Week of September 25

Happy Sunday Panther Nation,

I hope that each of you have enjoyed your weekend and found a little time to rest and RESET. This month is going to be a busy one so tie up your laces and get ready to run! Also, I want to encourage each of you to remain vigilant of our scholars' behavior in the halls, classroom, and cafeteria. If you hear or notice anything out of the ordinary, immediately report it to an Administrator or Officer Johnson. It is equally important for you to enforce the uniform and backpack policies. Remember that as we are reinforcing expectations to be mindful of our actions and tone. It is always a good practice to remember Mr. Scott's presentation from the beginning of the year. Our actions and words can impact a student for life!

Monday and Wednesday we will have mandatory faculty meetings. This is in an effort to get our School Growth Plan completed before the deadline. Most importantly, this time will allow all of us an opportunity to work TOGETHER as we set our school's goals. Our October meeting will be cancelled. I will create a video to share important information. 

In a separate email, I will share a link to my calendar for you to begin signing up for your Pre-Evaluation Conference. Please select a time that is good for you. I attempted to offer a variety of times to allow you some flexibility with your schedule. 

Lastly, as a reminder, please be sure that you are effectively using Collaborative Planning time. If you or your team are experiencing issues or have concerns, do not hesitate to alert (Dr.) Mrs. Hogan.

Just as a little pick you upper, feel free to wear jeans Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week. Cheers to a GREAT week!

Ms. Tolbert

Updates from the District:

2018 OPEN ENROLLMENT 

Open Enrollment will begin October 16, 2017 for State Health and CCSD benefits. Please plan to attend an Open Enrollment meeting near you to learn about changes and improvements to your benefits. Visit the Employee Benefits website after Thursday, September 28, 2017 at www.clarke.k12.ga.us to find helpful links to Open Enrollment choices. Open Enrollment ends November 3, 2017. Computer help will be available in the Board Office on October 31 and November 1 from 8:30 am – 4:00 pm. These sessions are only for help with the computer and are reserved for those that have limited computer experience and no access to a computer or internet at home or work. Send your questions to openenrollment@clarke.k12.ga.us. 

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

 ● LEA Training - 

The first session was held this week with 6 schools participating. Additional training dates: October 16, December 11, January 22, and February 26. Elementary training times: 3:00-4:00 Secondary training times: 4:00-5:00. All trainings are held at the Whitehead Road Annex, Room 29. 

● Strategies and Techniques for Dealing with the Most Difficult to Manage Students - 

Gary Alderman ○ September 28-29 ○ Northeast Georgia RESA ○ Link to Register ○ This is a great opportunity for beginning teachers and teachers/administrators desiring to improve classroom management practices within their classrooms/buildings 

● Georgia Association for Positive Behavior Support Conference (GAPBS) ○ November 28-29 ○ Infinite Energy Center, Duluth, GA ○ Link to Register ○ This is a great opportunity for your school-based PBIS Coach or your entire PBIS team! 

● Free Parent Workshop - Tuesday, October 10, 10:00 AM-12:00PM at Athens Regional Library. This workshop will provide parents with an overview of IDEA, Child Find, RTI, SST, making a referral, evaluation process, and the IEP process. For more information, contact Jerolee Oschack at 706.546.7721 ext. 65727.

Dinner Dialogue

If you are interested in participating in our dinner dialogue this fall, please complete the form here: Dinner Dialogue Interest Form

From Mr. Lawrence: 

The Hilsman Middle School Chorus are selling Dominoes "Slice The Price" cards for a fundraiser. The cards are $10 and donations are welcomed. The proceeds are going towards the groups Spring events.

HMS Chorus Fall Performance is October 5, 2017 at 6:30 pm.

From Maxey: 

Hilsman Bands Together

From Sunshine Committee: 
Friday Jeans has started! $5 each Friday or $20 for 5 weeks. Don't miss the opportunity to be comfortable.

From Ms. Camp: 

Band Concert:  Monday, October 2 at 6:30 @Cedar Shoals High School Auditorium.

