Hastings Middle School Family Flier

Hastings Middle School Website

Speak Up! Online Safety, Bullying, Harassment Reporting

Hastings Family Calendar

Bell Schedules

Attendance Procedures

Planned Absence Form & Instructions

HMS Club List

PowerSchool Parent Guide

Board Policy Highlights

Non Discrimination and Access to Equal Educational Opportunities

Bullying and Other Forms of Aggressive Behavior

Anti Harassment

Checklist for Subject Acceleration

Please email hastingsattendance@uaschools.org regarding any student absences. For extended absences (vacations, travel, etc.) please submit a pre-planned absence form. For all medical appointments, please provide a doctor’s note.

The Board considers the following factors to be reasonable excuses for time missed at school:

1. illness of the child

2. appointment with a healthcare provider

3. illness in the family necessitating the presence of the child

4. quarantine of the home

5. death of a relative

6. medical or dental appointment

7. observation or celebration of a bona fide religious holiday

8. college visitation

9. absences due to the student's homeless status

10. absence due to a student's placement in foster care or change in foster care placement of any court proceeds related to the student's foster care status

11. emergency or other set of circumstances in which the judgment of the Superintendent of Schools constitutes good and sufficient cause for absence from school

12. service as a precinct officer at a primary, special or general election in accordance with the program set forth in Policy 5725

For more information on the district attendance policy, please visit the District's attendance website..

In our literacy classes it is our main goal to get students to enjoy reading books. We feel that part of this process comes from being able to choose books they are interested in or passionate about. The majority of our reading is done in class, and not for homework; therefore their choice book(s) may not go home with them. We encourage you to have discussions with your child of what book topics they are allowed to read. We are asking that you monitor and approve their book choices. These may be books your child may select from the public library, HMS school library, or your home. A great website to help decide on text appropriateness is commonsensemedia.org. Thank you so much for your support! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact your child’s reading or language arts teacher.

Service Hours

If your child is looking for service hours, here is information from our PTO:

Students can earn service hours by assisting with concessions at the basketball games. 8th graders and older do not need to be accompanied by an adult. If your child is a 6th or 7th grader, you will need to volunteer with them.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0D4EA4A722ABFC1-52474393-hastings#/

Yearbook Photos Needed

As the fall sports season winds down, we want to capture the memories in our yearbook! If you have any pictures from the fall sports season, please email them to our yearbook advisor Allison Tomlin (atomlin@uaschools.org). Thank you!

December 20th: Quarter 2/Semester 1 ends

December 23rd-January 5th: Winter Break

January 6th: No School for Students

January 7th: Quarter 3/Semester 2 begins

January 9th: Quarter 2 grades available in PowerSchool

January 20th: No School for Staff/Students

Signs of Suicide

As a reminder, Signs of Suicide will take place at Hastings on Monday, December 16th and Tuesday, December 17th. An email was sent out Monday, October 28th with an updated letter and new opt out link. Please reach out to Kelly Dainton or Penny Stires if you have any questions.

Dates: May 13, 2025 - May 16, 2025

Website: www.studentadventures.org

Trip Code: HMS2514

Questions?: Cathy Johnson or Evie Lay

The School Counselor's would like to start sharing tips/information/articles/videos/podcasts etc. about developmental needs of early adolescents, navigating middle school, growth mindset, supporting early adolescents, homework positivity, age appropriate routines and structures, sense of belonging at school and home, student confidence, and how to support your student at home - AND MORE.

Your voice is appreciated! 😁

Please answer the following question:

About 22% of Children in Franklin County deal with food insecurity on a daily basis. The Hastings Sources of Strength group is coordinating a food drive to benefit Mid-Ohio Food Collective to help with this struggle. Through Monday, Dec. 16th we are collecting non-perishable food items, toiletries, baby wipes and diapers.

Some of the most requested items include:

peanut butter, cereal, canned vegetables, canned fruits, rice, pancake mix, vegetable oil, beans, mac and cheese, pasta, soap, toothpaste, laundry detergent, and canned tuna.

Service hours:

If a student would like to work around your house or yard to "earn" food items, they can also record this time as service hours. Typically students can't be paid for the service hours they log at Hastings. In this case however, since the food will be donated, they can record that time. They will just need to list an adult family member as their service supervisor.

6th Grade: Tina Farbizo, tfarbizo@uaschools.org

7th Grade: Catherine Shapiro, cshapiro@uaschools.org

8th Grade: Kelly Dainton, kdainton@uaschools.org

Progress Reports for students with IEPs

Unfortunately, the Progress Report icon for students with IEPs in PowerSchool has been eliminated. This was out of Upper Arlington’s control. In order to access your child’s progress report, your child’s intervention specialist or speech language pathologist will share the report via an email from Same Goal after each reporting period. You should receive the 2nd quarter progress report by January 9th for students in grades 6-12 and by January 22nd for students in Kindergarten through 5th grade.

Digital Wellness Activity for Families During Winter Break

What's topping your kids' holiday wish lists this year? Chances are it has a screen, Internet access, and games. With a little planning -- and kids' assistance -- you can balance your family's tech activities with much-needed face time.

As an extension of the 2024 Digital Safety Week, Screenagers viewing, and Thanksgiving Digital Wellness Activities, we wanted to provide families with some Digital Wellness tips and strategies to consider during the Winter break. These two weeks are an opportunity to exhibit a healthy balance with device use.

Here are some ideas to try from CommonSense Media:

Be jolly -- but firm. Let your kids know that you'll be enforcing stricter time limits to create more quality family time. And tell them that the rules will apply to the grown-ups as well.

Make a list (and check it with your kids). Don't go cold turkey. Schedule some daily tech time for yourself and your kids. Get their input on which devices they absolutely can't live without, and allow some limited use.

Plan a device-free dinner. Put the phones and tablets in a basket and don't check 'em til the dishes are done.

Make setup fun, not frustrating. No matter how easy to use companies make new devices, there's always some (often frustrating) setup time. Truth be told, kids often figure out thorny tech glitches faster than parents, so involve your kids in the process. Use that time to discuss responsible use of the new device.

Try some tech togetherness. Unplugging for its own sake isn't the point. Family time is. Plan a night of video games, movies, or maybe preselected YouTube videos that you can all enjoy together.

Combine on- and offline activities. Document your family memories and consider compiling them into journals, cards, and scrapbooks. This is a perfect time to share your own holiday memories with your kids.

If no creatures are stirring … don't check your email. Remember, your kids learn their media habits partly from you.

By January 5th, discuss questions with your students related to this activity, such as:

• Did you feel more present with your family?

• What was the most challenging part of the break for you?

• What was the one offline activity we did that you enjoyed the most?

• Can you help our family create a plan to make this a more frequent practice?

If you do this with your family and feel comfortable to share, please share an anonymous feedback about the process. The Excellence and Engagement Office is committed to supporting families with exercises like these to help create a healthy digital balance for our students.

Transportation Questions: schoolbusquestions@uaschools.org or call 614-487-6477

Upper Arlington Schools Lunch Information link: https://www.uaschools.org/NutritionalServices.aspx

PowerSchool Parent Portal: https://ps-uar.metasolutions.net/public/home.html

If you need assistance logging into PowerSchool, you may reach out to: familytechhelp@uaschools.org

Student Fees/SPS EZpay: https://www.spsezpay.com/upperarlington/login.aspx