Hendricks Herald

We are so excited to begin our 24-25 school year here at HMS!

Personally, I am so excited to begin my journey here at HMS. I have remarked to many people that Hendricks is one of the most welcoming places I’ve been a part of. From the very beginning, the staff, students, parents, and community have welcomed me with open arms. Obviously, this is part of the culture cultivated by Ms. Riddle, and we will continue this legacy of welcome for years to come!

We are excited to welcome our 6th grade class to Hendricks! While the transition to middle school can seem scary, daunting, and filled with the unknown, in our experience, it only takes about 1 week for our 6th graders to get accustomed to the schedule, the class changes, the lockers, and the workload before they seem like seasoned middle school veterans! And 6th grade parents, remind your child that EVERYONE in 6th grade is new to 6th grade and we have amazingly kind, caring, and loving 6th grade teachers to help guide them all along the way.

Our advice for all students is to get plugged in early! We have so many opportunities to connect with others in a positive way. Clubs, athletics, fine arts, Career Tech Student Organizations, and more are a great way to make our school of almost 1350, feel small! Be looking on our website, social media post, school announcements, and messengers for these opportunities once the school year begins.

A major intention for our staff this year will be to focus on our mission which is to Navigate life with a purpose, where Everyone feels valued, Safe to be their most authentic self, and Takes risk responsibly (NEST). Our hope is that our focused effort on our mission will positively impact your child’s experience here at Hendricks!

Again, our staff is passionate about their calling as educators and we are focused on treating our work as such! Author Shawn Achor stated that “people with a calling view work as an end in itself; their work is fulfilling not because of external rewards, but because they feel it contributes to the greater good, draws on their personal strengths, and gives them meaning and purpose.” Every teacher who walks through these doors sees their work in this way and we are so excited we get to partner with you in our calling!

We look forward to a great year! Go Hawks!

All the best,

Ben Jones

Principal

July 29: Hawks Camp and Open House

August 1: 1st Day of School

August 5: Cross Country Tryouts after School

August 6: Football vs PGMS & LSMS @ HMS

August 13: Football vs Riverwatch @ HMS

August 14: 6th Grade Curriculum Night 6-7 PM

August 20: Football vs LMS @ NFHS

August 20: Fall Picture Day

August 21: 7th & 8th Grade Curriculum Night

August 24: Football vs VCMS & RMS @ VCMS

August 27: Football vs VCMS @ WFHS

August 30: Early Release for Professional Development

Forms for the 24/25 school year have been populated to your Parent Portal account. Forms for each student enrolled in FCS need to be completed by August 15, 2024. Only 1 parent/guardian needs to complete the forms for each student. For instructions on how to fill out and sign Parent Portal forms, please click here.

Do you need to set up a parent portal account, or you have forgotten your user name or password? Please come to the front office with a government-issued photo id to get your account up to date.

If you have parent portal questions please contact Andrea Moran in our Front Office.

To sign into Parent Portal, click here.

As a reminder please check and update your approved contact information in Parent Portal. We cannot release a student to a person that is not on the list provided by the parent. It does take 24 HOURS to take effect. Please ensure that you have an emergency/priority contact selected. Click here for a resource to help you update necessary information in your parent portal account.

Please email attendance excuses within 5 days to:

Andi Moran at amoran@forsyth.k12.ga.us

Excuses need to be received within 5 days of the students absence. If seen by a licensed physician, please ensure the attending physician provides a medical/dental/vision/etc. excuse.

STUDENTS MAY BE EXCUSED FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

1. Personal illness or attendance in school that endangers a students' health or the health of others.

2. A serious illness or death in a student's immediate family necessitating absence from school.

3. A court order or an order by a governmental agency, including pre-induction physical examinations for service in the armed forces, mandating absence from school.

4. The observance of religious holidays, necessitating absence from school.

5. Conditions rendering attendance impossible or hazardous to student health or safety.

6. A scheduled medical, dental, or eye examination of the student. (Please provide a note from the attending physicians office)

7. Registering to vote or voting.

8. Visiting with a parent or legal guardian who is in the military service in the armed forces and has been called to duty for or is on leave from overseas deployment to a combat zone or combat support post. The student may be excused for a maximum of 5 days per school year.

Non-school related activities and vacations are considered unexcused.

Hendricks Middle School has a podcast. Kyle Pullano, one of our outstanding connections teachers, hosts the HMS Podcast. The podcast is updated monthly and features both students and staff members. Click here to listen to the most current or previous episodes.

Family Connect Nights are evenings designated by the West and Central Communities as nights when no homework will be assigned. The goal is for families to have an evening away from school work where they can connect and communicate. We encourage you to share your family pictures or activities by posting to social media using the hashtag #HMSConnects. Thank you for your support of our students, our community, and our school. Please let us know how we can partner with you to encourage ongoing family connection between home and Hendricks.

Forsyth County Schools will continue to use MySchoolBucks.com for student breakfast and lunch payments. If you had a MyPaymentsPlus account with funds prior to this school year, the funds will roll over to My School Books for the new school year. Money in accounts will automatically carry forward to the student’s assigned school for the new year. You can add additional funds

FCS utilizes SchoolPay for all other student-related payment items. Parents/guardians need to create an account and attach their student to the account. Please click here for directions on creating a SchoolPay account.