Rockathon Friday, October 6 from 7:00pm-7:00am.  Come have fun with the students!

From Mr. Hussain: 

Hussain will be buying pizza for everyone who wants to plan after school on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month. He will be available to co-plan during this time (and co-teach during a class if you want). Stop by his classroom (room 205) after school to check it out next Tuesday! His strengths include technology integration, wearing ties, and growing a beard. 

Teachers, please remember to follow with First 15/Last 15 pass rules. 

Monday:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MS. BRINKLEY & MS. MEYER!!!
*Advisement   Morning Activity Schedule
**Grade levels and EXC teachers meet with Holland both plannings today
4pm Called faculty meeting (cafeteria) *Sit by content area.
4:30 Cross country meet at Athens Academy 
5:15 Local School Governance Team

Tuesday:
1-4 Forker @ AP Meeting
4pm New Panther Cohort w/Hogan
Head's of House Meeting during ELT in CAFE. Names of students will be provided to you via email.
4:30 - Volleyball HMS v. CMS @ HMS

Wednesday: 
4pm Faculty Meeting 

Thursday: 
House Meetings - Activity Schedule
UGA Literacy Mentors - Beginning of 6th period
5pm - C-Team Football v. Clarke Central @ Cedar

Friday: Happy FRIDAY!!!

On your radar: 
10/3 FTE Count Day -- ATTENDANCE IS MUY IMPORTANTE
10/9 District PL Day (@ Clarke Central - stay tuned)
10/11-13 Parent Conferences (Thursday is our late evening.) 
10/27 - Fall Holiday -- GO DAWGS! 
10/30 PL Day (here at the HIL)

Week of September 18

Teachers and Staff,

Thank you for a great return back to school. You all did a phenomenal job of ensuring that students quickly refocused on school as well as reinforced the PAWS expectations. Thank you! As we continue to move forward this year, please know that our path is being carefully created by Dr. Means. I will be sharing more information with you all as he continues to share with leadership his vision and mission for CCSD.  In the meantime, please continue teaching and actively engaging our students during your instruction.

The storm has caused us to have to shift some deadlines. SMART Goal Training for selected members of SILT will take place September 19th. Therefore we will communicate stems for goals as well as expectations for TKES no later than Monday. The week of September 25th will be dedicated to Pre-Observation Conferences. Please ensure that you self assessment, orientation, and the familiarization components of TKES is completed as of today. If you are having trouble, please email Ms. Tolbert.

Progress reports should have gone our last Friday. If you had students that failed your class, please contact the parents via writing and phone to make them aware of their child's grade. It is also recommended that you record this contact in Campus. This is important as we work to help our students become successful. In addition, please have a plan of action for the student to recover.

As you are working to meet deadlines, create innovative plans, and provide instruction to students please do not hesitate to contact me if you are feeling overwhelmed. We will work to reschedule the PL with your content however keep in mind that we also have a PL Day coming soon in October. I will work with Mrs. Hogan to provide at least 3 hours of time for you to spend planning and preparing for Fall Conferences. As always, know that your work is appreciated and I stand amazed at your level of commitment to our students and your profession as a teacher.

Thanks,
Utevia

Fundraising

If you are interested in working with Mrs. Skinner as she plans our Panther Prowl scheduled for February 3rd, please see her ASAP! This is a huge responsibility and any help would be appreciated. Also if you or anyone that you know would like to be a sponsor for this event, please see us! We are in need of 2500.00 in sponsorship. Let us make this event a successful one!

September 27th is the deadline for our Cookie Dough Fundraiser! I will instruct students to return the packets to their ELT teacher.  Please turn in the student packets to the front office upon receipt! This is important so that we can get an accurate count as well as confirm our delivery date.

Goodbye or see you later Mr. Hardy!

September 22 is Mr. Hardy's last day at Hilsman! He has been a great asset to our staff, community, and students! Please consider having students write him a letter of appreciation. We are also working on a nice token of appreciation for him as he moves on to higher grounds. He will truly be missed!

