Waggoner's Word October 24, 2014

October 24^th, 2014

Dear Parents,

Calendar of Events for the week of October 27^th-31^st:

Monday, October 27^th: 7^th FBall vs. Hernandez @ Dragon Stadium 5:30PM

Tuesday, October 28^th: 8^th FBall vs. Hernandez @ Hernandez 5:30PM

Wednesday, October 29^th: Early Release 1:30 PM

Thursday, October 30^th: 7^th VBall vs. Chisholm Trail 5:30PM, 8^th VBall @ Chisholm Trail 5:30PM

Saturday, November 1^st: Region Band Auditions time/place TBD

We had our Hopewell MS Mock Election Results for the Texas Gubernatorial Election last Friday afternoon under the eye of polling official Mr. Goins.   The 900 students were all issued a ballot and voted for Governor of Texas.  Below are the results:

Davis: 471 votes

Abbott: 234 votes

Glass: 128

Parmer: 67

Please exercise your right to vote on Tuesday, November 4^th!
 

We are SO excited to be hosting our 3^rd Annual Hopewell MS Fitness Night on Thursday, November 13^thfrom 5:30-7:30PM in the gym, cafeteria, and commons area.  Come meet representatives from the Texas Stars, Round Rock Express, Round Rock Fire, Round Rock K-9 Unit, The Main Event, Austin Aztex, and the Austin Toros now the Austin Spurs.  There will be awesome games, prizes and over 20 local businesses and organizations at Hopewell that night to share all the wonderful ways we can get active and get fit within our own great Round Rock community.  Complete a passport to be entered into a drawing for fitness equipment and passes to the Austin Sports Arena.  The first 50 students to complete the passport will be able to high five our Austin Spurs in the fan tunnel at a game TBD in December.  Students will get more exciting details on the morning announcements and information on the event will be attached to their next progress report next week.  It will be posted on the PTA FaceBook page as well.  Hope to see you all there for this great Hopewell Community event!

The Hopewell Administrators have devised a tardy to class policy which is on our school website listed on the Home Page under our school then under campus information.  We will be making announcementstomorrow over the PA system and teachers will be reviewing it tomorrow during their classes.  Your help and support with our policy will help get our students to class on time and maximize their instructional time.  It’s important that our students are IN class and engaged early in the lesson.  Thanks!

Information on our first annual 6^th Grade Hopewell Tailgate Party is also on the Homepage under the Tardy Policy.  Tickets will be going on sale during 6^th grade lunch next week.  Students will be issued a wristband to redeem their hotdog, chips and water at the game.  Please help make sure that they do not lose it. The Tailgate Flyer will be attached to all the 6^th graders progress reports next week so be looking for that as well!

We want to also make sure that EVERY student at Hopewell MS feels safe while at school.  We do not tolerate bullying and harassing behavior and will investigate every reported bullying and harassment report that we receive.  Please encourage your children to always treat others with dignity and respect.  Certainly teasing is part of middle school, but when the teasing persists and becomes routine and personal is when the line into the bullying and harassment realm is crossed.   Please encourage them to not cross that line and be nice to others.  We have a protocol in place for when bullying is reported to us by students, parents, and staff.  Again, we take every report seriously and do our level best to stop it and hold those students that are bullying responsible.  Thanks for your help with this important initiative.

GET READY FOR DESTINATION IMAGINATION COMING BACK TO HOPEWELL MS!

Texas Destination Imagination is a creative problem solving educational organization that strives to promote creativity in the youth of Texas and the United States.  Texas DI is reaching more than 16,000 students a year.  DI is an extraordinary non-profit organization that provides educational programs for students to learn and experience creativity, problem solving and teamwork and participate in tournaments.  Over 100,000 students are involved in the United States and more than 30 countries provide DI for their kids.  Students and teams are tested to think on their feet, work together and devise original solutions that satisfy the requirements of the various set challenges.  DI is a great opportunity to be involved in 21^st Century Learning and will be a great resume item for college applications.  We are seeking students to be on teams at Hopewell for this school year along with parent volunteers and team sponsors.  Elena Evans and Sarah Sharp are our Hopewell teacher sponsors and will be organizing our teams this year.  Please contact them by October 30^thif your child is interested in participating.  Elena_Evans@roundrockisd.org  orSarah_Sharp@roundrockisd.org

School Dance is tonight, October 24^th. Please make sure that your children are picked up directly after the dance is over.  6^th grade: 6:00-7:30PM, 7^th & 8^th grade: 7:40-9:10PM.  Students may wear costumes but must also be dress code compliant.  No masks may be worn.   Thanks!!

