• Dear HCS Families,

    It is that time of year again, and I want to take a moment to welcome everyone back! It has been a busy summer of construction and preparing for the 22-23 school year. 

    One of the things I remember best about my time as a student is the start of a new school year. I always felt optimism and excitement as September approached. I know not everyone shares the same level of enthusiasm, but I would encourage our students to think about the opportunities that lie ahead of them. Everyone has a chance to start anew, try something different, and make a positive impact on our school community. 

    I hope you agree that HCS is a special place. What makes it special is the attitudes and effort of the people involved. Here are a few suggestions for your children to make the most of this year:

    • Set personal goals and build habits that will lead to your academic success
    • Go out of your way to help someone who might be having a bad day  
    • Recognize a problem and work to make it better
    • See something positive in every day

    All of us have the opportunity to have a great year and to make a positive impact on others. I hope we can all think about this as the year approaches and do something (no matter how small) to make HCS a better place for everyone!

    Two very important aspects of a successful school experience are home/school communication and student engagement. With that in mind, please read the information below: 

    Google Classroom and Daily/Weekly Guardian Summaries

    • I have found that one of the best ways of keeping up to date with Google Classroom for my own children is downloading the app on my phone and having them sign in with their usernames and passwords. The passwords are saved, so you only need to enter them once. After that you can open the app any time and toggle between your children’s accounts. Each child’s account will display a number of different classes. By clicking on each class, you can check upcoming assignments, missing work, grades, etc.
    • Google Classroom also offers an email update called the daily or weekly summary. This allows you to receive an email every afternoon - or once per week - containing upcoming assignments and missing work. If you have any concerns about your child falling behind, I recommend the daily summary. (To change the frequency, scroll to the bottom of any summary email and click Settings.) Please note that summary emails do not contain grades. To check grades, you can use the app as described above. 
    • If you have not received summaries in the past and would like to begin receiving them, please contact one of your child’s teachers and they can invite you to join Google Classroom as a guardian. You will then receive an automated email asking if you accept the invitation. 

    School-Wide Announcements

    • HCS will continue using ParentSquare, which we began using in June. If you have an account, you will receive the morning announcements (Daily Bulletin) and other information.
    • Please check your notification settings and make sure they are set to your preference. Log into parentsquare.com and choose “My Account” followed by “Notification Settings”. You may see up to three groups: ES (Elementary School), JSHS (Jr-Sr High School) and District. For each of these groups, you can choose to receive messages instantly or in an evening digest. You can also choose to be notified via email, text, or app.

    SchoolTool Parent Portal & Student Portal

    • SchoolTool is the place to find schedules, progress reports, report cards, etc. Parents/guardians should all have an account, and students have their own accounts. If you have trouble logging in, please reach out to our technology director, Mr. Rogers, at crogers@hamiltoncentral.org. Here is a link to SchoolTool: https://schooltool.hamiltoncentral.org/

    Contact Information

    • Please make sure that your contact information on file at the school is correct. We may send information to families through email, text, automated phone call, or paper mail.

    Extracurricular Activities

    • I encourage all of our students to join one or more clubs or sports. HCS has a long-standing tradition of an active student body. Our students make HCS a great place to learn, and their involvement in activities is one of the contributing factors. By engaging in extracurriculars, students build better connections with their peers, adults, and the school as a whole. Parents and guardians, please encourage your children to get involved. A list of our after-school activities can be found here: https://www.hamiltoncentral.org/Page/197
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    Finally, I would like to welcome three familiar faces! Ms. Tori Kowalski will be moving into the secondary art position this year. Ms. Haley Furner, who worked alongside Ms. Marcellus last year, will be our new school nurse. Ms. Renee Merkt will be a teacher on special assignment as the Coordinator of Social-Emotional Learning and Family Engagement. I would also like to welcome Ms. Denise Whalen, who is new to HCS. She will be teaching our elementary and middle school art students.

    As always, please reach out if you have any questions or concerns as the year progresses. I look forward to a great year for everyone in our HCS community!

    Sincerely,
    Mark Arquiett
    MS/HS Principal
    marquiett@hamiltoncentral.org
    (315) 824-6320
Last Modified on August 16, 2022