Horner Parent/Family Newsletter
May 2024
Dear Horner Middle School Families,
Welcome back to another exciting school year at Horner Middle School! As we prepare to embark on the 2024-2025 academic year, our entire staff is thrilled to reconnect with our students and families after a refreshing summer break. We hope you and your family had a wonderful summer filled with joy, relaxation, and memorable moments.
At Horner Middle School, we are passionate about creating a vibrant and supportive learning environment where every student can thrive. This year, our dedicated team of educators is more eager than ever to work closely with each student and family to foster academic success and emotional well-being.
Our commitment extends beyond just academics. We believe that every child deserves a strong sense of belonging and multiple layers of support. This school year, we will continue to focus on both the academic and social-emotional aspects of your child’s development. Our goal is to create a nurturing atmosphere where students feel valued, understood, and empowered to reach their full potential.
Here’s a glimpse of what we have in store for the upcoming year:
Engaging Curriculum: Our teachers are excited to deliver a curriculum that not only meets educational standards but also inspires curiosity and a love for learning. We also have newly adopted curriculum in Spanish; 6th grade ELA and our new Hindi curriculum.
Supportive Environment: We have enhanced our support systems to ensure that each student has access to academic assistance, counseling, and resources tailored to their individual needs. Multi-Tierred Systems of Support will be in place for every student.
Inclusive Community: We are committed to building an inclusive environment where every student feels a strong sense of belonging and is encouraged to participate in school activities. We have added more after school activities for students and have added 3 new elective classes: 6th grade band and 7th and 8th grade film production. Be on the lookout for our after school enrichment programs.
Open Communication: We believe that collaboration between home and school is vital for student success. We encourage you to stay engaged and communicate openly with us throughout the year. Staff will be even more committed to using our communication tools such as parent square and Aeries email and notifications to both students and parents.
As we look forward to the new school year, we invite you to join us in making this an extraordinary year for your child. Together, we can build on the successes of the past and create new opportunities for growth and achievement.
Thank you for your continued support and partnership. Here’s to a fantastic year ahead, filled with learning, growth, and many joyful moments. We can't wait to welcome your child back to Horner Middle School!
Cindy Hicks-Rodriguez, Principal
Horner Vision and Mission Statement
Horner Vision Statement
We at Horner Middle School, envision a future in which every student receives an effective, equitable, and engaging education that allows them to reach their full and unique potential.
Horner Mission Statement
At Horner Middle School our mission is to provide students with the Knowledge, Tools, and Skills they need to master content standards, make effective decisions, and collaborate with others, which will enable them to be successful lifelong learners.
Knowledge, Tools, Skills = Master, Make, Collaborate!
The Horner teachers have voted and it was determined that our bell schedule for the 24-25 school year will be the exact same bell schedule as this year. Please note that our AC Transit bus will continue to provide pickup and drop off's on regular day Monday's, Tuesday's, Wednesday's, Thursday's and Friday's. The only days that after school bus service will not be provided is on minimum days that are NOT Wednesday's. Those dates will be as follows:
August. 15 (Second day of school..Thursday)
October 31 (Halloween)
November 22 (Friday before Thanksgiving break)
December 20 (Friday before Winter break)
April 17 (Thursday before Good Friday)
May 27 (Tuesday last week of school)
May 29 (Thursday last week of school)
May 30 (Friday the last day of school)
Bell Schedule 24-25
M/TU/TH/F
Start time: 815 AM. End time: 228 pm
WED
Start time: 815 AM End time: 120 pm
Other minimum days that are NOT Wednesday's
Start time: 815 AM. End time: 120 pm
Last day of School
Start time: 815 AM. End time: 1248 PM
What is Maze Day?
Maze Day is an event that is held every August for students in grades 6-8 and their parents/guardians. During Maze Day students and parents receive student schedules, take yearbook pictures, obtain student ID cards, purchase a number of items for the school year as well as sign up for clubs and express interest in sport teams. Returning students may also return textbooks found over summer.
MAZE DAY SCHEDULE –
There will be two different MAZE day's in August for the new school year.
August 6th will be for incoming 6th grade students only. MAZE day for our incoming 6th grade students will be from 9 AM - 330 pm at Horner Middle School. Please know that only 6th grade materials will be available on this day.
August 7th will be for our 7th and 8th grade students only. MAZE day for our 7th gand 8th grade students will be from 9 AM - 330 pm at Horner Middle School. Pleae know that only 7th and 8th grade materials will be available on this day.
The purpose of having two different days is to specialize for those grade levels and to also cut down on long lines. Thank you for your understanding with the grade level break downs for MAZE day.
During MAZE day you will find the following:
- School pictures (we will be using a new photography company this year)
- Student ID cards (temporary cards will be provided to students on this day)
- Club information
- Sports information and forms
- Yearbook sales
- Library/Media donations
- School activity donations
- 8th grade activity donations
- PTSA memberships
- AC Transit information/Clipper cards
- Student schedules for the 24-25 school year
- Child Nutrition Services information
- Coffee/Dessert trucks
Please find the school donations forms below if you are interested in donating to Horner Middle School for the 24-25 school year. Forms will be collected at MAZE day in August and note that any donation of $150 or more wil result in a free school T shirt. Shirts will be available at MAZE day when donation sheets are turned into the donation table.
