Announcements

Middle School Parents & Guardians,

At Hasbrouck Heights Middle School, we work hard each day to create the best possible learning environment for our students and staff.  We will continue to work as a team in order to provide a safe learning environment that is both challenging and nurturing, so that our students may continue to grow into well-rounded, responsible young adults.  Our outstanding team of educators will work diligently to ensure that our students develop the necessary skills needed to be successful in high school and beyond. Although this school year may be much different than the norm, we will continue to set high expectations for our students and we will encourage them to push themselves to their fullest potential each and every day.  

We are committed to your child’s education and we will work tirelessly to ensure that they achieve the highest possible academic achievements, while at the same time, develop their interpersonal skills, character, and self-esteem.  We truly believe in our teachers, staff members, community, and most importantly, our Junior Aviators!  We look forward to working with our students, parents, PTSA, and the entire community of Hasbrouck Heights throughout the 2020-2021 school year. 

The first day of school for students is Tuesday, September 8^th, 2020 at 7:55 am.  All students will be attending school virtually until October 5^th, 2020.

THANK YOU!

We would like to say THANK YOU to our outstanding custodians, security, and maintenance staff, as well as our secretaries and technology staff for their tireless efforts in preparing our building for the upcoming school year.  They continuously go above and beyond to ensure that our school is ready to go for September! 

WELCOME TO OUR NEW JUNIOR AVIATOR STAFF!

• Bellissimo: Basic Skill Mathematics Teacher – Grade 7 & 8
• Dugan: Special Education Teacher – Grade 6 & 7
• Falquez: Mathematics Teacher – Grade 6 & 7
• Farquhar: Special Education Teacher – Grade 6
• Gallina: Child Study Team – Grade 6 & 7
• Rodenberg: ASL and ELA Special Education Teacher- Grades 6, 7, & 8

CONGRATULATIONS, JUNIOR AVIATORS!

STEAM AWARDS

Hasbrouck Heights Middle School has put itself on the map as one of the top Middle School Robotics/STEAM programs in New Jersey.

CoderZ Mid-Atlantic Championships at NJIT

The Cyber Robotics Coding Competition (CRCC) is an exciting and fun online tournament for students of all levels to participate and learn about STEM, coding, robotics, and technology career paths.  CRCC is an innovative robotics tournament that excites and engages students in coding. Schools can compete and involve students through gaming and competition in STEM, coding, and tech literacy. No previous experience is necessary, everyone can participate. CRCC is cloud-based, can be accessed from any computer, and uses a simulation of virtual 3D Robots that perform complex tasks and missions. By learning to program, planning, and strategizing the virtual robot to participate, students will compete within their class, grade, school, district, and state to win stages and progress to the finals.  We placed 2nd overall at the CRCC Mid Atlantic Championships at NJIT, 17th in the nation, and inducted into the 2019/20 CRCC Hall of Fame!

Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Award

Celebrating our 10th anniversary, this nationwide contest is designed to boost interest and proficiency in Science, Technology, Engineering, and MATH (STEM), and challenges public school teachers and students in grades 6-12 to show how STEM can be applied to help improve their local community.  The Junior Aviators created an invention to help the blind.  There is a sensor that beeps when you are getting close to a wall or any object.  This an invention that could be very helpful and make the world a better place.

Vex IQ Competition

These matches consist of Driving Skills Matches, which will be entirely driver-controlled, and Programming Skills Matches, which will be autonomous with limited human interaction. The object of the game is to attain the highest score by Scoring Balls in or on Cubes, and Scoring Cubes in Corner Goals or on Platforms.  The students spent many weeks building and programming their robots. We won the best team award at the VEX IQ Competition.  It is better known as the Awesome Award for Character and Teamwork.   This award was given to our 6^th Grade Junior Aviators!!!  We are extremely proud of this award and all of the other schools in the competition agreed that our kids were most deserving.  We strive each day for our Junior Aviator to have great character, compassion, integrity, and leadership!

SPELLING BEE

For the last eight years, we have had our very own Junior Aviator Spelling Bee.  The winner gets to compete in the North Jersey Spelling Bee at Bergen Community College. Each and every year, the Junior Aviators have produced some tremendous performances! In 2015, one of our students won the North Jersey Spelling Bee and competed in the championship in Washington D.C.  Last year, we had a student finish in the top 50 in all of North Jersey.

