Middle School Newsletter - August 24, 2022
Message From Division Director
I’m sure the energy is rising in your households as your children — like all of us — experience the range of emotions common to the start of school. After spending a week with our new faculty and staff, we welcomed back all of the adults this week for pre-planning meetings and final preparations. We are very excited to meet with you and your children next week and officially kick off the 2022-2023 school year! Here are a few reminders from previous weeks:
- Consider joining me on Monday, August 29, at 9:00 a.m. for a parent virtual orientation; I will record the session to share in the August 31 newsletter. Please join using this Google Meet link.
- Please remember to use the link I sent via email to sign up for Parent-Advisor Conferences on Monday, August 29, or Tuesday, August 30.
- Note that you and your child may visit the Peterson Middle School anytime between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 30, for a self-guided tour.
- The first official day for students is Wednesday, August 31. Our orientation and community-building activities for students are built into the first three days of school to ensure a smooth transition.
Please update your SchoolPass account using the information below. Note that while we wait for the license plate cameras to be installed, you will display a sign with your child’s name on the front left dashboard of your car during dismissal. We will hand out signs during Parent-Advisor Conferences, and you can create your own temporary sign if you have scheduled your conference for after the start of school.
Brian Lamont
Director of the Middle School
Back to School
Preparing for the 2022-2023 School Year
How often is Lower School Husky Pride Day? What’s the traffic pattern for dropping off Middle School students? What’s the earliest I can drive onto campus to pick up an Upper School student? The answers to these questions and many more can be found in the content on the Preparing for the 2022-2023 School Year tile on the Resource Board of Husky Hub.
To access the Resource Board, visit www.flinthill.org/app, and log in with your username and password. Once logged in, click Resources on the top navigation bar, and then click on the Preparing for the 2022-2023 School Year tile. The tile will remain accessible through the start of the new school year. We recommend bookmarking it!
Dress Guidelines
Please review the Dress Guidelines on the Resource Board to ensure that your child is prepared for the start of the year. For those returning eighth graders, the options are slightly different from last year. Please contact me with any questions. As a summary:
- Tops — students may wear any FH logo top.
- Bottoms — khaki or navy blue chino pants, skirts or shorts (note that students may not wear athletic shorts or sweatpants during the school day).
- Athletics — students may still wear any FH logo top and may now wear any navy blue shorts.
SchoolPass Steps To Complete Before School Starts
Flint Hill School uses SchoolPass, a user-friendly and real-time system that allows parents to easily notify the school of student absences, late arrivals or appointments; helps students and teachers with daily attendance; and assists the school with efficient and secure dismissal to direct students to Middle School carpool, buses and Extended Day.
New this year, the School has invested in license plate cameras to improve the Middle School carpool experience. As cars turn into the parking lot, the rear license plate will be identified and students associated with it will be entered into the carpool queue. This automatically notifies classroom teachers that you are in the carpool line as well as when to send your child to the pickup area.
License plate data is stored on the parent record within SchoolPass. The log of vehicles arriving on and departing from campus will be archived annually. Only Flint Hill School administrators have access to view this data.
Student Schedules Online
To view your child’s classes and teachers, log in to Husky Hub, click “Children” and select your child’s name. From the “Progress” page, scroll down to view your child’s classes and teachers.
Textbooks and Supplies
Please refer to the Preparing for the School Year tile to purchase textbooks and resources through our Virtual Book Store. If you have any questions, please contact Julie Young.
Health Information
Updated Health Information Tile
Please review the new Health Information tile on the Resource Board. This is where you’ll find information about protocols for general illness, flu, seasonal allergies and COVID, as well as contact information for all three health clinics.
Medication Drop-Off
For students who will need to keep medication on campus during the school year, we will have a medication drop-off day on Thursday, August 25, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. at the Upper School circle.
Families will pull into the circle, and a nurse will come to your car to collect the medication and the appropriate forms. As a reminder, all prescription medication must be accompanied by the physician's order on the Medication Authorization Form, which must be completed and signed by the prescribing physician.
All medication must have the pharmacy label on it. You can access the forms from your Magnus account /Husky Hub resource board under the Preparing for the School Year tile. All over-the-counter medication must be accompanied by the Medication Authorization Form and must be completed and signed by a parent or guardian. The medication must be in the original packaging and must be administered according to the package instructions, including the time and route to be administered.
If you are unable to come to the School on the medication drop-off day, please call to schedule an appointment with your division’s nurse prior to the start of school.
Upper School 703.584.2396
Middle School 703.584.2397
Lower School 703.584.2399
To drop off medication refills throughout the school year, please call and schedule an appointment with your division’s nurse.
Health Forms — New and Returning Students
Completed health forms must be uploaded to the Magnus Health system and approved by the first day of classes, or your child may not attend school. If you have any questions regarding the health forms, please contact Director of Health Services Mary Hart at 571.926.2818.
Announcements
All-School Calendar Now Available
Did you know that you can have the electronic All-School Calendar feed directly into your iCal or Google calendars? The electronic All-School Calendar is where you can find when and where upcoming school events will be held.
