Community Update

Dear HTSD Families,

Welcome to a new school year! I welcome back all returning families and extend a warm welcome to all of our new families. We are excited to begin the 2024-2025 school year together.

The new school year begins Thursday, September 5, 2024. Please note that the first and second days of school will be one session days for students. Dismissal times are as follows:

• Elementary Schools: 1:15pm

• Middle Schools: 12:45pm

• High Schools: 12:04pm

HTSD is again focused on student success in three areas:

• Academics - Your child's learning is important to us. We ask that you support your child’s academic efforts by ensuring they are focused on their school work each day and any homework they may have at the end of the day. We ask that students strive to do their best each day in class, and on district and state assessments. If your child requires additional academic support, please do not hesitate to contact your building principal. Each school offers tutoring throughout the year.

• Attendance - Regular daily attendance is crucial for student success in school. Being present, on time, and ready to learn every day (except when sick) allows students to fully engage in learning activities, build relationships with peers and teachers, and have a wonderful school year. Missing just two (2) days each month results in 20 days out of school each year. The state defines a student as chronically absent when they miss 18 or more school days in a year.

• Student Behavior - We expect each student to demonstrate respect toward other students and the adults in the school. If your child experiences a problem with another student, they should seek help from a teacher, guidance counselor, or administrator. Verbal or social media harassment, intimidation or bullying has no place in our schools, and neither does solving problems through physical contact with another student. Student behavior and actions matter as much as school attendance and grades.

Focusing on these three areas will ensure a great year for everyone who learns and works in our school district.

This year we will again have the theme of EVERY DAY COUNTS. The school year is 180 days and every one of those days counts. Every moment within those days counts towards our students’ success and our success as a school community. As we begin a new school year, we want to make sure every day counts in the classrooms, on the stages, on our athletic fields and within every nook and cranny of our district. I am committed to this work and I ask each family in our district to join me in this effort.

I encourage all of our HTSD families to take a few moments each day to connect with your children about their school experiences. Ask them about their day, what they're learning, and how they can stay focused. Explore opportunities for them to participate in extracurricular activities, clubs, athletics, or the band. Discuss ways they can contribute positively to their school and classroom community.

I look forward to working with you on achieving both our district theme and three goals. We cannot wait to see your children next Thursday.

Additional information about the school year is below.

Sincerely,

Scott R. Rocco, Ed.D.

Superintendent

1. Please be aware of the buses in your neighborhoods and on the roads. When the lights are yellow please slow down. When the lights are red you must stop. This means that you must stop if you are behind the bus or on the other side of the street. Do not pass a bus with its lights flashing. Additionally, keep in mind that younger students get excited when they see the bus and may run toward the bus or across the street. Driving slower and being cautious around our school buses will assist in the safety of our students.

2. We ask that you be respectful of our neighbors around the schools when dropping off and picking up your children from school. Cars may only be parked in legal parking spots. Please do not block driveways or double park on the roads. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

Calendar Update: Please note that the day off in October of 2024 has changed. The date students and staff will be off and the schools will be closed is Thursday, October 3rd.

2024 - 2025 Pupil / Teacher Calendar (translation version)

Upcoming School Schedules and Events: We have a number of upcoming events and activities in the district:

• Please check your individual school and the district website for dates and times.

• Remaining 2024 Pop-Up School House Events:

1. Lalor Elementary School - August 28, 2024, 3:00 - 5:00pm

2. Greenwood Elementary School - September 10, 2024, 3:30 - 4:30pm

• First Day of School: Thursday, September 5, 2024

1. One session day for students / full day for staff

• Second Day of School: Friday, September 6, 2024

1. One session day for students / full day for staff

• PTA Presidents Meeting: Monday, September 30th, 7:00pm (in person and virtual) - Location TBA

• Facilities Strategic Plan Meeting - September 17, 2024, 6:00pm-8:00pm, Steinert High School Cafeteria

• DCR Meeting - October 15, 2024, 5:00 - 6:00pm, Wilson Elementary School All Purpose Room

• RISE Meeting - October 30, 2024, 4:00 - 5:00pm, Grice Middle School Library

We continue to review and upgrade school security. In addition, this summer all district and building administrators completed CPR, AED, and first aid certification. We also trained to use Epipens, Narcan, and Stop the Bleed tourniquets. This training also involved school safety training with our School Safety Coordinator Bob Giosio. Training is vital to school safety, and so are a few other things that we can all do together to create and maintain a safe school environment for all who work and learn in our district. This includes:

• If you see something, say something. Keeping a watchful eye out for something that seems unusual or out of place is very important. Notify your principal or the office of any issues. In an emergency, crisis, or when schools are closed dial 911.

