January 15,
2008
1.
The honor
roll was revised today to include those 23 students who were left off because
our computer software averaged to the thousandth place and we only entered a
range to the tenth place! It has been reposted in guidance, sent to our
web master and to our newspapers again.
2.
Congratulations to our
young musicians who did so well in last week’s concerts. Thanks to parents
as well who supported the last minute panic and practice leading up to our big
nights. We did experience some growing pains at our grade 5/6
concert. We heard from many parents who struggled to find parking and we
also heard from our emergency personnel who were prevented from reaching our
field house due to cars parked in emergency lanes. We are taking steps to
better mark our emergency lanes and will look at the number of participants and
audience members before our spring concerts.
3.
Our school
wide geography bee is scheduled for this Thursday at 2 PM and it will be
our first live broadcast from our auditorium to our 5th and
6th grade classrooms as we cannot fit everyone in the
auditorium at the same time.
4.
A reminder:
the January PTO meeting has been rescheduled for this Thursday 1/17 beginning at
7 PM.
5.
Next week
we have a short week: Monday is a district holiday for the observance of Martin
Luther King’s birthday. We have half days for our students on Tuesday and
Wednesday for professional development.
6.
We are very
excited that our PTO and our library media director, Linda Valley, has organized
a book fair for the week of February conferences, February 4 through February
7. Students will have the opportunity to visit the fair with their
classes; once to view the selection and the second to purchase. The
fair is also open to the public until 4:30 PM Tuesday through Thursday
that week, so be sure to stop by. The PTO is seeking parents who can help out at
the fair during the school day or after school on Tuesday, Wednesday or
Thursday. Please contact Kathy Strom at 345-3398 or ksstrom@aol.com to
volunteer.
7.
Parent
conferences are scheduled for the half days of February 6 and 7. A good
percentage of our parents have already visited with teachers either during the
October conferences days or during a team meeting scheduled by the guidance
counselor. Our February conference days are traditionally reserved for
those parents who have not yet met with their child’s teachers. Guidance
counselors have contacted those parents for appointments. If you have any
questions, please contact your child’s guidance counselor at 663-1241 (Joan Hill
grades 5 and 7; Alan Fortin grades 6 and 8).
8.
After
school activities: (for daily up to date information – please see our HKMS
calendar on our web page).
·
The winter
intramural program will begin this week with fitness training. Grades 7
and 8 are scheduled for Mondays from 2:50 – 4:00. Grades 5 and 6 on
Wednesdays and Grades 5 – 8 on Fridays. Students can pick up a permission
slip from Ms. Anderson in the gym. There are only 24 stations in the
fitness room, so there is a limit to this activity.
·
This week
we have boys’ and girls’ basketball games on Tuesday, Thursday or Friday. (Please note the
change). Our MS Swim team has an away meet on Friday. For specific
information about the location of each event, visit the MS home page and choose
athletics. You will find a link for CIAC schedule of all of our athletic
events.
·
Winter
clubs will start at the end of the month. A full listing of offerings will
be sent out to parents on the January 21 email.
9.
We have
scheduled our mid year assessments for next week. Students cannot study
ahead of time for these tests as they test student understanding of the big
ideas and skill areas in our four content areas:
·
Tuesday
1/22: Writing Prompt
·
Wednesday
1/23: Mathematics
·
Thursday
1/24: Social Studies
·
Friday
1/25: Science
10. Several
parents have asked questions about how to reach someone in our office after
“hours” often seeking a child who has not yet made it home on the late
bus. Great news! Our office is now open daily until 4:30 PM.
The district has also placed a dispatcher in the bus garage to answer phone
calls early in the morning and late in the afternoon until all late busses have
dropped off students. You can reach the bus garage directly at 345- 8228.
11. Many of our
parents have asked about our dances and activity afternoons this year as we move
to develop age appropriate social events for our children to participate
in. Here is some general information:
·
The
activity afternoons are scheduled for fifth and sixth graders for the same
afternoon as the 7th and 8th grade dances. Our next one is
scheduled for the afternoon of February 8th. It begins at 4:00
PM and runs until 5:30 PM. Many of our parents have requested that it be
scheduled for right after school. However 4 PM is the earliest that our DJ
can get here and it takes some time to set up the staffing and equipment for
both events. This way our students can go home, change and regroup before
returning to school. The last activity event had something for everyone.
The gym was open for supervised games. There was an animated movie playing
in the library and there was dancing in the commons. We hope to expand on
that idea in February. We will have a photographer who can take pictures
of our kids and print right on the spot for a nominal fee. Dress is casual
and the cost of $3.00 pays for the DJ. The rest goes into a scholarship
fund for field trips for students. This event is chaperoned by school staff.
·
There are
four school dances for students in seventh and eighth grade each year. The
third dance is scheduled for February 8 and takes on the theme of
Valentine’s Day. Many of our young ladies like to dress up for the
event – and our young men usually dress down in true middle school style!
We will have a photographer on site and will hand out the picture forms ahead of
time. The evening starts at 7 PM and is over at 9 PM. This event is
chaperoned by school staff. Parents are welcome to help chaperone. The $3 fee
raises money for the club sponsoring the dance.
·
After a shaky start in October, our
7th and 8th grade students have earned back the privilege
of attending the Killingworth Lion’s Club Kids Night Out (KNO) dances. This is
NOT a school sponsored dance; however the Lions Club works with us to provide a
safe and fun environment for our children. These dances are scheduled for
the first Friday of the month, with the next one on February 1. They start
at 7 PM and finish at 10 PM. Admission of $5 helps support Lion’s Club
activities and charities. This staff is not supervised by any school
staff; parents are needed to chaperone and can help by stopping in the night of
the dance and signing up to chaperone. There is a state trooper in attendance.
Mim
Miriam Furey -
Wagner
Principal,
860-663-1241