SHMS Family Newsletter

Greetings Stuart-Hobson Community,

We are just hours away from welcoming students to the 2024-25 school year at Stuart-Hobson Middle School! Pre-service week was one of many examples of our staff's dedication to their vital role in educating middle school students. Our focus has been intense across many areas: setting up engaging instructional spaces, participating in a comprehensive professional development day with an expert to refine our teaching techniques in student collaboration and engagement, and building stronger connections within our instructional teams.

One big highlight of the week was the PTA-sponsored staff lunch, where our team had the opportunity to come together over a shared meal, reflect on the preservice week, and look ahead to the new school year. The support we receive from the PTA is instrumental to our work, and we are grateful for the wonderful lunch they provided, thank you families!

Another big highlight of the week was the release of the SY23-24 DC Comprehensive Assessments of Progress Education (DC CAPE) test scores for Stuart-Hobson. While we use many metrics to assess our effectiveness as a school, the recent SY23-24 CAPE results show that our hard work is making a positive difference for many students. Notably, we've seen significant improvements in both ELA and Math scores of our students with more students achieving at our above grade-level and even more accelerating towards grade level than in recent years.

Now, we move on to the most exciting part—welcoming our students! Whether returning or joining us for the first time, we are thrilled to have each of them with us. Families, please take a moment to review our The First Day of School - Quick Tips Guide in this newsletter to ensure a smooth morning arrival and seamless dismissal. Please reach out to us if any support is needed, by calling the main office at 202-671-6010 or emailing us at stuart-hobsonms@k12.dc.gov We will be focused on our students, so our response may be a bit slower than usual, but please know that we are here to help.

Thank you for entrusting us with the privilege of educating your students and being a part of their growth and development. We are looking forward to a fantastic year together!

Warm regards,

Eric Fraser
Principal

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Weekly Calendar

Monday 8/26

• First day of school year 24-25!
• Students remain in 7th period class for the day!
  
  

Tuesday, 8/27

• Auditions for DramaPlayers 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. in room 101. For more information, see blurb in Students Clubs and Extracurriculars
  
  

Wednesday, 8/28

• Students receive locker assignments
• Girls Soccer Interest Meeting, 3:45 p.m., Room 313
  
• Virtual Interest Meeting for 7th Grade Naturebridge Overnight Field Trip: https://tinyurl.com/yc49sw7e
  
  

Thursday, 8/29

• Debate Team Interest Meeting, 3:45 - 5:00 p.m., Room 219
  
  

Friday, 8/30

• A great instructional day!

Upcoming Dates

• After-School All-Stars (ASAS) Request to Sign up is now open for SY 2024-25
• Monday, August 26, Welcome back students! First day of school!
  
• Tuesday, August 27, DramaPlayers Auditions, 3:30 - 4:30 p.m., Room 101
• Wednesday, August 28, Girls Soccer Interest Meeting, 3:45 p.m., Room 313
• Wednesday, August 28, Virtual Interest Meeting for 7th Grade Naturebridge Overnight Field Trip: https://tinyurl.com/yc49sw7e
• Thursday, August 29, Debate Team Interest Meeting, 3:45 - 5:00 p.m., Room 219
• Monday, September 2, Labor Day observed, SHMS closed
• Tuesday, September 3, Capitol Hill Cluster LSAT Virtual Meeting 6 - 7:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, September 10, Back to School Night, 6 - 7:30 p.m.
  Note: After-School All-Stars will host a informational session on Stuart-Hobson's after school program from 5:30 - 6 p.m., immediately before Back to School Night.
  ASL interpretation services will be provided.
• Saturday, September 14, DCPS Back to School Block Party, Jefferson Middle School, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
• Tuesday, September 17, PTA Welcome Back Meeting, Watkins ES, 6:00-7:30 PM

The first day of school is just hours away and the Stuart-Hobson team is excited and well-prepared to welcome your students to a new school year! Please review this quick guide to the first day to help your student have a wonderful and memorable experience.

Morning Arrival
Your student should arrive at the 4th Street entrance between 8:15-8:45 a.m. and please note, in these first days of school, our morning entry will move slowly. In this line, students will turn in cell phones and other electronic devices to retrieve at dismissal and go through our screening process.

First Moments

Stuart-Hobson staff members will be positioned outside and throughout the building to provide support and direction to students during their day. Students will remain in their seventh period class for a full day of orientation where they will build community, practice daily procedures, and norm other systems and expectations.

