Holland Middle

Upcoming Important Dates-

Monday, January 20th- No School in Observation of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Tuesday, January 21st- Beginning of 2nd Semester
Friday, January 31st- ½ Day for students

Schedule Changes-

With the 2nd Semester starting on Tuesday, January 21st, most students will have some changes to their schedules. 7th graders will switch from Art to Physical Education. 6th graders will switch from Physical Education to Art. Some students will have a reading or math intervention class added to their schedule or removed from their schedule based on assessments. If your child has an intervention class added to their schedule a letter will be sent home.

Learning Resource Fee Refunds-

After much discussion with teachers, our technology department, and parents we have decided that Chromebooks will NOT be assigned to individual 8th graders and sent home as originally planned. Refunds will be issued [at conferences] to the parents who paid the $20 learning resource fee. A table will be set up at conferences with a list of people who paid the fee. Please be able to provide identification at that table. Individual students who have been assigned computers for Path, Online Courses, PBL, or as part of their individual learning plans will not receive a refund as those students have been able to take devices home. If you have any questions, please feel free to email Mr. Cassidy.

HMS Art Club:

For grades 6-8 after school on Wednesdays until 4pm starting February 5 through April 29. If students are interested get an Art Club application from Mrs. Jacobusse Blue Hall Room 420.

Heart & Sole-

Have you heard about Heart & Sole? Heart & Sole is Girls on the Run's new program for middle school girls! Heart & Sole creates a positive, structured space for middle school girls to learn about themselves, others, and ways to make the world a better place, while training to run a 5k! Heart & Sole teams are limited to 15 members, so if your daughter is interested, please complete the application as soon as possible. Our team will meet on Mondays and Wednesdays starting in March.

If your daughter would like to participate, but your family is unable to pay the registration fee, you may request financial assistance as part of the application process. No girls are turned away from the program due to an inability to pay.

In order to register or learn additional information, please visit www.GOTROAC.ORG or stop by the Holland Middle School front office for a paper application and flyer! If you have any questions, please email coaches and HMS staff members. Email  Aly Franklin or email Anita Lee-Bjerke.

Supplies Needed for HMS “Families”-

Your child may have shared with you that they are part of a school family. At least monthly they get together with their family consisting of about 20 students from 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. The 8th grade leaders run these meetings and cover various important topics. Many parents have asked how they can support this program. One way is through the donation of supplies that will be used during these meetings.

Supplies we need:
-boxes of colored pencils (we would like 4 boxes per family for a total of about 164 boxes)
-scissors (20)
-fine tipped markers (boxes of 8 or so per box)
-scotch tape (50 individual rolls)

If anyone is willing to donate any of these items, please drop them off in the front office and state that they are for HMS Families.

J&H Oil Grant

HMS would like to extend a huge thank you to J&H Oil for the $500 grant that will go towards our STEM program. We greatly appreciate their support!

Emergency Response Bags-

Holland Public Schools and Kids’ Food Basket are partnering to provide Emergency Meals in case of extended snow days like we had last year. These bags should provide enough food for 2 meals to school age residents and will be delivered to the following 5 neighborhoods:

Heights of Hope Community Center( serving Stratford, Oxford, Abbey residents)
Meadow Lanes
Harbor Village
Crown Point
Lincoln Estates
**These would be available when there is MORE than 1 day off IN A ROW due to weather.
**All sites wish to have the pick- up time listed as between 10 am and 11 am. This way they won’t have to worry about being gone over the lunch hour plus one of the meals is more of a breakfast.

Positive Behavior Incentives-

Did you know your learner can earn DUTCH tickets from HMS teachers for showing the DUTCH expectations anywhere in the school? Learners collect these tickets and turn them in for FREE prizes, including lunch each week! Check in with your kiddo to see if he/she has DUTCH tickets!

Want to acknowledge teachers who hand out DUTCH tickets? HMS is looking for small gift cards to hand out to teachers when their name is on the DUTCH ticket collected from learners. If you are willing to donate a small coffee gift card, please drop them off in the office. Thanks for thinking of our teachers!

Shout Outs-

Each week Mr. Cassidy sends an email out to teachers called the Holla. It is an email consisting of anonymous compliments and praise that staff shares with each other regarding their team going above and beyond for others. If you would like to share a positive message with a staff member and have it included in this weekly message, please email it to Mr. Cassidy. You will be copied on the Holla on Friday.-- 

Nick Cassidy

Principal

Holland Middle School

616-494-2425