HAWK TALK

Friday, October 11, 2024

CALENDAR AT A GLANCE

October 14-16: No school for students (fall break)

October 24: Parent University: Technology 5:45 PM (DATE CHANGE)

School Hours and Important Times

Office Hours: 8:15 - 4:15

Instructional Hours: 8:55-4:05

Arrival: Please do not drop off students prior to 8:25 AM. We cannot provide supervision of students prior to 8:25, therefore students may not enter until this time.

Breakfast: 8:25 - 8:55 AM

Students should be in class by 8:50 AM.

Dismissal is at 4:05 PM.

Walkers/Car riders are dismissed first, followed by bus riders.

Bus students are dismissed in the order that buses arrive.

Car line: Students must enter/exit a vehicle at the sidewalk area. Please pull forward as far as possible to keep the car line moving. All students must be picked up by 4:25 PM.

LAPTOP/DEVICE INFORMATION:

Holcomb Bridge Middle School is a one-to-one school, meaning each student is issued a Fulton County device. Students and guardians are responsible for the care of these devices throughout the year. This year, Fulton County provided a protective case for each laptop, and the expectation at HBMS is that the laptops remain in the cases at all times-- whether the student is at home or at school.

Laptop damage is much less likely to occur if it is in the case. In order to help avoid damage as much as possible, teachers are going to collect any device that is not in the case. The laptop will be turned into the media center for keeping until the case is brought back to school. Students may retrieve their laptops from the media center by presenting their case to library staff upon arrival to school. Please help us encourage your students to be responsible for their school-issued devices by keeping them in the cases at all times to avoid disciplinary consequences and lost schoolwork time.

Thank you for your support, HBMS parents!

Title I Family Engagment Documents

As a Title I school, we value Family Engagement as part of our school culture. Each year, we publish a Parent and Family Engagement Plan and a School-Family Compact. Parent, staff, and student input is gathered to inform our goals and programming.

For your review, here are the links to this year's documents. You can also find these resources on our school website.

FCS District Parent and Family Engagement Plan

2024-25 Parent and Family Engagement Plan: https://secure.smore.com/n/j2a15

2024-25 School-Family Compact: https://secure.smore.com/n/z2sda

A School-Family Compact for Achievement is an agreement that families, students, and teachers develop together. It explains how families and teachers will work together to make sure all students get the individual support they need to reach and exceed grade-level standards.

All students above 10 years of age should sign digitally.
All parents/guardians are asked to digitally sign the School-Family Compact regardless of their child’s age.
Your digital signature acknowledges you have read, received, and agree to the School-Family Compact.
Parents and students can digitally sign by using the online portal or the app on their smartphone/device.

How to Sign Documents In the Infinite Campus Portal:

Step 1: Log in to Campus Student/Parent Portal
Step 2: Click on Documents
Step 3: Select the document you need to approve or sign
Step 4: Click on the arrow to open and complete all fields that require information.
Step 5: Click in the signature box and select SIGN or DECLINE.

We appreciate your support and encourage you to reach out with questions or concerns.

TECHNOLOGY WORKSHOP

REUNION DE TECNOLOGIA

Kwame Mbalia Visit to HBMS

This week, our media center hosted New York Times best-selling author, Kwame Mbalia, for an author talk with our entire 6th grade, wherein he discussed his newest book release, his writing process, and the importance of reading. Many of our students were able to ask Mbalia questions during the Q&A portion of the presentation, and several were able to have one-on-one conversations with him afterward. Our Hawks were inquisitive, respectful, and full of excitement throughout the visit. We are so proud of them for representing our school so well!

Mbalia is the recipient of the Coretta Scott King Author Honor award for his fantasy trilogy, Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, and his newest book, Jax Freeman and the Phantom Shriek, was released on October 1st this year. As part of our school library's partnership with the Atlanta non-profit literacy organization, Page Turners Make Great Learners, Kwame was able to not only visit our school, but also provide free copies of his newest release to all 202 of our 6th graders! This partnership is funded by our Holcomb Bridge School Governance Council and will provide for a second prominent author visit and book giveaway later this year.

Thank you to our media specialist, library staff, administrators, Connections teachers, and cafeteria staff for working as a team to bring such an authentic and high-energy learning experience to our school. We look forward to the next one!

Bringing Food/Candy to School

As we approach the upcoming holidays, it important to remind parents and families that candy, desserts, baked goods (store bought/homemade), or any other edible items are not to be sold or distributed at school or on the bus unless approved in advance by school administration. Per our Student Code of Conduct, students who do not adhere to this expectation are subject to disciplinary action for violation 7A: Failure to Follow Rules and all candy or food items will be confiscated. Please discuss this expectation and possible consequences with your student(s) as this will be taken very seriously. This is due to recent national and state reports about students sharing edible items and synthetic medications with other students that contain very harmful substances.

Please know that taking this measure will help us maintain a safe environment for all students. You can help us protect your student(s) by requesting that they not eat anything given to them by another person, anything that they have not brought from your home or anything not in its original sealed package.

Thank you for your continued partnership in keeping all of our students safe at school!

Halloween Costumes

Our staff will be joining up on teams to participate by wearing team costumes for Halloween. Students often ask if they are allowed to dress up on Halloween at school. The answer is yes - with some limitations:

No full face masks or full face paint.
No props that depict weapons.
Costumes should not interrupt the ability for instruction to proceed or impact safey in moving throughout the school (such as inflatable costumes).
Costumes must adhere to school dress code (stomachs covered, undergarments covered, no drugs or alcohol references).

8TH GRADE PARENTS

HOLCOMB BRIDGE MIDDLE SCHOOL ALPHARETTA, GA | Jostens

Technology & Experience Classroom Resources Events & Workshops Contests & Awards Yearbook+ Advisers & Staff Blog Working with Jostens

nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com

Please Support our PTA!

We are very thankful for the support of our parent leaders through the PTA. We encourage every family and staff member to join the PTA each year. Your membership supports additional student and staff programs including student and staff celebrations, field trips, classroom supplies and innovations, landscaping our campus, and much more. Supporting the PTA does not take as much time as you think!

Click here to join the PTA for just $10. You can also use this site to get information about being a volunteer, dontate the Hawk Fund, and become a community partner.