Hawthorne Brook Happenings

Dear HBMS Families,

It is hard to believe that we are more than halfway through the school year! Your children should be coming home today with their progress reports for the first half of second term. Similar to the midpoint of term one, please know that this is a snapshot in time. If your children are not happy with their progress, they have time to improve it before the close of term two.

This week was a full one! We were treated to a wonderful concert put on by our grades 6-8 band and choir on Tuesday night. Our fifth graders will perform in February.

As we look ahead, there are several new extra-curriculars opening up for students. Encourage them to consider floor hockey (open to all) or volleyball (open for girls in grades 6-8). We are also looking for STEAM presenters- please see the graphic below for information on STEAM day.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Warmly,

Chantele Olmstead & Jason White

Currently we are seeing high amounts of Influenza A and COVID.

Please keep your child home from school if they display any of the following symptoms:

• Fever of 100 degrees or more, and until the child has had a normal temperature for 24 hours; without the use of Tylenol or Advil

• Vomiting or diarrhea during the night or in the morning before school

• Uncontrollable or infectious (phlegm-laden) cough

• Abdominal pain lasting more than 2 hours

• Rash of unknown cause

• Signs of infection of the eyes, ears, nose, throat, skin or scalp. For example: conjunctivitis or pink eye, open sores in mouth, untreated strep throat, impetigo or open weeping wounds

• If on antibiotics for less than 24 hours for infectious conditions such as strep throat, conjunctivitis or impetigo

• Untreated lice and/or presence of nits (eggs) or scabies.

Please remember to call the absent line at your child’s school to report his/her illness. Please try to call the absent line early in the morning if your child will be out.

If your student is seen by a provider, please submit a note from the provider containing the reason for the illness and all days missed, so attendance can be adjusted accordingly.

Check out these Respiratory Virus Guidelines.

Tuesday: The girls team finished up the first half of their season by going into "The Brickyard" and getting another win last night against Longsjo Middle School in Fitchburg. Sophie Hopkins led the team to an early lead, but Longsjo came back and kept it close at the end. Phoenix M., Scarlet B., and Emmerson C. did a great job on the boards, while Chloe H. impacted the game on both ends of the floor, logging multiple assists and drawing a charge on defense! Great game girls.

Thursday: The girls team improved to 7-1 last night with a win at Memorial Middle School in Fitchburg. Maeve G. had a complete game, with great defense and multiple baskets. Sophie H.continues to have an amazing season and contributed numerous steals and scores. Phoenix M., Scarlet B., Elise C., and Emmerson C. all dominated in the rebounding department! Great win, Ladies!

We are trying to plan an event for current 8th graders to meet one another (HB & Nissitissit) for an evening of fun at the high school. We thought this would be a great way to lesson the anxiety of transitioning to the high school by giving kids a chance to meet new friends from the neighboring middle school ahead of time while having some fun.

We need at least 10 parents to help with planning and chaperone the event from both schools. If we don't get help, we will be forced to cancel the event.

Please help us plan a fun night out for the 8th graders by joining us online for our planning meeting next Tuesday at 6pm.

Richele Bohm is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: SEPAC 8th grade night out

Time: Jan 28, 2025 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/72143816319?pwd=xsdvgkpAg3WdtPtdK4DqiJWKnrTJ3a.1

Meeting ID: 721 4381 6319

Passcode: 69ereM

The North Middlesex Volleyball team will be running free after school clinics in the HBMS gym starting February 25th. These clinics are being offered for girls in grades 6th - 8th . See this document for the permission form and more information.

Are you ready to order a yearbook? Yearbooks cost $27 and can only be purchased online. To purchase a yearbook, click here.

If you need assistance placing an online order, please reach out to Ms. Olmstead.

If you have had a hard time accessing your Aspen account, please email aspen@nmrsd.org for assistance logging in.

Students can see their schedule, as well as their grades in Aspen. It is a great tool to keep track of how your child is doing!

Attendance is critical to student learning- if students are not in school, learning is that much more difficult. To incentivize student attendance, the district is doing drawings every month. If your child(ren) is in school at least 90% of the month, they are automatically entered into a drawing for an NMRSD t-shirt!

If you need support with attendance, please reach out. Our school counselors are happy to work with you to brainstorm strategies to help get your child out of the house and into school.

Please note that students may NOT opt to bring their own devices from home. Not only do the devices prevent teachers from properly monitoring students, they are against the device policy adopted by the School Committee this past summer.

Please reach out to administration if you have any questions.

The 24-25 school calendar can be found here!

