HIS Family News

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Just a few things to note as we start looking ahead to the 2nd half of September and into October:

1) Picture retakes are on Sept. 22nd

2) Thank you to those who reached out to be part of our site council for this year! Our first meeting will be on the 23rd at 6pm at the District Office

2) Parent/Teacher conferences and the end of the quarter are coming up fast. Conferences for us will be on Oct. 5th and 7th from 4-8pm both days and the end of the quarter is Oct. 8th. There will be no school on Oct. 9th or Oct. 12th.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out.

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!

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!

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 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.

The next meeting for PTO will be held on Monday, Sept. 21st at 7pm. We would love for you to join us!

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/