September 18, 2015
Dear Parents,
Calendar of Events for the Week of: September 21–25:
Monday, September 21st: 7th Football vs. Ridgeview @ Dragon Stadium 5:30PM
Tuesday, September 22nd: 8th Football vs. Ridgeview @ Cedar Ridge HS 5:30PM
Wednesday, September 23rd: Early Release for Teacher Professional Development 1:30PM
Thursday, September 24th: 7th and 8th Volleyball vs. Walsh 5:30PM/ 7th Home & 8th Away
Friday and Saturday: A Volleyball Tournament / Locations times TBD
6th OPEN HOUSE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16th
We had a great turnout for our 6th grade back to school night this week. As parents strolled in with their 6th graders, they were met with cheers by our 8th grade WEB Leaders. It was a great beginning to a terrific night where parents were able to glean some information from administration and then walk their 6th graders schedule and meet their teachers. We are changing the culture at Hopewell to one where the focus is on the best interests of our students. Our WEB (Where Everyone Belongs) program helps ensure that our students are not only getting the best academic education at Hopewell but are also connecting emotionally with their school. BOTH are critical to the overall healthy development of our children. Thanks for your support!
STONY POINT HS HOMECOMING FOOTBALL GAME TONIGHT FRIDAY, SEPT. 18th
All Hopewell MS students and families are welcome to attend this exciting Stony Point Homecoming football game at Reeves Athletic Complex starting at 7PM tonight. All our Hopewell students have to do is show up to the game, bring their school spirit, wear their Hopewell T- shirt and bring along a parent/guardian to cheer on the Tigers as they take on rival the Round Rock HS Dragons. Parents attending and students attending without their parents will need to pay full admission price. There will be announcements made during the game, recognizing Hopewell MS. Please join in the fun and excitement and take in a great high school football game and cheer on the Stony Point Tigers tonight at Reeves Athletic Complex!
MINOR BUS INCIDENT WEDNESDAY AM IN TERAVISTA
We had a minor bus accident in Teravista Wednesday morning where a brand new bus driver was having some difficulty navigating a specific portion of her route. The bus bumped into a utility pole while backing up and thankfully it was at a low rate of speed and no students nor the bus driver were hurt. All students arrived to Hopewell safely and continued their school day in great shape. RRISD transportation was prompt in addressing the issue with the bus driver and appropriate action has been taken. Student safety is the number one priority for RRISD transportation in getting your children to and from school. A HUGE job that our bus drivers take very seriously and with great care. I am sending a letter home to parents Friday with those students that were on the bus when the minor accident occurred explaining in more detail what happened.
JOIN PTA!
Please take time to join our PTA. PTA does so much for our students and your $8 donation will help us fund rewards and activities that will go directly to our kids. Please go to the parent link on our school website and click on the PTA Website, then forms and docs then PTA membership form. You will find information there on how to join. Thanks!
STUDENT ABSENCES & DOCUMENTATION
Parents, please make sure that whenever your child is home sick that you send them back to school with a note from you explaining the absence. Consequently, whenever your child has to go to the doctor or dentist, please provide a note and give to Linda at the front desk. The State of Texas is really cracking down on student absences across the state and is implementing some stringent audits on the schools at the end of the school year. We want to make sure that Hopewell does not have any negative marks against us for improper documentation regarding student absences. Thanks for your understanding and support.
EARLY RELEASE ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23rd
Students will be released two hours early on Wednesday, September 23rd for teacher professional development time. Students will be released home and to busses at 1:30PM.
OLD FASHIONED HOPEWELL MS READING INITIATIVE
Please make sure that your child has a book to read at school for our mandatory reading time on Tuesdays and Thursdays during Advisory and when they have completed their work. We are in the process of printing out interesting current event articles for our students to ready during one of those two mandatory reading days. Below are some interesting facts regarding the power of reading:
- If a student reads one minute each day then that’s 180 minutes in a school year or about 8,000 words in a school year.
- If a student reads five minutes each day, then that’s 900 minutes in a school year or about 282,000 words in a school year.
- If a student reads 20 minutes each day, then that’s 3,600 minutes in a school year or about 1,800,000 words in a school year.
Think about that—You can also help support this reading initiative that will help increase reading stamina, fluency, and develop vocabulary by having your child put away their phones or computers for an hour or so over the weekend and have them read. The results in the long run is immeasurable!
HOMEWORK HIVE IS OPEN MONDAY-THURSDAY FROM 3:45 – 4:30PM
Do your students need a quiet place here at Hopewell to get some homework done? WE HAVE A SOLUTION! Ms. Moyer our new Algebra and Geometry teacher will be hosting Homework Hive in her classroom # 549 upstairs each Monday and Wednesdayafternoons. Mrs. Roach our new 8th grade Language Arts teacher will be hosting Homework Hive in her classroom #536 upstairs each Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Students will need to bring their homework to Homework Hive, just show up and find a seat and then get to work! This is not a tutorial time but a space to get their homework done in a teacher monitored quiet zone. The best news is that it’s free!
BLAST OFF with BOX TOPS
Our fall box tops contest begins October 5th and ends October 30th. Let’s see which Advisory class in each grade level can ROCK-IT with the most box tops! Starting on September 16 -29, HEB has a great opportunity to blast off your box tops collecting efforts!! Buy 10 General Mills products in one shopping trip and get 60 bonus boxtops or buy 15 products and get 100 bonus box tops!! Send in all your box tops starting October 5th by putting them in a baggie along with a slip of paper with your Advisory teacher’s name along with the number of box tops inside. Box tops are picked up each Friday at noon. A contest wall in the cafeteria will be updated every Monday to see what advisory is in the lead in each grade level. Winners for each grade level will be announced the first week in November and will win a pizza party that will be out of this world! If you have any questions, please email:DRangel01@hotmail.com Check out the box tops website – earn five box tops when you sign up and you can help our school earn thousands of bonus box tops by entering sweepstakes throughout the year. Enter daily and it’s completely free. Go to http://www.boxtops4education.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Karl
Karl
From PTA
Raise money by snapping a Picture!
SHOPAROO - Snap pictures of your receipts from any store, big or small, that sells grocery items to earn Roo Points (cash donations) for your school. Whether you’re shopping at a supercenter, dollar store, or local convenience store - it doesn’t matter where you shop or what items you buy - Shoparoo will make a cash donation for every receipt! Submit up to 20 grocery receipts within a rolling 7 day period. Download the APP and get started today.
REFLECTIONS Art Program and Competition - Competition starts October 5th, 2015
The National PTA Reflections program supports student success and serves as a valuable tool for building strong partnerships in your school community. We want to participate in that and celebrate arts learning in our school community with Reflections.
National PTA Reflections welcomes all grades and abilities to explore and be involved in the arts. Annually, thousands of students will reflect on a common theme and create original works of art in the categories of dance choreography, film production, literature, music composition, photography and visual arts.
The theme for the 2015-2016 school year is Let Your Imagination Fly.
Our 8th Grade Chair and 7th Grade Co-Chair for Reflections will be starting to promote this program within the next two weeks at school. Put your thinking caps on and LET YOUR IMAGINATION FLY! How could you enter this program? GET EXCITED, talk to your friends, work alone or together to create something to best represent you!
Want to hear from the PTA via text message?
Simply text the message @jgeorges to 810-10 to be added to the PTA Parents Texting program. It's INSTANT, SAFE (your number is kept private) and EFFICIENT.
