Horner Parent/Family Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We want to extend our heartfelt thanks for being such dedicated partners in your child's education this year. Your involvement and support play a crucial role in their success, and we truly value the collaborative efforts between home and school.

We’re excited to announce a new initiative this year: Saturday Academy. In an effort to offer more constructive interventions, we will be utilizing Saturday Academy as an alternative to suspensions when possible. Our goal is to provide multiple interventions and support to help students succeed, prior to suspension when possible based upon the severity of the action.

We also want to express our gratitude for the tremendous turnout at our Back to School Night on August 21st. It was a pleasure to see so many parents visiting the campus, engaging with teachers, and learning about ways to support their child's success and understanding classroom expectations.

Additionally, we want to inform you of a new policy regarding student pickup during the last 20 minutes of sixth period. To ensure a smooth and orderly end to the school day, we will not be able to release students during this time due to closure activities, end-of-day announcements, and the difficulty in retrieving students. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in helping us implement this policy.

Thank you once again for your continued support and partnership. Let’s keep up the teamwork to make all students’ dreams work!

Cindy Hicks-Rodriguez, Principal

Horner Vision Statement

We at Horner Middle School, envision a future in which every student receives an effective, equitable, and engaging education that allows them to reach their full and unique potential.

Horner Mission Statement

At Horner Middle School our mission is to provide students with the Knowledge, Tools, and Skills they need to master content standards, make effective decisions, and collaborate with others, which will enable them to be successful lifelong learners.

Knowledge, Tools, Skills = Master, Make, Collaborate!

The Horner teachers have voted and it was determined that our bell schedule for the 24-25 school year will be the exact same bell schedule as this year. Please note that our AC Transit bus will continue to provide pickup and drop off's on regular day Monday's, Tuesday's, Wednesday's, Thursday's and Friday's. The only days that after school bus service will not be provided is on minimum days that are NOT Wednesday's. Those dates will be as follows:

October 31 (Halloween)

November 22 (Friday before Thanksgiving break)

December 20 (Friday before Winter break)

April 17 (Thursday before Good Friday)

May 27 (Tuesday last week of school)

May 29 (Thursday last week of school)

May 30 (Friday the last day of school)

Bell Schedule 24-25

M/TU/TH/F

Start time: 815 AM. End time: 228 pm

WED

Start time: 815 AM End time: 120 pm

Other minimum days that are NOT Wednesday's

Start time: 815 AM. End time: 120 pm

Last day of School

Start time: 815 AM. End time: 1248 PM

If your child is interested in trying out for a Winter or Spring sport please print out the forms that are attached prior to the school year. At MAZE day you are able to turn the forms into the athletic table if you have the physical form from your doctor attached. All students trying out for a sport MUST have all paperwork and physicals completed and submitted on the due dates below in order to try out. If you have any questions you can email Mr. Sean Davis at Horner Middle School as he oversees the athletic programs.

Forms due for Boys Basketball: October 17

Forms due for Girls Basketball: December 20

Forms due for Boys Volleyball: February 27

All deadlines are firm and we cannot accept forms past the due date listed above. Thank you.

Labor Day- No School

Monday, September 2

PTSA meeting (zoom)

Wednesday, September 4⋅6:30 – 8:00pm

Homework center opens in library

Thursday, September 5⋅2:45 – 3:45pm

Picture makeups for those who have not taken pictures

Friday, September 6⋅8:30am – 3:30pm

Girls VB @ Walters

Thursday, September 12⋅3:00 – 5:00pm

Start with Hello Week - Sandy Hook Promise at lunch

September 16 – 20, 2024

Girls VB (Hopkins @ Horner)

Tuesday, September 17⋅3:00 – 5:00pm

PTSA movie night in MUR

Friday, September 20⋅5:30 – 8:30pm

Girls VB @ Centerville

Tuesday, September 24⋅3:00 – 5:00pm

Girls VB @ Thornton

Thursday, September 26⋅3:00 – 5:00pm

Saturday Academy in MPR

Saturday, September 28⋅9:00am – 12:00pm

SSC meeting in library

Monday, September 30⋅2:45 – 3:45pm

Girls VB @ Horner (Walters)

Tuesday, October 1⋅3:00 – 5:00pm

PTSA meeting (zoom)

Wednesday, October 2⋅6:30 – 8:00pm

Girls VB @ Hopkins

Thursday, October 3⋅3:00 – 5:00pm

Social grades 6-8

Friday, October 4⋅2:45 – 4:45pm

Boys BB meeting at lunch

Friday, October 4

Hello Horner Families!

