February 2022

Welcome to Connections, Hopkins County Schools' parent/community newsletter!

Many of you may be aware the Board of Education has called upon the Local Planning Committee to reconvene to amend the District Facilities Plan. The purpose is to examine the current conditions of our buildings, available funding, and enrollment numbers to develop a plan that will best meet the needs of all students.

There are several important points to note:

• Our buildings were assessed by architectural experts who looked at age, condition of building systems, energy efficiency, and suitability for renovation.
• The amendment allows the district to take advantage of ESSER funding that is available only until September 2024 to help with facilities improvements.
• No tax increases will be needed.

Under the draft facilities plan, Earlington Elementary and South Hopkins Middle School become “transitional” facilities, meaning they may be closed. The plan includes a large addition to Southside Elementary, which would become a Preschool-8^th grade center. The auxiliary gyms that were already in the plan for the high schools would now have a storm shelter component. The plan previously included construction of a new Central Office, but that has been amended to allow for purchase/renovation of existing property.

The Public Hearing for the DFP is scheduled for March 3 at the Career and Technology Center. For more information on the process and how to participate, please visit www.hopkins.kyschools.us/LPC2022.

Click the photo above to view a video of Pete Galloway, HCS Local Planning Commission facilitator, explaining the LPC process as it pertains to amending the HCS District Facility Plan.

We celebrated the opening of the Friendship Corner in Madisonville with a ribbon-cutting!

Through this new initiative, families will be able to shop for free clothing. Our Family Resource Youth Service Center coordinators will help make sure families’ needs are met.

The Friendship Corner is made possible through a partnership with Project Friendship, an outreach effort of Chabad of Kentucky. They plan to open Project Friendship Closets in three Kentucky counties that were hit by the December tornadoes. Rabbi Chaim Litvin announced the statewide effort today in Frankfort. He was joined at the announcement by Kentucky Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, Dr. Eric Friedlander, secretary of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services; and Consul General of Israel to the Southeast Anat Sultan-Dadon.

Our district’s partnership with Hopkins County Happy Feet is also vital to this project! Knight and Sons Monument is donating this space to Happy Feet for the Bee-YOU-tiful Boutique, and Happy Feet is sharing the space to include the Friendship Corner. The location on Center Street is open by appointment only. 

We want to thank everyone who has made this project possible! We look forward to serving our families at the Friendship Corner!

On Tuesday, the Hopkins County Board of Education approved new guidelines for Special Permission for the 2022-2023 school year. This district policy provides a process for students to attend a Hopkins County School outside of their attendance zone. 

“Special permission will continue to be available under this policy update,” said Hopkins County Board of Education Chairman Steve Faulk. “An advantage is that parents do not have to reapply every year. This will also help the district to ensure more efficient use of our school facilities.” 

The district will accept Special Permission Transfer requests for schools operating at less than 90% student capacity. Families do not have to submit a new application for special permission students to continue to attend the same school. A new application will be needed if the student will be transitioning to a new school. 

Applications will be open for the following schools: Browning Springs Middle School, Earlington Elementary School, Grapevine Elementary School, Hanson Elementary School, Hopkins County Central High School, James Madison Middle School, Jesse Stuart Elementary School, South Hopkins Middle School, Southside Elementary School, West Broadway Elementary School, and West Hopkins School. 

Applications will be accepted March 1 through May 1, 2022. The form will be available March 1 on the district website, www.hopkins.kyschools.us. Applications may also be picked up at the Board of Education starting on that date. Completed applications must be returned to the Central Office. 

They will be processed in the order received by the Central Office Department of Pupil Personnel, 320 S. Seminary St., Madisonville. Applications will be reviewed by the DPP Office and the requested school on an individual basis. 

For more information, contact Hopkins County Schools Department of Pupil Personnel at (270) 825-6000.  

Parenting in the era of social media can be frustrating and confusing. The staff at Hopkins County Schools want to support parents by offering relevant family engagement topics that help navigate these times and topics with your preteens and teens. Your responses to this survey will only be used for information gathering and are totally anonymous. 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeYFtgFP79YimSMuS2SPASAOKQLHw2nY39PmLPpXDszJ6miiQ/viewform

Browning Springs Middle School Principal Wendy Gamblin was presented with the African American Coalition of Hopkins County’s Leadership Award at the “We are Black History” event Saturday at Madisonville Community College. The award was presented for her “outstanding leadership, vision, inclusiveness and excellence as an administrator at Browning Springs Middle School.” Congratulations, Mrs. Gamblin!

Congratulations to the Hopkins County Central and Madisonville North Hopkins High School cheer teams who gave outstanding performances in the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championship this weekend in Florida!

HCCHS advanced to finals and placed 6^th in the nation in the Medium Varsity NT Game Day division. Madisonville North advanced to Semi-Finals Round 2 in Small Varsity Division II. We are so proud of both teams and all the hard work they have put in throughout the season! 

Congratulations to the Madisonville-North Hopkins swim and dive team members who advanced to the State Championship! Desmone Ardizzone and Ryan Farmer competed in the state diving championship with Ryan advancing to finals and finishing 9^th in the state!

Seth Spencer, who finished 2^nd in Individual Medley, and the Girls 400 Free Relay team, which also placed 2^nd, qualified for the state swim championship. Students competing on the Girls 400 Free Relay include Maci Crowell, Ella Kirkland, Adison Melton, and Audrey Tate, and alternate Emma Tagg. 

West Hopkins student Noah Edwards has won the Elks Kentucky State Hoop Shoot Championship! He hit 23 of 25 free throws and also received two special awards: the Jim Dorris Award for the most shots made in the state finals, and the Jim Fuller “Hot Shot” Award for the most cumulative shots made in local, district, and state competitions. He made 65 of 75. He advances to compete at the regional level against students from Arkansas, Tennessee, and Missouri. 

West Hopkins kindergarten and 1^st grade students pitched in to help clean up their playground earlier this month. They looked like they had a good time!