Good Evening Highlanders,

This is Mr. Vasallo, Principal of Dunedin Highland Middle School with my weekly update.

Congratulations to our Odyssey of the Mind Teams on their outstanding showing this weekend!  All 4 DHMS teams advanced to the State Competition!

February 14^th -18^th Random Acts of Kindness Week at DHMS Random Acts of Kindness Week 2022[99].pdf 

We are in the process of course selection for 6^th and 7^th grade students for the 2022-2023 school year.  Mrs. Dolan hosted a parent information session on the course request process for our current 6^th and 7^th grade parents and the video has been uploaded to our school YouTube site: https://youtu.be/ABz6pNkU1OI

If you want to view the course request forms, you may open them here:

2022-2023 DHMS Grade 7 Course Request Sheet.docx  (current 6th Graders)

2022-2023 DHMS Grade 8 Course Request Sheet.docx  (current 7th Graders)

8^th grade families are invited to the High School Performing Arts Fair, Tuesday night February 15^th here at DHMS.  All of the North County High Schools will have teachers and students from their performing arts programs will be here to let 8^th graders know about all the opportunities to be involved in performing arts in high school. North County Performing Arts Fair Invitation-2.pdf 

SAT Tutoring for students participating in the PCS-TIPS program continues this week. Times will vary.  

              Room 3-115                                                          Room 3-115

Please contact Ms. Bernal (bernalj@pcsb.org) if you have questions.  

There is no school for students on Monday February 21^st, it is a teacher training day.

We are promoting our IXL Snapshot Challenge for our students. We need all of our students to take their IXL Snapshot on Monday February 21^st, while they are at home.  The grade level that has the most students completing the snapshot on February 21^st will receive popcorn at lunch!

Spring sports seasons are fast approaching!  Our flag football coaches are Mr. Diop (diopc@pcsb.org) and Ms. Myers (myersmica@pcsb.org) .  Our boys and girls track coaches are Ms. Barbosa (barbosaj@pcsb.org) and Ms. Flannery (flanneryk@pcsb.org) . To be eligible for tryouts, your student must have the following items on file with the school:

·Fill out the Middle School Participation Packet

·Purchase student insurance: Student Accident Insurance Link

·Fill out the ASSUMPTION OF RISK WAIVER RELEASE AND HOLD HARMLESS FORM

·Bring in a copy of a physical that is less than 1 year old

Track Tryouts start Tuesday February 22^nd. Track Try outs .pdf All paperwork must be turned in to the coaches by Friday February 18^th.

Countryside High School will be having their 9th Grade Registration Night on Monday, March 7^th, 2022 from 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM.  I will be sharing the dates of the high school registration nights, as the schools inform me of their events.  Incoming 9th Grade Registration Night March 7 2022.pdf 

Our Credit Recovery sessions are available this week.  Credit Recovery sessions run Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings from 8-9am and Monday through Thursday afternoons from 4:20-5:20pm in room 2-103.

Teachers use the laptops in daily instruction.  To our families who have checked out a laptop, please make sure your student brings their laptop fully charged to school every day.   

Our ELP programs are back in session. Please visit the ELP schedule link on the front page of our website. ELP Sign Up 2021-2022.pdf

Yearbooks are on sale on our website for $25: https://pcsb.revtrak.net/Middle-Schools/dunedin-highland-middle-/dunedin-ms-yearbook-sales/#/list

Upcoming Dates:

2/15                North County Performing Arts Fair

2/18               All paperwork for Track must be turned in to the coaches, Ms. Barbosa (barbosaj@pcsb.org) and Ms. Flannery (flanneryk@pcsb.org)

2/21                No School for students – Teacher Training Day

2/21               IXL Snaphot Challenge – all students take the IXL Snapshot at home

2/22               Track Tryouts – 4:30pm – Gymnasium Track Try outs .pdf 

2/23               PTA McDonald’s Night – 5-7pm – Main Street Dunedin location IMG_9229.jpg 

3/2                  PCS TIPS SAT testing day

3/2                  Kona Ice at Dismissal 

3/7                  Countryside HS 9^th grade Registration Night Incoming 9th Grade Registration Night March 7 2022.pdf 

That’s all for this week at Dunedin Highland Middle School, where we conduct ourselves with Respect, Excellence, and Pride!  Go Highlanders!

