Parent  Newsletter  -­  March  15,  2019    

   Dear  Families,       This  past  Wednesday,  our  faculty  and  staff  participated  in  professional  development  around  inclusive  practices  for  students  and  the  various  models  of  co-­‐teaching  for  special  education  and  regular  education  teachers.  The  presenter,  Charlie  Jodoin,  founder  of  Educational  Matters,  LLC  and  an  instructor  at  American  International  College  in  Springfield,  gave  an  overview  of  strategies  that  can  be  used  to  support  students  with  disabilities,  and  any  student  that  may  be  struggling,  in  the  general  education  setting.  This  is  an  area  that  we  want  to  continue  to  focus  on  for  professional  development  in  the  future.  Our  April  in-­‐service  day  will  be  geared  toward  supporting  educators  teaching  in  a  1:1  environment,  as  we  prepare  to  make  this  shift  in  the  near  future  with  each  one  of  our  students  having  access  to  their  own  laptop  computer  and  using  that  particular  device  throughout  day  while  in  school.    This  in-­‐service  will  take  place  on  April  12,  2019.  That  will  be  an  early  release  day  for  students.  Educators  from  Norton  Middle  School  will  be  on  hand  to  provide  our  faculty  with  tips  and  strategies  for  teaching  using  a  1:1  model.  Norton  Middle  School  has  been  1:1  for  the  past  three  years.         At  our  faculty  meeting  yesterday,  I  led  the  staff  in  an  activity  to  challenge  their  thinking.  They  were  asked  to  think  about  what  school  might  be  like  in  the  year  2030.    After  watching  a  Youtube  video  called  “Did  you  know,  in  2028,”  teachers  were  asked  to  collaborate  in  groups  to  brainstorm  3-­‐5  skills  or  knowledge  essential  for  students’  success  today  and  into  the  future.  They  were  also  asked  to  brainstorm  5  dynamic  transformations  that  schools  could  undertake  to  ensure  students’  success  today  and  in  the  future.  I  encourage  you  to  watch  this  thought  provoking  video  at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpEFjWbXog0&feature=youtu.be.    This  was  a  fun  and  engaging  brainstorming  activity  as  we  begin  to  think  about  the  district’s  strategic  plan  moving  forward.         This  week  I  had  the  opportunity  to  visit  one  of  Mrs.  Grande’s  general  music  classes.  The  lesson  was  about  the  four  main  woodwind  instruments,  flute,  oboe,  clarinet,  and  bassoon,  as  well  as  their  “relatives.”  For  example,  I  learned  that  a  relative  of  the  flute  is  the  piccolo.  Mrs.  Grande  taught  the  students  how  when  you  play  instruments  like  the  flute  or  piccolo,  you  do  not  put  the  reed  in  your  mouth.  Then,  she  demonstrated  using  a  glass  soda  bottle,  and  had  her  students  practice  it  the  same  way.  She  called  it  a  “Soda  pop  band.”  

    I  also  visited  Mrs.  DiTrolio’s  eighth  grade  math  class.  She  was  introducing  polynomials  to  her  students.  Students  learned  that  a  polynomial  is  a  combination  of  many  terms,  like  a  chain  of  algebraic  terms  linked  together  using  addition  or  subtraction.  The  terms  themselves  contain  multiplication  but  each  term  in  a  polynomial  must  be  joined  by  addition  or  subtraction.  They  learned  how  polynomials  can  have  constants,  variables,  and  exponents  that  can  be  combined  using  addition  and  subtraction.       Yesterday  the  Seekonk  High  School  Band,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  John  Smialek,  came  to  HMS  to  perform  for  our  band  students.  What  a  treat  this  was  for  all  of  us!  It  was  great  to  be  able  to  see  how  much  the  high  school  students  have  grown  and  changed  since  leaving  HMS.  These  students  are  incredibly  talented,  and  everyone  enjoyed  their  performance,  as  well  as  learned  a  lot  about  the  high  school  band  program.       Tryouts  for  lacrosse  took  place  yesterday  and  will  continue  today.  Students  trying  out  for  lacrosse  today  are  not  able  to  stay  on  school  grounds  and  wait  for  the  dance  to  begin.  Baseball  and  softball  tryouts  are  scheduled  for  next  week.  The  schedule  is  included  in  this  edition  of  the  newsletter.    Sincerely,    Dr.  William  V.  Whalen  III  Principal    

@DrWhalen3      

 

                                                                             

   

                                   

     

     

Dance  Tonight  March  15,  2019  

 6:30  pm  –  9:00  pm  

 $5    

All  students  MUST  have  their  ride  home  at  the  school  by  9:00  pm.  

 Students  that  are  picked  up  prior  to  8:45  pm  must  have  their  parent  report  to  the  Tower  Lobby  to  sign  them  out  with  Mrs.  Costa.  

 

Seekonk High School Guidance Staff has met with Hurley Middle School students on Monday, March 11th. The Seekonk High School Guidance Counselors presented to all of the 8th grade students during the students’ Science Classes. The Seekonk High School staff discussed, reviewed and distributed the Course Selection Sheet and the Seekonk High School Program of Studies. Parents are asked to review and sign the Course Selection Sheet once the teachers have initialed their content area recommendations. The forms are due back to your student’s science teacher on March 19th. The Guidance Department will be offering a Parents Night for questions on Wednesday March 20th at 6:00pm at the HMS Library.