• Review with your child(ren) the expectations of proper school behavior and interacting with peers and the adults in our schools. Students are expected to follow the school rules, refrain from harassment, intimidation and / or bullying, and should never engage in physical altercations.

• In addition, our high schools, middle schools, and HEP will have retired law enforcement officers as security guards. Please be aware that HTSD Policy 8467 “weapons'' does grant authority for the possession of a weapon if an individual is authorized by law and it is required in the performance of their duties. As such, at times school security members may be armed as necessary and allowable under BOE policy and state statute. We will still have our SRO’s at our high schools, and thanks to an agreement between the Board of Education, Hamilton Township Municipal Government, and the Hamilton Township Police Department (HPD), all middle schools will have a trained SRO officer. All SRO’s are Hamilton Police Officers in our buildings. We have a longstanding and excellent relationship with our township and HPD, and this will continue for many years to come.

• All of our elementary schools will have a campus monitor as part of school security. When a campus monitor is not present, we will provide security from the private security firm that staffs our secondary division.

We will continue to work on school safety and provide safe environments for all who work and learn in our district.

On August 27th, I had the opportunity to sit with Mayor Martin to discuss the opening of school. Please click HERE or on the image to watch the video that has a lot of information about the start of the school year.

PowerSchool Parent Portal reopened on Friday, August 16th, for updating the online Back to School Emergency Card information. The 2024-2025 student schedules posted to PowerSchool as follows:

1. Grades 9-12 on August 21st

2. Grades 6-8 on August 22nd

3. Grades K-5 on August 23rd

Over the summer we had a number of projects worked on in our schools. Some of those include:

New Food Service Company

• We are excited to announce that Maschio’s will be our new Food Service Company for the upcoming school year! Menu choices have been enhanced to provide new food selections and more variety.
• To access your child’s breakfast and lunch menu, please click the link below or follow the prompts under the food service tab on the district website.
• https://htsdnj.nutrislice.com/
• For any allergy, nutrition or dietary concerns, please contact rbrower@maschiofood.com.

New Jersey Expanded Income Guidelines

• New Jersey has once again expanded their income guidelines to allow MORE families to qualify for free school meals. You can apply online at www.myschoolapps.com or click the link in the PowerSchool Back to School portal. A paper application will also be provided to your child(ren) on the first day of school. Both are available in multiple languages.

New Law Requires All Parents / Guardians To Complete Lunch Applications

• Pursuant to NJ Legislation P.L.2022, c, 104, every parent/guardian is required annually to complete:
• A School Meals and Summer EBT application for your child(ren) to determine if they qualify for free school meals and Summer EBT benefits. OR

• A signed acknowledgement that you will NOT be completing a School Meals and Summer EBT application for the current school year. You will be responsible for purchases made by your child(ren) and you will not be eligible for Summer EBT benefits.
• You may go online to www.myschoolapps.com to either complete a School Meals and Summer EBT application or to DECLINE eligibility benefits for your child(ren).
• A paper form will also be sent home with your child(ren) for you to complete and return back to your child's school should you choose not to submit online.

Funding Your Child's Meal Account

• To fund your child’s meal account, we recommend parents/guardians deposit money using MySchoolBucks. There is also a mobile app that you may download directly to your phone.
• Cash and check payments will also be accepted in the cafeteria.

Food Service Contacts

• To contact Maschio’s regarding anything food related, please email rbrower@maschiofood.com.
• To contact the HTSD Food Service Department regarding meal eligibility benefits, please email HTSDFoodServices@htsdnj.org.

Please see the chart below for a list of the trimester dates for the elementary schools:

Please see the chart below indicating the end of the marking period for our middle schools and high schools:

Please see the chart below listing the evening conferences and afternoon conferences:

Managing Back to School Anxiety Click the link to see resources from the Child Mind Institute on assisting your child manage worries about going back to school and how to have a successful start to the school year.

FAFSA Update: Just a reminder that the FAFSA is now a graduation requirement for all students beginning with the Class of 2025. Each high school will hold FAFSA information sessions. All Hamilton families are welcome to attend any of the dates.

• Steinert: Tuesday, October 29th @ 6pm
• Nottingham: Thursday, October 24th @ 6:30pm
• West: Tuesday, October 15th @ 6:30pm
• We will also be posting dates in the fall for FAFSA completion workshops. This will be an opportunity for a financial aid professional to assist families in completing the FAFSA once it opens.

Wayfinder: We will begin implementing the Wayfinder social emotional learning curriculum/platform in all the elementary schools and incorporating it as part of the MTSS process in September. Elementary families can read the Welcome Letter from Wayfinder to learn more about the program.