IMPORTANT ITEMS FOR THE 2020-2021 SCHOOL YEAR

• New! Middle School courses: 1) American Sign Language; 2) Research Seminar;
• All students will have full access to Chromebooks during instructional time in school or at home;
• Link It benchmark program which will be used to assess and analyze student mastery of state standards;
• Updates to various BOE approved policies in progress, including, but not limited to: Attendance, Code of Conduct, Grading, and Honors Criteria
• Continuation of Go Math, TCI, and Vocabulary Workshop series;
• New and renewed platforms including ScreenCastify, Go Math, Khan Academy, Newela, IXL, Ed Puzzle, TCI, FlipGrid, Sora, Google Classroom, Google Forms, Google Slides, Jamboard, Padlet, Go Guardian, Edulastics, and Quaver
• Continuation of positive school climate, students will have the opportunity to earn an MVP Card from a teacher, administrator, or support staff (upon return)!

MIDDLE SCHOOL ENTRANCE

• All visitors to HHMS will be required to use the Middle School Entrance on Paterson Ave. A Visitor Monitor will be stationed at this entrance to greet you upon your arrival.

MIDDLE SCHOOL CONTACT INFORMATION:

Mr. Joseph Mastropietro- Middle School Principal                        (201) 288-1218

Mr. Frank D’Amico- Middle School Vice-Principal                         (201) 338-8815

Mrs. Lisa Mason- Main Office/Attendance                                   (201) 393‐8170

Mrs. Cathy Behr- Clerical/ Main Office                                       (201) 338-8169

Main Office Fax #‐                                                                    (201) 288‐2083

Mrs. Mary Neumann/Mrs. Rita Perdomo- School Nurse                 (201) 393‐8160

Guidance- Mrs. Lindsey Gesell Grades 6-8 (A-L)                       (201) 393-8167

Guidance- Mrs. Kerrie O’Hagan Grades 6-8 (M-Z)                      (201) 393-8156

Special Services Department                                                     (201) 393‐8151

CST- Ms. Dawn Johnson/ Ms. Gallina (Grades 6 &7)                     (201) 393-8368

  CST- Mrs. Suzanne Gallo (Grade 8)                                          (201) 338-8818

SAC‐ Mrs. Barbara Christianson                                                  (201) 288‐1426

MIDDLE SCHOOL GOALS: 2020-2021

Goal #1

Throughout the 2020-2021 SY, high-quality assessments will be used to evaluate student progress based on the curriculum & standards taught to prepare students for

High School.  This will be measured by the collection of SGOs, marking period summative assessments, and common assessments.  Throughout the 2020-2021 school year, all assessments will include the standards being assessed.  Common Assessments will be tracked on Google Sheets.

• Marking period assessments with standards in all subject areas
• Data Sheets including Go Math Unit Assessments, Social Studies Writing, Science Writing, Language Art Writing and Vocabulary
• SGO’s with standards and student grouping/results
• Lesson plans weekly in Google folders

Goal #2

Virtual Learning will be three major components: Content Delivery, Digital Resources, and Instructional Support.

• Content Delivery defines the online resources students will use for core instructional areas and the supplemental resources that may be used to enhance student learning (ScreenCastify, Go Math, Khan Academy, Newela, IXL, Ed Puzzle, TCI, FlipGrid, Sora, Google Classroom, Google Forms, Google Slides, Jamboard, Padlet, Go Guardian, Edulastics, and Quaver.
• Digital Resources provides the steps the district is taking to ensure that all students will have access to hardware devices and the Internet in order to engage with digital instructional materials (Chromebook pick-up, internet assistance, and pick-up of school material if needed)
• Instructional Support defines the expectations and supports the district will provide for staff to prepare virtual learning resources and how the district will support parents as they assist their children at home (Summer PD, Kiker PD, Opening days of School PD, and PD throughout the school year.

Goal #3

   The Middle School will continue the high level of communication with all of the community stakeholders during this unprecedented time. 

