Ribbon Cutting – Thursday, January 17th from 6:30-8:30 PM

Thank you to everyone who came to the Back to School day reception last Monday. It was a great way to welcome our students to the new HMS! And please join us for the official ribbon cutting ceremony at the new Hinsdale Middle School! Program begins at 6:30 PM, followed by tours of the building. All community members welcome!!

 

Community Speaker Series Event: January 23rd & 24th

Mark your calendars for the next Community Speaker Series Event. This event is free but advance registration is recommended.

Presenter: Dr. Lisa Damour
“Untangled: Guiding Girls Through Seven Transitions into Adulthood”
Jan. 23, 2019 7-8:30 pm Hinsdale Central Auditorium: click here to register
Jan. 24, 2019 9:30-11 am Hinsdale South Auditorium: click here to register

Dr. Damour draws on decades of experience and the latest research to reveal the seven distinct – and absolutely normal – developmental transitions that turn girls into grown-ups. Providing realistic scenarios and welcome advice on how to engage daughters in smart, constructive way, Untangled gives parents a broad framework for understanding their daughters while addressing their most common questions.

Interested in Continuing the Conversation?
Hinsdale Public Library: Wednesday, February 6th at 7:00 p.m.

Continue the conversation about the topics explored by Community Speaker Series presenter, Dr. Lisa Damour, with Cara Hurley, PHd and Alisa Messana, LCSW. Parenting an adolescent girl can be overwhelming at times and leave you confused about what is normal and what to worry about. Come with questions and examples and plan to leave with some ideas about how to talk to our girls, how to set limits, and how to respect and foster their growing independence.

Register here

 

An Evening with Chris Herren: “Prevention Starts with All”

The HC PTO and HCHS are honored and excited to welcome back former NBA player, substance use disorder survivor, current motivational speaker and founder of the nonprofit Herren Project, Mr. Chris Herren, to our school.

In addition to presenting to students, Mr. Herren will be giving a presentation to the community on Tuesday, January 22, 2019, at 7pm in the Hinsdale Central High School Auditorium. Join us as Mr. Herren shares his journey navigating the disease of addiction, the road to recovery, and his mission to reach just one person and make a difference.

We welcome and encourage all parents and community members to attend this inspiring presentation.

For more information click here

 

D86 Referendum Information

The following information was shared with District 86 parents from District 86 Superintendent Dr. Bruce Law. More referendum information from District 86 is available at https://d86.hinsdale86.org.

“As you know, the referendum on the November 6, 2018 ballot to fix and improve our schools failed. The projects that fixed infrastructure and made Central and South more secure for students and staff cost $42 million. To complete the $42 million in repairs that need to be made within five years requires corresponding cuts in the budget as it currently exists. At its December 17 meeting, the Board voted to make reductions in the way we currently spend money in order to spend more money on fixing our facilities and making them more secure.

Click here to see a table showing the areas and dollars amounts the Board voted December 17 to reduce.

Among other cuts, the Board approved $400,000 in reductions to activities and over $700,000 in reductions to athletics. The list of activities and athletics cut can be found at the link above.

Included in the vote was making adjustments in how we determine which electives run. Currently, we section classes using the Board-approved staffing guideline of 25 students per class, plus or minus two. Using our financial forecast as a guide, in the past, we have been able to bring to the Board staffing recommendations that have allowed us to run classes with fewer than 23 students. We no longer have that financial flexibility to section in favor of student opportunity. The plan for staffing in 2019-20 and beyond is to stay closer to 25:1 than we have in the past, which means there will be fewer sections of courses running next year. We will do everything we can to preserve as much student opportunity as possible, but our financial constraints are now tighter.

The community will have another chance to speak at the April 2019 election because the Board also voted December 17 to put a reduced referendum of $130 million on the April 2, 2019 ballot. More fine-tuning needs to be done to refine the ballot language and make the number precise, but the important note is the Board is putting a referendum on the April 2019 ballot. What matters is, if it passes, the Board will reverse as many of these reductions as possible.

The hard reality, however, is that these cuts will be in effect until one of two things happens: the facilities are fixed or a referendum passes. Without the funds from a referendum to fix the facilities, these cuts will be in effect for five years.”