Wait, it is September already? Where does the time go! I’m here to give you an ASB update.

Couple exciting things happened these first two weeks of school. First ASB has been sweatshirts and Gold Cards from the during the week of August 21 to August 28th. The sweatshirts have been ordered and will take about two and half weeks and the Gold Cards should be here before the first social. Students should have gotten an yellow permission slips. When the gold cards get here, we will require them to turn that form in to get their gold card. Have your students stay tuned on the announcements for when these items arrived. We are planning selling a bunch of spirit wear this year so stay tuned!

The second update is about our school socials this year!! The first one takes place October 4th. If you bought a Gold Card, you don’t need to buy a ticket! If not, stay tuned on the announcements for more info about how we are doing ticket sales this year.

One more thing that ASB is really proud to be hosting our third annual Club Rush we will be hosting on September 5th and 6th. We will have 24 clubs participating. Head to the fire lane by the track to find out more info about all the amazing clubs we have on campus.

Finally, I wanted to mention how exciting it has been welcoming everyone back to campus. Seeing smiling faces has been an awesome sight. I hope you and your family are staying safe! Please follow us on instagram @Hornerhornets and head to the ASB website hornerhornets.org to stay up to date with all the exciting information. Have a great school year!

Mr. Shaffer

Activities Director

According to the American Association of Suicidology, more than 44,000 suicides occurred in the U.S. in 2015, which translates to 121 suicides per day. The National Alliance on Mental Illness also states that suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S., the third leading cause of death for people aged 10–14, and the second leading cause of death for individuals aged 15–24.

These statistics are deeply troubling, to say the least.

In September, we recognize the following observances:

• September: Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month
• September 10: World Suicide Prevention Day
• September 10-16: National Suicide Prevention Week

“Suicide is a significant public health issue. These important dates - and the entire month of September - carry a simple, potentially life-saving message: suicide is preventable,” said Devereux Director of Clinical and Professional Affairs Megan Russell. “Research indicates that various protective factors can help prevent suicide – including strong family and community bonds, and access to effective medical and clinical care – so it’s important to know the risk factors and warning signs.

Please take time to talk to your child about their day, about their peer friendships and any other topics you can in order to ensure that their mental health is okay and that feel they have someone to talk to about any needs.

Dear Horner Families,

We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who attended our Back to School Night. It was wonderful to see so many of you there, and your participation truly sets a positive tone for the year ahead. We encourage you to stay involved and participate in upcoming school events and activities.

A few highlights from Back to School Night:

• See Something, Say Something: Safety is our top priority, and this year, FUSD has partnered with Sandy Hook to provide an anonymous tip line to help prevent school violence.

• Horner’s mission is to provide students with knowledge, tools, and skills to be successful lifelong learners.

• School activities will begin this month including: sports, clubs, and enrichment classes.

As we move forward into the school year, we remain committed to working together to support each student’s growth and success. Thank you once again for your continued support and partnership. Here’s to a fantastic year filled with learning, growth, and achievement!

Sincerely,

Horner Middle School Assistant Principals

Our goal is to have every student feel safe and welcome at Horner. With this goal also comes some dress code expectations for students. While summer time brings out crop tops (rightfully so due to the hot weather) we want to remind all families and students that all clothing needs to be in line with the schools dress code. As parents wind down the shopping for school, we wanted to remind everyone that some things are considered not appropriate for school. We want students to be able to attend school successfully without having dress code violations in which they would need to change into other clothing that we issue to them when a violation occurs. Thank you in advance for reviewing the dress code with students to ensure safety and adherance to the school rules. Please review the following with your student and ensure they don't wear these items to school:

• Sunglasses, hats, caps, hoods and other non-religious/cultural head coverings shall not be worn indoors.
• Shirts, tops, and dresses must have straps.
• May not wear any gang-related, clothing, jewelry, emblems.
• May not wear chains or spikes on jackets/pants.
• Midriff must be covered.
• Garments covering the lower body must be sufficient to cover the buttocks.
• Shoes must be worn.

The following are also not allowed to be worn to school:

• Pajamas or lounge pants
• Slippers
• Sagging pants that expose the underwear
• Gender bias or hate speech apparrel
• Attire with violence or weapon innuindos
• Yoga tights or tights in lieu of pants
• Bathrobes
• Red or blue bandanas
• no "cookies" t shirts that advertise marijuana brands

Thank you in advance. Please email an administrator if you have any questions.

Dear Horner Middle School Parents/Guardians,

I am School Resource Officer Thania Guzman, assigned to the Irvington High School attendance area. I am committed to fostering a safe and positive learning environment for all students at Horner Middle School.