• Weekly Friday Folders Updates
• Principal Middle Years Newsletters
• Opening of School (Summer Reading/Supply List/Orientation/Handbook/Schedules/Drop off procedures/Opening Day Letter/Opening Day Assurance Sheet/Class Syllabi/Back to School Night (Virtual)/Title 1 Night (Virtual)/Extra Help Schedule/Important Policies
• Middle School Articles in the Town Electronic Newspaper (TapInto) involving academics, clubs, and activities.
• School events (if allowed) including Middle School Play/Geography Bee/Spelling Bee/Beta Induction/Book Fair/Concerts/Field Trips/Field Day/Dances/PI Day/Read Across America Celebration/Junior Aviator Nights
• Teacher Meetings including I & RS, Team meetings, IEP meetings, ELL meeting, and 504 meetings, Department Meetings, SCiP meetings, School Safety Meetings, Parent meetings, and individual teacher meetings

OPENING WEEK OF SCHOOL

Below is the schedule that each student will follow for the first week of virtual school. All courses will be run virtually for periods 1-8 via Google Meets. 

• There will be a half-day of school (7:55-12:24 pm) for students on Tuesday, September 8th, Wednesday, September 9th, and Friday, September 11th. 
• There will be a full day of school on Thursday, September 10^th (7:55 am- 2:39 pm).
• Students will be receiving the codes to each of their Google Classrooms from each individual teacher. Please make sure that your child joins each class upon receiving it. 
• ALL STUDENTS MUST JOIN THE GOOGLE MEET AT THE START OF EACH CLASS PERIOD.

Virtual Tuesday, September 8th (Students half-day 7:55 am-12:24 pm)

• Join your Google Classroom invitation for Period 1 and sign in to your Period 1 class at 7:55 am to have your attendance recorded for the day.

-Meet your period 1 teacher, receive information, and view a Welcome Back Video from Mr. Mastropietro, Junior Aviator Principal.

• Join your Google Classroom invitation for Period 2 and sign in to your Period 2 class at 8:36 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet your period 2 teacher, receive information, and view a video from Mr. D’Amico, MS Vice Principal on Attendance, Grading, Discipline, and Google Meet Expectations. 

• Join your Google Classroom invitation for Period 3 and sign in to your Period 3 class at 9:09 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet your period 3 teacher and review Google Meet Expectation

• Join your Google Classroom invitation for Period 4 and sign in to your Period 4 class at 9:42 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet your period 4 teacher and view a video from Mrs. Neumann, MS School Nurse, on hygiene, social distancing, illness, etc.

• Join your Google Classroom invitation for Period 5 and sign in to your Period 5 class at 10:15 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet your period 5 teacher and view the video from Mr. Aiello, HS/MS Guidance Supervisor. Complete the Social Emotional Learning Survey

• Join your Google Classroom invitation for Period 6 and sign in to your Period 6 class at 10:48 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet your period 6 teacher and view a video from Mrs. DeBonis, Director of Curriculum, and complete the Learning Survey.

• Join the Google Classroom Invitation for Period 7 and sign in to your Period 7 class at 11:21 am to have your class attendance recorded. 

-Meet with your period 7 teacher and review the Student Handbook.

•  Join the Google Classroom Invitation for Period 8 and sign in to your Period 8 class at 11:54 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet with your period 8 teacher and review the attendance, tardy, and dress code policy.

Virtual Wednesday, September 9th (Students half-day 7:55 am-12:24 pm)

• Join your Google Classroom Invitation for Period 1 and sign in to your Period 1 class at 7:55 am to have your attendance recorded for the day.

-Meet with your period 1 teacher.

• Join your Google Classroom Invitation for Period 2 and sign in to your Period 2 class at 8:36 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet with your period 2 teacher.

• Join your Google Classroom Invitation for Period 3 and sign in to your Period 3 class at 9:09 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet with your period 3 teacher.

• Join your Google Classroom Invitation for Period 4 and sign in to your Period 4 class at 9:42 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet with your period 4 teacher.

• Join your Google Classroom Invitation for Period 5 and sign in to your Period 5 class at 10:15 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet with your period 5 teacher.

• Join your Google Classroom Invitation for Period 6 and sign in to your Period 6 class at 10:48 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet with your period 6 teacher.