More information to come as we get closer to August. Please calendar these dates for the future.
Please make a note of some very important dates for your incoming Horner 6th grader.
August 5 from 10 am -12 pm in the Horner GYM your student will be participating in a WEB day (Where Everyone Belongs) with their 8th grade mentor/buddy.
Parents will drop off their 6th grader and return to the school at noon to pick them up. Students will participate in some games, take a tour of the campus and learn about middle school life.
Please make sure that your child brings a water bottle in the event they get thirsty as drinks and refreshments will not be provided at this event.
We hope to see your child on August 5th for WEB day!
- August 15 - Minimum day with dismissal at 120 pm
- August 19 - PTSA Mixer at 6 pm (look for information to come out)
- August 21 - Back to School Night in MPR and classrooms. Admin presentation begins at 430 pm. Classroom visits start at 5 pm.
- August 22- Girls VB forms due to office
- August 26 & 27- Girls VB tryouts after school
Hello Horner Families!
Welcome back to another school year! I am so happy to welcome our new 6th grade students who are entering middle school. My name is Matthew Shaffer and for the 16th school year I’m the activities director. You will see my updates throughout the school year.
Couple things to let you all know. The first three weeks of school ASB will be selling a variety of things including: a gold card for socials (more on that later on), school sweatshirts, previous year’s sweatshirts and more spirit wear to be announced. Make sure you stay tuned on the ASB website I’ll link below and have your child listen to announcements.
The gold card is ASBs most popular item. It is a ticket into all the dances for the low price of $20. For 6th and 7th graders there are three socials and for 8th graders there are 4. The week of the socials we sell tickets but they cost $10. The first social is on October 4th.
The other thing we will have going on is our club rush that we host. Stay tuned on our website and Horner’s website for more information about clubs but it is tentatively scheduled for September 5th and 6th.
The goal of our program is to make school a place where kids are excited to come to school and feel like they are involved in our school community. We can’t wait to provide this opportunity for your student.
Please head to hornerhornets.org or follow us on Instagram @hornermiddle.hornets for more updates on things going on in the ASB classroom!
Thanks for your time and enjoy your last weeks of summer!
Mr. Shaffer
Activities Director
Want to start school successfully? Need your immunizations!
Horner students must be current with all immunizations to start school.
Incoming 7th and 8th grade students must have a TDaP on or after the 7th birthday. They also need 2 Varicella's and 2 MMR's after the first birthday. If you haven't submitted updated immunization records please send them to lpricer@fusdk12.net and rtsoi@fusdk12.net. Please be sure the document has the students full name and date of birth as well as the clinic/MD name. Please block out the medical record number.
Student's that are not current with immunizations will not receive a schedule and will be sent home from school until immunizations are received.
Thanks,
Robin Tsoi RN
Horner School Nurse
Dear Horner Families,
Welcome to the 2024-25 school year! We are excited to extend a warm welcome to all our new and returning students, families, and staff.
During the first few days of school, the Assistant Principals will hold a Town Hall meeting for all students. We will be providing information regarding policies and procedures that are also outlined in your student’s agenda.
The following are some general reminders as we begin this new school year: Cell phones must be turned off and put away during the school day. Review your students' academic progress with them using Aeries. Finally, please monitor your student’s social media account(s) to ensure they are using it appropriately.
As we start the new school year, we look forward to working together to create a positive and supportive environment where every student can thrive.Thank you for your partnership; we look forward to seeing incredible achievements and growth throughout this school year.
Sincerely,
Horner Middle School Assistant Principals
Our goal is to have every student feel safe and welcome at Horner. With this goal also comes some dress code expectations for students. While summer time brings out crop tops (rightfully so due to the hot weather) we want to remind all families and students that all clothing needs to be in line with the schools dress code. As parents wind down the shopping for school, we wanted to remind everyone that some things are considered not appropriate for school. We want students to be able to attend school successfully without having dress code violations in which they would need to change into other clothing that we issue to them when a violation occurs. Thank you in advance for reviewing the dress code with students to ensure safety and adherance to the school rules. Please review the following with your student and ensure they don't wear these items to school:
- Sunglasses, hats, caps, hoods and other non-religious/cultural head coverings shall not be worn indoors.
- Shirts, tops, and dresses must have straps.
- May not wear any gang-related, clothing, jewelry, emblems.
- May not wear chains or spikes on jackets/pants.
- Midriff must be covered.
- Garments covering the lower body must be sufficient to cover the buttocks.
- Shoes must be worn.
The following are also not allowed to be worn to school:
- Pajamas or lounge pants
- Slippers
- Sagging pants that expose the underwear
- Gender bias or hate speech apparrel
- Attire with violence or weapon innuindos
- Yoga tights or tights in lieu of pants
- Bathrobes
- Red or blue bandanas
- no "cookies" t shirts that advertise marijuana brands
Thank you in advance. Please email an administrator if you have any questions.