#RoyalFam Newsletter

September 11, 2023

Blue quotation marks on a silver background

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A stylized H with a gold star above the words High School

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The words Explore, Create, Innovate on a blue background

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Message from Principal Ballard

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Counselor's Corner

HHS College and Career Center - Upcoming College Visits

Every year, we have over 100 college reps come to HHS to meet with our scholars. These meetings are helpful for our scholars because they are meeting with the officials who are responsible for reading their college applications. We encourage all scholars, but ESPECIALLY juniors and seniors, to come to these meetings to begin building relationships with the schools they want to attend. Please have your scholar sign up for meetings on their Naviance account (bottom right-hand side) through Classlink.

Lawrence University, Tuesday, 9/12 @9:30 am

Princeton University, Tuesday, 9/12@9:30 am

Cal Tech, Wednesday, 9/13 @9:00 am

Northeastern University, Thursday, 9/14@2 pm

Elon University, Friday, 9/15@11:45 am

Colorado College, Friday, 9/15@12:30 pm

Families of Seniors - College Planning Night on 9/19/23

There will be a Fall College Planning Night Presentation in the Little Theater on Tuesday, September 19th from 6pm-7:30pm. The presentation will include how to use Naviance, the application process and different applications, requesting transcripts for college and a presentation on financial aid and paying for college. We hope to see you there.

Lifetouch Photo Days and Ordering Information

If you missed your opportunity to order the photos during the first window, you'll still have another opportunity to order after you receive your proofs. Scholars should receive them in about 2 weeks. Retakes and Final makeup day is Oct. 12.

Important senior photo information:

If you would like to utilize Lifetouch on their retake day on October 12, we will receive a photo directly from them. If you have your own senior photo you would like to submit, please follow these instructions, which include an upload link (Senior picture submission is due Dec. 1).

Please note: 1.) Upload only one photo. Make sure you choose the photo you like that meets our requests and upload ONLY that photo. If you upload more than one photo, we will not reach out to you, we will just guess which photo you want. 2.) Select a photo that is styled after a professional head shot. We will crop all photos so that faces are about the same size, and that means that any props, trees, cars, athletic equipment, instruments, or walls you may be peaking around will not be included in the photo, and may only serve to distract from your head and shoulders shot once we crop it.

Senior Yearbook Tribute

Senior Yearbook Tribute Info Linked:

We are proud to continue the popular tradition of the senior yearbook tribute. Here's how it works:

Find an adorable photo of your graduate from a much younger age
Create a 40-50 word message honoring who they have become
Purchase and upload the yearbook tribute at jostens before January 31.

Yearbook Ordering Information

Order your yearbook before the end of the day on Sept. 22 to receive the lowest price of the year and free icons when you choose to personalize the book. It is always cheapest to order in September to help us meet our first deposit requirement.

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Families of Current Seniors - National Honor Society

Your student can still join the Royal Chapter of the National Honor Society! Students need to have a 3.67 or higher GPA, 30 or more community service hours, a recommendation from a teacher, and they need to fill out this application. Application materials are due Monday, September 18th to Ms. Heimlich in W112. Please reach out if you have any questions to jennifer.heimlich@hopkinsschools.org.

Relate Counseling Center at HHS

The Relate Counseling Center provides therapy services in the school. If parents are interested in services, please connect with your scholar’s school counselor. Below are bios of the two Relate therapists:

Saido offers school-linked therapy for adolescents and families. She is bilingual in English and Somali. Saido believes in a relational, creative, trauma informed, strengths based, and culturally responsive approach to providing care. She understands that our pasts, relationships, environments, and the systems we operate within matter and impact our growth and well-being. Saido’s goal is to provide a welcoming, compassionate, nonjudgmental, and collaborative space for exploration and healing through prioritizing the strength of the therapeutic relationship. Therapeutic Modalities: narrative, Solution Focused Therapy, Attachment style, family system, mindfulness and art therapy.

Taila offers school linked therapy for 9th-12th graders at Hopkins High School. Taila is passionate about working with adolescents and being an added support in their school experience - high school is hard! She understands that there can be many factors impacting wellbeing and is excited to help you navigate challenges and meet your goals. She brings curiosity, humor, and empathy into sessions. Outside of work, Taila enjoys traveling, camping, trying new foods, and being with friends and family. Therapeutic Modalities: Dialectical-Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Cognitive-Behavioral therapy (CBT), Narrative and Family system.

