Huesken Highlights

Hello Huesken Middle School Families,

We have had a wonderful start to the 24-25 school year! I have been very impressed with the students' ability to adjust to being back from our summer break. Middle school philosophy centers around an environment that is flexible and ever-changing, like the young adolescents the educational community serves. During our opening kick-off presentation Mr. Hollinger, Ms. Frazier and I discussed that here at GHMS our community is built on a foundation of collaboration, communication, learning, and personal accountability. Our school theme this year is Lights, Camera, Take Action! Students watched a video of 250,000 dominoes moving because of just one action. Here at the middle school students have the opportunity to start that ripple affect with just one action. We will continue to share with students the importance of positive ripple effects and the importance of our community! Along with our PBIS team, we shared with students our expectations for the hallway, cafeteria, classroom and bus. Students will have opportunities to celebrate their success throughout the school year with their personal PBIS rewards store. Be sure to ask your son or daughter about their PBIS rewards app and how they can earn points throughout the day.

We will continue sharing our monthly communication via the Huesken Highlights newsletter. Teams also will be sharing monthly newsletters with families. Additionally, check out and follow our instagram account @ghms_cvsd for all things middle school. All of our school newsletters are posted on the Conestoga Valley Website.

Reach out anytime with questions or concerns.

Dr. Rachel Metzinger

Principal

Gerald G. Huesken Middle School

rachel_metzinger@conestogavalley.org

Hello!

If your student is just getting started at Gerald Huesken Middle School, welcome from the GHMS PTO! And if you have a returning student, welcome back! We hope that everyone has had a fun, safe, adventurous summer, and that you are as excited as we are to get the 2024-25 school year underway. If you are new to the GHMS PTO, we are so glad to have you join us. Our goal is to support fun, community-building events for our middle school students, to show the teachers and staff appreciation for the extremely hard work that they do, and to raise funds for items outside of the school budget that enhance the school experience for students. This year our goal with fundraising is to add some outdoor equipment for students to use during their lunch period or other time that they get to spend outdoors, such as soccer goals and a gaga pit, and more!

If you do not have a student at GHMS anymore, please reply to this email and let us know so that we can take you off our list!

We have a calendar of events for the 2024-25 school year below so that you can add dates for our meetings and events to your calendar! We hope to update any events that are "TBD" soon.

Here are our first few events:

Monday, September 9: Our first PTO meeting of the year! Join us in the library at 6:00 PM to hear about all of the events happening this year and how you can support them.

Tuesday, September 10: Rita's Night! Come celebrate back-to-school with some Rita's. A portion of the proceeds will go back to the PTO!

Look for more information on these events and more to come in emails and on social media. Thank you for your support. We look forward to a great year!

- GHMS PTO

Our Fall Book Fair will be open during school hours from Friday, September 13th through Friday, September 27th. Each team has a scheduled day to come (see the book fair webpage to see when classes are scheduled). IF you have money and want to come to the Book Fair at a time other than your class' scheduled time, it must be during a time that no other classes are scheduled and you have permission from your teacher to come. Find out more at our book fair webpage - https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/geraldhueskenmiddleschool

Go cash-free and set up a student eWallet. Upload a set amount of money into Scholastic eWallet that students can spend at the book fair without exchanging money during the book fair itself. Click on the book fair webpage above for details.

Order books from the ONLINE Book Fair from September 16th until September 29th. Online orders will be delivered to your home. Order from the ONLINE Book Fair at https://shop.scholastic.com/parent-ecommerce/parent-store-2.html?fairId=5616156

Check out some of the books that may be available:
https://bookfairsfiles.scholastic.com/homepages/flyer_case_middle/flyer_case_middle.html

At GHMS and district wide this year we are using a digital platform called PBIS Rewards to recognize students for meeting and exceeding our expectations. At Cruise the Halls or during the first day of school, your student should have received a letter explaining how to log in and add your student to the account through a QR code. This app will allow you as a family to track points that your student receives and help reinforce their positive behavior occurring during the school day. This rollout is happening slowly as we get parents/guardians connected, but we want to continue working towards building the positive connection between families and the middle school. If you haven’t received a letter with the QR code, we will send out letters again in the fall to help more families get connected. Next week students will be learning how to log in to the student app and track their points during the week.

GHMS Students and Families,

As we approach the start of the 2024-25 school year, we would like to take some time to share our procedures and guidelines for the high school varsity football games. The varsity football games build community and team spirit as we cheer for the Buckskins. While we cheer and interact with one another, we want middle school students to be Safe, Respectful, and Responsible. This year, there will be a designated bleacher section for middle school students only. Middle school students will now have a place to watch the game and cheer on the Buckskins from the stands if not sitting with parents/guardians. Below, I have outlined the expectations for purchasing tickets and attending the football games in the fall.

• MS Student tickets for HOME football games will be sold during lunches at the middle school on Thursdays prior to the Friday night game. The ticket cost will be $3 per student, and students may only purchase tickets for themselves during lunch.

• Middle School Students who purchase a ticket on Thursdays during school lunches MUST have their Student ID in addition to a ticket with them at the football game.

• Middle school students attending the game alone should use the entrance on the baseball field side of the stadium, NOT the Witmer Annex Side.

• MS students will NOT be able to purchase football tickets at the gate Friday night without a parent/guardian present and staying for the game.

**If students are attending with family/adults who are staying for the duration of the game, they DO NOT need to purchase a ticket ahead of time or present their student ID at the ticket gate.**

These parameters help keep middle school students safe and allow students to enjoy the football games on Friday. We will make announcements during school days and in the mornings to remind students leading up to the home games. If you have questions about attending the football games, please email me at eric_hollinger@conestogavalley.org.

Thank you, and Go, Buckskins!

Eric Hollinger

GHMS Assistant Principal

Save the Dates:

• September 2- No School
• September 6 - Picture Day/Health Screening
• September 9 - School Board Meeting
• September 11- Whole Building CDT Testing ELA/MATH
• September 13-17- Book Fair
• September 14 - CV Night at the Stormers and Fireworks
• September 16 - School Board Meeting
• September 20 - Early Dismissal
• September 23 - No School for students
• September 25 - CVSD Bonfire
• September 27- Homecoming Football Game

Please use the link above to submit questions, ideas, or additions that you would find helpful. If you have something positive to share that you would not mind sharing in the following newsletter, please include that as well.