The HMS Family Digest
#InYourCorner #FlipTheScript
"I am a Harpeth Middle Champion. I know what I stand for. I will never give up!"
A short week ahead with a couple of 8th grade nights for soccer, football, and cheer!
Hello HMS Champions!
It's a short week! Please bring back all of your signed papers! The white card, laptop/internet agreement forms (with $30) free/reduced food form, and your nurse paper!
Dr. Williams and A.P. Layne
Color Run Fundraiser!
Congrats to Kooper Burns for bringing in the most donations last week!
Next turn in date is this Thursday, September 5th and last turn in date is Sept. 13th! Ask your family and friends to donate to help our hardware store, keep supplies coming in, keep the lab stocked, and more!
Mrs. Carlton would love some soil for her gardening class!
If you would like to donate, please email karen.carlton@ccstn.org .
Teacher Amazon lists if you would like to contribute!
Mr. Vaughn's Band info in his Smore newsletter!
Congrats to 24-25 Student Council!
The first Friday Hardware Store was a success!
PUT IT ON YOUR CALENDAR!
For all of those thinking "not my kid" or "my kid would never look at things they shouldn't" or "human trafficking only happens in foreign countries"...you SHOULD COME AND LEARN a few things.
FREE SPAGHETTI!!!!!!!!!!
Our theme this year is #FlipTheScript !
The goal is that we would empower our students to think more independently, own their own learning, care, so they can have even more confidence in themselves and their abilities! We want our teachers to always teach the content, fill in the gaps, support, but to make sure they are allowing students the opportunity to make mistakes, to be vulnerable and try on their own, as well as struggle a little. Please read the article below to understand further. Thanks!
A huge thank you to our Parent Posse for feeding us to celebrate August staff Birthdays!
Happy Birthday, SRO Bell! Thank you for helping anyone and everyone!
A great week of learning about Native American history (and present day) in 5th & 8th grade!
Clubs start THIS WEEK! They are all started by kids!
Airplane lab in 8th grade Science in the outside classroom!
Construction class!
Hard at work in Mrs. Abby's class!
Avery's dad came to share about motorcycles in Auto class!
Woodworking class is on a mission!
Lunch accounts
Please check your student's lunch account and make sure they aren't charging and racking up a debt!
This upcoming week!
Monday 9/2: NO School! Labor Day!
Tuesday 9/3: Girls Soccer 8th grade night-Home game! Home Vball game! Baseball parent meeting, 5:30pm! Unified Club 7:15-7:40am/ YOGA 3-4pm
Wednesday 9/4: A great day of learning! Art Club 7:20-7:40am
Thursday 9/5: Home Vball game! 8th grade night for Football & Cheer- home game! FCA 7:15-7:40am/ Lego-Chess Club 3-4pm.
Friday 9/6: A great day of learning! Spirit week is next week! More info this week!
Our staff loves to support our students inside and out of school!
Students have a chance to go to the library in ELA class, but also every morning before 7:45am!
Our students are so creative!
HMS Swag open all year long! New swag below!
FYI
Invest in your child and staff! It's open now!
Year round Invest in your Child and Staff Account!
Our "Invest In Your Child" account supports our General fund to pay for HMS' monthly supplies, positive incentives for the kiddos, OR you can donate to the staff fund, just write "staff."
https://cheathamcountyschools.revtrak.net/hms/hms-invest-in-your-child/#/v/HMSinvestinyourchild
Attendance matters!
What cups are allowed and not allowed!
Please check out our student handbook and changes to dress code!
Go ahead and pay for your class fee/donation!
Our school website!
BOX TOPS!
This is an easy and free way to earn extra money for our school!” Here is the link to get the app! Thank you! https://www.boxtops4education.com/s/
BOX TOPS! No longer clipping; now scanning!
SCAN: If you see this label, do not send it to school. Use the new Box Tops app to scan your store receipt within 14 days of purchase. The app will find participating products and instantly add Box Tops to your school’s earnings online.
Want to donate to the hardware store but do not know what to donate??? Here you go!
A note from Parent Posse
You can always reach out to hmsparentposse@gmail.com to keep up to date with the latest updates. ALSO, if you want to support the staff fund, buy a bracelet made by the Parent Posse in the front office for $5!