Beginning on Tuesday, students will follow their full schedule. We will provide all students with a copy of their most current schedule (see Aspen), please do NOT send them to school with the version you received in the mail. By the end of the week, we will assign lockers. Until then, they will carry their belongings with them throughout the day.

Student Schedules

The most common requests and questions during the first days of school are around student schedules. Please email any questions or requests to your student's guidance counselor or at stuart-hobsonms@k12.dc.gov. We will work through all schedule change requests and release updated schedules to students in batches. If there is an error on your student's schedule, please alert us by email and know that we will address it in the early days of school.

Parent Support

Because most staff will be focused on supporting students throughout the school day, we will not have many staff available to assist with parent and family needs early in the week. This can make the main office a busy place and cause longer-than-usual wait times. Wherever possible, please reach out to us by email (stuart-hobsonms@k12.dc.gov) to schedule an appointment or with any questions, requests, or updates and we will work to get back to your throughout the week.

Dismissal

At 3:30 PM students will be dismissed. Please note that cell phone redistribution takes place beginning at 3:30 so students will begin exiting around then. Dismissal locations are as follows:

6th Grade: Exit at 5th and E streets NE

7th Grade: E Street via the main entrance (lobby area), and,

8th Grade: Exit near the corner of 4th & E Streets NE

If you are picking up your student in a vehicle, please remember to only double park on the school side of any street. We strongly encourage families to avoid double parking on E Street or to identify a meet-up spot that is not on one of the blocks immediately surrounding the school to assist with a smooth dismissal process.

Lastly, unless they are participating in an athletic program, there are no other after-care programs running during the first weeks of school.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the new family orientations—the in-person session for new 6th-grade families during the 6th Grade Panther Pride program and the virtual session. It was wonderful to connect with new families and address everyone's questions as we prepared for the first weeks of school. As promised, here are the links to the virtual recording, the slide deck, and the communication plan. As always, feel free to reach out to us with any additional questions.

Explore all the afterschool and out-of-school time (OST) programming available to District youth ages 5-21 during the 2024-25 school year, sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education and the Learn24 network. District families will be able to connect with OST programs, learning experiences, jobs, internships, and more.

RSVP: learn24afterschoolinthecity2024.eventbrite.com

September 7, 2024
11:00 am - 2:00 pm
Deanwood Community Center
1350 49th Street NE

The following general school supply list will support your student in a successful start to the school year.

General School Supplies

Headphones (microphone optional)

Black or Blue Pens

Pencils and Pencil Sharpener

2-4 Composition Books

2-4 Spiral Bound Notebooks

Crayons, Color Markers, and Color Pencils

Glue Sticks

3 ring binder(s) are recommended to help students organize for multiple classes

Pencil pouch / tote

When planning to organize your student and their supplies, please remember that students will have 4 core classes (Math, Science, Social Studies, and ELA) and 2 electives (e.g. physical education, band, Spanish, etc.).

Additional supplies may be required based on individual courses. These supply lists will be provided by teachers directly to their students/class.

If your family needs support in purchasing school supplies, please contact the main office at 202-671-6010.

SHMS partners with GW University for students to receive free math tutoring 90 minutes per week​ through their Math Matters program. Programming is available to interested 6th and 7th graders!

​About Math Matters​

Based out of the Nashman Center at George Washington University, Math Matters collaborates with DCPS to provide high-impact math tutoring to middle school students in Washington, D.C.​ Math Matters recruits and trains GW undergraduate and graduate students to be effective mentors and tutors.

Tutoring Details​

- Tutors provide small group tutoring throughout the school year to groups of 3-4 students

- Students attend two days per week, 3:30-4:30pm​ (snack included)

- Tutoring curriculum is skill based, and is geared towards accelerating students towards grade level proficiency​

- Tutoring starts mid-September- official start date TBD once we hear from GW

Sign Up

https://bit.ly/mathtutoringshms

Questions? Reach out to Ms. Rosera at Bethany.Rosera@k12.dc.gov

The 2024-2025 Athletics’ Participation packet has been released. All students must complete a participation packet every school year. Additionally, the medical forms must be completed within the prior 365 days. We encourage you to have your healthcare provider complete these forms before the school year and attach them to your participation packet. If your student’s UHC has been updated recently, you are encouraged to complete the participation packet as soon as possible.