MCAS Infrastructure Trial

Students will be participating in an MCAS Infrastructure Trial on Wednesday, March 19th at 1:00p.m within their homeroom classrooms. Students will be reviewing the MCAS Computer Based tools, applications and questions.                    

Hello  Hurley  Families,    

The  past  several  weeks  I  have  had  the  opportunity  to  visit  and  observe  some  great  lessons.  Yesterday,  Ms.  Skodras  and  Mr.  Pellegrino  asked  me  to  demonstrate  up’s,  which  is  volleying  a  pickleball  using  the  backhand  and  forehand.  Students  in  6th  grade  physical  education  have  been  participating  in  a  pickleball  unit,  which  is  a  cross  between  tennis  and  ping  pong.  The  lesson  I  observed  included  various  learning  opportunities  for  students  to  further  enhance  their  backhand,  forehand,  and  underhand  serve.  I  will  be  returning  on  #HMSMonday  to  challenge  students  in  a  pickleball  rally,  and  any  6th  grader  that  can  beat  me  will  receive  a  prize!  

                                                                         Students  in  Mrs.  Handfield’s  6th  grade  class  had  the  opportunity  to  choose  

three  various  geometry  activities  from  This  or  That  boards.  On  each  This  or  That  board  were  two  options.  Providing  choice  is  a  best  practice  as  it  empowers  and  helps  to  motivate  students  in  the  learning  experience.  

 Mrs.  Costa’s  7th  grade  math  class  participated  in  a  lab  using  playdoh  where  

students  had  to  create  rectangular/triangular  prisms  and  pyramids,  and  then  cut  each  polygon  using  dental  floss  to  determine  the  2-­‐D  cross  section.  Cross  sections  can  be  challenging  for  students,  and  this  hands-­‐on  learning  experience  allowed  students  to  meet  the  intended  outcomes.  I  enjoyed  listening  and  assisting  students  in  determining  2-­‐D  cross  sections  using  playdoh!  

                                                                                                             Warrior  Wednesday  submitted  by  Mrs.  Dieringer-­‐  "Sometimes  we  need  other  people  to  help  us  remember  to  look  for  and  see  the  awesome.    It's  there.    Keep  looking."  -­  Kid  President  Ms.  Bouchard  

RED TEAM NEWS Science with Mr. Coury There is a test scheduled for next Friday - March 22nd, on Plate Tectonics and the Layers of the Earth. This week students learned how tectonic plates interact along convergent, divergent, and transform boundaries. The different boundaries cause various things to happen - from earthquakes, mid-ocean ridges, to island formation, and volcanoes. Next week students will begin to analyze data about these boundaries and compare where earthquakes and volcanoes occur. This will lead us to thinking critically about these natural disasters and how to predict where they might occur in the future.

English with Mrs. Thivierge We are wrapping up The Giver and the kids are hooked - I’m loving watching their reactions as we work through the story. We’re finishing everything up next week with one last Grudgeball game, and a one-pager final project! After that, we’ve got eight days of MCAS prep to push through before our two testing days. REMINDER: All Million Dollar Project work is due March 29th! We will be presenting our pitches to ‘granny’ during the week of MCAS! :) Math with Mrs. Halpin We are in the throes of finding the volume and surface area of rectangular prisms. For our volume problems, we are solving problems with fractional edges. We also have to figure how many boxes, dice, etc can fit in a prism by dividing the volume of the prism (container) by the volume of the cube (box, dice). We are using our Video Game Trucks to help us with this concept of packing boxes (cubes) into rectangular prisms (trucks). We are also figuring out the surface area of our trucks. The latest Mathletics assignment is due on Wednesday 3/20/19 (date change). Social Studies with Mr. Manton As March as progressed, we have marched through Europe’s history and time periods! Students have explored World War I and World War II, working on a “flipbook” of sorts to represent key factors for both wars. Students have impressed me with their knowledge and interest in the subjects and have done a fantastic job with our primary and secondary sources as well as our assignments for this time period. Students will have a test on Europe and Russia on March 28th, study guides will be given out on Tuesday.

BAND NEWS 3/15/19

You are all invited to the JAZZ NIGHT on Thursday, March 28 at 6:00. Light fare and jazz music will be featured. Please see the invitation in this newsletter. There are TWO remaining jazz rehearsals- Monday, March 18 after school and Tuesday, March 26 before school. Please make every effort to attend. All band students were treated to a wonderful performance by the SHS Marching Band yesterday. The SHS band played their field show for the HMS students. 8th graders were able to ask questions regarding band at the HS for 2019. AWESOME JOB! DATES to KEEP in MIND:

Jazz Night- Thursday-3/28/19 BAND FIELD TRIP (date change)-Tuesday, May 28 Guest Clinician -Wednesday, May 29 Spring Concert-Thursday, May 30

 

       