-Captain Katie Jones, Co-captain Brandi Edwards, and First Mate Leah McMahon
24-25 Calendar! Semester 1!
Aug 16- Sept 13 Color Run fundraiser!
Sept 3- Girls Soccer 8th grade night!
Sept 5- Football and Cheer 8th grade night! And, Goal Update at the BOE!
Sept 13- Progress Reports!
Sept 12- 8th grade night for volleyball!
Sept 9-13- HMS Spirit Week!
Sept 20- Color Run and Food day!
Sept 25- HHS Homecoming Festival
Sept 26- HHS Carnival
Sept 27- HHS Homecoming
Sept 27- Parent Posse Sept Bday lunch
Sept 20- 11:45 Dismissal & COLOR RUN with FOOD DAY!!
Sept 24- Cyber Safety/Hidden in Plain sight night, 6pm
October-ROLL THE ARK with Toilet Paper-contest!
Oct 4- PBIS party and food day!
Oct 9-11- LBL 7th grade
Oct 9-11- School in the Wild 6th grade
Oct 14-18- Fall Break! No School!
Oct 21-25- School Bus Safety Week! Thank a bus driver!
Oct 19- Cheatham Co. Educator Hall of Fame ceremony at night.
Oct 25- Report cards go home for 1st 9wks
Oct 25- Parent Posse October Bday lunch
Oct 28-Nov 1- RED RIBBON WEEK!
Oct 29- Free Family Movie night in the HMS front yard! Starts at dark. Miss Red’s Food Truck!
Oct 30- Halloween Dance! 3-5:15pm $5
November- ARK can drive competition
Nov 1- Parent/Teacher Conference Day-9-4pm- No Students
Nov 5- Election Day- no school
Nov 6- - Picture retakes/make ups!
Nov 8- Veterans Day Performance 8:15-9:15am
Nov 11- Veterans Day Observance- No School- Thank a Veteran or write them a letter!
Nov 12- Band and Choir concert
Nov 13- World Kindness Day! Wear a cardigan or sweater like Mr. Rogers! Wear socks w/hands if you have them!
Nov 18- School Psychologist Day! Thanks Dr. Edwards!
Nov 21- Thanksgiving lunch- sign up through the link!
Nov 21- Steam/Soup/Silent Auction night! 6pm! (Students display STEAM, we eat free soup, & enjoy the silent auction and performances !)
Nov 22- Progress Reports & food day!
Nov 22- Parent Posse November Bday lunch
Nov 27-29- Thanksgiving Break!
Dec 6- 11:45 dismissal- CAREER DAY!
Dec 5-20th- Holiday Cheer Dress up days!
Dec 10- Band and choir concert
Dec 11th-13th - Student Council will: 1. Sell $1 Candy canes and S’s get a vote for a staff to be human sundae’d…2. Have holiday cheer grams for free! You can write a holiday cheer gram to someone. All will be delivered Dec. 17-19th.
Dec 13- Parent Posse December Bday lunch
Dec 16- Chorus & Band visit KSES & PFAMS to perform.
Dec 18- Color Run in school party
Dec 19- PBIS party and food day!
Dec 20-10:45 dismissal- Pep Rally w/Human Sundae & Spring sports
Dec 23-Jan 6- Winter Break! (Staff reports back Jan 6- Students report back on Jan 7)
Adults to celebrate!
August BOE Employee of the Month!
Ms.Michela! Michela Colter is an amazing special education teacher! With a constant lack of special education teachers, Michela takes charge & makes sure students get what they need. She is super organized and helps all of our special education staff & we appreciate her extra effort! Love you big!
August Thornton's Teacher of the Month!
Coach Wallace! He is amazing and we only thought he was a great P.E. teacher, he is incredible as a Science teacher too! Thank you for being a great coach, mentor, and leader. We appreciate you!
August AK Lube & Auto Parents of the Month!
The Verhoven's! Todd and Sylvia are so nice. They genuinely want to help and be involved in any way to help HMS. Thank you for caring; we appreciate you!
Info that stays in the newsletter all year:
Reminder-CAR RIDERS:
Stay up to date on HMS Sports! See our Athletic Facebook page!
Go Fan & cash for Game tickets!
Sports reminders! Same applies for winter & fall sports! Thx!
