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Earlier this week I shared some challenges we are addressing with student conflicts and fighting. I’m planning some additional meetings to talk about this with parents. You can see the details below. Now, that we are at the end of the week, I want to celebrate some of the good things happening at Herndon Middle School. It is important to remember that 99% of our students are coming to school everyday with a good attitude and ready to learn. Here are some highlights from the week:
A Float for Homecoming! The SCA has worked with the PTA this year and for the first time in many years, we are in the Homecoming Parade. Our SCA members are student leaders and they devoted an incredible amount of time to make the float. Mrs. Madkour deserves a big shout out as our new SCA sponsor. Thank you to all the parents who supported this effort.
HMS Fest! More than ten years ago, I worked with the PTA and we made a commitment to hold a festival during the Homecoming for our middle school students. We recognized that the students coming from 8 different feeders need opportunities to come together and unite as one school. Our PTA took on organizing HMS Fest again this year and it was a big success. Over 400 students attended. Thank you to Brett Fox and all the PTA volunteers who came to help Mr. Fuller and the administration at the event.
SAFETY PLEDGE! As we concluded Say Something Week, our students were encouraged to take the Safety Pledge during lunches. We had over 100 students sign the banner during lunches. Our counselors and administrators will continue to guide our students to take steps to ensure their safety and the safety of others.
- I promise to stay safe and help others stay safe.
- I understand that I have an essential role in school safety and violence prevention.
- I promise to help when I can and quickly find an adult when I can’t.
- I will promote the acceptance and tolerance of individual differences and diversity.
- I understand everyone has the right to be treated with respect.
Upcoming Meetings at Herndon Middle School Addressing Safety (Location is the library)
10/23 4:00 – 5:00 Mrs. Klena is inviting parents and guardians to come have a conversation about how we can work together as a community to help students and families when student have conflicts. We have seen a few students have been uncharacteristically bold as to where they have engaged in fighting. We have had four fights at school that were in public places in the first weeks of school and this has caused disruption and safety concerns. We want to bring our parents in to share the steps we are taking to address this and together consider ways to support families and students with resources when students struggle with conflict. Some of our Herndon pyramid principals are also able to join in this important conversation.
10/23 at 6:30 PM: The PTA and Student Services joint parent meeting will be October 23rd at 6:30 in the HMS Library. The topic of the night is Supporting Your Child’s Safety in the Community. A representative from BeSmart will present along with Herndon Police and other community supports will be at the meeting to present on supporting keeping our students safe in the community.
11/6 10:00 – 11:00: Our HMS PTA is sponsoring a Parent Coffee where HMS administrators will talk about the procedures and approaches we have in place to continue to promote a safe and positive learning environment for all. We will include topics addressed at the 10/23 meeting. We are offering both meetings in hopes that the flexibility will allow more parents to attend.
Looking forward to seeing some of you at the Herndon Homecoming Parade and at HMS in the coming weeks.
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