Thank you Meredith Bjorck Real Estate Team for sponsoring

Raider communications!

Library News

RED ANY GOOD BOOKS LATELY?

This year’s annual Raider Library Book Fair is THIS WEEK! The fair will run Wednesday, February 28 - Friday, March 1 and will be open every day from 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM. The Scholastic fair will offer an incREDible variety of books to interest and engage our reading Raiders.  

The library needs volunteers willing to help run the fair cashiers. If you are interested, visit VSP to sign up! PLEASE NOTE: If you are unable to see the Book Fair shifts under the "Open Positions" tab, please check your profile to make sure "Book Fair" is added to your account. You can find this under My Profile > Jobs & Scheduling. Scroll through the 'Available Jobs' list, select 'Book Fair,' then click 'Add.' 

Scholastic offers eWallets, an easy, cash-free way for students to purchase books at the fair. Click HERE to learn more about eWallets, and visit https://www.scholastic.com/bf/raiderlibrary to set one up for your child. Teachers will also have eWallets, so you can donate and help them build their classroom libraries. PLEASE NOTE: The online fair starts earlier than the physical fair in the library.  

Some of our Raider musicians will provide inspiRED browsing music during the fair:

• Wed, Feb 28 @ 3:45 PM - Raider Strings
• Thurs, Feb 29 @ 3:45 PM - Raider Band

Book fairs help raise much-needed funds for the library and get new books into the hands of our Raiders. Thank you in advance for your support of this year's fair!

Alan Gratz Community Event

#1 New York Times bestselling author and Raider favorite, Alan Gratz, will visit MIS/HPMS Tuesday, March 5 and speak at a community event at 5:30 p.m. in the Raider Auditorium. HP families and community members are invited to attend! Thank you to HP Litfest for generously supporting this event. 

Jill Bellomy, Raider Librarian

Raider Café 2024-2025: Important Dates

We would love for you to join our amazing team!

Volunteer Timeline

• February (all month): All **current and active volunteers** can let their day captain know if they are reclaiming their shift. Bonus: we will sign you up in VSP. You don’t have to do anything else!
• March 4: All current volunteers can elect to move position or day. Just let one of us know and we will take care of sign up!
• March 18: VSP goes live and will be open to all new volunteers to claim shifts.

The cafeteria is a great place to serve, see your kids during the school day, and meet new friends. We hope to see you there!

Questions? Please email Katherine Issel or Tracy Port Melech

Letter from the Principal

Dear Raider Families,

I hope that you have had the opportunity to participate in the district survey for families emailed earlier this week. If you did not receive a survey, please contact us so that we can send an email link to you to participate. We want to hear from everyone, and your feedback is critical as we seek to improve our classroom learning and campus culture for all students and staff.

Our campus improvement plan this year focused on a few key areas: implementation of our district ELA framework and, specifically, campus writing initiatives across the curriculum; implementation of our district math framework and focus on conceptual understandings; ongoing staff professional learning and growth through our evaluation system; and improved communication to families. We expect to see growth in the percentage of our students achieving masters level on the state assessments in math, reading, and science; growth in the percentage of students achieving college readiness benchmarks on the MAP test; and growth in the percentage of students meeting their individual growth targets on MAP and state assessments. We are encouraged by our progress mid-year, but we have a long way to go. Survey feedback is another critical component in evaluating our strengths and areas for improvement.

Thank you for your continued partnership in supporting your student’s consistent attendance and school-ready behaviors. Our teachers are working hard to promote high levels of learning in the classroom every day. Please communicate with your teachers and counselors if you have any questions or concerns about your student's academic progress.

Go Raiders!

Dr. Skip Moran, Principal

McCulloch Intermediate School

morans@hpisd.org (214) 780-3500

United to Beat Malaria

Nothing But Nets, a program funded by the United Nations to prevent the spread of malaria in countries across the African continent, will take place next week, February 26-March 1. Members of the MIS Student Leadership Club will facilitate the event at MIS. Students are invited to bring monetary donations to shoot baskets for charity, and each MIS House will be assigned a day to participate.  With each $10 donation, Nothing But Nets delivers one bed net that can protect a family of five from malaria-carrying mosquitos.  

Cost: $1 for 3 shots, $5 for 20 shots.  

Location: North Gym, during recess

Schedule:

Letter from the Principal

Hello Parents and Families,

We had a great week at HPMS! Thank you for supporting our students this week. I am proud of the work and learning that is taking place at our school in every class, every day. Here are some things to keep in mind this week:

• Dr. Rockwood sent out a link to the HPISD Campus Climate Survey so you can give feedback about our school. Please check your email for the link to that survey. The survey should only take a few minutes. Thank you for taking the time to share; your feedback is very important to us.
• The MIS / HPMS Book Fair is coming up from Wednesday, February 28 - Friday, March 1.
• We also have the amazing Alan Gratz, author of many books for young readers, coming to visit our school on Tuesday, March 5. His books are consistently Raider Library favorites.
• Our 7th graders will take Reading and Math Benchmark tests on Wednesday & Thursday, March 6 & March 7. 8th Graders will take the PSAT on Thursday, March 7.