We are now accepting cash at the gate, too!
Shop at Publix? Did you know every time you shop there, a portion of your purchase could go back to the school?!
For Publix:
- Join Club Publix and log into your account at publix.com
- In your ClubPublix profile, select My Publix Partner to choose Harpeth Middle School.
- Pay with the Publix app or enter your phone number at checkout and Publix will donate a portion of your eligible purchase to our school!
- See how much our school has earned and learn more at publix.com/partners
Safety!
Safety Policy update:
·If you come to the school during school hours, you will be asked to show your ID to the camera at the door and be prepared to answer these questions:
o What is your first and last name?
o What is the purpose of your visit?
o What is the student’s first and last name?
· If you are checking your child out of school, you will be asked to wait outside while we bring your child to you.
•If you would like to have a meeting with a teacher or administration, please call or email ahead of time to set up a meeting.
· Families are still welcome to have lunch with students. We ask that you let our front office know that you are coming beforehand and that you do not show up unexpectedly. We cannot let visitors eat with students in the cafeteria unless you let us know to be expecting you. You are welcome to call the morning you plan on visiting to give us a heads up.
· We also ask that you let our front office know if you are having something delivered to your child. We will not accept deliveries that we do not know about beforehand.
Safety reminders:
FOOD!
Get the lunch app to see what we are having every day!
Eating with your student!
Interested in paying for other students' lunch? Here is the link for the Pay It Forward account. Revtrak opens in August.
Revtrak will open in August.
Academics!
How to find the link on our website to the standards!
*For those who play, I lost! ;)
Info on RTI!
Below is the Classlink page that takes you to Schoology.
Random!
A reminder about searching:
REMINDER for upcoming 7th graders from the Nurse!
Become a sub!
Looking for a way to help our school? Become a substitute teacher through ESS!
ESS Benefits include:
- Be on your child’s schedule and present in their school
- Free entry to sporting events in Cheatham County with proof of ESS badge
- Eligible for local discounts as part of the Cheatham Advantage Program
- Eligible for nationwide discounts as part of ESS Discount Program
- Eligible for Medical and Dental Benefits
You only need 4 free days per month to sub or we have positions available daily if you prefer full time work.
You will need to complete the application here: https://jobs.willsubplus.com/
Contact Carly Moore with any questions. cmoore@ess.com 615.210.3621
HMS stance on grading and feedback:
At HMS we believe grades are used for communication about where our students are with their learning. Our teachers give feedback which is vital and often more beneficial than an actual "number grade" because this guides students to understand what they are learning or not.
We are at the perfect time to continue to shift our numerical grade focused culture (which sends students into anxiety stricken panic attacks at times) into one that is more determined for students to LEARN the content. A numerical grade should reflect this learning and help students realize where they are with learning the standards, but often it deters them from trying to learn the content because so much pressure is riding on what grade they received.
However, please note, in the process of learning, there is a struggle and students make mistakes. They won't always master the standard immediately. This is okay! Mistakes are literal proof that a child is learning. This is why teachers reteach and retest. Did you know that when direct feedback is given to a student versus a 65 (or any number) on their paper, research shows that students (adults included) are more motivated to go back, correct, and learn the concept? Not only that, the students RETAIN the information.
All of that to say, our goal is that you as a parent, will know more about where your child is in their learning. We ask that you help us in this shift and when you talk with your students about school, ask "what are you learning?" instead of "what are your grades?" Somehow, we have a huge disconnect in our culture, not just here at HMS, that many students just want a grade, rather than to learn something. This will not serve our students well going forward, nor will it help our society.
Here at HMS, a numerical grade should represent the level of learning; it's for communication.
If all of this is clear as mud, just let me know and we will talk :)
Dr. Williams
New student registration!
ALSO, if your student is coming from Pegram or Kingston Elementary, they are NOT NEW and DO NOT need to register. ;)
Stay in Touch!
Twitter: @HMSIndians
Facebook: HMSIndians
https://www.harpethmiddleccs.net/
FAX #: 615.952.4723
Email: audra.fowler@ccstn.org
Website: https://www.harpethmiddleccs.net/
Location: 170 Harpeth View Trail, Kingston Springs, TN, USA
Phone: 615-952-2293
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HMSINDIANS/
Twitter: @hmsindians