• Join the Google Classroom Invitation for Period 7 and sign in to your Period 7 class at 11:21 am to have your class attendance recorded. 

-Meet with your period 7 teacher.

•  Join the Google Classroom Invitation for Period 8 and sign in to your Period 8 class at 11:54 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet with your period 8 teacher.

Virtual Thursday, September 10th (Students full-day 7:55 am-2:39 pm)

• Join your Google Classroom Invitation for Period 1 and sign in to your Period 1 class at 7:55 am to have your attendance recorded for the day.

-Meet with your period 1 teacher. 

• Join your Google Classroom Invitation for Period 2 and sign in to your Period 2 class at 8:49 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet with your period 2 teacher.

• Join your Google Classroom Invitation for Period 3 and sign in to your Period 3 class at 9:36 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet with your period 3 teacher.

• Join your Google Classroom Invitation for Period 4 and sign in to your Period 4 class at 10:23 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet with your period 4 teacher.

• Join your Google Classroom Invitation for Period 5 and sign in to your Period 5 class at 11:10 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet with your period 5 teacher.

• Join your Google Classroom Invitation for Period 6 and sign in to your Period 6 class at 11:57 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet with your period 6 teacher.

• Join the Google Classroom Invitation for Period 7 and sign in to your Period 7 class at 1:08 am to have your class attendance recorded. 

-Meet with your period 7 teacher.

•  Join the Google Classroom Invitation for Period 8 and sign in to your Period 8 class at 1:55 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet with your period 8 teacher.

Virtual Friday, September 11th (Students half-day 7:55 am-12:24 pm)

• Join your Google Classroom Invitation for Period 1 and sign in to your Period 1 class at 7:55 am to have your attendance recorded for the day.

-Meet with your period 1 teacher. 

• Join your Google Classroom Invitation for Period 2 and sign in to your Period 2 class at 8:36 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet with your period 2 teacher.

• Join your Google Classroom Invitation for Period 3 and sign in to your Period 3 class at 9:09 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet with your period 3 teacher.

• Join your Google Classroom Invitation for Period 4 and sign in to your Period 4 class at 9:42 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet with your period 4 teacher.

• Join your Google Classroom Invitation for Period 5 and sign in to your Period 5 class at 10:15 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet with your period 5 teacher.

• Join your Google Classroom Invitation for Period 6 and sign in to your Period 6 class at 10:48 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet with your period 6 teacher.

• Join the Google Classroom Invitation for Period 7 and sign in to your Period 7 class at 11:21 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet with your period 7 teacher.

•  Join the Google Classroom Invitation for Period 8 and sign in to your Period 8 class at 11:54 am to have your class attendance recorded.

-Meet with your period 8 teacher.

Beginning Monday, September 14^th, the Virtual schedule and responsibilities will be as follows:

• Students

• During the Virtual School Day, the remote learning schedule will be from 7:55 am-2:39 pm (Full Day) on Monday through Thursday.
• Friday will be a single-session day for students.  The schedule will be 7:55 to 12:24 pm.  In the afternoon, students will have the opportunity to catch up on assignments, talk to their guidance counselor, or reach out to a teacher in the afternoon.
• Google Meet is required for each period with a minimum face-to-face interaction of half the class period.  All students must sign into the Google Meet within the first three minutes of class for periods 1-8.  Google Meets may include, but not limited to the following purposes:

• Introducing new skill/concept/standard
• Small group instruction
• Remediation
• Enrichment 
• Question & Answer
• Discussion

• Administrators

• Support the instructional needs of teachers.
• Ensure that students are engaged and learning.
• Organize and plan professional learning sessions for staff
• Monitor progress of Remote Learning models and make necessary adjustments
• Communicate and provide updates to the community on remote learning

• Teachers

• Use Google Classroom to share learning, post activities, and assignments, collect and grade-appropriate assignments (documentation of learning), and provide timely feedback to students.
• Provide meaningful assessments and a minimum of 4 per marking period with no one assessment worth more than 15%.
• There will be no quarterlies, midterms, or finals for the 2020-2021 academic school year.
• Minimum of five (5) graded homework and classwork assignments per marking period with a maximum of ten (10).
• Grading percentages will be 60% for assessments, 20% for classwork, and 20% for homework.
• Use Google Meet for all live instruction, small group, office hours, and 1:1 meetings.
• Provide a weekly (projected) calendar of lessons, assignments, and Google Meet sessions.
• Use Google Meet, Google Hangout, and/or email to communicate with students/families about learning.
• Use district curricula and resources to design and deliver instruction to students.
• Collaborate with colleagues to share ideas, reflect on practices, and actively support others.
• Collaborate with Child Study Team members, School Counselors, and Special Education Department to meet the needs of students with IEPs.
• Collaborate with the ESL teacher to meet the needs of ELLs.
• Be available Friday afternoon and one day a week for extra help.

