Weekly Newsletter- Week of October 6

September/October Dates to Note: 
10/9 Peer to Peer Field Trip to Urban Air 9-11
Week of October 13- Book Fair
10/13 Tier 2- Behavior and SEL
10/16 Conferences 3:30-6:30
10/21 Conferences 3:30- 6:30
10/23 Activity Night 2:45-4:30
10/23 Grades due for quarter 1 report card
10/23 Report Cards Due
10/24 No School

This Week: 
-All Clubs are running this week!  

Conferences 10/16 and 10/21: 

Hi HMS Families!  Believe it or not, we are almost to fall conferences!  For those new to HMS, we have a walk in conference format.  From 3:30-6:30 on either day, come to HMS to meet with your student's teachers.  You can access the schedule through parent portal.  At conferences, we will give you your student's reflection on Q1.  In addition, all teachers will be placed in the cafeteria, library, and the front windows to make it easier to meet with all teachers more efficiently.  In addition, the book fair will be open during this time! 

Career Day at HMS – November 20
Holland Middle School will host our annual Career Day on Thursday, November 20, 2025, in the afternoon. This exciting event gives students the chance to learn about different careers directly from professionals in our community. We are looking for volunteers to share their career experiences with students. Presenters will give three short sessions (25–30 minutes each) to groups of about 20–25 middle school students. During the sessions, speakers are asked to talk about their career journey, education/training, daily responsibilities, and any advice for students. Hands-on activities or visuals are encouraged but not required. If you are interested in presenting, please contact Karen Legg, School Counselor, at klegg@hollandpublicschools.org. We love to have our own parents/guardians and students' relatives as the presenters!

8th Grade Career Exploration Opportunity
 On Monday, November 11, we will be taking a group of 8th grade students to tour Transmatic as part of Michigan Manufacturing Week. This is an excellent opportunity for students to learn about the wide range of career paths in manufacturing and experience an exciting production facility firsthand.

The trip will take place from 9:00–11:30 a.m., and any interested 8th grade student is welcome to attend. Permission slips are available from Mrs. Legg, and parents with questions may email her at klegg@hollandpublicschools.org.

Upward Bound Program Opportunity
Throughout this month in Advisory, all 8th grade students will be learning about the Hope College Upward Bound Program, a federally funded program that provides academic support, mentoring, and enrichment opportunities. Being successful in high school and preparing for college can be challenging, but Upward Bound has a tremendous success rate in helping students stay on track and reach their goals. Applications are now open for current 8th graders who are interested in joining the program as they begin 9th grade. This is the website link for more details and the application: https://hope.edu/offices/upward-bound/

Upward Bound is an extremely valuable program for first-generation students—those whose parents or guardians did not complete a four-year college degree. The program’s goal is to help students build confidence, strengthen study skills, and explore future education and career options. This is an incredible opportunity, and we encourage families to learn more and consider applying!  Contact Mrs. Legg at klegg@hollandpublicschools.org for more information.

Attention students!
Holland High School’s fall musical, SpongeBob the Musical, is looking for middle school students to join the ensemble! No singing experience is required, and rehearsals are flexible. If you’re interested, email our director, Kate Leighton-Colburn, at kleighto@hollandpublicschools.org. Don’t miss your chance to be part of the show!

SPORTS: 

This week- 

10/6
VOLLEYBALL (GIRLS 7TH RED) - CENTRAL MIDDLE SCHOOL (A) 10/6/2025 4:00 PM
SOCCER (BOYS 7TH) - MUSKEGON MIDDLE SCHOOL (H) 10/6/2025 4:00 PM
VOLLEYBALL (GIRLS 8TH RED) - CENTRAL MIDDLE SCHOOL (A) 10/6/2025 5:15 PM

10/7

TENNIS (BOYS MS) - HOLLAND CHRISTIAN MIDDLE SCHOOL (A) 10/7/2025 4:00 PM
CROSS COUNTRY (MS) - WMMSC CONFERENCE MEET (A) 10/7/2025 4:30 PM

10/8

VOLLEYBALL (GIRLS 8TH RED) - HARBOR LIGHTS SCHOOL (H) 10/8/2025 4:00 PM
FOOTBALL (BOYS 7TH) - SPRING LAKE MIDDLE SCHOOL (A) 10/8/2025 5:00 PM
VOLLEYBALL (GIRLS 7TH RED) - HARBOR LIGHTS SCHOOL (H) 10/8/2025 5:15 PM
FOOTBALL (BOYS 8TH) - SPRING LAKE MIDDLE SCHOOL (A) 10/8/2025 6:30 PM
TENNIS (BOYS MS) - RILEY STREET MIDDLE SCHOOL (H) 10/9/2025 4:00 PM

GENERAL INFO

Important Reminder regarding food delivery: 
The use of food delivery services including but not limited to Door Dash, GrubHub, UberEats, restaurants etc. is not permitted by students or parents during the school day or during early release on Wednesdays.  If it is necessary, parents may drop off lunch to the main office during the designated lunch period or at the early release time.  

TARDY POLICY

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We want to inform you that a revised Tardy Policy will go into effect starting Monday, September 15, 2025. A tardy report will be run every Friday at 2:45 pm OR end of the school week. Parents of students with a minimum of 5 unexcused tardies will receive an email with an exact total along with additional information pertaining to your student’s status. Please note that tardies to Advisory will now be counted toward a student’s total number of tardies for the current quarter. Repeated tardies will result in disciplinary consequences in accordance with our school guidelines. The following link is a copy of the revised 2025-26 HMS Tardy Policy 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xAF2ck-t-dslrJj6nUqSogYyS14lE5FeHJzXD4zKWvM/edit?usp=sharing  

We appreciate your support in helping students arrive at school and to classes on time and ready to learn each day. 

Sincerely,

Holland Middle School Administration

FREE LUNCH-  Please sign up!  Our goal is to get all HMS students signed up.  Your student will get a sweet treat by Friday September 5th.  https://www.hollandpublicschools.org/pub/news/posts/3298 

Chromebooks- Students will receive their chromebooks Monday.  They will leave these at school daily, unless they check it out from their 7th hour teacher.  It is their responsibility to bring it back charged.  

Lockers- We allow students to have backpacks during the day.  We will allow students to sign up for a locker starting Q2.  This is so students can focus on getting to class on time and not another location.  Athletes do have lockers in the gym.  

Information on drop-off times: School begins promptly at 7:30 a.m. Students should be dropped off in front no earlier than 7:00 a.m. Doors will open at 7:00 a.m.

Important notice regarding food deliveries: The use of food delivery services, including but not limited to DoorDash, GrubHub, UberEats, restaurant delivery, etc., is not permitted by students or parents during the school day. If necessary, parents may personally drop off lunch to the main office during the designated lunch period.

A reminder about attendance: Regular school attendance matters! Research has shown that students who miss more than 10% of school days are at a higher risk of lower grades in high school and college, and an increased chance of high school dropout. Parents/guardians, help your student succeed by helping them to establish a morning “get ready” routine, come up with a “plan B” for transportation if your student misses the bus, and if your student is sick, call school and provide a doctor’s note if possible so their absence can be excused.

Contacting Teachers - Use the staff directory to help contact your student's teachers.  You can also email directly from the Parent Portal Staff Directory