Mr. Vasallo

DHMS School Website:

https://www.pcsb.org/dunedin-ms 

Like us on Social Media!

https://www.facebook.com/DunedinHighlandMiddle/ 

https://twitter.com/dunedin_middle 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-WYYx83-gDR6S_kVXZTQHw 

PTA:

www.dhmspta.org   

https://www.facebook.com/DHMSPTA/ 

https://www.instagram.com/dhmspta/ 

Band Boosters:

https://www.facebook.com/DHMSPipeBand/ 

https://dhmshighlanderband.com/ 

Other past announcements:

Attention parents of Special Education students: The ESE Parent Survey takes place Feb. 1 through May 31. The direct link to the survey is www.esesurvey.com.  

ESE Parent Survey Flyer 2022- English.pdf 

ESE Parent Survey Flyer - Spanish 2022.pdf 

DHMS Food Pantry will be open on Wednesdays, Thursdays, & Fridays from 10:30-3:30.  We will be using online system called Link2Feed. If you need help signing up, we can help you!

Step 1. Please create a profile here: https://feedingtampabay.link2feed.com   

Step 2. The system will ask you questions like your name, date of birth, people in your household, race/ethnicity, and other demographic questions. 

Step 3. Profile confirmation - you are done! Thank you for completing your registration. You will only have to do this once. 

For more information on the DHMS Food Pantry, please visit: https://accounts.link2feed.com/users/sign_in  or contact Mrs. Amato at amatos@pcsb.org 

For the most efficient response to a student or parent need during the school day, please contact your student’s grade level clerk.  Our grade level clerks are also the person you should report your child’s absence to:

• 6^th Grade Clerk, Ms. Herbert, herbertk@pcsb.org, ext. 2052
• 7^th Grade Clerk, Mrs. Carroll, carrollsu@pcsb.org, ext. 2051
• 8^th Grade Clerk, Mrs. Yeasting, yeastingd@pcsb.org, ext. 2053

Hats or other head coverings may not be worn during the school day.  Parents please make sure your students leave these items at home.

The DHMS Band Boosters have a new web store with DHMS themed merchandise.  Among the more popular items are hoodies and water bottles.  Check out their store at this link: 

https://dhmsbandboosters.memberhub.com/store/items/510202

Please note that our front office in not able to accept deliveries for students, such as flowers, balloons, or food delivery services like Door Dash or Uber Eats, etc. 

If you want to help us provide positive behavior rewards for our students, please consider “adopting” DHMS by making a donation.  You can adopt our school by using the link at the bottom of our webpage. You can send your tax-deductible donation to our bookkeeper, Mrs. Chesley at chesleyr@pcsb.org. 

Do you know a college student (not dual enrolled or Early College) who wants to make $14/hour as an employee of PCS working a flexible schedule that complements their college class schedule? If interested, contact Diana Dolan at doland@pcsb.org . Please spread the word!

I want to remind parents that cellphones, earbuds, headphones, and Bluetooth speakers are not allowed in the classrooms, hallways, or courtyard unless a teacher has directed students to use them for an academic purpose.  If you need to reach your child during the school day, please do not call or text them.  Please call the grade level office and we will have your student call you back.

A reminder to parents that when picking up and dropping off students, you may not use the front parking lot as a secondary car line.  With cars coming and going, it can be a dangerous area for students to walk through and cars that lineup block in parked cars from being able to leave.  If there are spaces available, you are welcome to park your car and escort your student to and from the crosswalk.   

If your child rides a bus to school each day, you can keep updated on any issues by signing up for Bus Bulletin. Bus Bulletin will notify you by text, phone call or email if:

• A bus is late.
• A route has changed.
• There has been an accident.

If your child rides a bus, please take advantage of this free service. Sign-up by going to http://busbulletin.com/parents/