Parent  Newsletter  –  October  12,  2017    Dear  Families,       We  are  fortunate  to  have  a  nationally  renowned  speaker  coming  to  Seekonk  High  School  at  7:00  pm  on  October  18th  in  the  Seekonk  High  School  Auditorium!  “Chad  Hymas  is  truly  an  inspirational  award-­‐winning  speaker  who  forever  touches  peoples'  hearts.”  His  presentation  on  October  18th  is  titled  “Inclusive  Schools—All  Means  All.”    You  can  reserve  your  seat  now  by  using  the  following  link:      https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chad-­‐hymas-­‐inclusive-­‐schools-­‐all-­‐means-­‐all-­‐tickets-­‐38498375678       I  am  extremely  excited  about  our  first  “Pizza  with  the  Principal”  session  of  the  year,  scheduled  for  next  Thursday,  October  19th  at  6  pm  in  the  HMS  Cafeteria.  I  will  be  covering  topics  such  as  Curriculum,  Assessment,  and  Instruction.  I  will  also  discuss  school  culture,  as  well  as  many  other  school-­‐related  topics.  Our  Assistant  Principal,  Ms.  Alexis  Bouchard,  will  join  me.  The  session  will  also  include  presentations  from  Mrs.  Dawn  Costa,  our  Math  Curriculum  Leader,  and  Mrs.  Kristina  Dieringer,  our  Science  Curriculum  Leader.  Following  the  presentations,  we  will  offer  a  Q&A  Session,  as  well  as  opportunity  for  those  in  attendance  to  provide  feedback.  I  encourage  parents  and  guardians  to  join  us  next  Thursday  evening.  We  will  have  plenty  of  pizza,  soda,  and  water  on  hand  for  everyone  to  enjoy!       Yesterday,  I  met  with  our  8th  grade  class  to  present  information  on  the  2018  class  trip  to  Washington  DC,  Philadelphia,  PA,  and  Baltimore,  MD.  The  trip  is  scheduled  for  June  5-­‐8.  I  presented  the  details  of  the  itinerary  as  well  as  logistical  information  to  our  students.  On  Tuesday,  October  24th,  I  will  be  holding  a  parent  meeting  for  those  of  you  with  8th  graders  that  may  be  interested  in  participating  in  the  trip.  The  meeting  will  begin  at  7  pm,  following  the  regularly  scheduled  PTO  Meeting  that  begins  at  6  pm.  The  8th  Grade  DC  Trip  Parent  Meeting  will  take  place  in  the  HMS  Cafeteria.  I  will  also  be  presenting  information  regarding  important  fundraising  opportunities  for  students  to  help  defray  the  cost  of  each  student’s  trip.  Our  Wreath  Fundraiser  officially  kicks  off  on  the  evening  of  October  24th.       The  HMS  Halloween  Dance  is  scheduled  for  Friday,  October  27th  at  6:30  pm.  This  dance  includes  a  costume  contest  for  students  in  all  grades.  Masks,  as  well  as  accessories  that  resemble  weapons,  are  prohibited.         I  am  pleased  to  say  that  tomorrow,  I  will  be  presenting  at  the  11th  Annual  CPS  Showcase  of  Model  School  Programs  and  Promising  Practices  along  with  Ms.  Bouchard.  This  conference  is  made  available  by  NEASC  and  NELMS.  I  am  extremely  honored  and  proud  that  these  organizations  have  asked  us  to  present  at  the  model  school  conference.  The  request  for  us  to  present  was  made  after  Dr.  Kevin  Hurley  Middle  School  was  named  a  NELMS  Spotlight  School  last  March.  It  is  because  of  our  excellent,  hard-­‐working  faculty,  wonderful  students,  and  strong  school  culture  that  we  received  this  honor.  I  am  looking  forward  to  speaking  to  other  administrators  from  across  New  England  about  all  of  the  wonderful  things  that  are  happening  at  our  school.  Topics  around  curriculum,  assessment,  instruction,  and  school  culture  will  be  included  in  our  seventy-­‐minute  presentation.    Dr.  Whalen  

                                                                                           Hello  Hurley  Families,     It  was  so  great  to  see  so  many  students  and  staff  members  wearing  blue  on  Wednesday  in  support  and  recognition  of  October  being  Bullying  Awareness  Month,  and  our  core  value  of  The  Warrior  Way,  BE  KIND.  Many  students  and  staff  members  recognized  others  with  BE  KIND  Warrior  Shout-­‐Outs,  while  enjoying  music  at  the  lunches.  Below  is  the  morning  announcement  I  shared  with  students  and  staff  on  Wednesday  as  well  as  some  pictures!  

