A Message from the Principal!
DATE
November 1, 2026
Hello HMS Community!
I am pleased to introduce the newest member of our HMS family! Mrs. Branda Yeargan will be our new Assistant Principal in charge of discipline and school safety. Please welcome her and see her message below. We wish Mr. Sisson well as he transitions to his new role as Berkeley County Virtual Pathway and Student Retention Coordinator.
Dear HMS Students and Families,
I am so excited to introduce myself as the newest Assistant Principal at Hedgesville Middle School! I have a husband, two daughters, and a dog and cat. In my free time I enjoy watching The Office, reading, and puzzling.
I come to HMS from Spring Mills Middle School, where I've spent the past four years in both the classroom and the library. One thing I've learned along the way is that middle schoolers are some of the funniest, most unpredictable, and genuinely awesome people you'll ever meet. (They certainly keep life interesting!)
I believe in building relationships, setting high expectations, and giving students opportunities to learn and grow. Mistakes are part of life, and I believe what matters most is how we respond to them. My goal is to be someone students can count on to listen, be fair, and support them—even when we have to have the tough conversations.
To our families, I look forward to partnering with you to help your children succeed. And to our students, I can't wait to meet you, learn your names, and become part of what makes HMS special!
Here's to new beginnings and a great year together! Mrs. Yeargan
This Week at HMS
November 1st - Daylight Savings Time Ends-Set clocks backward one hour
November 2 - 4 - Girls Basketball Tryouts - JV Tryouts - 6 - 7:30
Monday, November 2nd - Varsity Tryouts 7:30 - 9; Tuesday/Wednesday - time TBD
November 3rd - No School - Election Day
November 4th - Purple Team field trip to Mount Vernon
November 5th - Basketball Fundraiser at Galaxy Skateland 6 - 8 p.m.
Upcoming Events
November
Native American Heritage Month
National Family Literacy Month
Military Family Appreciation Month
November 9 - 11 - Boys Basketball Tryouts
November 10th - Make Up Pictures for Yearbook
November 11th - No School - Veteran's Day
November 12th - LSIC meeting at 9:30 a.m. in the HMS Library
November 13th - Interims
November 21 - 29 - No School - Thanksgiving Break
December 2nd - HMS Science Fair
December 3rd - Basketball Season Begins!
Families In Need
If your family is experiencing financial hardship and your student or students are in need of a winter coat please contact the School Counselors. We can provide coats for ALL children in the home.
If your family is experiencing food insecurity and you are in need of a Thanksgiving meal, please contact the School Counselors.
New Visitor Management System
Dear Families:
Berkeley County Schools is pleased to announce that we will be piloting the Raptor Visitor Management System in some of our schools to strengthen our program of campus safety for students and faculty. Part of keeping students and faculty safe is knowing who is in our buildings at all times, and the Raptor system will allow us to do that. The Raptor system will better allow us to screen visitors, contractors, and volunteers in our schools and provide us with a safer environment for our students and staff.
Effective May 1, 2026, upon entering our school, visitors will be asked to present an ID such as a Driver’s License, which can either be scanned or manually entered into the system. If a parent or guardian for any reason does not have a US government-issued ID, the school staff member can use any form of identification and manually enter the person’s name into the Raptor system. The Raptor system will check to ensure that registered sexual offenders are not entering our school campuses without our knowledge. The Raptor system checks the visitor's name and date of birth for comparison with a national database of registered sex offenders. The registered sex offender database is the only official database checked by the Raptor system. No other data from the ID is gathered or recorded and the information is not shared with any outside agency. Once entry is approved, Raptor will issue a badge that identifies the visitor, the date, and the purpose of his/her visit. A visitor’s badge will not be necessary for those who visit our schools simply to drop off an item in the office or pick up paperwork.
The safety of our students is our highest priority and the Raptor visitor management system allows us to quickly identify those that may present a danger to our students. Thank you in advance for your understanding and your support in enhancing the school safety protocols in our district.