Husky Families,
This weekend, we take time to reflect on the importance of Veterans Day, a day to honor and express our gratitude to the men and women who have served our country with courage and dedication. To all veterans in our Hawfields community, thank you for your service and sacrifice.
As a reminder, Monday, November 11, is a holiday, and there will be no school for students or staff. We look forward to welcoming everyone back on Tuesday, refreshed and ready for a great week of learning!
We have several important updates and reminders to keep everyone on track, so please take a moment to review the information below. Let’s make this week a fantastic one!
High School Speciality Program Meeting: Families of 8th grade students are invited to learn about the ABSS High School Speciality Programs on Wednesday, November 20 at 6:00 pm in the Hawfields Media Center. Representatives from the Alamance Burlington Early College, the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program, and the PreCollegiate Academy will present information and answer questions that you might have about each option for high school.
Lockdown Drill: On Thursday, November 14, we will conduct our first lockdown drill. Please know this drill is completely precautionary and an opportunity to practice keeping our students safe in the event of an emergency. At times, these drills are run in conjunction with our local emergency response teams. This helps ensure law enforcement and emergency responders are familiar with our buildings and procedures in the event of a real emergency and will help us build great relationships with these teams. These drills provide us with useful information in how we design our School Safety Plans. We have a committee that regularly reviews our procedures to help ensure we are providing the safest building we can for our students and staff. If you have any questions about drills or school safety, please contact me directly.
Attendance: Hawfields Middle School is committed to engaging students in challenging learning opportunities that are matched to individual needs. In order to allow our teachers and staff to support students in this way, it is imperative that every student attend school regularly. Our overall average attendance rate last week was 92.7%, with the 6th grade class having the highest attendance at 93.3%! Thank you for helping us bring our weekly attendance to 95% or higher!
Free & Reduced Lunch Application: Breakfast and lunch are not universally free for all students. If you would like your child to eat meals at school, you will either need to put money on their online account or you will need to secure a free/reduced lunch status by filling out the required form. The form is available in the HMS main office or you can fill it out online: https://www.lunchapplication.com/ More information is available here. This year, we are asking that all families complete and return the form, regardless of whether your student will eat a meal at school.
Makeup Picture Day: Makeup picture day will be on Friday, November 15 for any student that did not get their fall picture taken.
Laptop Insurance Plan: As we are beginning to see an increase in laptop damages, I highly recommend you purchase the optional $25 insurance plan for student laptops. Please use this link to purchase the optional insurance. *Note- you must click the box signifying you agree to the user agreement before purchasing insurance.
Hawfields Boosters Updates:
World Kindness Day: World Kindness Day is November 13th and our Boosters want to recognize this day and need your help! Please send colored post-it notes to the main office between now and Tuesday, November 12.
Athletics:
Basketball Tryouts - Basketball tryouts will take place from November 12th - 15th. Boys will try out from 3:30 - 5:30 pm, and girls will try out from 5:30 - 7:00 pm. Please remember that all required paperwork must be uploaded to DragonFly in order to participate in tryouts. You must also have a 60 or above in all of your first quarter core classes to try out.
Paper copies of sports physicals will no longer be accepted. All sports physical paperwork must be uploaded to DragonFly. Instructions on how to set up a DragonFly account can be found on our school website under the Sports section. If you need assistance or have any questions, please feel free to contact Coach Marsh at lavar_marsh@abss.k12.nc.us.
Free Sports Physicals: Emerge Ortho in Mebane is offering free sports physicals for all ABSS students from now until December 31, 2024.
Upcoming Calendar Events:
Monday, November 11: Veteran’s Day Holiday - No school for staff and students.
Thursday, November 14: Lockdown Drill
Friday, November 15: Makeup Picture Day
Tuesday, November 19: 6-8 Reading NC Check-In Assessment
Wednesday, November 20: High School Speciality Meeting for HMS Families - Hawfields Media Center @ 6:00 pm.
Thursday, November 21: 6-8 Math/Math 1 NC Check-In Assessment
Wednesday - Friday, November 27, 28, & 29 - Thanksgiving Break