Today   we   wear   blue   in   recognition   and   support   of   October   being   Bullying  Awareness  Month  and  our  core  value,  BE  KIND,  of  The  Warrior  Way!  Bullying  can  be  verbal,  physical,  written,  or  through  cyber  means.  Bullying  can  also  be  excluding  someone  from  a  group,  gossip,  rumors,  and  threats.  Bullying  is  planned,  repeated,  there  is  an  imbalance  of  power,  the  victim  wants  it  to  stop  and   it   doesn’t.   57%   of   the   time   it   is   stopped   when   bystanders   stand   up   and  report   bullying.   Bullying   as  well   as   rude   and  mean   comments/behaviors   can  hurt  others  deeply,  so  in  the  days  to  come  think  about  the  how  you  want  to  be  treated,  and  the  way  you  treat  others.  I   leave  you  with   today’s  Warrior  Wednesday  message   from  all  of  us  here  at  

HMS.    “In  a  world  where  you  can  be  anything,  BE  KIND.”-­  anonymous  

Also,  on  Wednesday  we  had  our  second  fire  drill  practice  of  the  school  year,  and  I  am  very  happy  to  report  that  students  and  staff  evacuated  the  building  timely  and  orderly.  BE  SAFE!  Have  a  great  weekend,  Ms.  Bouchard  Assistant  Principal    

 

   

   

 

                             

                                     

Red Team News:

Math with Mrs.Handfield We wrapped up talking about multiplying fractions by making arrays to model the expressions. Check out your child’s notebook to see this! This week we practiced a ton with multiplying fractions and mixed numbers as well. We played a Bump game and used the computers to solve a Gizmo on Explore Learning! Students have now set up their accounts on Explorelearning.com and can go there to practice anytime! I will be adding past topics to the class site shortly. We started dividing with fractions today...does anyone enjoy KFC??? Ask your child why the Colonel is in my room :) As we work through this topic and practice our division skills, students will be completing the typical homework, however a lot of class time will be spent playing games, completing task cards, mad libs or even a scavenger hunt! Lots of fun is on the way!

English with Mrs.Thiv. We are starting my favorite short story of the year, this week - The Landlady! It’s a spooky, Halloween-time story that the kids always enjoy. I’m sure they’ll have plenty to tell you about it as we close read and find out what happens to poor Billy Weaver! We’ll be working through the elements of fiction with the story, and then diving into our culminating common assessment - a full literary analysis of The Landlady! That is coming up in the next two weeks, so keep an eye out for it! :) Happy Friday!

Social Studies - Mr. Durand Students did a great job on their first map quizzes! Over the past two weeks we have worked through some of our African History. We started with Early Humans such as Australopethicus, Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus and Homo Sapiens. With this information we completed our first project! Students were given the role of director of a short film/documentary and they had to draw images to summarize information onto film strip pieces and write some summaries about Early Humans as well.

Since moving on from Early Humans, we went over Mansa Musa and his trip through Africa. This week started to work with some Triangular Trade, European Conquest information. We will read some first hand experiences about slavery as we tackle this very dark time in human history. I hope that you have a great weekend!

Science - Mr. Coury For the past week and a half, our students have been solving the case of the Mystery Bird! Using close reading and ELA skills taught by Mrs. Thiv, as well as their knowledge of Biotic and Abiotic factors and their interactions - students have been searching for clues to the mystery; as well as facts and evidence that shed light on the causes and effects that led to the Mystery Bird's demise. Students have been actively engaged in the reading and in solving the case. Students are learning that Abiotic and Biotic factors interact, and that a change in these interactions can fundamentally alter an ecosystem and the survival of many of its living organisms. Something as simple as a 5 degree F change in ocean temperature can disrupt the systems that support life. Students are using “systems thinking” to connect their evidence to the case and describe the causes of the breakdown in the system, and in turn the food chain that supported the Mystery Bird. This unit is leading us into food chains, food webs, and the different roles involved in them (producers, consumers, etc) and connect our previous topics to the upcoming ones. Students are culminating this unit with a large poster that outlines the “System” and the disruptions that eventually led to the Mystery Bird's demise.    

