FOX FACTS

August 2, 2023

HMS WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

This is the first edition of Fox Facts for the 2023-2024 school year.

Make sure you view the entire message by clicking on the highlighted blue area

which says "View entire message" as you scroll down to the bottom

Important Dates and Events

August 4: 6th Grade WEB Orientation 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM

August 8: Picture Day and Textbook Pickup (See below for schedule)

August 9: First Day of School - Minimum day schedule

August 11: ASB Kickoff Assembly

August 14-18: Spirit Week

August 18: PTA New Family Orientation 8:45 AM (HMS Cafeteria)

August 24: Hauntington Breakfast Kickoff

August 24: Back to School Night 6:00 PM

August 24: Fox Fuel with H (Via Zoom)

August 25: Minimum Day

August 29: PTA Association Meeting 8:45 AM (HMS Cafeteria)

September 4: Labor Day - No School

Please check our School Calendar for more information related to student events and activities.

Athletic Updates go to hehms.us and click on the Athletics tab.

Our Athletic Director is Ms. Kido (kkido@smusd.us)

Webstore Link: Here

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

Your Admin Team

Ms. Hazlett Ms. Cota

Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year at Huntington Middle School! We are thrilled to have you back on campus and ready to embark on another exciting journey of learning and growth. While I have already had the privilege of meeting and interacting with many of you in my former role as Assistant Principal, I am honored and humbled to lead this exceptional community of learners as Principal. I would also like to introduce you to Mrs. Michelle Cota, whom many of you know from her years serving as an English teacher at San Marino High School. Mrs. Cota and I are committed to continuing and furthering Huntington’s rich tradition of academic and extracurricular excellence. On behalf of all teachers, staff, and administrators at Huntington Middle School, I extend my best wishes for a fantastic start to the 2023-2024 school year. Let's go Foxes, we got this!

On August 28th, the PTSA will be hosting their New Family Orientation at 8:45 in the HMS Cafeteria. Their topics will include parent resources, activities, events, athletics, and more!



Nancy Ho from Chinatown Service Center will be coming to speak about their community and mental health services they offer as well as parenting workshops they will be hosting on our campus.

On Friday August 4th, we would like all 6th graders to join us from 8 AM to 1 PM for our WEB orientation (students only). Students will receive their schedules and lockers. Parents will drop off their child in front of the gym. Please bring a water bottle; we will provide lunch and a snack.

Textbook Pick Up, Locker Distribution, and Picture Day

Our HMS tradition is to pick up your textbooks, get your locker location and combination, and take your school picture the day before school starts. You will also receive you ID card on this day. Please join us at the times below based on your grade.

Tuesday, August 8th

8th Grade 9:00-10:00

7th Grade 10:30-11:30

6th Grade 12:00-1:00

Schedule:

8th Grade

Last name starts with:

A-K 9:00 AM

L-Z 9:30 AM

7th Grade

Last name starts with:

A-K 10:30 AM

L-Z 11:00 AM

6th Grade (Students will have received their locker locations and combinations at WEB orientation, but still need to come to pick up their textbooks and Chromebooks and take their pictures.)

Last name starts with:

A-K 12:00 PM

L-Z 12:30 PM

• Please do not come to school on this day if you are not feeling well or have COVID symptoms. Make-up pictures will be in September. You may pick up textbooks, locker assignments and class schedules when you return to school.
• 7th & 8th graders, please bring a backpack or bag to carry materials and textbooks. 
• Students should dress appropriately for school pictures and school ID cards.
• 8th grade students will take their student ID picture today. 8th Grade Formal Portrait Pictures will be taken by Lauren Portraits in Sept/Oct. Information will be coming out soon to set up an appointment.
• Parents please wait in your vehicles.

Station 1: Entrance, Official School Picture and ID card

Pictures will be taken in the BAC (gym) this year. Please enter through the main doors located just west of the tennis courts. Parents please drop off your students and park in the North parking lot to wait for your student. The North lot is north of the turnaround, closer to Huntington Drive.

If you would like to purchase these classic, official school portraits, here is the information:

Station 2: Library

7th and 8th graders: Schedule, Textbooks, Locker Number, and Locker Combination

Students, please walk to the library. Paper schedules will be available if you didn’t already print it out from Powerschool. You will also receive your new locker number and combination.