This is a reminder that cell phones are to be off and away for the day. School committee updated the district cell phone policy this past summer. The policy can be found here.

We know that this policy may be anxiety-inducing for parents. A fellow principal shared this podcast with me- it was a good listen, both for myself as a mom (the same policy is in effect for my own son's middle school) and as a principal. We also have a school lending library of The Anxious Generation if anyone is interested in checking out the book. (Stop by the office or email Ms. Olmstead if you are interested in borrowing a copy!) To assist with policy implementation, teachers will collect cell phones during homeroom and return them at the end of the day.

Please remember that students are always welcome to use the phone in the office if they need to contact home. You can also call the office and we will pass along any message that needs to be delivered.

*new addition* Check out this video about cell phones and the Anxious Generation!

All students are given a new chromebook at the start of fifth grade, with the expectation that chromebook will serve them through eighth grade. When chromebooks break, our technology department does their best to repair/replace them. If chromebooks are being broken frequently, families may be billed ($50 for a repair; $100 for a replacement). We do not expect students to require more than one or two chromebooks during their time at HBMS.

The good news? You can check Aspen to see how many chromebooks your child has received! Under "classroom mobile devices," it indicates what number chromebook your child has been assigned.

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), please contact Ms. Olmstead (contact info at the bottom of the newsletter) if you require accommodations to participate in these concerts. We are committed to ensuring accessibility for all members of our community.

The NMRSD Strategic Plan working group met on Wednesday, January 8th to discuss the climate, culture and community strategic initiative. Check out the notes/summary of this meeting by clicking here. There is a survey link as well embedded in the notes to solicit your feedback/input. We will be meeting again on January 22nd to review the survey results and to discuss the 'meeting the needs of all students' strategic initiative. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions.

Gary Burboa-Reese, Ed.D.

Assistant Superintendent

gburboareese@nmrsd.org

This is a reminder that students who are car riders are dropped off before school in the small circular driveway at the foot of the hill. Parent pick up in the afternoon is in the faculty parking loop BEHIND the school.

Please remember that students should NOT be dropped off prior to 7:55 in the morning (unless they are getting breakfast)!

HBMS Floor hockey club is back for grades 5-8! Join Mrs. Amari after school during the month of March, all skill levels are welcome to join and experience the fun and fast-paced sport of floor hockey. Here is the information and permission slip to attend. Sign-up deadline is February 10.

* Extended with thanks to Ms. Amari and Mr. Ash* We are excited to announce that the gym will be open at 7:15 AM for those students looking to get some physical activity and start the day off right! The open gym session is a fun opportunity to stay active, meet new people, and explore different types of activities.

Don't miss out on this chance to boost your energy and well-being before class. We look forward to seeing you there! OPEN GYM IS NOW FREE FOR ALL STUDENTS every Monday, Wednesday, Friday through the 2024-2025 school year.

Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth (MPY) is continuing to sponsor a free Parenting Solutions Library. MPY is offering this valuable resource in partnership with Peace At Home Parenting Solutions, a non-profit organization located in Mansfield, Connecticut. Through this partnership, MPY is providing proven resources to help students’ families thrive.

Peace At Home Parenting Solutions specializes in empowering parents with evidence-based strategies to foster nurturing connections that safeguard their children's mental well-being. The Parenting Solutions Library is easily accessed using the link on MPY’s home page. No log in or passcode is needed.

For your convenience, we have created this handout. Please contact MPY Executive Director Margie Daniels at margie@mpyinc.org with questions.

This is a friendly reminder that, as a rule, our doors open to students at 7:55 in the morning. Students who eat breakfast at school can arrive at 7:45 and eat breakfast in the cafeteria. Students who arrive earlier will wait outside, unless arrangements have been made for extra help or tutoring.

This is a friendly reminder that all students must use their school IDs to get into PTO-sponsored school activities!

Our National Honor Society (NHS) members offer tutoring for elementary, middle, and high school students. Sessions are held at town libraries after school from 3-5 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. on Saturdays. If you're interested, click here to fill out the Google Form. We'll then match you with a tutor and help schedule your first session. Don't miss out on this fantastic resource for academic support!

January 24- Term 2 Progress Reports

February 17-21- Midwinter Break

Email: colmstead@nmrsd.org & jwhite@nmrsd.org
Website: http://hbms.nmrsd.org/
Location: 64 Brookline Street, Townsend, MA, USA
Phone: (978) 597-6914

Fax: (978) 597-0354
Facebook: www.facebook.com/HawthorneBrookMiddleSchool/