 

BlueTeam

ELA:-Students have designed their own final projects for Among the Impostors and presented them to the class. The ideas were varied and included plays, dioramas, Venn diagrams, poems, collages, word clouds, etc. Caroline Eddy even brought in her guitar and played and sang original lyrics to an Ed Sheeran song! Next, our mystery unit begins just in time for Halloween! Science: The students did a great job with the Wanted Ads and researching bacteria. Microscope week!!! We spent lots of time looking at real live cells. First, we learned how to make a wet-mount slide to view and compare a plant leaf cell to our own cheek cells. Next, we were ready to examine how real live single celled organisms moved, ate, and looked under the microscope. It was easy to see the difference between the complexity of a multicelled organism vs. a single celled organism. Next week we will be wrapping up our cell introduction and will be having a test. Math: Most students finished up their unit on rational numbers this week, with a test on Thurs/Fri. Many are also working on Real World Problems that utilize the skills from this unit. Period F students Have been simplifying variable expressions by using the distributive property and combining like terms; they had a quiz on this material on Thursday, before beginning simple one-step equations. Supercore students have worked on a decimal operations review. Social Studies: Students started our next chapter of the Sumerians this week. They discovered the various inventions of the Sumerians and specifically how they believed in polytheistic religion and the invention of writing with cuneiform. Make sure your sons/daughters come into school Monday ready to get a little “messy” as they write their own cuneiform tablets!

World History Eighth grade world history students are learning about the Golden Age of Islam, a time period between 750 and 1500 known for expansion of scientific learning, art and architecture. Textiles made in the Islamic Empire were prized for their beauty and craftsmanship. Students will learn about this history and then will craft their own "textile" complete with a "museum tag" that explains their design and the history of similar designs. This will be completed largely in class. 7th Grade Green Team Math - Mrs. Costa All of Mrs. Costa's classes have finished their units on integers and rational numbers. We will continue to practice these skills throughout the school year. We are now working with expressions and equations. What does Chuck Norris and a plum have to do with math? Students are checking out a Khan Academy video that explains this connection. Is it possible to have too many Chuck Norrises (Chuck Nori?)? We shall see! As the school year progresses, your child may be finding the math concepts we are working on more challenging. Please help me remind your child to bring home his or her math binder on a nightly basis. The GOs we complete in class are a very helpful resource for completing homework and for preparing for quizzes and tests. Every few weeks, I have posted batches of extra work assignments that students can take advantage of to review and practice their skills and to earn bonus point coupons. They are posted on Google Classroom. All owed work must be made up before a student can take advantage of these assignments. Students will get a chance to demonstrate the math skills they have learned so far this year on a Common Quarterly Assessment to be given during class time on Tuesday, October 24th. These questions are similar in format to those found on our state assessments. I can't wait to see how they have grown mathematically in a few short months!

Mr. Sandstrom’s History Classes: This week, Mr. Sandstrom's classes dove deep into Sumerian culture, reading passages from The Epic of Gilgamesh and drawing comparisons between Mesopotamian leaders and modern superheroes. More myth than historical document, these writings portrayed the fabled king of Uruk as an ancient precursor to Superman, offering insight to Sumerian views of their leaders! Later in the week, the students created their own front page newspaper stories chronicling the domestication of Enkidu, the wild yet noble companion of Gilgamesh! We have also begun researching the early religious beliefs of these polytheistic people, as well as the development of writing. Students worked to decode self-made glyphs and embraced the challenge of communicating through pictographs. The kiddos did a great job - maybe a homework-free weekend is in order!

   Friday,  October  27th    6:30  –  9:00  pm    Admission  -­  $5    Costume  Contest  for  Students  in  All  Grades!  Masks  and  Accessories  resembling  weapons  are  prohibited          

Physical  Education  News…  Ms.  Skodras  &  Mr.  Pellegrino    

Net  Games    6th  grade  -­‐  Pickleball  Pickleball  is  similar  to  tennis  and  ping-­‐pong!  The  ball  must  bounce  once  and  players  have  one  shot  to  return  it  over  the  net.  We  discussed  the  history  and  started  practicing  some  skills  such  as  the  forehand  and  backhand  shot.  We  set  up  a  video  projector  to  watch  and  analyze  a  regulation  pickleball  match.      7th  grade  -­‐  Badminton  We  discussed  the  history  and  set  a  video  projector  to  watch  and  analyzed  an  Olympic  badminton  singles  and  doubles  match.  Students  learned  and  practiced  the  forehand/backhand/clear  shots,  and  underhand  serve.                        8th  grade  -­‐  Volleyball  We  set  up  a  video  projector  and  watched  an  indoor  and  beach  volleyball  game  to  analyze  the  game  play  and  differences.  Students  had  the  opportunity  to  track  different  objects  in  the  air  and  “keep  it  up”  working  on  adjusting  to  the  objects  and  communicating  with  each  other.  Students  will  learn  the  bump,  set,  spike,  and  serve.  We  also  discussed  the  history  of  volleyball  and  some  game  concepts.    