Attendance this week:

7th grade - 94%

8th grade - 93%

Overall - 93%

Goal for next week - 95%

Study Skill Focus - Having a Growth Mindset

1. Recognize what it means to have a fixed mindset (when you are unwilling to change).
2. Embrace challenges and difficulties.
3. Don't fear failure; we learn from our mistakes.
4. Put forth maximum effort.
5. Be open to learning and growing.
6. Be persistent / remain determined.
7. Seek feedback and help.
8. Celebrate your successes.

Our mission at HPMS is to ensure high levels of learning and personal growth for all Raiders in and beyond the classroom. Thank you for helping us achieve our mission!

As always, please let me know if you have questions, suggestions, or concerns.

Thanks and Go Raiders!

Dr. Kevin Hunt, Principal

Highland Park Middle School

huntk@hpisd.org  214-780-3600

8th Grade Course Selection (Current 7th Graders)

Please find course selection materials for current 7th graders (class of 2029) below:

• Student Presentation - presented to students on February 15 in their Social Studies classes
• Incoming 8th Academic Resources & FAQs 
• 8th Grade Choice Sheet
• 24-25 HPMS Course Offerings - Quick Reference
• HPMS - How to Choose Electives in Skyward

Important dates:

• February 20: Skyward opens for course selection
• February 26: Skyward closes and choice sheets are due to your Raider Hour teacher
• May 18: HPISD physicals
• August 14: OCPA deadline (application coming soon)

HPHS Course Selection (Current 8th Graders)

8th Grade Parents/Guardians: please ensure that your 8th-grade student has completed entering their four-year high school career plans in Skyward. The window for entering four-year plans in Skyward will close on February 26 at 4 pm. Please refer to Mrs. Mooty's school webpage for all transition information including step-by-step instructions for entering plans into Skyward, and feel free to reach out to her directly with any questions. Mrs. Mooty's office number is 214-780-3641 and her email is mootys@hpisd.org.​

**Please do not worry about signing the course verification at this time, the window for this will open in March and more information will be communicated before Spring Break.**

Raider Round Up Episode 4

Click HERE to view Episode 4 of the Raider Round Up. In this week's Raider Round Up, Dr. Hunt has a conversation with Ms. Riddell, an instructional coach at HPMS. Our Teacher Feature this week is with Ms. McCombs, one of our 8th grade Math teachers. Go Raiders.

Community Member Review of Instructional Resources

This spring, HPISD will consider the adoption of new instructional resources for K-12 Science Courses, Personal Financial Literacy & Economics, and technology application courses including computer science and engineering. Copies of the resources being considered for adoption will be on display at the HPISD administration building during regular office hours now through Friday, March 22.

Parents are encouraged to stop by and take a look at the options and provide feedback on these resources. Resources can also be viewed electronically by clicking HERE.

Thank you to our Cafeteria Finance team: Amy Barker, Tracy Cohen, Kelley Curtin, Lauren Haig, Katherine Issel, Julie Melihercik, Tracy Port Melech, Kara Smith, Kitsy Smith, and Brenda Vardell. You amaze us with your attention to detail and action. Thank you for all you do behind the scenes. We are so proud of our Raider Cafe!

Thank you to Raiders Reaching Out chairs, Jennifer Bergin, Amanda Hamilton, and Ashley Shull, for taking care of our Raiders who need a little pick me up, a show of appreciation, or a reminder of how much we care. You ladies go above and beyond to make sure Raiders Reaching Out is handled with discreet care and compassion. Thank you for being the heart of the PTO!

Thank you Sarah Taub for appreciating our Cafeteria staff and Hall Monitors to let them know how much we care and appreciate all their hard work and dedication to their jobs!  

Field Hockey Spring Clinics

Lady Scots Soccer Clinic

On March 2 from 9:00-11:00am the Lady Scots soccer players will be hosting a middle school pre-season Soccer Clinic for 7th and 8th grade girls interested in playing middle school soccer to help them get ready for the season and learn about high school soccer. This will take place at the indoor facility at HPHS. Please see the flyer for registration details. For questions you can contact Laura Andrews at dearenlala@gmail.com or 214-901-3888. 

Raiders Reaching Out

Raiders Reaching Out is ready to serve our Raider students, families, and staff in need of support and to honor those who go above and beyond to serve our school and children. Please let us know if you know someone in our Raider community who needs some sunshine sent their way! You can email us confidentially raidersreachingout@mishpmspto.org.

Not receiving Raider Weekly and News To Know email newsletters?

McCulloch Intermediate & Highland Park Middle School