We have big news for Trojan Basketball Fans! All basketball ticket sales for the 2020-2021 season will take place online. For each basketball game, we will publish a unique game link. Trojan fans will click the link and provide one of the passwords below, depending on whether the game is a Junior High or Senior High basketball game. The links will change for each game, but the passwords will remain the same throughout the season. The game links will be published on HSSD social media platforms (via Facebook and Twitter), and featured in the Sunday TrojanHappenings Newsletter. Family members of Trojan Athletes will receive a unique game link and password from Coaches to purchase tickets specially held for families of basketball players.

JAG students at our HSJA completed a “Words of Life” project, which included a two-part process including the development of an essay and a reflective piece of artwork. JAG Teacher Mrs. Stephanie Goodman assigned them to choose a word that has important meaning to their lives and experiences, and then write an essay about why the word was chosen with a thorough explanation of their reasoning and thought process. The artwork was meant to create a visual representation of the word chosen.

We need canned goods, please! Our Student Council is collecting canned foods during November to donate to the local Project Hope Food Bank, which is dedicated to helping fight hunger in Garland County and the surrounding area. Please bring all items to the front lobby of the HSWCHS and place items in your class box by November 20.

On October 20-30, students in grades 3-10 will be taking ACT® Aspire® Interim Assessments at all HSSD elementary schools. For three days during the two-week period, students will test in one subject area- one day in Math, one day in Reading, and one day in Science. Each test will last under one hour. The valuable data we gain from these assessments allows us to make evidence-based decisions when addressing your students’ strengths, areas for improvement, and growth potential across classrooms and subject areas as defined by state education standards.

Please find details here regarding Trojan Homecoming, 2020! Find details in this update about the Homecoming Daytime Ceremony (Thursday, 10/15), Homecoming Evening Ceremony (Friday, 10/16), members of the 2020 Trojan Homecoming Court (Congrats to all!), and districtwide daily themes for HSSD Homecoming Spirit Week (10/12 - 10/16). Throughout Homecoming festivities, we invite Trojan families to share photos using the hashtag #HSSDHoCo2020.

Students in Seminar Class with Mrs. Potts are creating a series of student-led videos modeling the 7 Learning Habits, which are part of building student-leaders at a Leader in Me School! Leader in Me Schools like our HSJA establish a culture of social-emotional learning that helps every middle school student build self-confidence and discover their true potential while pursuing academic excellence.

Read this update for Trojan Good Things, is a weekly shout out from #HSSD Superintendent Dr. Stephanie Nehus to individuals in our school community who are doing amazing things! Our Trojan Family is so wonderful about lifting one another up. I hope everyone celebrates these accolades together and enjoys a great fall weekend.

On this Patriots Day, the 19th anniversary of the tragic events of 9/11, I am so proud to honor all of YOU HEROES with this Trojan Good Things. This anniversary is about honoring and remembering the many lives lost, but most importantly for our kids it is about celebrating the strong American spirit and highlighting the many who came to the aid of Americans in need 19 years ago today. Please remember that all of you in education are also heroes. You show our kids the same spirit that so many exemplified on 9/11/2001. Thank you for your courage, dedication, and SPIRIT every day - especially as you work as educators during a crisis. May we never forget the tragic loss, as well as the amazing bravery and courage that took place in the aftermath of this anniversary. And, may we all continue to be inspired to carry on that legacy in our work as educators who are called to be heroes for our students. I also have several anonymous Good Things to share today … see more in this update:

We have so many staff members working hard - from our teachers and nurses and administrators, to our bus drivers, coaches, paraprofessionals, special services staff, cafeteria workers, administrative teams, and all in between. We see you and we thank you for doing more than you’ve ever been asked to do to make school possible. Our Trojan Good Things this week goes to our Football Teams. Our Junior High Team had a great win last night over our across-town rivals at Lake Hamilton. Our Varsity team travels tonight to Arkadelphia to play. We send good energy and love to our athletes, and we appreciate all of you who continue to cheer on all of our Trojan activities, sports, programs, and efforts. (We haven’t forgotten you volleyball, tennis, or golf - your Shoutout will come, too!). We also have an anonymous Good Thing to share about a deserving Trojan Nurse at Park Magnet, Mrs. Dawn Utsey … “I want to give a huge shoutout to Nurse Dawn Utsey. She is so kind and caring every morning and she always has a smile on her face. She takes the temps daily at Park and is so helpful with getting the children out of the cars in the rain, even if that means she gets wet (all so that the children don’t!). She has TRUE TROJAN SPIRIT! Trojan ‘Good Things’ is a weekly shout out from #HSSD Superintendent Dr. Stephanie Nehus to individuals in our school community who are doing amazing things! It is her goal to communicate all the positives happening in #HSSD. If you have any special events happening in your classes or buildings or if you know of someone we need to give a shout out to, please complete the Trojan Good Things Form, here.

HSSD students are taking NWEA (Northwest Evaluation Association) Tests in K-10th grade classrooms through October 2. NWEA test data is directly used by our teachers, administrators, and HSSD leadership to make informed decisions about day-to-day classroom instructional content and offerings and individual student learning needs. Educators receive actionable data in real-time so that they can offer curriculum and activities that are appropriate for the learning levels and skill sets of our students. Educators also use the data to determine which students may need enrichment activities, and intervention and/or remediation services.