 Muscular  

Strength/Endurance  Throughout  this  unit  students  will  be  participating  in  fun  fitness  challenges  to  improve  their  muscular  strength/endurance.  The  first  challenge  was  all  grades  performing  wall  sits  up  to  4  minutes!    

   

BAND NEWS

Thank you to all the new parents joining the HMS Band Parent Association. We had a good discussion regarding experiences for your band student. Extra help for 6th grade clarinets was AWESOME. Many students went “over the break” and in the upper register. Nice work! Special thank you to 7th grade helper Faith Boutin! The next extra help sessions for 6th graders are: Trumpet-Wed. Oct.18 Saxophone-Mon. Oct 23 Flute-Wed. Oct 25 Percussion-Wed. Nov.1 T-bones-Wed. Nov 11 Dates to keep in mind: Holiday Concert-Thursday, Dec.14-2017 Spring Concert-Thursday, May 31-2018

News from Sr. Dilworth’s World Language classes Sr. Dilworth’s 6th grade classes just got finished with a unit on classroom vocabulary. Next week they will be learning the names of the parts of the body and the names of pieces of clothing. 7th grade Portuguese students have started working on a group project that will result in class presentations on Portuguese-speaking countries/regions. The places they’ll be researching and presenting on (one per group) are : Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Mozambique, the Azores, Madeira, and mainland Portugal. This project will wind up at the end of October and will take the place of a test, so students should be working hard on this from now until Hallowe’en. 8th grade Portuguese students are pressing on with reviewing grammar and vocabulary from last year. Right now they are wrestling with grammatical gender, how to tell the gender of a noun, and how to use adjectives with nouns correctly. Please continue encouraging your children to use their Portuguese every day, even if they have no officially assigned homework. They have all been show how to access several web sites - Quizlet, DuoLingo, Conjuguemos, two Portuguese newspapers and RTPI (Rádio e Televisão de Portugal Internacional, where they can watch Portuguese shows either live or recorded). Até a próxima semana!* Sr. Dilworth *Until next week

HEALTH  OFFICE  NEWSLETTER    The  first  month  of  school  is  now  behind  us  and  with  that  

thought  I  have  seen  scattered  illness,  so  continue  to  remind  your  child  to  avoid  touching  or  wiping  at  their  nose  and  as  always  proper  handwashing  is  essential  during  cold  and  flu  season.    If  your  child  does  have  a  cold  please  provide  for  them  some  tissues  and  hand  gel  that  they  can  self-­‐carry  and  manage.    

Of  note,  cough  drops  are  no  longer  purchased  for  students,  from  the  health  office,  so  if  you  want  your  child  to  have  cough  drops  please  provide  for  them  with  a  note,    and  I  will  keep  them  in  the  office,  labeled,  for  your  child  to  consume  as  needed  throughout  the  year.    I  do  offer  fluids  and  suggest  salt-­‐water  gargle  rinse  if  a  child  has  complaints  of  sore  throat  or  cough.      

Polished  LLC,  a  program  providing  preventative  dental  care,  will  be  coming  to  the  HMS.    Look  for  a  yellow  information/application  that  went  home  on  October  10th,  and  if  interested  please  complete  the  form  and  return.  The  following  dental  services  may  be  offered:  

• Dental  Evaluations  provided  by  registered  Dental  Hygienist    

• Dental  cleanings  • Sealants(as  needed)    • Fluoride  varnish  application    • Toothbrush  and  toothpaste    • Referrals  to  dentists    

FREE  KIDS  GLASSES  -­‐Back  to  school  eyeglass  promotion  for  children  13  and  under  with  a  complete  Eye  exam  by  Dr.  Joseph  Tarantino.    Most  insurances  accepted  including  Mass  Health.    Call  for  details:    

Pearle  Vision,  20  Commerce  Way,  Seekonk,  Ma    508-­‐336-­‐7040    

   I  am  more  recently  starting  to  see  students  with  tired  minds  and  bodies  as  we  acclimate  back  into  managing  the  school  day  and  what  follows  thereafter.    The  middle  school  age  is  a  time  when  sleep  is  essential  due  to  their  growing  bodies  and  developing  minds,  however,  it  is  a  time  when  the  mind  no  longer  feels  tired  at  8  or  9  pm  but  rather  later  in  the  evening  resulting  in  less  sleep  hours.    Beyond  the  obvious  reasons  for  not  feeling  sleepy,  there  are  also  changes  that  are  happening  in  your  youngster's  biological  clock.        

