Thank you Meredith Bjorck Real Estate Team for sponsoring

Raider communications!

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.

Food Service Appreciation Day

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,

Great learning is happening in our classrooms each day, and I hope you are having great conversations at home about your student's progress. One strategy you can try is a weekly check-in on the ABCs - attendance, behavior, and course performance. These are the key indicators of school success and the routines that will create habits for future success. Are we attending and giving our best effort whenever possible? Remind students that being present and being on time is important. Is our behavior demonstrating respect and kindness toward classmates and teachers? Are we giving our best effort to learning and investing the time and attention to studying and reading that will help us be successful, even as content becomes more challenging? A regular check-in on these indicators will help students begin to self-assess their school effort and make necessary adjustments. Parents, please reach out to your teachers for a conversation or conference if you have any questions about your student's progress in any of these areas.

Our teachers will be engaged in their own professional learning on Monday, and then back in the classroom to engage and inspire. We are looking forward to a great week of learning at McCulloch this week!

Go Raiders!

Dr. Skip Moran, Principal

McCulloch Intermediate School

morans@hpisd.org (214) 780-3500

5th Grade Success Skills

This week in our 5th Grade Success Skills lesson, students learned about how to get along with others who are different and about strategies to resolve conflict. Click HERE for some discussion starters to continue the conversation at home and support your student as they continue to grow in their skills.

6th Grade DARE

This week in our 6th Grade DARE lesson, students learned about helping others and reporting to a trusted adult when help is needed. Click HERE for some discussion starters to continue the conversation at home.

Letter from the Principal

Hello Parents and Families,

We had another great week at HPMS! Thanks for all your support; we love our parents and families! Please read the information below.

• Tomorrow, February 19, is a Student Holiday & Staff Workday.
• Our Winter Musical, The Adventures of Flat Stanley, is next Friday, February 23 in the HPMS auditorium after school at 4:00 & 7:00pm.
• The MIS / HPMS Book Fair is coming up from Wednesday, February 28 - Friday, March 1.
• The amazing Alan Gratz, author of many books for young readers, is 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 & 7. 8th Graders will take the PSAT on Thursday, March 7.

Attendance this week - We met our goal this week! Great job! Our attendance goal for the coming week is 96%. Attendance is very important for school funding. Please make sure your child is Here Every Day Ready and On Time.

7th grade - 95%

8th grade - 94%

Overall - 95%

Goal for next week - 96%

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 and 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 upcoming 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)

Raider Cheer

Attention 7th Grade Parents: Applications for 8th Grade Cheerleading are due on Friday, March 8. No late applications will be accepted.

Please contact Erika Hultsman with questions.

HPMS musical theatre presents

The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley Jr. 

Come see your 7/8 classmates bring this beloved children's book (and pop culture phenomenon) to life. Everyone's favorite two dimensional hero, Flat Stanley and his friends will take you on a fun, family-friendly musical adventure around the world! 

Two performances will be held on Friday, February 23 at 4pm and 7pm at the HPMS Auditorium. Tickets are general admission and available for $5 at the door and in the cafeteria the week of the show! Follow us on Instagram at adventures_of_hpms_flatstanley. 

Thank you to HP Arts, Raider Drama Booster Club, HPMS and Highland Park Education Foundation for their generous grants that made this show possible!

"Find Flat Stanley in Snider Plaza" Contest

HPISD students - Find our small Flat Stanleys in businesses throughout Snider Plaza and enter to win fun prizes!! Win show tickets, concession vouchers, gift cards to JD's Chippery, Yumilicious, Supercuts, Dear Hannah Prep, jewelry from Gemma Collection & more! We will announce winners on our Instagram page @adventures_of_hpms_flatstanley on Tuesday, February 20! 

Please congratulate your 7th grade girls A team on their tournament games this past weekend! They started the weekend off against McKinney Cockrill and defeated them 40-33. Although they fell short in their second round against McKinney Dowell (final score 32-42), it was still a great season filled with a lot of growth. Thank you for your support!

Please congratulate your 8th grade girls A team on their tournament games this past weekend! They won against Prosper Hays 44 - 13 before playing Prosper Rogers, who had beat them earlier in the season. After winning against Rogers in a close game (48 - 42), they played Rushing for the championship. The Raiders fell short but fought hard. Congratulations tournament MVPs Harper Jud and Wynn Ellis. It has been a fun season, and we appreciate all your support!

The 7th Grade Boys A Team went undefeated this season and are the outright District Champions! With the District Tournament wins, your Raiders improved their record to 9-0 in the regular season play and 6-0 in tournament play, pushing their overall record to a perfect 15-0 for the season! We want to thank you for all of your support this season, and we look forward to running it again next basketball season!

Notes from the Raider Library

RED any good books lately?

This year's annual Raider Library Book Fair will follow the Raider Reads initiative and will run Wednesday, February 28 - Friday, March 1. The Scholastic fair will offer an incREDible variety of books to interest and engage our reading Raiders.  

If you would like volunteer to help cashier at the fair, watch for shifts to be added to VSP and sign up!  

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 Author Visit!

To culminate all of this literary excitement, our featured author ALAN GRATZ will visit MIS/HPMS Tuesday, March 5! He will provide an interactive presentation to all four grade levels! Additionally, Mr. Gratz will speak that evening at 5:30 p.m. HP families and community members are invited to attend and hear Mr. Gratz speak about his books and his writing process. 

Thank you to HP LitFest for generously contributing to the speaker fee for this special event!

-Jill Bellomy, Raider Librarian

A big thank you to our Appreciation Chairs, Beth Birdwell, Nicki Johnston, Katy Miller, Katherine Sbaiti, and Claudia Williams for hosting an adorable Valentine’s latte coffee shop and serving muffins.  It was so nice for

teachers and staff to stop by in the morning to grab a latte to start the day

off right! We know everyone felt the love!

Thank you 5th and 6th Grade Room Parent Chairs, Murphey Sears, Leslie Singleton, Melissa Johnston, and Meredith Sarracino for organizing Valentine’s Day snacks along with the Room Parents and volunteers. Hope all the MIS students enjoyed exchanging Valentines!

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.

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McCulloch Intermediate & Highland Park Middle School