English Participation Packet

Spanish Participation Packet

Universal Health Certificate (UHC).

Students with certain medical conditions may also need to complete an Asthma Action Plan or an Anaphylaxis Action Plan

Please note that it is not necessary to submit a new participation packet for each season. A complete packet includes the DCIAA forms filled out in their entirety along with a Universal Health Certificate that was completed within the last year. ALL STUDENTS MUST HAVE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED AND APPROVED BEFORE PARTICIPATION.

SHMS Athletics is seeking to hire coaches for the following teams. Professional and coaching résumés can be sent directly to Ms. Swann:

Coaching Openings:

Boys & Girls Cross Country (Fall), Indoor Track (Winter), and Track and Field (Spring), Head and Assistant Coaches

Girls Soccer

Please see below for team specific QR codes and sites and direct any questions about athletics to our Athletic Director, Ms. Dreka Swann, dreka.swann@k12.dc.gov

Please see food services menus for Stuart-Hobson's first week of school.

As a reminder, DCPS Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) does not require a new dietary accommodation form to be submitted every school year.

You only need to submit a new dietary accommodation form if:

• Your student is new to DCPS and requires dietary accommodations.
• Your student has a new dietary need, such as a newly diagnosed food allergy.
• There are changes to your student’s existing dietary accommodation form on file with Food and Nutrition Services.

For more information or to complete a dietary accommodations form, please click here.

Is your incoming student interested in joining Stuart-Hobson's theater program? We are looking for talented, hard-working, creative, flexible, and focused students to join us in the new school year.

Interested in acting, stage crew, dance, or tech? Passionate about the ARTS? We are the group for you! There are limited spaces so auditions will be necessary. Please make plans to attend PANTHER PRIDE ACADEMY, August 5-8th. Theater workshops which will help prepare students for the Thursday auditions will take place from 12- 2 pm that week. Accepted students will then be enrolled into theater class which is required for participation in the program.

Students can begin preparing now by creating a 30 second introduction of who you are and why you should be a DramaPlayer to share during audition week. Put your personality into your presentation, share your goals of what you'd like to do or learn as a DramaPlayer, and any experiences you may have.

​*7th/8th graders interested in joining can also participate in the theater workshops/auditions from 12-2 pm (Aug.5-8).

*Any student unable to attend August auditions may plan to audition on 8/27/24 from 3:30-4:30 pm. However, fewer slots will be available at that time. Students may also audition via video submission. This should be no longer than 5 minutes (max) to include 30 sec creative intro plus a monologue and song, dance routine, or description of theater tech job that most interests you and why.

Questions, please contact Tori Pergerson (Director) at latoria.mckoy@k12.dc.gov.

Join us to craft (or just doodle!), chat, and have community with each other! Crafts provided!

When: Wednesdays 3:30-4:30pm

Where: Office #108

Why: To have fun, relax, and craft!

Who: YOU! ALL students are welcome!

Questions? See Ms. Harrington (kimberly.harrington@dc.gov, office #221)

Do you have questions about mental health and behavioral health services at Stuart-Hobson? Would you like to talk to one of the counseling staff about support services for your student? Submit a request via https://bit.ly/referralSHMS or contact SHMS Social Worker Bernadette Wittschen at bernadette.wittschen@k12.dc.gov.

Stay tuned here for the latest news and updates on the initiatives of the Capitol Hill Cluster PTA, a PTA that represents three terrific schools: Peabody, Watkins Elementary School and Stuart-Hobson Middle School. The PTA is dedicated to supporting and enriching the educational experience across all three schools and will use this space to inform about projects, events, and calls for volunteer support.

**The information below is new or an updated version of something announced previously! **

You can find previously released newsletters and information here.

Email: stuart-hobsonms@k12.dc.gov
Website: www.stuart-hobson.org
Location: 410 E Street Northeast, Washington, DC, USA
Phone: 202-671-6010
Twitter: @StuartHobsonMS

Important Links

Aspen DCPS Student and Family Login

Capitol Hill Cluster Website

DCPS School Calendar SY24-25

DCPS School Mental Health Resources
Stuart-Hobson Special Education and 504 Plans
Stuart-Hobson Uniform Policy

Stuart-Hobson Food Service Breakfast-Lunch-Supper Menus
Stuart-Hobson Behavior Expectation Matrices
Stuart-Hobson Student and Family Handbook