Waggoner's Word - August 28, 2015

August 28, 2015



Dear Parents,



Calendar of Events for the week of August 31st-September 4th:

Monday, August 31st: Athletic Parent Meeting 5:30PM

Tuesday, September 1st: Band Parent Meeting 7:00PM

Thursday, September 3rd: Orchestra Parent Meeting 6:00PM

Thursday, September 3rd: Spanish Meeting 7:00PM



HOPEWELL STUDENT PHONE and ELECTRONIC DEVICE POLICY:

We are requiring ALL students to have their cell phones turned off and put away from the time when they enter the building in the morning until they leave in the PM.  Students may use their phones during lunch periods to play games and listen to music or when a teacher allows it for instructional purposes such as research using the internet.  Please do not call or text your child during instructional hours.  If you need to get a hold of them, please call the main office at: 512-464-5200.  If you need to meet with a teacher, we ask that you please make an appointment and check in with the front office upon arriving.

PLEASE HELP THE PTA - SHOPAROO

HOPEWELL PTA INFO:

Sign up to Shoparoo to help us raise money for the PTA and enable us to fund the school activities for our students including the 6th Grade Tailgate Party, our two school dances, and books for the Library.  Download the APP and start snapping your receipts - it's that easy!  250 subscribers could earn us up to $1000 this year!

KEEP IN TOUCH WITH PTA

Want to hear from us by TEXT? - then TEXT @jgeorges to 810-10 to get onto our texting database.

Want to hear from us by EMAIL? - make sure you have completed your Membership form and we will add you to our email database.

Want to hear from us on our WEBSITE? - bookmark this link http://teacherweb.com/TX/Hopewell/HopewellMSPTA/apt1.aspx and check in regularly.

Want to hear from us on FACEBOOK? - LIKE Hopewell Middle School PTA.

GENERAL MEETING

Our first General Meeting for the year will be held at the beginning of 7th and 8th Grade Back to School Night.  We hope to see you at 6pm on Wednesday, September 9, 2015 for this meeting.

HOPEWELL CROSS COUNTRY INFO:

If your 7th-8th grade son or daughter is interested in joining the Cross Country Club please join Ms. Baldini, on August 31st at 5:30 girls in the cafeteria, and boys in the gym. She will be sharing information concerning physicals, practice days/times, and CC meets during this time.

HOPEWELL TALENTED & GIFTED INFORMATION:

Heather Byrd one of our 6th grade Language Arts teachers will be helping to coordinate our TAG program at Hopewell this year.   We will be looking at our current program and make the needed adjustments to ensure that our TAG students are being appropriately served and challenged throughout their school day.  We have already made some changes that are more conducive to a middle school structure such as dividing up our 300+ students per grade level into smaller learning communities or Teams.  Our teachers will truly get to know their students, discuss their academic and emotional needs in KID DAY meetings, and more effectively meet the academic needs of our TAG, Special Education and English Language Learners.  Specific TAG improvements will include: One of the three academic teams per grade level will have the TAG identified students, implement a strong Destination Imagination program at Hopewell with Heather Byrd as the DI teacher sponsor, provide and implement professional development sessions for our Hopewell teachers led by Heather Byrd and Michelle Swain who is the RRISD TAG coordinator throughout the school year that will focus on challenging learning strategies, hold a TAG Spring Exhibition that will showcase our TAG students projects that they will be working on second semester, and include TAG information monthly in Waggoner’s Word.  See attached 2015 Enrichment Program Potpourri parents scheduled for September 24th from 6-7PM in the Old Hopewell Meeting Room located next to the RRISD Administration Building.

HORNET HELLO 2015 RECAP:

What a tremendous parent and student turnout for Hornet Hello this past  Monday afternoon and early evening.  Students were able to come in before the first day of school, pick up their schedules, walk their schedules and find their classrooms, and have their ID taken.  Unfortunately we had a problem with assigning the lockers to our students so students were not able to locate them and open them up.  I apologize for that glitch and for all those parents and students that lugged their school supplies up to school only to not be able to get their lockers.  We will make sure next year that doesn’t happen and ALL students get their lockers at Hornet Hello.  Students that were not able to get their ID picture taken due to the long lines will be able to do that this week as well as next week.  Thank you parents for taking your time to support our first annual Hornet Hello and next year will be bigger and better than ever!

6th GRADE WEB RECAP:

A HUGE thank you to both Doug Morgan and Jessica Listi our WEB teacher sponsors for a highly successful 6th grade WEB orientation on Monday morning prior to Hornet Hello.  We had about 250 6th graders out of 300 enrolled attend the event which exceeded our expectations.  Students were involved throughout the morning in orientation and team building activities led by our 8th grade WEB leaders.  Students were able to reconnect with their elementary school friends as well as make new ones from other feeder elementary schools.  We have an incredible 6th grade class with kids that are very respectful, fun and energetic.  The 6th grade parent meeting was so well attended that we filled up the entire lecture hall with standing room only.  I apologize to those parents that were not able to get inside the room due to the large crowd.  We will have it in the cafeteria next year.  It’s going to be a terrific and memorable year!

