HDMS Updates

April 4th - 3rd Quarter Ends and 3-hour dismissal

April 11th - 7th grade Field Trip to Harford Community College

April 15th - Deadline to buy a yearbook

April 16th - 3-hour dismissal

April 16th - April 22nd - Spring Break

April 25th - 3rd Quarter Report Cards on HAC at 5pm

April 28th - May 1st - MCAP ELA for all grade levels

Please see the attached bag policy for Middle School and High School athletic events.

On Friday, March 21st, we celebrated our students with an exciting Pep Rally! The SGA, led by Ms. Coutts and Ms. Nemeth, organized fun competitions between grade levels and teachers, including an obstacle course, musical chairs, and more. A big thank you to the teachers who volunteered to take a pie to the face!

During the rally, students also learned about an exciting incentive for the upcoming MCAP tests. Each day of testing, students can earn a raffle ticket from their teacher for demonstrating their best effort. A drawing will be held for each grade level, with prizes including sports equipment, a Stanley cup, art supplies, and more!

We encourage all students to persevere and shine by showing what they know!

HAC updates are April 11th. Continue to log into HOME ACCESS CENTER (HAC) weekly to check your students grades and attendance. HAC is the way to stay on top of your students current performance. Reach out to teachers with questions about missing assignments early, before the end of the quarter approaches.

Quarter 3 ends on Friday, April 4th

Quarter 3 report cards are posted to HAC on Friday, April 25, 2025 at 5pm

At back to school night Mr. Spence shared our new Havre de Grace Middle High School late work policy for grades 6-12. This policy was adopted in order to create consistency for students and parents school wide. Prior to this policy, each teacher had their own individual late work policy which created confusion for parents and students to manage the policies of up to 8 different teachers.

This policy was designed to streamline this process for teachers, students, and parents making it easier for all to adhere. Assignments not handed in by the due date are considered late.

Late Work Policy:

Following every HCPS posted Home Access Center (HAC) update, students will have until the end of the following school week (approximately 5 days, depending on the week) to complete any missing assignments that are indicated as NHI (Not handed in) on HAC from that update time period. After that period, those assignments will not longer be accepted.

For example, our first HAC update was 9/20. Students have until 9/27 to complete any NHIs that were posted during that update window. After 9/27, those NHI assignments cannot be made up. This repeats for all NHI assignments between the HAC update time period.

HAC CODES:

NHI = Not Handed In; Assignment has been collected and the student did not hand it in.

NYG = Not Yet Graded; Assignment has been collected, is in the possession of the teacher, but has yet to be graded and entered.

TLTC = Too Late To Count

FA = Future Assignments

X= Excused from the assignment; does not affect the students grade

Grades on HAC are lagging data. This sometimes makes it difficult for parents to know that their student is not handing in assignments until the grade update is posted with the assignments from the prior weeks. The rationale behind the policy of allowing students the week following the HAC update to submit missing assignments is to give parents a chance to view the missing assignments (NHIs) and intervene with their child to make sure the work is handed in the following week.

As always, we encourage parents to reach out to their child's teacher via email if they would like to check in more frequently on their progress of assignment submission in between grade updates.

A student is considered *chronically absent* if they miss 10% or more of the school days they are enrolled in, which is equivalent to 5 or more days during the first quarter. Chronic absenteeism can impact learning and engagement, so we encourage families to make every effort to ensure daily attendance.

Please review your child’s first-quarter attendance record. If they have been absent 5 or more days, they are on track to be chronically absent this year. If there are any barriers impacting your child's attendance, please reach out to a trusted staff member at the school. We’re here to support you in fostering consistent attendance for your child’s success.

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October - Jennifer Hamrick - Science Teacher

November - Tina Link - Special Educator

December - Symone Parker - IH

January - Kim Kujala - Special Educator

February - Chad Cauler - CTE Teacher

March - Rachel Guadian - Science Teacher

• Please remind your students that hoods and hats should be off during the school day. It is a safety situation because we need to identify all students at all times.

• Please talk to your kids about being careful when crossing the train tracks.

• Middle school doors open at 7:45 AM. We can not open them earlier due to limited supervision. Please ensure students arrive at or after 7:45, especially on cold mornings.

• Please stay off the turf and fields when teams are practicing.
• When dropping off your students, please do not turn left into the parking lot where the tennis courts are. Please follow traffic pattern.

• If your student is absent, please have them bring an absence note to the office the day they return. This will ensure their absence is marked excused on their attendance record. If you prefer, you can email your excuse note to Amber.Litchfield@hcps.org. Notes must be brought in within three days of a students absence.