We are so excited about school starting tomorrow.  This morning, I wanted to take a moment to share a few important items with families as we begin the school year.

Pack your Patience

The first week is always loaded with new experiences, nerves, changes, and challenges.  We ask that everyone pack their patience as parents drop off always takes a little additional time, as well as our staff working to learn about our students.  Success for the first week of school is ensuring that each of our students know our Mission of Academic and Social Growth for all students; everyday.   This is done through our core values of Trust, Respect, Ownership, and Leadership.  Please take a moment when your child gets home each day to talk about their day.  This is always a challenge.  We are here to help with set questions you can ask each day.  Here are some sample questions you can ask with your child when they get home:

1.  How was your day?

2. What are you going to get involved with at school or in the community?

3.  Who is an adult at school that you have connected with at school that you can go to if you need help?

4. Who is a peer at school that you can go to if you need help?

5. What did you learn about today at school?  How do you know you learned it?

If you start with these five questions this week, you will be off to a great start.

One of the best habits that you can do with your children as well is getting them into an after school routine.  Please be intentional with your children on having them come home after school and work on their homework, if they do not have homework, have them read.  If our students get into this habit, they will be set up for success.

Traffic Pattern

One of the most anxious times for parents is parent drop off, especially for our 6th Grade families.  Families are welcome to start dropping off their children off at 7:00 A.M. School begins at 7:30 A.M. and ends at 2:30 P.M.

Our traffic patterns allow for parents to come from both West Road or Dry Fork Road.  For families coming from West Road, please follow the road past the High School, around Miami Whitewater Elementary and pull down the main driveway in front of Harrison Junior School.  Please pull as far forward as possible at drop off so we can get as many cars as possible through the line.

Families coming from Dry Fork Road can come down the main driveway and have two options.  They may pull around the driveway and merge in with the families coming from West Road, or new this year, families can drive down the center lane of the parking lot and their child may get our of their car at the center crosswalk by the main entrance.

Remember, safety is our focus and we want to ensure that each of our children are seen and safe as they enter the school.

We will have several staff members around the building helping to ensure our students get where they need to be during the first week. 

8th Grade students will report to the gym, 7th Grade students will report to the learning stair, and 6th Grade students will report to the commons/cafe tables.  Students will be able to leave these locations starting at 7:15 and they are expected to be in their classroom by 7:25.

How to Report Bullying

One of the biggest concern among schools across the country is bullying.  Bullying is a form of intimidation where someone belittles, threatens, or hurts someone else using name calling, taunting, spreading rumors, gesturing, or by physically shoving, tripping, etc.

Bullying includes 3 key pieces: Harm, repetitive behavior, and a mismatch between students.

A disagreement between pals or a similar argument between equals is not bullying.  Bullying occurs when students are in some way unequal, and one student is taking unfair advantage of a difference.  However, it is important that these situations are addressed as well.

Students and families can report suspected bullying for investigation at the following link:  https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=7UrsNwBR2Uqkf17bBPylBp2gGUVXvMFDl1efjMIsrZhUMDdNQU5QNEFaNDdLS0szV0JBWjUwVklUNy4u

We will review this information with all of our students at our class meetings on Day One.  More on this later.

Bus Info

Several of our families have reached out regarding bus information.  Information about busses is available through logging into Final Forms.  If you have specific questions regarding bussing you can email Mr. Lohbeck at Adam.Lohbeck@southwestschools.org.

Schedules (I lost my schedule & I requested a schedule change)

All students have received their schedules at this point either through picking them up or through the mail.  Students should bring their schedules with them on day one.

If student’s have lost their schedules, they should report to the learning stair starting at 7:15.  Our student services staff will assist them in getting a copy.  Please do not go to the office for a schedule on the first morning as our front office is always busy in the mornings.  We will make sure that each of our students gets their schedule and into class to start the day.

We continue to work through schedule changes at this time.  Our goal is to have all of our students class changes completed during the first week.  This is a big challenge as we had over 500 schedule change requests among all grade levels.  As stated earlier, please pack your patience as we go through this process. Our team has worked exhausting hours to get our schedules ready and will continue to do so.

Class Meetings

During the first day of school, our leadership team will meet with each student within their graduating class.  This meeting will include covering the following topics:

Mission & Core Values

Bullying and How to Report

The Importance of Getting Involved

How to access Mental Health Resources

Reviewing the Code of Conduct

Expectations with Technology

Be on the lookout for an email tomorrow afternoon speaking to these topics to allow families and us at the school to use the same language.

Laptops/Tech/Cell Phones

In addition to the class meetings, students will receive their laptops.  Students are responsible for both the content of the laptop as well as the treatment of their laptops.  Students are encouraged to treat their laptops with care.  Students should NOT share passwords,  Please take a moment to review that with your child.

Students will be able to sign up online for tech help or stop into the office to get supports.

Speaking of tech, many of our students have cell phones and social media.  Students are responsible for what they post and share on their cell phones and social media.  Please know, as a school, we do not have the ability, nor the desire to monitor social media content of our students.  However, many of our disagreements between students start online, typically via Snapchat.  Please speak to your children about the importance of the content they post online, as well as the importance of living our core values inside and outside of school.

Finally, a reminder to parents.  The cell phone does NOT belong to your child, it belongs to you.  Parents are encouraged to routinely check the cell phone you allow your child to use.  This includes their “socials”, photos, and text messages.  Know that we are here to support you in the process.  Cell phones are not permitted to be out during school hours without explicit permission from a staff member at school.

Dismissal Procedures

We are lucky working in schools, we will see your children smile throughout the day.  For many of our families, especially our new students to HJS, their families will be incredibly nervous.  Students are dismissed promptly at 2:30.  If you are picking up your child, it is always a good idea to have a tentative plan on where you will meet your child at the end of the school day.  Students will use the crosswalk to get into the parking lot, and then will be looking for their rides.  Please take extra time in the parking lot knowing that many of our students will not yet be in a routine.

Our staff will also have a copy of the bus lists at the end of the day.  Students who are unsure which bus to ride will be able to ask a staff member in their classroom at the end of the day and they will work with them to ensure they get onto the bus.  Please make sure your child knows their address.  We have several new students and students who moved over the summer.  This information is important in us helping ensure they get home safely the first day.

Practices

Several of our 7th and 8th Grade students will have practices after school.  Cross Country and Football are still open for students to get involved.  Both will have practices after school on Tuesday.  Students must have a completed OHSAA physical form on file within the past 12 months and their Final Forms completed to participate.  We encourage each of our 7th and 8th Grade students to join and be involved.

Students going to practices should be mindful of busses and traffic as they go to practice.

If you need information regarding athletics, please email Mr. McBee at Brandon.mcbee@southwestschools.org. 

Activity Bus

Finally, for our students who are involved, they have the opportunity to ride the Activity Bus each day.  Anyone riding the Activity bus must have a pass from their coach or advisor.  Please note, we have two activity bus routes.  Students should be able to get close to their home, but the bus is unable to drop off door to door each day.  Information about activity bus routes is available here:  https://www.southwestschools.org/departments/transportation-12/wildcat-express-%28js-hs-activity-shuttle%29-26/

Thank You

Thank you for taking the time to read this email.  It is a lot of information to review for our families, but it will certainly help us get off to a successful start.