Heartland MS Family Newsletter
Heartland Happenings - March 31, 2024
March is over - let the madness end!! We're headed face-first into April with the end of the year in our sights!! Congrats to all our Spring sports athletes as they have had VERY successful seasons thus far!! If you haven't been out to catch any of the action - the weather is warming up and I certainly encourage you to do so.... We have LOTS of talent in so many areas here at Heartland...
Speaking of talent, I would like to personally invite you to our Thunderhawk Theater's production of "Annie, Jr." premiering this upcoming week! You definitely don't want to miss out on what is sure to be a spectacular event! I've sat in and watch a few snippets of their rehearsals and it is truly impressive! Come out and support our drama/musical productions program as they have been working tirelessly to prepare a fantastic show! See the graphic below for more information regarding showtimes!
Next week is National Assistant Principals Week!! I am so fortunate and thankful to have both Ms. Brown & Mr. McQueen by my side! I wouldn't be the leader that I am today without their strength, example, encouragement & collaboration! The Heartland community is so blessed to have such wonderful, hardworking & truly committed assistant principals! Thank you for setting high expectations for our students and educators. As assistant principals, they have helped to shape the conditions for our teachers and students to learn and succeed. We are forever grateful for their leadership and impact on our Thunderhawk community, keep up the exemplary work! In addition to National AP Week, we will celebrate our wonderful Media Specialist/Library Assistant on Tuesday April 4 for National School Librarian Day! Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Murray are pivotal to the success of our students and invoke a love for reading within each of our Thunderhawks! We can't thank them enough!
I want to take a moment and talk about our eclipse preparations at Heartland... Remember, all schools will be handling this slightly different so please know that the Heartland plan isn't the same as the rest of the district. Also, as another reminder, if you are not comfortable with your student participating in the viewing of the eclipse event on the 8th - there is a link below to opt your student out. We will host the opted out students in the library and we will have a teacher in there with them as they watch a little educational item on the eclipse. We do have solar eclipse glasses for all of our students thanks to the AMAZING support of our Heartland Parent Organization!!! Thank you HPO!! This event will be conducted like an evacuation drill. Students will be escorted out of the building by their 6th hour teacher and will be easily accounted for as each teacher has a designated spot in the parking lot around the building. It should be great! I'll be watching the weather as we get closer. We will begin to congregate outside a little before 1:30pm and we will catch the eclipse at 1:45(ish). The students should come back inside around 2:00pm or so with normal dismissal shortly after that. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to your grade level administrator for further clarification.
As always, should you ever have any questions, ideas or suggestions please feel free to reach out to our office! Let's have a wonderful week, Thunderhawks!
WE ARE...HEARTLAND!
Respectfully,
Veronica Johnson
Principal, Heartland Middle School
405-340-2972
Got Kleenex??
Heartland Parents! We are experiencing a building wide shortage of Kleenex! With all of the Spring allergies going around, we are in dire need of your help! You can only imagine what it's like to have 1100 middle schoolers wiping their noses with their hands and on their sleeves... then touching all their friends and all the door knobs! If you can, please send a box or two with your student and have them drop it off in the front office. We will ensure that the kleenex gets to those teachers in need. We truly appreciate your help and support in this matter!
SOLAR ECLIPSE - APRIL 8TH
As I'm sure you have heard by now - there will be a solar eclipse taking place on April 8th, 2024. Although Edmond will not be in the area of full totality - it will still be noticable from our location. Therefore, we are going to take a full school "field trip" outside to see this event take place. Our Heartland Parent Organization has graciously purchased eclipse glasses for all of our students to use that day. More information on this as we get closer - however - I wanted to let you know that you have the option of opting your student out of this activity should you feel that is appropriate to do so. Looking at an eclipse without the use of protective glasses can be damaging to the eyes. Therefore, if you feel that your student is not ready for this type of activity - please let us know and we will provide a supervised alternate location.
Click Here to opt your student out of the solar eclipse school viewing on April 8th, 2024
2024 OSTP Parent Information
Parent, Student, & Teacher Guides (PSTGs)
Parent, Student and Teacher Guides provide a list of test-taking tips, objectives covered in the test, and practice tests. Parents/guardians are encouraged to discuss these materials with their child to help prepare them for the tests.
