Husky Howl

Hello Homer Huskies!

Somehow, we have come to the final 3 week of the school year and this will be our final newsletter of the school year! Please help your child finish strong by being at school every day and making sure all of their class work is complete and turned in by the teacher's deadlines! If I don't get the chance to tell you in person, thank you for an amazing school year!

Usually by this point in the year, we have a master schedule built for the next school year. Due to the continued uncertainty about the budget, we do not have this completed and won't be ready to have students select their electives until later in the year or in the summer. Parents, please watch your emails. I will be reaching out once I am ready to gather that information from you. I want to thank everyone who has provided public testimony, has reached out to our representatives in the Alaska Legislature, and has shared the stories about the great things that are happening in our school. This has been very challenging to work through (and it isn't quite done), but I have been so impressed with the advocacy and engagement I have seen from our school community! The next school board meeting is Monday, May 5th and then the Borough Assembly meeting is on Tuesday, May 6th. Those are important meetings to tune in to. And don't stop your outreach!

This newsletter has a lot of important information, please please take a few minutes to read it! I ask that you take a moment to please provide us with feedback! There are QR codes at the bottom of the newsletter you can use to provide feedback on me (Principal Redmond), a teacher, or our school as a whole! You can fill these out as often and whenever you want to!

Please take a few moments to follow HMS on Facebook and Instagram (@hmsalaska), as we keep these very up to date with pictures and announcements about what is happening at HMS. You can also check out our school website (https://kpbsd.org/schools/homer-middle/), although it is updated far less often. You can also join our HMS Public Google Calendar to help you keep up to date too (Google Calendar Link Click Here) As always, if you need anything at all during the school year, please do not hesitate to reach out. You can email me at mredmond@kpbsd.k12.ak.us or call the office at 907-235-5700.

-Principal Redmond

MAY EVENTS

May 5- Parent Step Up Day #2 (1-3 PM)

May 5-9- Staff Appreciation Week- check your email to see how you can help!

May 9- Track Meet @ Skyview

May 13- track borough prelims @ Kenai

May 15- Band/Choir Concert 7 PM @ HHS

May 16- End of Year Dance (7th graders 6-8 PM 8th graders 6-9 PM)

May 17- Track Borough Finals @ Kenai

May 22- Last Day of School

May 22- 8th Grade Promotion 1:45-2:45 (families are invited)

• The last day students will be allowed to charge lunches is May 16th. After that, no one will be allowed to let their lunch account go into a negative balance. If you end the year with a positive lunch account balance, those funds carry over to next school year.

• All school fees are due by May 20th. You can check PowerSchool to see if you still owe any school fees.

• Report cards will not be issued for any student who owes lunch money or school fees until after those are taken care of.

ONLINE REGISTRATION FOR THE 2025-2026 school year is now open! Please complete your registration early to help us plan for next year!

All students (new and returning) are required to have registration paperwork completed every school year. You can complete your child's paperwork at this link https://forms.kpbsd.org/. If your child is a returning student, nothing is required to be completed in person. If your child is a new student, you will need to drop off a copy of their birth certificate and physical form.

1. Contact Governor Dunleavy's office to share your opinion on public education.

• Office of the Governor C/O Jordan Shilling PO BOX 110001 Juneau, AK 99811-0001
• online feedback form https://gov.alaska.gov/contact/feedback/

2. Contact your Representative or Senator

• Representative Sarah Vance 907-465-2689 or Representative.Sarah.Vance@akleg.gov
• Senator Gary Stevens 907-465-4925 or Senator.Gary.Stevens@akleg.gov

3. Contact the Alaska Commissioner of the Department of Education and Early Development Dr. Deena Bishop

• 907-465-2802 or eed.contact@alaska.gov

4. Call or email in Public Testimony during legislative committee meetings

• Calendars, schedules, and call in information can be found here. https://akleg.gov/index.php Also watch social media for postings about important legislative testimony opportunities!

5. Contact Kenai Peninsula Borough assembly members.

We have 2 more Career Talk Wednesdays left this year! Take a look and encourage your child to sign up to attend.