High School Scheduling Changes:

• The complexity of the schedule makes it difficult to accommodate schedule changes. Therefore, while every effort is made to schedule all subjects selected by students, limitations of staff, building space, and time occasionally make necessary either the cancellation of undersubscribed course offerings or the substitution of alternate course choices.
• A schedule change request is not guaranteed. It is dependent upon space and availability. Maintaining appropriate class size and balance through the school is a priority. This could potentially mean that the change cannot happen if a course is already full or the student schedule may have to be rearranged and other classes dropped to accommodate the request.

Schedule change requests are permitted for the following reasons:

• The correction of a clerical error in the schedule.
• A recommendation from the Child Study Team.
• A student is repeating a course with the same teacher he/she previously had.
• Preference for another subject.
• Moving up or down a level in a course.

Block Scheduling at the High School - In June of 2024 we announced that all of our high schools will transition to a block schedule in September of 2025. We started the discussion for a potential change in the middle of last school year and decided that we would take about a year and a half to plan, prepare, and train for the transition. All summer long we have planned and prepared. This will continue all throughout the coming school year. As we begin the school year, there will be trainings provided to our faculty and staff. As community members you will receive frequent updates of our progress. Below you will find updates based on our work this summer and a few answers to the submitted frequently asked questions. If you have a question about the transition, you can submit it HERE.

• A team of building and district administrators met numerous times this summer to plan and prepare for our transition to the block schedule. One of our initial goals was to compare the 2024-2025 traditional schedule with how that would look as a block schedule. Our high school scheduling VP’s and district PowerSchool administrator were able to schedule one of our high schools into a block schedule based on student requests and staff schedules. This was an important test and assessment of the block schedule potential.

• We are now developing professional development for our faculty and staff, working to design a structure to the lunch block with our new food service provider, and evaluating facility needs.

Frequently Asked Questions (some questions have been summarized due to length)

• From the schedule it appears that there is one universal lunch period for the entire school to take lunch at the same time. The cafeteria capacity is only about 350 students at once. Will the students have the option to go anywhere in the building for their lunch break? Or leave campus? Will there still be supervision at lunchtime?

• Answer - Although there will be one lunch block, our initial planning includes dividing up the block into two (2) lunch periods. When a student is not at lunch there will be an activity period. This can include club / extracurricular meetings, tutoring, and other student focused activities. All lunches and activity periods will be supervised. Students will not be allowed to leave the building for lunch. Areas where students may eat their lunch may be expanded. We are currently reviewing that possibility.

• How will midterms/finals count towards grades?

• Answer - When we transition to the block schedule, we will bring back midterm and final exams at our high schools. The midterms will include material from the first and second marking periods and the final exam will include information from the third and fourth marking periods. We are currently working on the structure and weighting of grades with this adjustment. More information will follow.

• Block schedules can make it difficult to miss class. A few situations like senior trip, Disney trip for band, GALRE, Key Largo trip or even if your child is sick with a fever and can not return until they are fever free. How will you address catching kids up after missing large chunks of time?

• Answer - Students can catch up on missed assignments or learning through their teacher’s Google Classroom and the activity period we are planning for the lunch block.

• How does lunch period work? How can a cafeteria accommodate all those students in one 40 minute sitting?

• Answer - see the first response above.

• What are “student centered activities?”

• Answer - see the first response above.

• What weighting percentage will the midterm and final exams carry?

• Answer - see response above about midterms and final exams.

• Would the students still be able to go to Mercer County Vocational School while attending one of the 3 high schools in Hamilton?

• Answer - Yes. One of the things we did this summer when we created a block schedule out of real student requests and courses offered was to make sure the schedule aligns with students who take classes at Mercer County Vocational School.

Family Life Education: The State of New Jersey allows for an Opt-Out clause, which is stated in N.J.S.A. 18A:35-4.7 Parent’s Statement of Conflict with Conscience. The NJDOE recognizes and respects that some families prefer to have these conversations privately. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:35-4.7, any child whose parent or guardian presents to the school a signed statement that any part of instruction in health, family life education, or sex education is in conflict with his or her conscience or sincerely held moral or religious beliefs shall be excused from that portion of the course.

• Please visit the Health/PE section of the Curriculum web page for information regarding grade level topics and curricular information.

• In addition, the “opt out” form can be found in the PowerSchool Parent Portal under forms.

• Note: Completion of opt-out (if a family chooses to do so), is an annual process.
  