6th graders:  Chromebooks and Textbooks! You already received your schedule and locker information during WEB day.

*New HMS students will receive their Chromebooks today from the library.

All students will receive 2023-24 agendas (aka binder reminders) FREE! Courtesy of our outstanding PTA!

Station 3: Exit

If you would like to go to your locker you may now do so. 

Please review our various bell schedules.

We will have our first monthly webinar meeting for HMS parents with our Principal, Ms. Hazlett on Thursday, August 24th at 9:00 AM via Zoom!

If you'd like to join, here is the link.

Outdoor Education Information

For any information regarding our outdoor education opportunities, please use this link. If you have any questions, please visit our website, then email Mrs. Cota, our Assistant Principal, at mcota@smusd.us.

Renovation Plans for San Marino Center

The San Marino City Council renovation project for the San Marino Center is scheduled for completion end of September. Construction activities continue to affect parking. Please see attached for the SM Center Project parking collaboration with the City of San Marino for details. The yellow parking area is first come first serve. More information can be found here. If you have any questions or comments in the meantime, please contact the San Marino Parks & Public Works Department at (626) 300-0765 or via email at publicworks@cityofsanmarino.org.

Counseling Corner:

If you need help getting access to PowerSchool:

Technical Support Contact:

• Chat with a technology support team member at www.smusd.us/livechat/
• Email technical support at techsupport@smusd.us
• Leave a message at 626-299-7002

Free breakfast and lunch!

For the 2023-2024 school year, the State of California is mandating the Universal Meals Program at all schools in the state. With the Universal Meal families need to fill out a Meal Application form, which was part of the online registration package. SMUSD will be offering both breakfast and lunch. Please encourage your students to come and grab a free lunch and a free breakfast daily. SMUSD will be using the Point of Sale system to record the meals for lunch, therefore please remind your students to memorize their 5 Digit lunch number (student ID number). This will help expedite the meal service. For the first week of school the lines may be a bit longer than usual as students may have forgotten their lunch number. If you have any questions, please contact Munira Bengali at mbengali@smusd.us or 626-299- 7000 ext. 1323. 

Student Connectedness to HMS Campus Life

HMS events, activities and athletics play a huge part in the overall development of our students. We want our students to stay connected to all the wonderful and interactive school events and activities that are available to each student. Students will be notified of school events and activities with a Schoology notification or an email to their student Gmail account. HMS students and families are also encouraged to frequently visit the HMS school website.

A Note from our Athletic Director

Hello,

My name is Ms. Kido and I am the Athletic Director here at Huntington Middle School. I want to welcome you back to an exciting year for our HMS Sports Program. Whether you are a returning student or you are new to our school, we have activities for almost everyone!

Huntington offers two types of sports programs.  

1.  Intramural: This program is open to all the students on campus regardless of skill level. Once you register to be a part of Intramurals, you are now eligible to try out to be a part of a Travel Team.  

2. Travel Team:  In this program, groups of selected athletes compete against other schools to represent Huntington in our 210 Middle School League, Delphic League, and Prep League.  Not all students who try out will be selected for the Travel Team for which they are trying out.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION BEFORE SELECTING YOUR SPORT!!

• Please make sure you complete the appropriate form WITH your parent/guardian.
• Make sure you take note of the first meeting date. (THIS DATE MAY BE DIFFERENT FOR EACH SPORTS TEAM!)
• You may select more than one sport; if you do, you will need to fill out a separate form for each sport.
• Be realistic regarding your schedule and the possible time and date conflicts.

Read the information BEFORE you click on the Registration Form.

*A student email address is required to register. (????@student.smusd.us)

**Please make sure you are signed out of all other email accounts before clicking on the link.

***If you are still having problems, please use incognito/private mode depending on the browser you are using. 

Intramural Football:  Open to all students who are interested. Informational meeting on Monday, August 14, 2023 (3:00-3:30). Begins on Thursday, August 17, 2023 (3:00-3:30) for team selection. First day of practice: Monday, August 21 (3:00-4:00). First game: Friday, August 18. Click here for the Intramural Football Form.

Intramural Girls Volleyball:  Open to all girls who are interested. Volleyball Clinic for skill evaluation: Monday, August 14, and Wednesday, August 16 (3:00-4:30). First day of practice: Monday, August 21 & Wednesday, August 22. Click here for the Girls Intramural Volleyball Form.

