We are excited to start our second quarter with the students, continuing our commitment to maintaining a positive school climate and strong instructional program.  The challenges we faced as the year started, with some unfortunate situations involving fighting and serious violations among a small group of students, were addressed effectively and we have noted positive changes and significant improvement.  I am encouraged by the engagement from our parents who came out on 10/23 and 11/6 to talk about school safety.  We also had over 100 parents come to our Spanish Speaking Parent Orientation on 11/6.  The parents shared important perspectives and helpful information about what students report at home. I have taken note of the need to monitor our bathrooms and I’ve advised our teachers and substitute teachers to be extra diligent with the Away for the Day policy.  The use of cell phones is not permitted in school, and, unfortunately, some students persist in secretly making recordings and posting on social media.  Most students are complying with our school expectations, and I believe it will be most effective for us to continue to work together between home and school to help all the students use better judgement about the use of cell phones at school. Some parents had questions about the incident in early September where a student had a toy gun (a BB gun) at a bus stop.  We took all the steps outlined in the Student Responsibilities and Rights for a weapons violation in this situation, and law enforcement was involved. I am committed to continue to take every step we can to promote the safe school we want for all our students.  Our We encourage your questions and ideas.  Please feel free to reach out to any administrator or our school resource officers.

Contact Information:

Justine Klena JKKlena@fcps.edu

All HMS Administration HerndonMSAdministration@fcps.edu

Officer Tyler Belling TBelling@fcps.edu , Officer Michael Murn MMurn@fcps.edu

We are taking steps to ensure all students understand the importance of getting to class on time.  Our Dean of Students, Dr. John Bordenkecher is leading incentive programs to recognize students who get to class on time regularly.  There will be a “No Tardy Party” for 528 students on Nov. 14^th who had ZERO tardies for the first quarter.  We are also starting the second quarter with regularly occurring Tardy Sweeps. Each week, between certain classes, students who are late without an excused pass will be escorted to an upstairs and downstairs Tardy Check-In Station.  Dr. Bordenkecher will discuss the importance of getting to class on time.  We will record names of students and assign detention for students who have multiple tardy to class violations.  We appreciate all the students who are being responsible and getting to class on time.  A few who extend the time in the hallways to socialize and then enter class late disrupt the instruction and distract peers who are engaged in the lesson.  We are hoping every HMS Hawk can get to on time every class of every day.   

Contact Dean of Students, Dr. John Bordenkecher with questions.  jmbordenkech@fcps.edu