Don’t forget to join the Hopewell PTA.  Membership dues are only $8 and info/forms can be found on the PTA link on the Hopewell homepage.  Thanks!
 

Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Karl

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Waggoner's Word - Special Edition October 21, 2014

October 21^st, 2014

Dear Parents,

This is a special edition of Waggoner’s Word newsletter to let you know of a great after school opportunity for your children. Texas Destination Imagination is a creative problem solving educational organization that strives to promote creativity in the young people of Texas. Texas Destination Imagination is reaching more than 16,200 students a year. “DI” is an extraordinary non-profit organization that provides educational programs for students to learn, participate in and experience creativity, teamwork and more than 100,000 students across the U.S and in more than 30 countries. DI’s core program is an educational program in which teams of five to seven students solve an open-ended Challenge and present their solutions at Tournaments. Teams are tested to think on their feet, work together and devise original solutions that satisfy the requirements of the Challenges.

We are seeking students to be on the team and parent volunteers to co-sponsor teams along with Hopewell DI staff coordinators Ms. Evans-Math Intervention Specialist: elena_evans@roundrockisd.organd Ms. Sharp-6^th and 7^th grade Science teacher: sarah_sharp@roundrockisd.org.  Please contact them by October 30th, if you and your student are interested in participating. We are making announcements this week over our PA system promoting DI to our students.

For more information, please go to the Destination Imagination website at: http://www.destinationimagination.org

Waggoner's Word - October 17th, 2014

October 17th



Dear Parents,



Calendar of events for the Week of October 20th -24th:

Monday, October 20th: Hopewell Pet Clinic 5-7PM @ Hopewell Front Entrance (See attached file)

Monday, October 20th: Boys 7th Grade FB @ CD Fulkes 5:30PM

Tuesday, October 21st: Boys 8th Grade FB vs. CD Fulkes @ Dragon Stadium

Wednesday, October 22nd: Fall Orchestra Concert, Cafeteria 7PM

Thursday, October 23rd: Volley Ball vs. Ridgeview, 7th @ Ridgeview, 8th @ Home

Friday, October 24th: Student Council Dance-6th Grade: 6-7:30PM, 7th/8th Grades 7:30-9PM

Saturday, October 25th: All Region Choir Auditions, Henry Middle School



Our Hopewell Girls volleyball teams were in action Thursday after school as they played Hernandez MS @ Stony Point HS.  Our two SPHS feeder rivals squared off and our 7th grade A and B teams both won while Hernandez got the best of both our 8th grade teams in very close matches.  The girls fought hard and represented our great school with great pride.  We are very proud of our girls Hornet volleyball teams and coaches!



We had a great day of professional learning on Monday as teachers met in their departments and grade level teams throughout the day.  They spent the day collaborating and planning lessons, reviewing assessment data, and looking at future units of study for the students.  Their mission in every lesson is to incorporate both academic rigor and to make the learning relevant for the students.  I invited the Elective staff from Hernandez Middle School to collaborate with our Elective staff on lesson and unit ideas, and benchmark ways to make their subjects more engaging for our students.   Although our students had the day off, our teachers were at Hopewell working hard to ensure that your children are getting the best education possible and are ready for high school when they leave us.



8th grade parents and students mark your calendars for our first HIGH SCHOOL 101 Middle School to High School transition evening event on Wednesday, November 5th from 6:30-8:00PM in our Hopewell Cafeteria!  The Stony Point High School Academy Directors, International Baccalaureate, and Navy ROTC will be presenting the five academies that all students will be choosing, an overview of House Bill 5 and required endorsements, and what the 2014-2015 timeline will be for transitioning our students to high school.  This event is for both 8th grade parents AND students and our incredible PTA will be providing some sweet treats.  We will have a general meeting starting promptly at 6:30PM in the cafeteria followed by time for you to visit with the various academy directors and Stony Point HS students involved in those programs of study.  This will be an incredible evening and I hope all 8th grade parents and students will attend.



If you have not purchased your PTA membership for $8.00 yet, please do so.  You may go to our school website and click on the PTA link on the left side, then go to forms and documents, then PTA membership form.  It’s as easy as that!  I am only a few teachers shy of having 100% Hopewell staff participation and am hoping that our parents will join as well to help support this hard working organization.  Thanks!



Our Hopewell School-Wide Reading Initiative is off to a great start.  Thanks for your help and support in getting this important initiative successfully launched.  Our Language Arts staff will be checking in with our students each week to see where they are with their books, check comprehension and vocabulary development.  It does seem pretty obvious the benefits this program will bring for all our students and will be a part of Hopewell as long as I’m here.  Thanks again for your support.