Summer Assignments: Just a reminder that students in Grades 6-12 have required summer assignments in mathematics, reading, and Advanced Placement (AP) classes. Please click this link to access to review the assignments, due dates, etc.

Title I (ESSER) Preschool: Registration is closed at this time; we have reached our maximum number of seats (which is 90). Any families requesting to enroll in our Title I (ESSER) PreK will be placed on a waiting list.

Parent Videos: Mental Health Moments

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SEPAG Meeting:

October 1, 2024

6:00pm - 7:30pm

Crockett Middle School Library

MTSS Update:

• Elementary Schools-All elementary schools are in full implementation of Language Arts, Math and Behavior.
• Middle Schools-All three middle school data teams have met throughout the summer and are ready to begin implementation of Language Arts.

Curriculum Committee Update:

• During the August board meeting, Voyager Lexus Language Live, SRA Reading and Math were all approved and will begin implementation in the fall.

Technology support via Zoom for students will reopen with regular hours (Monday-Friday 7:30am-4:00pm) on Tuesday, September 3rd.

Chromebook Cart Model Update:

• Starting this school year, all students in PreK to 1st grade will keep their devices at school on carts. 2nd through 12th grade students will continue to have their individual devices assigned with the ability to bring them back and forth to school.
  
• Effective the 25-26 school year, the cart model will be expanded out to grades PreK to 2nd.
  

Updated Website and New Mobile App!

• Our district website is receiving a new look and feel starting Thursday, August 29th.
• We’re happy to announce our new Mobile App is live! In the app you have the option to subscribe to your specific schools calendar events and posts. For questions about use, please contact techsupport@htsdnj.org. The app is available with the links below:

1. Apple Store

2. Google Play Store

Congratulations to HTSD Tech Director, Mr. Jim O'Boyle, on receiving the NJ Visionary Award - Technology Leader.

#HTSD #HTSDpride

REMINDER: HTSD Family Hub:

Our HTSD Family Learning Hub is a one stop shop for district resources and information for families. This page will continue to update with new resources as they become available. You can see the page here: HTSD Family Learning Hub.

• Thursday, September 5, 2024 - First Day of School (one session day)
• Saturday, September 28, 2024 - 12pm, Nottingham HS Varsity "First Responders Game"
• Tuesday, October 15, 2024, 5:00pm - 6:00pm - First (DCR) District Community Relations Meeting (Wilson ES)

HTSD is proud to offer our fifth summer of unique Summer Camps in 2025 for Hamilton Township residents! Camps are offered grades K - 12 (Fall 2025).

Registration will open Friday, January 31, 2025.

2025 Camp Dates:

• Week 1: July 7 - 11
• Week 2: July 14 - 18
• Week 3: July 21 - 25
• Week 4: July 28 - August 1

The school district reminds parents that providing a cell phone to their child is a big decision and should be accompanied by clear communication about responsible use, including restrictions on apps, social media, and times the phone can be used.

Please see and follow the below rules about cell phones and electronic devices connected to phones (ie Apple watches). This information was first posted in the December 21, 2023 Community Update.

• Elementary Schools - Students are not to have cell phones or devices (ie. Apple watches, and similar wearable technology) in school unless they are needed for medical reasons. Medical issues are to be approved by your principal and nurse and require medical documentation from a certified medical doctor.
  
• Middle Schools - Students' phones must be put away in a backpack or locker (see your student handbook). Teachers and administrators have the right to tell students to put phones/devices away. Students who do not comply may have their phones confiscated and returned to a parent or guardian.
  
• High Schools - Students and parents should review their student handbook and messages sent by the principal on this topic for proper use during the school day. Teachers and administrators have the right to tell students to put phones/devices away. Students who do not comply may have their phones confiscated and they will be returned to a parent or guardian.
  

HTSD stresses the importance of families talking about and understanding proper phone etiquette and being safe online. Lost or stolen phones are not the district's responsibility.

The HTSD PTA Presidents have come together to tackle a problem that touches all of our schools - food insecurity. Regardless of the size of your school, or the ages of your students, we know there are those who could use a boost of nutrition and satisfying food to have at home.

With the help and support of Dr. Rocco and BOE President Dina Thornton, we have come up with a plan to help combat this issue on a district-wide level. Our PTA's will host food drives for non-perishable items such as pasta, canned tomato sauce, rice, beans, peanut butter, jelly, and canned vegetables.

School counselors and/or nurses will contact us and let us know how many care bags they’d need. These bags will be packed and dropped off to the school - no identifying information will ever be shared with us - only how many packages the school will need.

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Website: https://www.htsdnj.org/
Location: 90 Park Avenue, Hamilton Township, NJ, USA
Phone: (609) 631-4100