about staying away from construction sites, not only for their safety but to ensure that there is no interruption to the construction process.

Halstead Intermediate School

Counselor: Ms. Quinn Torgerson

Main Office: 316-835-2694

Address: 221 W. 6th St., Halstead, KS 67056

Website: https://www.usd440.com/o/hms
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HalsteadMiddleSchool/