What  is  a  biological  clock?    “It  is  a  part  of  the  brain  that  coordinates  the  timing  

of  all  bodily  functions  such  as  when  you  are  alert  and  when  you  are  not,  when  your  body  produces  a  compound  called  cortisol  that  liberates  sugar  in  your  body  and  when  it  does  not,  when  melatonin  is  secreted  and  when  it  is  not  -­‐-­‐  and  when  you  feel  sleepy  and  when  you  feel  quite  awake.      Not  only  does  this  biological  clock  coordinate  the  timing  of  physiological  systems,  it  also  assists  in  coordinating  how  our  bodies  accommodate  to  the  rotation  of  the  earth  around  the  sun.  This  is  why  we  tend  to  feel  sleepy  (and  able  to  sleep!)  when  it  is  dark  outside,  and  all  else  being  equal  why  we  feel  awake  (and  able  to  be  awake!)  when  the  sun  is  in  the  sky.”  

The  changes  that  occur  when  a  young  person  enters  adolescence  is  how  soon  after  the  sun  has  set  when  he  or  she  begins  to  feel  sleepy  and  is  in  fact  ready  to  sleep,  biologically  speaking.  There  is  mounting  evidence  from  research  in  a  field  called  chronobiology  (the  biology  of  time)  that  adolescence  delays  the  "sleep-­‐on"  setting  in  the  biological  clock  until  many  hours  after  the  sun  has  set.  The  consequence?  One  reason  why  the  majority  of  adolescents  begin  resisting  an  8:00  or  9:00  (or  even  10:00)  bedtime  is  because  the  clock  that  times  them  has  changed  its  sleep  setting.  Sleepiness  does  not  come  until  later  hours.  

The young person might go to bed at 10:00. However, there's a strong likelihood that sleep won't come for another several hours. The result? If she or he gets up at the normal, early time to get to school, the result is sleep deprivation, insufficient sleep, and it can take up to 3 days for the biological clock to re-set again. This means that for three out of the five school days a week the student may be sleep deprived.   How do you know if sleepiness is a significant issue in your teen?

• It is very difficult to get him out of bed in the morning, to the point where he is missing his morning class regularly

• Complaints of headache are very common due to feeling tired

• Grades are falling. • Teachers have complained about her sleeping in class. • Napping after school is common or prolonged.

• Weekend catch-up sleep is excessive with usual wake times after noon or later.

• Your teen has had a car accident or near-miss car accident

It  can  be  hard  for  teens  to  get  enough  sleep  during  the  week.  They  may  need  to  wake  up  later  on  weekends.  But  they  should  not  wake  up  more  than  two  hours  later  than  the  

time  when  they  normally  rise  on  a  weekday.  Sleeping  in  longer  than  that  will  severely  disrupt  a  teen's  body  clock.  This  will  make  it  even  harder  to  wake  up  on  time  when  Monday  morning  arrives.  “     The  Center  for  Disease  Control  recommends  that  teenagers  get  9–10  hours  of  sleep  per  night  yet  only  about  10  %  of  teenagers  get  this    Information  retrieved  from  the  following  site:    New  Technology  Publishing,  Inc.,  http://www.newtechpub.com  or  Healthy  Resources  http://www.HealthyResources.com  and  provide  a  complete  URL  or  link  to  the  original  article(s).  Sleep  Problem  Alert  for  the  Parents  of  Teenagers,  Preteens,  and  the  College-­‐aged  http://www.healthyresources.com/sleep/magazines/sleepwell/teens.html                                              

     

     

             

           

   

                                     

A Glimpse into Mrs. Farrows 8th grade ART Class Artists are painting their interpretation of the masterpiece "The Scream" with water-color paints. Halloween themed ideas are perfect for this assignment. Students are instructed to capture an emotion and convey a feeling though their art work. The emotions explored so far are fear, anxiety, joy, and excitement.

       

 

       

 

THANK  YOU  for  all  the  Hurley  families  who  donated  to  help  the  people  and  animals  affected  by  

Hurricane  Harvey!    

Because of your donations, we were able to donate approximately $362 to the SPCA of Texas and the Red Cross. Please see below for the thoughtful letter that we received from the SPCA of Texas, thanking us for our donations. Again,

from all of us at HMS, thank you for showing our students the importance of helping others and being kind (and of course, supporting “The Warrior Way”).