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COVID Update

We're closer than ever to finishing up the COVID pandemic. However, even after dropping the national emergency and national health emergencies in April and May, we have not reached the endemic stage of this disease. We cannot ignore COVID just yet.

We know that owing to increased immunity in our community, things have improved greatly. Toward that end, earlier this summer, our district COVID management team updated the Hopkins COVID mitigation measures. You may find them here.

We have dropped any specific illness reporting requirements related to COVID, but just like the flu and other contagious diseases, we still want families to report to us scholars testing positive for COVID. They should do so to their school, the same as they have done in the past for those other illnesses.

If you need assistance managing a scholar's COVID case, we recommend you contact our school health office.

COVID Test Kits

You may have heard in the news that we have one or two new variants floating around in the community. While still mild, they continue to be fairly contagious. In an abundance of caution, we ordered lots of rapid test kits for scholars to have and use as needed.

Scholars may obtain test kits from health office staff at the school health office.

All test kits have extended expiration dates. We will not provide expired test kits to anyone. If you have a question about a test kit expiration date, our school health office staff can assist you.

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Medical Assistance for Families

Do You Have Medical Assistance or MinnesotaCare? Protect Yourself & Your Family: Renew Your Coverage & Your Children’s Coverage

• UPDATE your contact information with Medical Assistance or MinnesotaCare. Use your phone, computer, or a local library computer to go to the https://mn.gov/dhs/renewmycoverage/ website and follow the provided steps to update your contact information. Make Medical Assistance or MinnesotaCare has your current mailing address, phone number, email, or other contact information. This way, they’ll be able to contact you when it’s time to renew your/your children’s coverage.

• RESPOND to the Medical Assistance or MinnesotaCare renewal form when it arrives to keep your coverage. Be on the lookout for a letter from Medical Assistance or MinnesotaCare. The letter may say that you need to fill out a form to renew your coverage. Fill it out and mail it in right away to help avoid a gap in your coverage or your child’s coverage. If the letter says that you and your children were already renewed, you’re all set!

• PARENTS should respond even if you don’t think you’re eligible—your kids could still be eligible!

Congressional App Challenge

The Office of Rep. Dean Phillips is hosting the Congressional App Challenge in Minnesota’s Third District again this year! This competition is designed to encourage student participation in computer science and coding. The competition opens June 15, 2023 and closes November 1, 2023 with winners announced in December.

Officially launched by the U.S. House of Representatives in 2015, this nationwide effort allows students to compete against their peers by creating an application or “app” for mobile devices, tablets, or other computer devices. The challenge is designed to highlight the value of computer science and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education and encourages students to engage in these fields. Any programming language can be used to design your app.

The Congressional App Challenge is open to all middle and high school students in Minnesota’s Third Congressional District either individually or in groups of 2-4. Students entering the competition must first register and then submit their app to CongressionalAppChallenge.us between June 15, 2023, when the challenge launches and November 1, 2023, when registration and app submission closes. A full list of rules can be found here.

The Third Congressional District winner will be chosen by a panel of expert judges and will be featured on the House of Representatives website. Submissions will be judged on the following criteria: quality of the idea, including creativity and originality; implementation of the idea, including user experience and design; and demonstrated excellence of coding and programming skills.

Those interested in participating are encouraged to contact David Chernack in his Minnetonka office by phone at (952) 207-8270 or by email at David.Chernack@mail.house.gov. Those who do not have experience in coding are also welcome to apply.

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Back-to-School Event for Somali Scholar Caregivers

Join us on September 12th, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Eisenhower Community Center's Board Room for a vital collaboration between caregivers, school leaders, and district staff to enrich our Somali scholars' educational experience. Your involvement is crucial for a successful academic journey. We look forward to seeing you there! For questions, contact Deeqa Barkhadle at (952) 988-4069 or deeqa.barkhadle@hopkinsschools.org.

Minnesota Department of Education's Digital Equity Survey

If you have not already, please participate in the Student Digital Equity Survey. This survey collects information on student access to the Internet and electronic devices used for schoolwork in the student’s home. Hopkins Public Schools may use this information to make sure all students can access learning opportunities outside the classroom or school building. We will never share your personal, identifying information provided in this survey with others without your consent. Please fill out the survey for each child here. It will take less than 5 minutes.

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