When you get a chance to take a minute out of your busy schedules, drop some of your child’s teachers an email or note thanking them for all they do.  Our teachers work so hard for your children and go above and beyond the call of duty each and every day.   I have yet to be a part of a more dedicated, student-centered staff than ours as a whole.  I will tell you that they will truly appreciate your acknowledgement and confirmation for their hard work.



As we head into flu season, we will be taking precautions here at Hopewell.  Our custodians do an exceptional job keeping our school clean and disinfected every day.  We will have extra alcohol free hand sanitizers in classrooms, restrooms, and the cafeteria throughout the building.  We are encouraging our staff to get their flu shots and keep their hands washed throughout the day.   It’s important that we collectively do all we can here at Hopewell to keep our students and staff well this winter.



Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Karl

Waggoner's Word - October 10, 2014

October 10th, 2014
Waggoner’s Word

Dear Parents,

Calendar of Events for the Week of October 13th-17th:
Monday, October 13th: RRISD Staff In-Service Day-No School
Tuesday, October 14th: 7th Grade FB vs. Grisham @ Dragon Stadium 5:30PM
Wednesday, October 15th: 8th Grade FB vs. Grisham @ Westwood HS 5:30PM
Thursday, October 16th: RRISD Cross – Country District meet
Thursday, October 16th: 7th & 8th Grade VB vs. Hernandez @ Stony Pt. HS 5:30PM
Friday, October 17th: Grade Level First 6 Weeks Awards Assemblies: 6th grade-10:00 am, 7th grade-8:25 am, 8th grade-1:45 pm all in the cafeteria

On Monday, October 13th during our RRISD Professional Learning In-Service day, the Hopewell teachers will be engaged in meetings throughout the day to plan lessons and activities, common tests, and look at STAAR data to ensure that all students are getting the instruction they require to be successful.  Our core academic staff (Math, Science, Social Studies, and Language Arts) will be meeting in their specific departments to ensure that each designed lesson and assessments or tests include the appropriate level of rigor, are geared towards the interests of their students and are relevant to real world applications.  Additionally, our special education staff will be engaged in the core academic discussions and meetings to ensure that they are privy to the lesson and assessment designs in order to better  support their special needs students.  Our elective staff will be meeting with the elective staff at our sister school, Hernandez MS.  We will be hosting the Art, Spanish, Computer and Technology, and PE staffs for collaboration and lesson idea sharing.  Our Fine Arts Department will be meeting as a group in the morning to talk with me about next year’s scheduling and how to support our efforts of ramping up the rigor and relevance in all our school programs including the fine arts.  It should be a great day of collaboration, professional dialog and planning to ensure that your children are getting the best possible instruction.

On Wednesday, October 15th, Lulu Rubio – Hopewell MS 6th grader and 25 other visually impaired students from RRISD will be taking part in the White Cane Walk in Austin.  This Walk will raise awareness for the Blind and Visually Impaired Community.

The first week of our school-wide reading initiative has been a great success.  I have been in classrooms all week and the vast majority of our students had a book with them.  Students are reading when all assigned work is finished and during advisory each day.  We believe that this required reading will improve comprehension, fluency rate, vocabulary depth, as well as their writing skills.  We also believe that our students will be in the routine of reading stories in preparation for the STAAR assessments later in the year.  It would be a great help if you at home would ask your child about their book and ask them at dinner or at another convenient family time to summarize what their book is about or the chapter they are reading.  This will help them get in the habit of comprehending their reading which will help us out here at school.  Advisory teachers will also meet with students to discuss, summarize and reflect what they have read.

Our incredible Hopewell Librarian Michelle McLaughlin has a great system for our students to check out books online via an app.  MackinVIA is a program that students, faculty, and parents can use to checkout and download ebooks from the Hopewell Library.  Students will need to download the MackinVIA app on to their personal device and sign in with their username and password they use at school.  Ebooks and audiobooks can then be checked out and downloaded to their personal device and read offline.  All ebooks downloaded will be for a three week period.  Please contact Michelle McLaughlin at 512-464-5222 for more information.   This is a great opportunity for students to engage in our school-wide reading initiative.  IF you and your child make the decision to bring their personal device to school, remember the school or RRISD is not responsible if it is stolen, damaged or lost.


Reminder, please encourage your child to advocate for themselves when having an issue with a teacher.  If the problem persists and you need to further find out the situation then please contact the teacher prior to contacting an administrator.  I feel that it’s important that the teacher be given the opportunity to explain the situation since they have the details.  Thanks!