 Seekonk  High  School  Drama  Club  

 Presents  Rodgers  and  Hammerstein’s    

CINDERELLA    

March  15th  and  16th  at  7:00  PM  March  17th  at  2:00  PM  

 261  Arcade  Avenue  –  Seekonk,  MA  

 General  Admission  $10  

Senior  $7  Student  $5  

Gray Team

ELA:-We have completed Book Two of Lois Lowry’s Son! Students are eager to begin Book Three to see how The Giver, Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son all connect and conclude! We continue our test preps in anticipation of MCAS in a mere three weeks! Science: This week we finished up our lessons on potential and kinetic energy and moved onto types of energy. Students should be able to identify the types of energy and how they change form in everyday examples. There will be a test next Friday on all energy concepts, so please start preparing. The term ends March 29.. Math: We finished our first Unit in Geometry. Students are in the process of completing their test on angles, triangles, quadrilaterals and scale factor. Next week we will begin our next chapter in Geometry. For the next few weeks we will explore area, surface area, and volume! Social Studies: Students have worked so hard this week showing off their creativity on their Greek God Yearbooks! This project asks them to center the gods as if they’re high school students, all while encompassing their respective powers in their descriptive writing. They’re having a great time and are showing off their knowledge! This project is due on Wednesday March 20th. We also had a quiz on the Greek gods this Wednesday. Looking ahead, we’ll be comparing and contrasting the differences between the city-states of Athens and Sparta!

Congratulations to the following students for achieving Gray Team’s Spotlight status for the month of February:

Amanda Auger Cristian Cabral

Julia Martin Olivia Rainho

Alex Wrightington

These students were chosen for academic achievement, attitude,

effort, improvement, and/or exhibiting the Warrior Way values! They will be honored, along with their parents, at a celebratory pizza party on May 9th! Congratulations to all!

         

     

   

DANCE RESPONSE CARD Adult’s Name: _______________________________________________________ = $30 Adult’s Email: _____________________________________Phone:____________________ Student Name(s): (#1)__________________________________________________Grade:________ = $25 (#2)__________________________________________________Grade:________ = $10 (#3)__________________________________________________Grade:________ = $10__

TOTAL: $_________

Please deliver your RSVP to the Main Office along with full payment by FRIDAY, MARCH 22ND Please make checks payable to HMS PTO.

Please contact Kim Becher with any questions at kimbaab@aol.com.

The HMS PTO invites you and your father/father figure to enjoy an evening of dinner and dancing!

Saturday, April 6, 2019 6pm to 10pm

The Ramada Inn 213 Taunton Avenue, Seekonk, MA

RSVP by Friday March 22nd

To the Moon and Back

 

     

The HMS Builders Club is running the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Fundraiser, Pennies for Patients from March 13 thru April 11. Homerooms will be competing with each other to see who can bring in the most change. Pennies, nickels, quarters, & dollars are all welcome! Please check your couches, car seats, and bedrooms, for loose change. The homeroom that collects the most money will win a prize, but you'll also have the satisfaction of knowing you're donating to an excellent cause. Thank you for your support!

             

The Cookie Dough Fundraiser will be kick off next week! Students in grade 6 and 7 will support their school by

selling tubs of cookie dough. HMS will earn 40% profit from the total sales sold by the 6th and 7th grade students.

Please note: Checks or money orders made payable to Hurley Middle School PTO for students in grade 6 or 7

ONLY.

Students in grade 8 participating in the cookie dough fundraiser will earn 40% profit to defray the cost of their individual trip to Washington, D.C. We can only accept

checks or money orders made payable to TOWN OF SEEKONK for students in grade 8.

The fundraiser orders and payment is due on Tuesday, April 2nd. We cannot accept cash. We can only accept

checks or money orders as a form of payment.  

 

Physical Education News… Ms. Skodras & Mr. Pellegrino

     This  week  we  began  our  second  Fitness  Component-­‐Muscular  Strength  and  Muscular  Endurance.    As  we  did  with  Cardiovascular  Endurance,  the  students  began  with  a  challenge.    This  time  they  performed  a  wall  sit  for  one  minute  and  then  counted  the  number  of  shoulder  taps  in  30  seconds.    We  will  then  revisit  these  challenges  at  the  end  of  the  unit  to  see  if  they  can  improve  their  numbers.    In  the  meantime,  we  will  help  with  some  strengthening  activities,  such  as  the  Plank  Pass.      

     We  also  distributed  our  one  and  only  homework  assignment  this  semester.    They  are  due  on  Friday  for  the  even-­‐day  classes  and  Thursday  for  the  odd-­‐day  classes.                                

       

   

   

                           

                   

   

March  Stars  of  the  Month    Encore  

Roarke Paine

Mia Stafford

Felicia Paniagua

Madison Aldsworth

Danielle Boardman

Faith Boutin

6th Grade

James Clark

Marianna Salois

Anthony Vincente

Severine Michel

7th Grade

Cameron Francis

Marisa Tenreiro

Jalissa Correia

Laura Giuseffi

8th Grade

Sophia Wilcox

Dakota Pavluk

Evan Fasteson

Ariela Pimentel