Travel Team - Cross Country: There is no tryout for this team! There will be an informational meeting on Monday, August 14 @ 3:00 (Lunch Court). First day of practice: Wednesday, August 16 (3:00-4:30). Click here for the Cross Country Form.

Travel Team - Tennis (EXPERIENCED PLAYERS ONLY):  Tryouts are open to all the students who are interested and have previous experience playing matches. Tryouts will begin on Tuesday, September 5 - Last Name: A-L (3:00-4:30); Wednesday, September 6 - Last Name: M - Z (3:00-4:30); Thursday, September 7 - Make-up Day (3:00-4:30) Click here for the Tennis Team Form.  

Intramural Dance:  Open to all students who are interested. First day of practice: Tuesday, August 22 (3:00-4:00). Click here for Intramural Dance.  

Life is full of challenges, sometimes it means that you should try something new and you never know, you may actually enjoy it!!

If you have any questions, please feel to let me know.

Remember my motto! "A sport for everyone and everyone in a sport!"

Hope to see you out there playing!

Ms. Kido

Health Information

HMS Instagram

HMS Twitter

If you have social media, make sure you're following HMS to see the latest in our academic and spirited events.

HMS PTA Facebook

SMUSD Facebook

Letter from the PTA President

Dear Fox Families,

I want to welcome the Huntington Middle School Foxes back to school!  Summer flew by, and my younger daughter is excited to be a 7th grader at HMS, while my older daughter is starting 9th grade at SMHS this year.

I am honored to serve as HMS PTA’s President this year.  I want to focus on engaging our families and strengthening our community so that the PTA can continue to support programs and services at HMS that enrich our children’s lives.

I look forward to working with Principal Hazlett, Assistant Principal Cota, the teachers and staff, and the many PTA volunteers who bring so many wonderful PTA programs to our school.  Some PTA events and programs that our students and families can look forward to are Hauntington Breakfast, Noontime Fun activities, 6th grade dances, Reflections art program, Career Day, parent party, Fox Games, and more!

This year, I have the honor of serving alongside an amazing group of HMS parents who are serving on the 2023-2024 PTA Executive Board.  I want to thank these parents for taking on a leadership role in PTA:

Executive Vice President: Sri Abboy

First VP of Programs and Calendar: Cathy Newton

Second VP of Membership: Daisy Wilson

Third VP of Ways and Means: Jennifer Kang

Hauntington Breakfast Creative Chair: Kyu Kang

Hauntington Breakfast Business Chair: Jerry Shen

Parent Party Creative Chair: Becki Watlington

Parent Party Business Chair: Mikah O’Mara

Spring Fundraiser Creative Chair: Ryan Zanotti

Spring Fundraiser Business Chair: Sarah Rome

Recording Secretary: Ellie Helmy

Corresponding Secretary: Christina Trauber

Treasurer: Carmen Vishwanath

Financial Secretary: Kasumi Roddick

Financial Reviewer: Xinyan Huang

Historian: Mei Wong

Parliamentarian: Hwannie Shen

One of the things that makes HMS and San Marino so special is the incredible dedication and support given by the teachers, staff, parents, and community.  Your contribution of time, knowledge, and resources makes a difference.  Thank you for helping in any way you can and showing the children in our schools the importance you place on their education.

I am so grateful for the HMS families, teachers, and staff members I have gotten to know over the years.  I look forward to getting to know the new families in our school and building an even stronger HMS community!

Sincerely,

Lauren Shen

HMS PTA President 2023-2024

***SAVE THE DATES: UPCOMING PTA-SPONSORED ACTIVITIES***

New Family Orientation

Friday, August 18th at 8:45 am

HMS Cafeteria

New to HMS?  Join us at this orientation to learn valuable information about student activities, PTA programs, and more.

PTA Association Meeting

Tuesday, August 29th at 8:45 am

HMS Cafeteria and Zoom (registration link will be included in next week’s newsletter)

Please join us in-person or on Zoom for our first PTA Association meeting of the year.  Learn about Hauntington Breakfast, meet fellow parents, and get involved!

STAY INFORMED!

Join the Huntington Middle School PTA Community Facebook Group.  This is the only PTA sanctioned social media community group to get all HMS PTA and school related information.