To get to the All-School Calendar, log in to Husky Hub and click on the Calendar icon in the top menu bar. Scroll down and on the bottom left you can toggle on and off to select which calendars you’d like to display. We strongly recommend displaying the All-School Calendar.
In less than one minute you can watch this video on how to feed the All-School Calendar into your personal calendar. Fast forward to the 1:20 mark for the calendar tip. Watch the full video if you’d like a general refresher on Husky Hub.
And remember, the School’s IT department isn’t just for students, it’s a parent resource too! Just email helpdesk@flinthill.org to ask a question or set up a time for a private tutorial.
Parent-Advisor In-Person Conferences
To facilitate the important partnership for the school year ahead, advisors will be hosting parent conferences on Monday, August 29, and Tuesday, August 30. These 15-minute in-person conferences will allow you to connect with your child’s advisor and share any helpful information. I emailed each family a link to sign up for conferences. If you have any difficulties or questions about the online scheduling system, please contact me and Marina Matthes (long-term substitute for Michelle Keatley).
Middle School Athletics
Middle School sports officially begin on Wednesday, September 7. If you signed up to participate in a fall sport, please visit Husky Hub to gather the latest information on tryouts, preseason practices, and seasonal logistics. You can find all Upper School and Middle School fall game schedules by visiting the athletics page of our website.
Read more details about our fall sports from Director of Athletics Dewayne Robinson.
New Phone Policy
Our policy of “please ask permission if you need to use your phone (to contact a parent) at school and keep them put away otherwise” has reached the point that we need an update. Like young adolescents everywhere, our wonderful middle school students are increasingly distracted by their phones in class, engaged in inappropriate behavior (such as group TikTok videos and looking up answers during assessments), and occupied by digital social media rather than in-person peers. Over the years, this behavior is becoming less willful and more habit, and they are showing us that different boundaries are necessary.
Our new policy involves collecting student phones in classrooms each period to ensure they are not a distraction to learning or social interaction. Our Upper School is implementing a similar policy.
We continue to believe it is important for students to learn self-control and practice responsible use of technology. MacBook Airs, which — unlike phones — are used at school for academic purposes, provide plenty of opportunities for us to work on classroom management and avoid distractions.
While it is generally helpful to the process of separation and individuation for young adolescents to not be in touch with parents during the school day, we recognize that needs arise and that communication with you is a big reason they have phones. If you need to contact or get a message to your child, you can either email them (checking email is something we make time for and practice during the day) or email/call me or the Middle School Office — 703.584.2370. If you have any questions or concerns about our new phone policy, please reach out to me directly.
School Store — New Items and Shop by Appointment
The School Store is now open at the Hazel Lower School in Room 112 for in-person shopping by appointment only, Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Take a look at the new items that have recently been stocked! More will be added through the fall. To contact School Store Manager Kaleena Buckwalter, please call 703.584.2413 or email schoolstore@flinthill.org.
Upcoming Events
Medication Drop-Off
Thursday, August 25
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m., Upper School circle
Middle School New Parent Virtual Orientation
Monday, August 29, 9:00 - 10:00 a.m.
New and returning parents are welcome to join me for a virtual orientation with questions and answers. Q&A session to ease your transition to the school year. Please join using this Google Meet link.
Middle School Parent-Advisor In-Person Conferences
Monday, August 29, and Tuesday, August 30
Peterson Middle School, Link to sign up was sent via email on August 17.
Middle School Student-Parent Visitation
Tuesday, August 30
1:00 - 3:00 p.m., Peterson Middle School
Parents and students who wish to visit the building before our orientation activities begin tomorrow are welcome to come in for a self-guided tour.
Lower and Middle School First Day of School
Wednesday, August 31
We will have full school days (8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.) Wednesday-Friday of this first week and run a modified class schedule combined with orientation and community-building activities. Students should be in regular school dress and bring MacBooks and supplies.
Labor Day — Grades JK-12, No Classes
Monday, September 5
Middle School Picture Day
Thursday, September 8
Middle School Back-to-School Night
Thursday, September 15
7:00 - 9:00 p.m., Peterson Middle School
Please join us to walk through your child’s schedule and hear about each course from their teachers. Light refreshments will be served. I will include additional details in next week’s newsletter. Please note that this is not an evening for students.
Parents’ Association
Calling All Concessions Volunteers!
The Igloo, a concessions stand located in the Upper School building, will open for the new school year on Monday, August 29. Parent volunteers are needed to help sell concessions to hungry students during the day and after school. Details are on the Igloo Sign Up Form. Please sign up for as many shifts as you'd like, and feel free to invite a friend to sign up with you too.
September
12—Parent Morning Mixer
23—Senior Breakfast
29—Parent Pickleball Social
October
3— Parent Morning Mixer
14-15—Homecoming Weekend
November
7—Parent Morning Mixer
March
6—Morning Mixer
10—Lower School Spring Uniform Exchange
April
3—Parent Morning Mixer
15—Parents’ Association Spring Tennis Social
May
1—Parent Morning Mixer
25—Flint Hill Golf Invitational
June
1—Volunteer Appreciation Reception