English
Spanish
FREE FAMILY EDUCATION WEBINAR
Edmond Public Schools wishes to build strong partnerships with families by offering our parents and guardians the opportunity to access free research based and clinician-led live webinars to build resilient children. It can be hard to understand what your child might be going through. EPS welcomes you to join us from the comfort of your home.
Monday, April 22 from 6:00-7:00 pm
The topic for our first free and confidential webinar with a clinical expert from Daybreak Behavioral Health is Substance Use, including:
- Understanding the prevalence of teen alcohol and drug use
- Learning differences in substance use and abuse
- Learning how to talk to youth about alcohol, drugs, and basics of harm reduction
- Confidential Q&A with a licensed clinician
Click the attached flyer for registration and additional information.
Heartland Spring Book Fair - 2024
Heartland's Spring Book Fair (in partnership with local bookstore Best of Books) is coming soon with two great shopping options. Students may shop at school Tuesday April 9 through Friday April 12 from a selection of books and items for middle school students. Families may also shop in-store (for books and items for all ages) at Best of Books Monday April 8 through Saturday April 13 (just mention Heartland Book Fair at checkout). Heartland Media Center will receive a portion of all sales as store credit to buy more books for our library collection. Thank you for your support!
SMART SOCIAL
Navigating TikTok
This month’s Smart Social Tip of the Month is full of information on a social media app we hear a lot about in the news, TikTok. What is it exactly? Why do students want to spend time on the app? What should you know about it as parents or guardians? And what are some of the biggest concerns related to TikTok? That information is available by clicking this link: https://smartsocial.com/post/tiktok-app?org=edmond
Remember, this is a free resource EPS is providing our families for the remainder of this school year. If you haven’t signed up for your free account yet, when you click the link it will prompt you to sign up.
Future 7th Grade Parents!!
Hello, parents of future 7th graders! As we begin to think about enrollment for next school year, I wanted to make you aware of Oklahoma immunization requirements for students before entering 7th grade. All 7th-grade students will need to have documentation of a Tdap vaccine on file - this is typically given between ages 10-12 and serves as a “booster” to the DTaP vaccine given at an earlier age.
Alternatively, you may complete an Oklahoma Vaccine Exemption form and return it to the school.
Please email all immunization records to torie.moore@edmondschools.net.
ATHLETIC ELIGIBILITY
- Eligibility is run mid-week. For example - we run eligibility on Thursday morning based on grades posted on Wednesday evening. If a student is listed as "ineligible" - that means they can not participate in any OSSAA games scheduled for the next calendar week of Sunday - Sunday. By OSSAA rules - students can still practice during that time. However, individual coaches may have other team rules regarding practice.
- Probation vs. Ineligible. The first week a student has a grade that qualifies them for the eligibility report - they are listed as "on Probation"... At that point in time - they can still participate and play in games. (Again - team rules may be more strict) If the student raises the grade by the next eligibility report run - their name comes off the list and they are good to go. If there is still a grade in question - the student becomes ineligible.
- If a student is listed as ineligible - AND - raises their grade (yay!!) the next time there is a grade in question -- they move back to the probation category. Therefore, there is always a week of grace after a student has worked to get their name off of the list.
Please feel free to contact Heartland Athletic Director Laura Brown with questions as I know it can be confusing.
Bus Information
Click the link and enter your address to find your bus number, bus stop, and pick/drop-off times.
Meal Pay Online and Free Reduced Applications
Add money to your child's lunch account HERE. Apply for free or reduced lunch: CLICK HERE TO APPLY!!
Child Nutrition Website
Heartland Middle School
Veronica Johnson - Lead Principal, 6th Grade
Laura Brown - Asst. Principal, 7th Grade
Paul McQueen - Asst. Principal, 8th Grade
Kim Treece - 6th Grade Counselor
Neika Jackson - 7th Grade Counselor
Cara Bowerman - 8th Grade Counselor
Email: heartland.middleschool@edmondschools.net
Website: https://heartland.edmondschools.net/
Location: Heartland Middle School, Explorer Drive, Edmond, OK, USA
Phone: (405)340-2972
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heartlandmiddleschool