Please remember to join the Hopewell MS PTA.  Membership dues are only $8.00 and this money will help support our great parent – teacher association as well as the students and staff at Hopewell MS.  You may go to the PTA link on our school website for information and a donation form.  Thanks!

Our Hopewell Student Council is finalizing our Veteran’s Day Assembly on November 11th for our students.  They have secured a guest speaker, are putting together a program that includes our fine arts programs, and are implementing a Veteran’s Day essay contest in conjunction with our Language Arts department. ALL Veterans are invited to attend this important recognition event that will be tentatively held from 8:30 to approximately 9:15 on November 11th.  More details will follow.

I am in the process of setting up meetings with our four Hopewell feeder elementary school principals to discuss the important 5th to 6th grade transition process for our rising 6th graders.  In early February, I plan on taking three alumni to each feeder elementary to talk about school life at Hopewell, give a presentation, meet the principal, and answer their questions.  Additionally, I am meeting with the Stony Point HS counselors, along with our counselors, to talk about the 8th – 9th grade transition.  We will soon be planning a parent night for Hopewell’s rising 9th grade parents to review House Bill 5, now required Academy and endorsements, 4 year graduation plans, orientation information, and any other information that is pertinent to this huge transition from middle school to high school.  More information will be coming home soon with your 8th grader and also will be posted on our school website.

On October 15, 2014 all 8th graders in Hopewell Middle School will be taking the ReadiStep assessment, a test that measures reading, writing and math skills students learn in school. Your child does not need to do any special preparation for ReadiStep. However, it is important to eat a good breakfast and come to school focused on test day.  ReadiStep will help your child gain early insight into the skills he or she will need for success in high school and college. ReadiStep measures the same types of skills that are measured by the PSAT/NMSQT® and SAT®, tests students take in high school as they progress toward college.  Students participating in ReadiStep will receive a score report that shows how they performed on each test section and each question. Additionally, they’ll be able to see how their scores compared to those of other students across the country.  Your child’s ReadiStep results will be shared with teachers and administrators in our school district, but they will not be shared with colleges or other organizations. The results will be used to help us better understand students’ strengths and weaknesses so we can help them improve areas that need additional work as they make the transition to high school.


If you have questions about your school’s ReadiStep administration, please contact Mr. Meave - Assistant Principal. Additional information is available online at readistep.collegeboard.org/student.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Karl

Misc News:

RRISD recently switched to a new vendor and is no longer able to run criminal history background checks without a social security number. We are working towards a solution and appreciate your patience. In the meantime, any campus guest who does not have a social security number must log into Raptor as Visitor and will not be allowed to be unsupervised by district staff with a child who is not their own. Again, thank you for your patience. As soon as a solution is available, we will contact pending applicants and post instructions for future applicants on the district website.


Round Rock ISD Healthy Lifestyles invites you to our annual Healthy Living Celebration and FUN RUN
Activities include Fun Run, Rock climbing wall, mechanical bull, flash mob, board breaking contest, Yoga, "Amazing Race" obstacle course, face painting, facials, massages, reflexology, sports drills, nutrition, GMO and cooking demonstrations, healthy food samples, medical screenings and SO much more FREE fun.  Fun Run begins at 12:30 pm on the Westwood track, prizes for top finishers.  ADULTS you are invited too.
BRING YOUR BIKE for a free tune up, safety check and fun bike drills on the track.
WHEN
November 08, 2014 at 12pm - 3pm
WHERE
Westwood High School
12400 Mellow Meadow Dr
Austin, TX 78750
CONTACT
Leslie Cullers • pearlcullers@mac.com • 512-797-9961


If your student is on free or reduced lunch:
You can pick up a "Coats for Kids Flyer" from the school nurse.
*Every person must pre-register at the Round Rock Area Serving Center*
Pre-Registration Time: Monday - Friday from 10 am - 3 pm and Saturday 9 am -11:30 am
Location: Round Rock Area Serving Center, 1099 E. Main Street. Phone number:  (512) 244-2431.
All applicants must have the following to receive a voucher:
1. Coats for Kids Flyer
And one of the following forms of identification:
1. Social Security Card
2. Birth Certificate
3. Medicaid Card
4. CHIP Card

*Please bring information for ALL children in the family that are in need of a coat.
The coat distribution will be on Saturday, October 25th, from 8 am-11am.
It will be held at the Dell Diamond located on Highway 79 & Old Settler's Park. **Only families with a voucher will receive a coat on Distribution Day!!   ***Pre-Registration is required!***

Jamie Mayfield, BSN, RN
School Nurse
Hopewell Middle School
(512) 464-5217 -phone
(512) 464-5349 -fax

Waggoner's Word - October 3, 2014

Waggoner’s Word October 3rd, 2014



Dear Parents,

Calendar of Events for the Week of October 6th – 10th:

Monday, October 6, 7:00pm – 8:30pm

Description: Community Event celebrating the desegregation of Hopewell Middle School. The Hopewell MS Show Choir will be the featured entertainment at this event.