Back to School Day TOMORROW!!!

rendering of new HMS building

HMS rendering

Please join us TOMORROW morning to celebrate the first day of school in the new HMS building. Doors will open at 8:25am when HMS staff, student council and parents will clap in returning students. Plan to come a bit earlier and enjoy the pre-opening celebrations at the Third Street entrance to the new building starting at 8:00am. Cafe LaFortuna will be providing coffee for adults, and Quest Food Management Services will provide hot chocolate for the students (ingredients below.) There will be music and plenty of opportunities to take pictures to mark this historic moment. If the weather does not cooperate to do this outside, we will open the cafeteria and hold the welcoming event there. Your children will be excited to know that there will be a special Snapchat filter to commemorate Day One at the new HMS for the pictures they want to take and share!

Student entry to the gym will follow at 8:25am. Students will begin their first day with a special schedule at 8:35am. If you are unable to come at 8:00am and are dropping your child off to enter the building at 8:25am, please be sure to follow the drop off procedures here: HMS Student Dropoff Map.pdf

Here is some other important information about our first day of school:

  • There is a special schedule on the first day schedule here  (also available to view and download on our web page https://www.d181.org/schools/hinsdale-middle-school)
  • Students begin the day in the gym and everyone goes to their Home Base class next. There they receive all the instructions and information to make their first day back a smooth, low-stress experience.
  • Student schedules can be viewed on Skyward.
  • If you need to drop off any forgotten items for your student, you may park in our bus loop on Third Street between 8:30am – 2:00pm only. When you enter through the Third Street bus loop doors, there will be a staff supervisor to guide you. There is also a temporary drop-off center set up there in which to leave items such as lunches, books, homework, etc. Please list item and student name on clipboard sheet provided. Do not leave any item of value (phone, cash, computer, instrument, etc.) in drop-off center. The supervisor will guide you to appropriate office for this type of item.
  • HMS will be open until 7:00pm on Monday for families to assist students with further locker setup, or to revisit new locations.

Finally, all students, parents and community members are encouraged to join us to tour the new school the evening of Thursday, January 17th at the official Ribbon Cutting & Open House. More details about both events can be found on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/hmspto.org.  We hope you can join us!

Hot Chocolate ingredients

LaFortuna coffee ingredients

Back to School Day and Ribbon Cutting Event

rendering of new HMS building

Please join us on Monday, January 7th in the morning to celebrate the first day of school in the new HMS building. Doors will open at 8:25am when HMS staff, student council and parents will clap in returning students. Plan to come a bit earlier and enjoy the pre-opening celebrations at the Third Street entrance to the new building starting at 8:00am. Cafe LaFortuna will be providing coffee for adults, and Quest Food Management Services will provide hot chocolate for the students. There will be music and plenty of opportunities to take pictures to mark this historic moment. Note that although parents will not be allowed to enter the building that morning, you will be able to tour the new school the evening of Thursday, January 17th at the official Ribbon Cutting & Open House. More details about both events can be found on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/hmspto.org.  We hope you can join us!

Hot Chocolate ingredients

LaFortuna coffee ingredients

Community Speaker Series – January 2019 Event

Mark your calendars! The second 2018/19 Community Speaker Series event is just around the corner:

Dr. Lisa Damour
Untangled: Guiding Girls Through Seven Transitions into Adulthood

1/23/19 7:00-8:30 pm Hinsdale Central Auditorium
1/24/19 9:30-11:00 am Hinsdale South Auditorium

Dr. Damour draws on decades of experience and the latest research to reveal the seven distinct – and absolutely normal – developmental transitions that turn girls into grown-ups. Providing realistic scenarios and welcome advice on how to engage daughters in smart, constructive ways, Untangled gives parents a broad framework for understanding their daughters while addressing their most common questions.

The program is free and open to all, but space is limited. If you are interested in attending, please register in advance by going to www.d181foundation.org and clicking The Community Speaker link on the homepage. Or use the registration links below:

Lisa Damour: 1/23/19
7:00-8:30 pm Hinsdale Central Auditorium
To register click here 

Lisa Damour: 1/24/19
9:30-11:00 am Hinsdale South Auditorium
To register click here  

To view the flyer click here