CURRENT HOPEWELL MS ENROLLMENT:

6th Grade: 334

7th Grade: 337

8th Grade: 318

Total: 989

OPEN ENROLLMENT STILL OPEN FOR ALL RETURNING RRISD & HOPEWELL MS STUDENTS:

Please go to the RRISD website then the parents section, click on Registration then secondary schools and register your child(ren).   Thanks!

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHTS 6-8 PM starting in the cafeteria with a general parent meeting followed by 7 minute classroom visits:

Mark your calendars!

7th and 8th Grades: Wednesday, September 9th

6th Grade: Wednesday, September 16th

NEW CHOIR DIRECTOR FOR HOPEWELL MS:

I am so excited to announce that Mr. Jerry Cordova will be taking over the reins as Hopewell MS Director of Choirs.  He will officially begin next week and is so excited to get started.  He was a highly respected high school choir director in the Northeast ISD in the San Antonio area and we are very lucky to land him here for our students.  HE WILL dramatically ramp up our choir program and build it into one that will be admired district-wide I assure you.  I have sent in a recommendation to hire our part time assistant choir director who will also begin sometime next week.  She will be a tremendous asset to our program and will be a great compliment to the talents of Mr. Cordova.  When she is official, I’ll let you know who she is!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Thanks again everyone for all your support as we successfully launched another school year!


Karl

Waggoner's Word - July 30, 2015

July 30, 2015

Dear Parents,

I cannot believe that it’s the first of August already and that school is only about 20 days away!  I think that the older I get, the faster the summers go!  I wanted to send you this letter early so you can begin planning for the start of school.  Listed below are some dates, events and reminders to definitely put on your calendars prior to Tuesday, August 25^th the first day of school for 2015-2016.

School supplies: Please refer to the school supply list broken down by grade level on our school website. 

Immunizations:  ALL students entering our RRISD must have their shot records up to date.  ALL 7^th graders must have their immunizations current and on file with Jamie Mayfield our school nurse.  If you have any questions, please contact Jamie at: Jamie_mayfield@roundrockisd.org 

New Student Registration: All new students to Hopewell MS will be able to begin registering their child beginning Tuesday, August 11^th -13^th 9AM to 2PM andTuesday, August 18^th-20^th 9AM-2PM in the counselor’s office. You  will need to bring proof of residency (utility statement, copy of lease or mortgage contract), immunization records, birth certificate, social security number, and withdrawal form from child’s previous school/or report card stating promoted grade.

Football Equipment Distribution: 8^th Graders: Thursday, August 20^th from 8:30-11:30AM & 7^th Graders: Thursday, August 20^th 1:00-4:00PM in the gym area.  Make sure that you have your athlete’s physical completed prior to the first day of practice. 

WEB 6^th grade orientation: will be held on Monday, August 24^th from 8:00-Noon in the gym.  Please drop off your 6^th grader on the East side of the building at the student drop off area. WEB stands for Where Everyone Belongs and you can get more information by Googling the BOMMERANG PROJECT and click on the WEB info link.  This will be a terrific start for our incoming 6^th graders with the morning events led by our current 8^th graders.   Our two Teacher Sponsors: Doug Morgan and Jessica Listi have attended extensive training, have spent last spring and this summer planning this event, and will be ready for your 6^th graders! Please only drop off your 6^th graders and not follow them in—I promise, we’ll take great care of them and get them into the swing of Hopewell school life.   We will have a parent meeting starting at 8:30AM in the Lecture Hall.  Parents will be able to begin picking up their child’s schedules with their 6^th grader beginning at noon until 2PM. 

Hornet Hello Event:  Schedule & Locker Pick Up, 6^th graders may get their ID pictures taken, walk their schedules, re-acquaint with friends. 

6^th Grade: Noon – 2PM

8^th Grade: 2PM-4PM

7^th Grade: 4PM-6PM

Open Houses for 2015 school year are now set:  We will begin in the cafeteria with a general parent meeting then parents will be released to follow their child’s schedule periods 1-8 for the balance of the evening.  Teachers will give a brief 7 minute presentation then parents will move on to the next teacher.  We should be finished around 8PM both nights.

7^th and 8^th grades: Wednesday, September 9^th from 6-8PM

6^th grade: Wednesday, September 16^th from 6-8PM

Again, please make sure that ALL outstanding obligations and immunizations are taken care of prior to Hornet Hello on Monday, August 24^th!  You will need to satisfy those obligations prior to your child getting their schedule and locker.  FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL: Tuesday, August 25^th: First Period begins at 8:20AM and the day ends at 3:30PM

Hope you all have a great last few weeks of your summer!  See you in a few weeks for the start of another GREAT Hopewell school year!

Sincerely,

Karl Waggoner

Principal-Hopewell MS