Hidden River Newsletter

SAVE THE DATES - This Week:

Mon., March 24th - Jersey Day

Tues., March 25th - Hat Day

Wed., March 26th - Wacky Wednesday

Thurs., March 27th - Pop Culture Day

Fri., March 28th - PJ/Stuffed Animal Day & End of Quarter 3

Next Week (3/31-4/4) NO SCHOOL - Spring Break

Hello Hidden River Families!

As spring started this week, I hope you are enjoying the weather! A few reminders as we put winter behind us:

• Friday, March 28 is the end of Quarter 3. Please check Schoology with your scholar and ensure they are getting all their assignments turned in by next Friday.
• We have one week until Spring Break! Reminder students will be on Spring Break the week of March 31 - April 4. We hope you and your family enjoy the time off!
• We are also having students, staff, and families take the School Climate Survey. It is helpful to have our families input as we are always working to improve the learning experience for scholars at Hidden River MS. Please take a moment to complete the FAMILY SURVEY linked here.
• Lastly, the 2025-2026 Budget Season is upon us! HRMS will be hosting a family budget meeting on Tuesday, April 15 at 5:30 p.m. in our library. Hope you can join us!

Your partnership with HRMS teachers, staff and administration is greatly appreciated!

Sincerely,

Teresa Vibar

PUFFS (spring play): Sewing Help Needed! Are you a sewer with some extra time and a sewing machine? We will provide the fabric and thread, you provide the expertise! We need people to help create scarves, hoods, and probably some other specialty pieces too! Please reach out to the director of PUFFS, Sonja Thorson (sonja.thorson@spps.org) to volunteer and/or get more information.

Lost and Found: Our Lost and Found is FULL of winter coats, sweatshirts, hats, mittens, lunch boxes, water bottles and even one lonely shoe. It will be cleaned out over Spring Break, so encourage your student to take a look before Friday!

MCA Testing Info: Hidden River Middle School students will take the Reading MCA April 15th, Math MCA April 22nd and the Science MCA (8th grade only) April 29th. Please check that your child has a working and updated iPad. Students must have a charged iPad for testing. Info for students and families about testing here. If you have questions about your student’s participation in statewide assessments, reach out to Katie Bannon, testing coordinator at kathryn.bannon@spps.org. Additional information can be found here.

Spring Break Activities: Looking for something fun to do over Spring Break, check out Community Ed activities HERE.

*All winter sports have ended. Gear/Uniforms need to be Washed and Returned ASAP to RM 3305.

Registration for Spring Sports is Now Open! Players need to have Sport Physicals/Sport Fee in by March 28th. https://spps-ar.rschooltoday.com/viewmyaccount If you are needing transportation after practice click the link below. We only offer transportation on Mon/Wed; Tues/Thurs parents still need to pick up https://forms.gle/PwthgBkeGLADyzit9

*Hidden River does NOT have a Softball team; students are able to play up at Central High School.

The Health Start Clinic at Central High School is a fast and convenient way for students to get their sports physicals. We also want to encourage students to schedule early to avoid any delays in their sports participation because appointments do fill up quickly!

TCO - Free Sports Physicals

CVS - Minute Clinic Sports Physicals

Health Start - School Clinic Sport Physicals

TRIA - Free Sports Physicals

**The athletic department is taking donations for this years All-Star Basketball 🏀 Game. Game will be held in April TDB.

This Wednesday, March 26, sixteen of our top debaters will be advancing to the citywide championships against schools representing 4 conferences in the MN Urban Debate League. Many are moving up levels and are working hard to study evidence for this big, final debate of the season. Thank you, debaters, for your hard work!

The citywide championships will take place at Central High School. Students will be dismissed early from 7th hour and will return to Hidden River at approximately 8:30, unless they advance to the final round, in which case they will return to Hidden River at 9:30 pm. If parents/guardians wish to pick up their students at Central, we ask that they communicate this with coaches.

Please wish our championship debaters luck! Reach out to coaches Melissa Hart or Katie Bannon with questions at melissa.hart@spps.org or kathryn.bannon@spps.org if you have questions.

Citywide Debaters:

Ah'Myracle C.

Amaiyha J.

Amenda L.

Destiny M.

D'Najae N.

Emma R

Everly G.

Jack G.

Javey P.

Kimaya P.

Lilly K.

Lyra K.

Nadia G.

Max S.

Raheem N.

Yasmine Y.

Thank you to the parents, family members, and community members who participated in our first Career Fair Expo! Our 8th grade students took full advantage of the opportunity to discover new careers and hear about our presenters' unique experiences.

The 6th graders are going on a field trip at the end of April. We will be going to see a live improv performance at the Ordway! Improv is a live performance where the actors make up the scenes on the spot!

Field trip forms were given to students this week and they are due (with $5 cash) on April 11th. Please see field trip forms HERE if your student has lost theirs and reach out to your 6th grader's foundations teacher with questions or concerns. We want each 6th grader to participate in the awesome experience!

Keep Connected Family Engagement Partnership with Search Institute and Change Inc.:

As you might be aware, Hidden River has partnered with Search Institute and Change Inc. to offer the Keep Connected program to students and their families this year. Keep Connected offers resources to families, including tips, ideas, activities and learning opportunities to support strong family relationships.

Family Talk Starters - This Week’s Focus: Treat family members with respect and give them a say. This is a great way to SHARE POWER through family relationships.

When you have a few minutes, ask other family members a question or two. Enjoy the conversation!

• What is one area of sharing power that you’d like to work on in your family, what would it be? Why?
• How does someone’s ability to share power change as they grow up and take on more responsibility? What is exciting about that? What’s challenging?

In the IB Middle Years Programme, we have always emphasized "learning how to learn" through the Approaches to Learning skills over a focus on content so that students will be prepared to transfer their learning to new contexts. This is even more important now as technology and AI is rapidly changing and the impact that that will have on future careers.

A recent article in Forbes (Click Here) highlighted the importance of IB's Approaches to Learning skills and the way that the IB framework better prepares students than a more traditional education system. We are proud of the work we are doing to help students become global citizens and problem solvers who are prepared for anything in their futures.