Thank you for utilizing these two payment methods for your children.

The school counseling department is excited for the 2024-2025 school year. This year, we have some new faces in our office. Ms. Amy Chapple, Ms. Tracy Taylor, and Ms. Nicole Bagwell will be joining Mr. Brian Flath and Mrs. Lisa Schroeder to work with our students. It is going to be a great year here at Hendricks! Go Hawks!

Mr. Flath: A-F

Ms. Chapple: G-M

Mrs. Schroeder: N-Z

Ms. Taylor: Wellness

Nurse Jeanette Gibbs is honored to be your child's school nurse this year.

For students with chronic/long-term conditions, please have the appropriate forms filled out carefully and legibly and signed by the pediatrician or specialist. This information will be used to care for your child while at school or on a field trip. These care plans are good for one calendar year.

Please know that the Clinic cannot accept bottles of over-the-counter medications w/ greater than 50 tablets/caplets. Medication must be turned into Nurse Jenny in the school clinic and picked up at the end of each school year.

In the event the school needs to reach you:

• Consider saving the school's phone number (678) 965-5038 in your Contacts list so you see us on caller ID. How about a dedicated ring tone?
• Update and verify telephone numbers and email addresses in Parent Portal.
• List all adults (18 and older) able to pick up your student and designate Emergency Priority options in Parent Portal.
  • Consider having a responsible adult/friend/neighbor listed in Parent Portal on standby in the event you are unable to get to the school to pick up your ill child in a timely manner.
• Photo ID is required to pick up any student.

With plenty of fresh air, sunshine, healthy food/water, and adequate sleep, your child can SOAR like a Hawk!

Please don't hesitate to call or email Nurse Jenny with any questions or concerns.

Welcome Back Hawks! The books have missed you! Mrs. Hall is excited to welcome all of our Hawks back into the media center. The media center has a variety of games, activities, and instruments for students to use during the school day in addition to the expansive book collection. Book check outs will begin on August 7, 2024. Students may check out two items at a time for a two week period. Items can be renewed if the student needs more time. If you opted to receive daily emails in parent portal, you will receive a daily email that lists all of the items your student has checked out from the media center. Mrs. Hall will send overdue notices via email twice each month. Lost or damaged books can be paid for in School Pay. Books over 90 days late will automatically be marked lost. We need the books returned to allow other students the opportunity to enjoy them. Happy Reading!

There is a lot happening here at Hendricks Middle School! We want to communicate to our

community efficiently and effectively, so our plan for this is the following:

1. Our website is our first line of communication and is updated frequently. Many

parents do not have social media and platform use is inconsistent, so the school

website is where you can find dependable school information.

Each department maintains their own page. For example, parents can find

their students’ sports practice and game schedules on the athletic pages.

Events such as parent nights, conference days, and picture days can be found

on the front page of our website under “School News” and “Upcoming

Events”.

Student News/Announcements contain things like club meeting days/times,

spirit day information and other student interests can be found on the front

page of our website under the “Quick Links” and “School News” sections as

well as our students’ ClassLink page.

2. As a second method of communication, as much information as possible will be

pushed out through social media. Please refer back to our website if you are looking

for more information on a social media post. Most social media posts are simply

highlighting information that exists on our website. If our website doesn’t answer

your questions about a social media post, please email the contact given in the post

or our administration. We don’t always see questions asked on social media or in

direct messages.

3. Our third line of communication will be regular newsletters. These newsletters will

be placed on our website and posted on social media as well.

4. Critical or last minute safety information will also be sent via Parent Portal/IC

Messenger.

Communicating with our students is important to us as well. Many times your student will

have information about upcoming events or other items of interest at Hendricks. Here are

the ways we communicate with them:

1. All students are enrolled in our itslearning student course titled “HMS Student

Information Course”. This course contains announcements and links that may need

to be accessed throughout the year for surveys, tutorials, or events.

2. Announcements scroll all day on digital signage around our school. These

announcements are also posted in our students’ Classlink, Student Information

course in itslearning, and our website.

3. Video announcements air every day. These are also made available in Classlink, HMS

Student Information Course in itslearning, and our website.

We hope that this plan will help our community stay on top of necessary and important

information from HMS. We deeply appreciate your support!

Install the Canvas app and become an observer of your student's courses. Teachers will be posting all relevant course information in Canvas. Being an observer will keep you informed and give you additional tools to support your student's progress. Click here for more information on using Canvas.

We hope all families and staff members help build the nest by joining and participating in PTO. If you are interested in being a part of this critical support system, please contact us at hendricksms.pto@gmail.com.

This school year, we plan to send out regular communications in order to keep our families and teachers updated on all things PTO. We will also try to send out periodic communications on items such as how to purchase a yearbook, sporting event schedules, and important happenings around the school. While these communications will be intended to assist you in staying “in the know”, we do still encourage you to turn to the school website as your official place for school information.

Website: https://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/hms
Location: 4950 Hyde Road, Cumming, GA, USA
Phone: (678) 965-5038
Facebook: facebook.com/HendricksHawks/
Twitter: @HendricksMiddle