Hidden River Newsletter

SAVE THE DATES:

Tues., Sept. 24th - Picture Day

Thurs., Sept. 26th - Family Staff Organization 5:30-7:00pm in the library

Next Week (9/30-10/4)

Thurs., Oct. 3rd - No School (Professional Development)

Picture Day: Tuesday September 24th. See online ordering instructions below, Picture Day ID: EVTDPGN6B. Paper order forms are in the main office if needed. Volunteers needed to help LifeTouch photographers and school staff as we guide all our students through the excitement of picture day! Can you contribute two hours of your time? Sign-up here!

Safety Drills: We will conduct the first set of safety drills for the 24-25 school year this coming week. Click here for a copy of the drill descriptions, if you would like to talk more with your student about school safety. Our staff took the first few weeks to review the information for each classroom. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. Here is the schedule for the drills:

• Monday: Lockdown
• Wednesday: Evacuate
• Thursday: Secure
• Friday: Hold

School Address: Reminder to all Families to spread the word of our new location 631 Albert St N. St Paul MN 55104 especially if you are having someone else pick up your child.

Otter Online Clothing Store: With 35 combined years of service at Hidden River Middle School, educators Thomas Haugen and Chris Lutz showed up to school repping the same Otter gear! CLICK HERE #twinningiswinning

Hi Hidden River Families,

Do you know who your child’s middle school counselor is? Do you have questions for the school counseling team and aren’t sure how to contact us? For Questions & Concerns, contact...

Barbie Woodruff

For Grade 6, ALL Students

For Grade 7, Last Names A-L

Office Phone: 651-744-2078

Google Text: 612-412-1518

Email: barbie.woodruff@spps.org

Ayoub Nigatu

For Grade 7, Last Names M-Z

For Grade 8, ALL Students

Office Phone: 651-793-7377

Google Text: 701-347-1673

Email: ayoub.nigatu@spps.org

COUNSELING OFFICE NEWS Hidden River Middle School received a robust enrollment to start the 2024-25 school, leading to over-sized classes and uncomfortable learning environments for students and staff. Counselors are working to reduce class numbers quickly and efficiently; however, this comes in the form of changing schedules for many students. Class size adjustments is a slow and delicate process, so we are taking extra care when moving students to smaller classes. All students with changing schedules are given an opportunity to connect with their counselor before the changes happen. We anticipate class size reductions to be complete within the next week or so.

As questions arise, please reach out to the Hidden River School Counseling Team. We appreciate your understanding and welcome your questions.

In Community,

The Counselors

On Wednesday, October 2, all 7th grade students in the AVID Elective will be attending a field trip to Hamline University. This is a walking field trip and students should dress for the weather. Students will tour the campus, meet and hear the experiences of college students, and eat lunch in the college cafeteria. Permission slips are due by Friday, September 27. Please reach out to AVID Coordinator Melissa Hart at melissa.hart@spps.org if you have any questions.

The AVID Elective prepares students for college by teaching WICOR (writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, and reading) as well as by providing students experiences that include both community service and field trips to local colleges. The AVID 8th graders will be visiting the University of MN Carlson School of Management. Date and details TBD.

Hello Hidden River Middle School,

With the academic year finally in full swing, the University of Minnesota Math Center for Educational Programs is gearing up for our upcoming Saturday Morning Math courses! This enrichment program for 5th-7th grade students lets math loving students experiment and explore mathematics with their peers. Saturday Morning Math will have five sessions, meeting once per month on the U of M campus starting in November. This year we are offering exciting explorations of board games, origami, topology, and more! Each class encourages students to explore advanced mathematics and its scientific applications from a different perspective. Our coordinators often hear, "I wish I could do this every Saturday!" at the end of our sessions.

A complete list of this year's session dates and topics can be found on our Saturday Morning Math page. If you have students you think would love this course, a flyer is attached with important information and links that you can provide to them. If you have any questions or if there is anything our team can do to help you reach out to your students, please let me know!

Thank you!

Max

Virtual Author Visits! This week students who have ELA/Design 5th hour were invited to participate in a virtual author visit with Spy School Author Stuart Gibbs or Bomb author Steve Sheinkin during their lunch time. Thank you to all the students who could join us - you gave us great feedback for what you liked about this experience and what could make it better. Look for more Bookbreak Virtual Author visit opportunities this year!

September is full of Bonus Box Tops opportunities! Check out the app for details. Shop at Target, Costco or Sam's Club this month and earn bonus Box Tops for Hidden River! Download the app at https://www.boxtops4education.com/s/ and use the referral code SW407DT3

Keep scanning, refer friends, family and neighbors to use the Box Tops apps and link your Walmart+ accounts to earn even more bonuses!!

Septiembre está lleno de oportunidades de Bonus Box Tops! Echa un vistazo a la aplicación para más detalles. Compra en Target, Costco o Sam’s Club este mes y gana Cajas de bonificación para Hidden River! Descargue la aplicación en https://www.boxtops4education.com/s/ y utilice el código de referencia SW407DT3

Siga escaneando, recomiende a amigos, familiares y vecinos para que utilicen las aplicaciones de Box Tops y vincule sus cuentas de Walmart+ para ganar aún más bonos!

Healthy eating is so important for children. At Hidden River, we work hard to ensure students receive a healthy breakfast and lunch each day to support their developing brains and bodies. Research shows that children who eat regular, nutritious meals are more likely to attend school and be engaged in learning. We are excited to partner with Every Meal to offer a free weekend meal program to all our students.

Every Meal is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to fight child hunger through community and school partnerships.

• Free for all families
• No qualifications required
• Students enrolled in the program will receive a 4-5 pound bag of nutritious, nonperishable food each week
• Every Meal does not collect information from families; privacy is protected
• Families may choose to participate in the program anytime throughout the school year
• Families may choose from a variety of different weekend food bag options

If you are interested in enrolling - please fill out this form. If you have any questions, please contact our School Social Worker at anne.kent@spps.org.

Students continue to learn more about themselves as students, readers, writers, and thinkers as the year begins. Ask your student what they are reading and if you like to add to your toolbox, use one of these questions to hear your child's genius!