• Counselors

• Use Google Meet, Google Hangout, and/or email to communicate with students/families about topics related to counseling, college/career planning, and wellness check-ins.
• Counselors will host virtual live meetings daily prioritizing the needs of students in relation to the timeframe of the school year.
• Collaborate with teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators while attending weekly meetings such as Intervention and Referral Services, Child Study Team meetings, etc. 
• Communicate with students and parents regarding academic progress or concerns especially toward the conclusion of each marking period.
• Be available on Friday afternoons for student-initiated questions or concerns.
• Counselors will avoid, when possible, meeting with students during core academic subjects.

• Child Study Team Members

• Use Google Meet, Google Hangout, and/or email to communicate with students/families about topics related to counseling, academics, and wellness check-ins.
• Case managers will host virtual IEP meetings. 
• CST will conduct evaluations as required by code.
• CST will collaborate with teachers and paraprofessionals to ensure accommodations and modifications are being implemented to the greatest extent possible.
• Collaborate with teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators while attending weekly meetings such as Intervention and Referral Services.
• Be available for student-initiated questions or concerns.

• Paraprofessionals

• Communicate with teachers, department supervisors/chairs, building principals, and/or child study team case managers about student needs.
• Use Google Meet to provide online assistance to students, as appropriate.
• Support teacher planning and/or instructional needs, as coordinated by the administration.

• Parents

• Review the Guidelines for Student Participation in Live Teaching Sessions via Google Meets (see below)
• Communicate with your child’s teachers, counselors, and administrators to obtain needed assistance or to ask questions. 

Guidelines for Student Participation in 

Live Teaching Sessions via Google Meet:

During remote learning, you will be required to participate in various live Google Meet sessions with your teachers and classmates.  This document will serve as the “ground rules” in terms of behavioral expectations and procedures while participating in ANY Google Meet session.  

• Your participation in the Google Meet live sessions acknowledges that you will adhere to the guidelines listed below:

1) Once you enter the Google Meet (via the Google Classroom link provided by your teacher), the teacher will MUTE the entire class.  This is very important so that the teacher can say hello, make sure that everyone is present, and begin explaining the lesson or activity with the entire class.  You are NOT permitted to UNMUTE yourself until you follow the instructions in the next step (step # 2).

2) SPEAKING/ASKING QUESTIONS- In order to speak, ask a question or make a comment, you can either 

1. A) Raise your hand (your teacher will see you on camera- see #3)

 OR 

1. B) Post a comment in the chat (which is located in the top right-hand corner of the Google Meet screen).  

• An appropriate post in the chat would be something like, "I have a question, Mrs. Drago."  Your teacher will prompt you when to unmute yourself and speak.  All comments should be directed towards the teacher.  This is VERY important so that the teacher can instruct the class and everyone isn't talking over one another at the same time.  Again, if you would like to speak, you can physically raise your hand on the screen OR post a comment in the class chat in the upper right-hand corner. 
• You are NOT permitted to use your cell phone during Google Meet sessions.  Taking pictures of the screen or recording of any kind is NOT permitted. 

3) BEING VISIBLE- Being visible on the Google Meet is up to you.  If you choose to turn off your camera and simply listen, that is okay.  However, you will then need to remember to utilize the chat feature in order to ask a question (wait to be prompted by the teacher to speak).

For ANY student who is visible on camera (which will probably be most of you), the camera MUST be on your face and NOTHING else.  This way the teacher can physically see you and there is nothing to distract the other students or interrupt the activity.  

We are truly looking forward to an outstanding school year!

As always, please reach out to me if you have any questions.

Mr. Mastropietro