Hidden River Newsletter
February 2nd - 6th, 2026
This Week:
Mon., Feb. 2nd - Start of Quarter 3/ Semester 2
Next Week (2/9-2/13)
Mon., Feb. 9th - National African American Parent Involvement Day (NAAPID) from 9:00am-2:00pm
Tues., Feb. 10th - Ribbon Cutting Event from 4:00-5:00pm
Fri., Feb 13th - Dance/Activity Day 1:30-3:00pm
Quarter 3 starts Monday, February 2nd: New schedules can be viewed online via Campus Portal.
Please remind your student to fully charge their iPad as they will be needed to view their Q3 schedule. Please connect with the Hidden River Counselors with any scheduling questions.
8th Grade Families ONLY: Yearbook would like to add baby pictures of our 8th graders. Please use the link and code below to submit a picture. If you do not have an account you will have to create a Lifetouch account. URL: https://community.lifetouch.com/invite?code=GO-OTTERS-26 Code: GO-OTTERS-26.
Parent/guardian pick-up: During arrival and dismissal and during after-school dismissal, parent pick up is on Cambridge St. The bus lane is being used from 8-9am, 2-3pm and 4:30-5:00pm and cars cannot get through. Students have been instructed to wait at the Cambridge St door for their ride.
ACCESS Testing Update: ACCESS testing will begin for EL students this week. Students who are temporarily learning virtually (TVLO) have the option to come to school and do the ACCESS test. Families can reach out to Katie Bannon (kathryn.bannon@spps.org) if they would like to have their students take the test.
Writer's Workshop with Ms. Thorson (6th Grade):
Quarter 2 ended with a philosophical chairs summative - students learned how to debate with each other respectfully and the students did awesome! They took turns disagreeing about controversial topics, such as if waffles are better than pancakes and what piece of the brownie is the best.
Theatre Arts with Ms. Thorson:
First semester ever of theatre arts class finished this week with dramatic performances of original plays! The creativity of these students is impressive and I was blown away by how supportive they were of each other. Thanks for an awesome semester!
Prospective Family Open House - Volunteers Needed:
Want to share your families experience at Hidden River with prospective families? Our Family-Staff Organization (FSO) is hoping to coordinate volunteer (parents and students) to represent the elementary schools that funnel into Hidden River at the upcoming Open House on January 29th from 5:00–6:30 PM. We would also love to have current Central students talk about how Hidden River prepared them for high school.
Volunteers will help greet families, share their experience moving from elementary school to middle school and from middle school to high school, and answer general questions. If you’re interested in supporting this event, we’d love to have you join us. Please sign up for a shift and let us know which school you will represent in this sign-up form.
Hidden River Helpers:
Thanks to everyone who has reached out to support Hidden River families over the last few weeks. Our community is strong, generous, and so full of love. Here are a few updates:
We are reaching out to all families who have chosen the Temporary Virtual Learning Option. Their needs for extra support (transportation, groceries, laundry, etc.) had been small and were covered by HRMS staff, but as time passes and the situation escalates, those needs have grown. We are beginning to use volunteers to shop grocery orders. If you’d like to volunteer to support Hidden River, or other SPPS schools, in this way, please complete this form: https://form.jotform.com/260104997848065
We are currently collecting donations through Venmo for meeting HRMS families' immediate needs. You can donate at https://www.venmo.com/u/HRMS-Helpers.
Our amazing Social Workers have also been collecting $50 Gift Cards that our teams leave with families so they have access to resources after we leave. These can be to a specific store (Target, Cub, Walmart, etc.) or cards that families can use to have goods delivered (Uber/UberEats, DoorDash, Prepaid Visa cards). Any donations can be brought to the HRMS Main Office.
We have also received many questions on school patrols. There is no current need for parent patrols at Hidden River. Hidden River is fully staffed at drop-off and pick-up with teachers, support staff, administrators, and security. Interior and exterior areas are monitored, and protocols are in place if ICE is observed near the school. SPPS has asked that observers not be on school grounds for safety reasons. Parents who choose to observe may do so from public sidewalks across the street. If this situation changes, we will let you know.
And finally, if you are a family needing support - or know of a family we should reach out to - please call the school and let us know or email HiddenRiverHelpers@gmail.com.
Debate Team Tournament on January 29
Congratulations to the 22 Hidden River Debaters who participated in our first tournament of the year despite multiple last minute changes. (The original tournament was canceled on 1/21 due to school cancelation, and then the tournament was moved to virtual.) We give our students props for going with the flow and working hard despite the challenges we have faced!
Students competed in two rounds of policy debate, arguing both the affirmative and negative sides of a plan to increase funding for IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act). Hidden River Debaters took home. FIRST PLACE in BOTH divisions that we entered students in, as well as many individual and team medals.
SECOND PLACE JUNIOR VARSITY DIVISION - Jack G. and Max S.
FIRST PLACE ROOKIE DIVISION - Benica B. and Fatema E.
Congratulations again to all the debaters! Our next tournament will take place at the end of February and we hope to be able to welcome spectators.