Firm, Fair, Consistently Consistent

Please continue to hold students accountable for their behavior and academics. Remember NO hall passes unless it is necessary! Instruction is critical. Unless there is a student in need of an emergency bathroom break, we should not have any movement in the halls the first and last 15 minutes of each class. The first 10 minutes of every grade level's lunch period is to be silent. Lastly, everyone should have silent transitions. Please make sure that every teacher is in the hall during transition and for morning duty. Incidents are occurring during transition time and we need to reinforce order at this time.


From our onsite UGA faculty: 

For the fourth year in a row Hilsman has welcomed Dr. Sujata Iyengar's UGA students to school for "Shakespeare in the Classroom," which brings UGA English and Education majors to Hilsman to work with 8th grade Language Arts teachers and pupils on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Dr. Iyengar teaches literature and writing in the UGA English Department and is the author of several books and many articles about Shakespeare's England, including Shades of Difference: Mythologies of Skin Color in Early Modern England (2005) and Shakespeare's Medical Language (2011). She urges parents, teachers, and Hilsman students to feel free to bring her your questions about Shakespeare, the value of lifelong learning, and the importance of the humanities. She especially encourages Hilsman students to ask her UGA students about learning and life in college. UGA students will pop in and out most days of the week from now until December, but look for Dr. Iyengar and her students especially Tuesday mornings between 8 and 12.

ALSO...

Dr. Kathy Thompson's students meet on our campus Thursday afternoons.  Her group is helping support our literacy efforts here at the HIL by being literacy mentors to a group of 6th graders.  Every Thursday they meet in our media center, and it has been a wonderful success in these first couple of weeks.  Stay tuned for pictures and updates! 

Dinner Dialogue
If you are interested in participating in our dinner dialogue this fall, please complete the form here: Dinner Dialogue Interest Form

From Mr. Lawrence: 

The Hilsman Middle School Chorus are selling Dominoes "Slice The Price" cards for a fundraiser. The cards are $10 and donations are welcomed. The proceeds are going towards the groups Spring events.

HMS Chorus Fall Performance is October 5, 2017 at 6:30 pm.

From Maxey: 

Hilsman Bands Together

Monday
Morning Activity Schedule
8:00am - Bus Evacuation practice. Students may be late to Homeroom/ELT
Advisement Advisement Lesson (linked here) 
4pm-5pm: SILT Meeting 
4pm: C-Team v/s Stephens County @ 5:30

Tuesday
8am- 4pm:  SMART SystemsTraining  Various Staff out of Building
8:30am: Student/Faculty Fall Picture Day 
4:30pm: Volleyball HIL vs. WRC @ WRC

Wednesday
4pm-5pm: 3rd Wednesday District Meetings
6pm-7pm Hispanic Heritage Night

Thursday
Math 180 Coaching Visit (only applies to Math 180 teachers) 
4pm-5:30pm: PDSD Coordinating Council Meeting (Tolbert, Forker, Hogan)
4pm: Cross Country meet at Crow's Lake in Jefferson 

Friday

Week of September 11

Good evening Teachers,

Official word has been sent out from the District that school will be closed Wednesday, September 13th as a result of massive power outages in our area.  Due to uncontrolled circumstances, please expect some changes to our plans. We will NOT have half day PL this week.We will need to reschedule this for early October. In addition, DO NOT worry about posting grades until we return to school. Many of your have completed the TKES pre-observation components, however the due date has been changed to this Friday. Remember you only have to complete the first two components. The SMART Training has been postponed until September 19th. If you are a SILT designee for this training, this is the final date per Dr. Means. We realize that being out for three days will cause for a change in your lesson plans. Feel free to alter your plans to accommodate what you will need to cover in your classes. Be prepared to receive some excited students upon our return to school. They have been home for an additional three days and are probably filled with energy. It will be imperative to hold them accountable and to reinforce the PAWS Expectations. We will not allow unnecessary hall passes, no movement the first and last 15 minutes of every class, implement silent lunch the first 10 minutes of each grade level's lunch, silent transitions, and ensure high quality bell to bell instruction. Again, I hope that you and your families endured the storm and are safe. 