May 7th- Jillian Rogers- Animal Control Officer

May 14th- Hannah Gustafson- nonprofit consulting

Fill out the form at this link to give a staff member a shout out in our next newsletter! You must enter your name and email to complete the form, but when shout outs are included in the newsletter, they will be anonymous.

https://forms.gle/FnSrYzRN1LrXjTHu8

I would like everyone to take a moment to review the HMS electronic device policy before returning to school. A specific issue we are currently having is students texting from the restrooms. To help us curb this issue, I ask that if you receive a text during school hours you either ignore it or tell the student to go to the office and call you. I do appreciate your help with this....If you have any questions or concerns please just reach out and let us know.

Here is the exact policy from our handbook....

The use of electronic devices, such as cell phones, bluetooth headphones, smart watches, etc., not provided by the school for student use, is not allowed in school by students. If students bring these items to school, they must turn them off when entering the building and leave them off and out of sight until the last bell rings. The school is limited in resources and will not assist in searching for lost electronics. The only exception to this rule is if a teacher gives permission for a student to use a device for a specific activity in class.

• All students are warned of this rule explicitly at the beginning of the school year.
• 1st offense- Device is taken away and given to the office. Student may get device back at the end of the school day.
• 2nd offense (and each offense thereafter)- Device is taken away and given to the office. A parent or guardian will be called and the parent/guardian or designee must pick up the device.

All students (new and returning) are required to have registration paperwork completed every school year. You can complete your child's paperwork at this link https://forms.kpbsd.org/. If your child is a returning student, nothing is required to be completed in person. If your child is a new student, you will need to drop off a copy of their birth certificate and physical form.

There is also a $25 band/choir fee and a $10 art fee for each student. If you have not paid these fees yet you may do so by sending cash/check to school or logging into PowerSchool to pay online with a credit card.

Regular attendance at school is a vital part of student success. Parents/guardians are expected to call or email the school by 9:30 am whenever their child will be absent.

Phone Number: 907-235-5700

Email: tshafer@kpbsd.k12.ak.us

• Excused Absence- a parent has notified the school that their child is or will be absent from school.
• Unexcused Absence- a parent has not notified the school that their child is or will be absent from school.
• A student is considered absent from a class period once they are 15 minutes late.

When a student will be absent from school for 5 consecutive days or more, a prearranged absence form must be completed and submitted to the office in advance of the absence. The student is expected to be responsible for completing this form and following up with his or her teachers about missing work once he or she is back from the absence.

If a student will be absent more than 10 consecutive days, the parent is required to meet with the principal to discuss the absence and determine next steps.

If you need info about bussing, please contact Apple Bus at 907.235.0124.

Students are required to have a bus note if they need to get off the bus at a different stop than usual. Parents/guardians must do the following by 2:00 PM to request a bus note for their child.

• Step 1: Call First Student at 907-235-0124 to find out the bus number and bus stop name you are requesting for the bus pass. You also need to verify that there will be space on the bus for the bus pass to be accepted by the driver.

• Step 2: Call or email the HMS secretary before 2 PM to request the bus pass and provide all info needed. (bus number, stop name, destination contact name and phone number, dates for pass).

See our full student handbook here. A reminder that the signature page must be turned in to the office for a student to be permitted to attend the dance. https://kpbsd.org/schools/homer-middle/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2024/05/Homer-Middle-School-Handbook-2024-2025.docx-3.pdf

Have you updated your registration for this year yet? If not please do so here https://forms.kpbsd.org/guardian/login?returnUrl=%2Fguardian .

Add funds to your child's lunch account here https://kpbsd.revtrak.net/

Check your child's grades and see if you still owe any course fees in PowerSchool here https://kpbsd.org/students-parents/powerschool/

Are you interested in volunteering at Homer Middle School? Complete the KPBSD volunteer application at this link https://kpbsd.org/departments/assistant-superintendent/instructional-services/hr/volunteer/. Once you are approved, reach out to the office and we can find a way for you to help!

Please take the time to complete the surveys below. They can be filled out at any point in the year and as many times as you would like! We value your compliments and constructive feedback!

• Morning tutoring- 8:00-8:30 am every day in the library

• Morning library- 8:30-8:50 am every day the library is open for work time

• Enrichment- set up a time to meet with a teacher in advance

• Enrichment- the library is open every day to work on class work

• Advisory- most Tuesdays will be study hall. Study hall time may be available other days in advisory as well.

• Work on school work when I am at home!