I have a strong background in youth development and community outreach, and I am passionate about working with young people. I look forward to building strong relationships with the Horner Middle School community and working together to create a safe and supportive environment for all students.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, concerns, or simply want to introduce yourself.

Sincerely,

Officer Thania Guzman School Resource Officer Fremont Police Department

Please take a moment to review the school goals for 24-25 below. We are committed to ensuring that all students are successful, feel valued and are challegened yet supported in all areas of academics, social emotional learning and behavior.

Hello Horner Students and Parents,

Here’s a quick guide to our club selection process for this year:

1. Club Rush: On September 5 & 6, students will join us for Club Rush to explore and gather information about all the available clubs. There will be no signups during club rush.
2. Google Form: After Club Rush, students will receive a Google Form where they can select up to 5 clubs they are interested in. This form will be open for 1 week only after club rush.
3. Lottery System: To ensure fairness, we’ll use a random lottery system to place students into clubs. This is because last year, many students couldn’t join a club due to high demand and many students joining more than 1 club as the sign up system occured at lunch and it really became a situation of who could get to the sign up sheet first. We realize that was not fair to all students, especially if the student had a class clear across campus.
4. Club Rosters: Once the lottery is complete, club rosters will be posted in the breezeway prior to the 16th of Sept. Check the roster to see which club you’ve been assigned.
5. Student Responsibility: Please make sure your student fills out the Google form themselves, as we’ll send club information directly to students, not parents. Also, if a student misses 3 meetings they will be dropped from the club for the remainder of the year. Attendance in the club they are in is vital.

We’re excited to offer a fair chance for everyone to join a club and look forward to a great year ahead!

Note: please make a note that if your child is a President of a club from the end of last year, that is the club they will automatically be in that club this year, therefore they should not fill out the Google form.

We are in desparate need of $5 gift cards to different locations. The gift card drawing is part of our positive behavior interventions supports program. Once per week we do a drawing for our students. During that drawing they will either win a gift bag or they win a $5 gift card.

At this time we need gift cards badly. Kids really enjoy the gift card drawing and if there is any help you can give we are greatful! They love starbucks gifts cards and the demonination is always $5. Please help support this initiative! Thank you.

We are also looking for large bags of jolly ranchers; sour patch kids fun size; lemon heads...basically any hard candies to handout to to kids on Fridays. No chocolate please due to allergies.

Horner will be again be offering after school enrichment classes starting in September. For the first 12 weeks we will be offering the following after school programs: Ballet Folklorico; Origami Art; Studio Art enrichment; Drama. The Google form link will be posted on the school website and on parent square starting this week.

Please speak to your child to see if they would like to complete one of the Google forms to enter the lottery draw for the after school enrichment classes.

Due to the limited number of spaces for the after school enrichment programs we will be conducting a lottery draw for those spots. There will be 40 spots open in Drama; 30 spots open in Studio art; 35 spots in Origami and 35 spots in Ballet Folklorico. The information about those programs will be listed on the Google forms.

The first class will begin the week of September 16th and those students selected for the program will have an email sent letting them know about being selected. There will be two different offerings of those programs. One will be for 12 weeks first semester and another program offering the second semester for 12 weeks. During the second semester families will receive the second round Google form for semester 2 to complete.

Be on the lookout for the Google forms for after school enrichment classes coming out this week! This Google form will be open from Sept. 3 - Sept. 9 and will close on Sept. 9 at 4 pm. This way we can do the lottery draw, notify the students and get the rosters to the teachers conducting that program.

Horner will be offering the AMC 8 Math test again in January this year. More information will be coming out for this test if your child would like to participate in this Math competition. The fee for participating will be $30 per student. Payments will be made to Horner Middle School (cash only please) in order to purchase the testing materials and supplies. We will be sending out more information to families in October and November about payment details, deadlines for signing up etc. If your child would also like to participate in Math Olympiad, our PTSA runs that program so please reach out to our PTSA President for more information. More info to come....Note: Horner only provides this test to current 8th grade students.

If your child missed MAZE day, Sept. 6th will be their picture day in their History classes. Your child will leave their history class (teachers have a list of all students who did not get their picture taken during MAZE) to get their picture taken during the school day. Information will be coming home to parents with a link for you to view the school photos. Once the photo is processed, your child will have their ID card provided to them within 2 weeks of their picture day. All orders are done online through our photo company, Jostens. Please remind your student to NOT wear anything green for picture day. Thank you.