Where: Texas State University - Round Rock Campus, 1555 University Blvd, Round Rock, TX, United States (map)

Tuesday, October 7th:  7th FB vs. Chisholm Trail @ Dragon Stadium

Wednesday, October 8th:  8th FB vs. Chisholm Trail @ Chisholm Trail

Thursday, October 9th: 5:30pm :Volleyball vs. C.D. Fulkes, 8th Home 7th @ C.D. Fulkes

Friday and ALL DAY Saturday, October 10th and 11th  Region Orchestra Auditions @ Hopewell MS

Saturday, October 11th: Hopewell Cross Country @ Georgetown Invitational at San Gabriel Park

Monday, October 13th: NO SCHOOL-RRISD Staff In-Service and Professional Learning Day



Last weekend, the Hopewell Lady Hornets 7th grade A volleyball team made history by winning 2nd place in their tournament. The success in the tournament performance came after a 0-3 start to district play.  Coach Sanders feels that the team has improved tremendously, and is coming together.  She looks forward to a strong finish in their remaining district games.  Congratulations Lady Hornets on a great performance!



Beginning  Monday, October 6th, we will start a Hopewell school wide Reading Initiative for all our students.  They will be required to bring a book to all their classes to read when finished with any class work.  Students may check out books or novels from the incredible Hopewell library or bring a book or novel from home.  We will not be allowing magazines at this point in the initiative.  Our students spend an incredible amount of time on their phones, texting, using social media, surfing the internet and are moving away from actually reading books or novels.  Reading will improve their comprehension, vocabulary development, and fluency.  These are all essential skills to be successful in high school, college, and in life.  Please support our efforts here at Hopewell with this Reading Initiative by talking it up at home. Take your children this weekend to get a good book at a favorite book store, at the library or from your home.  Thanks!



Please make sure that you are on time to pick up your students from the school dance Friday night.  The 6th grade dance is from 6:00-7:30 and the 7th/8th dance is from 7:30-9:00.  We do not want our students to be hanging around the school after the dance is over so please help us by picking them up by 7:30 or 9:00.  Thanks!



I have posted on our school website our Hopewell mission for how we are approaching instruction: RIGOR, RELEVANCE, and RELATIONSHIPS.  We are taking professional learning time with our Instructional Coaches, Department Chairs and Department Grade Level Teachers to ensure that we are adequately covering the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge Skills) and basic fundamentals while increasing the amount of rigor through higher order thinking strategies.  We are going to review our questioning strategies, daily lessons and tests to ensure that a higher percentage of these include higher order thinking such as applying what students have learned and applying to a real world situation or by creating a new product.  None of this can be accomplished until we have created a positive, nurturing, caring learning environment for our students.  The school climate at Hopewell is very special and we will continue to increase our positive behavior supports for our students throughout this school year.  We are planning many fun events for students in all grade levels to tighten their connection to Hopewell.  Hopewell is a middle school where everyone belongs.  We are working hard in our professional learning to ensure that goal is achieved.  Students may not always remember what they learned, but they will always remember how we made them feel.



We will no longer honor student schedule change request effective October 1st.   We are too deep into the first semester to make schedule changes, as six weeks of curriculum and instruction have already been completed.  I also encourage you to have your child advocate for themselves if they have a problem in a class or with a teacher.  Encourage them to talk with the teacher first and if the problem has not been resolved then you should contact the teacher to get the scoop.  Thanks!



We are planning our Hopewell Homecoming for Tuesday, November 4th at Dragon Stadium.  We will be not doing mums for our students this year, but will instead hold a tailgate party for our 6th graders at our last 8th grade football game of the season.  We’re starting a new tradition at Hopewell. We will be cooking hotdogs, playing music, be led by our Hopewell Cheerleaders in cheers, and will then walk over to the game.   The Tailgate Party will be sponsored by our incredible PTA led by our PTA President, Amy Hinds.  The army of moms and dads will be providing a fun event for our 6th graders that normally are not included in after school events or are allowed to participate in UIL athletic events until 7th grade.  More information on this HUGE 6th grade event will be coming in the next couple of weeks.



Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Enjoy the cooler weather!



Karl