Shout out to Ms. Destefani, Mr. Hussain, Ms. Page, and Ms. Skinner for presenting to our parents at Friday's Principal's Coffee. They provided our families with very detailed information on Google Classroom. 

DOUBLE shout out to our faculty member of the month, Ms. Holland, and our staff member of the month, Mr. Stevie.  

From your AP:
 - Please remember that grade level house incentives will take place on Friday afternoon. Grade levels should work together to plan incentives by house. If you have questions or need support with planning, please email Mr. Forker directly. 

From your IC: 

• Please make sure you have completed a detached duty for our macroplannings on Wednesday and Thursday of this upcoming week. Your subs have already been taken care of. 

Click here for info on submitting a detached duty

Hilsman Macroplanning Details for Wednesday and Thursday

• We are in the planning stages of a dinner dialogue series with our families and stakeholders guided by the themes in Richard Milner's text Rac(e)ing to Class.  For our new faculty, please see Hogan for copies of the book.  Our whole faculty conducted a dialogue with this text in April of the past school year. If you are interested in joining us for phase two of the conversation please submit the form below:

Dinner Dialogue RSVP

• As you all prepare your TKES platform for this school year, I am available to answer any and all questions you may have.  Your two big "to-dos" BY TUESDAY of this week are: 1) completing the orientation (with video) and 2) completing the self-assessment.  You will receive more guidance on writing your goals after SILT representatives go through the SMART systems training at the BOE.  At this training, we will develop stems that make your goal writing a little less painful. :) Here, again, is the presentation shared at the faculty meeting: 

TKES Orientation

September 11th Memorial Day Resources: 

ELT Presentation

9/11 Resources (links, etc.)

IB reminders:

1. Remember to save student work to collaboratively score.

2. Make sure you have completed the reflection for each unit as you finish the unit.

3. Start talking to your students about our Hurricane Harvey campaign that starts next week. The presentation was shared with everyone this week.

Trash Harvey Campaign Presentation

4. Get with the other teachers in your house to discuss a way to post students' names from your house somewhere in the school.

Mr. Hussain will be buying pizza for everyone who wants to plan after school on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month. He will be available to co-plan during this time (and co-teach during a class if you want). Stop by his classroom (room 205) after school to check it out next Tuesday! His strengths include technology integration, wearing ties, and growing a beard. 

Monday: SCHOOL CANCELLED #irma 

*September 11th Day of Remembrance

TO BE RESCHEDULED: 

WOW Sesssion with Maxey first plannings (including connections team) 

10am GRADES DUE IN CAMPUS

Tuesday: SCHOOL CANCELLED #irma 

Progress reports go home 

Volleyball away vs BHL 

Wednesday: SCHOOL CANCELLED #irma

*We would normally hold vertical meetings after school on this Wednesday of the month. However, verticals will take place during our content macroplanning this week. 

Math AM - Macroplanning/Cancelled

ELA PM - Macroplanning/Cancelled

Thursday: 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MS. OYEYEMI! 

Social Studies AM - Macroplanning/Cancelled

Science PM - Macroplanning/Cancelled

6pm DC Trip Parent Meeting 

Friday: Afternoon Activity Schedule

Each grade level should have planned for activities on their hallway. Forker will check in with grade level team leaders Thursday for logistics. Any questions or need of support, email Forker directly.

2:30 Grade level house celebrations 

Saturday: 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FASSBENDER!

Week of September 4th

Monday:
Labor Day - No School!!

Tuesday:
RTI (first plannings)
Tolbert @ Mindset Training

Wednesday:
Collab planning:
- 1st plannings: ELA
- 2nd plannings: S. Studies
Tolbert @ Mindset Training
C-Team Football Away @  Madison County @ 5:30
4pm Faculty Meeting 

Thursday:
* Progress report period ends*
Collab planning:
- 1st plannings: Math
- 2nd plannings: Science
Volleyball - HMS @ CMS @ 4:30

Friday:
Principal's Coffee 8:30am In Media Center
Hogan at BOE (AM)