Dear HKMS Families,

Believe it or not it is that time of the year when we start to ramp up our new year onboarding processes. To help you and your child(ren) get off to a smooth start we have created The HKMS Guide to the New School Year! Thanks to the tireless work of our AP, Mrs. Annie Mohr, and our amazing office assistants Mrs. Sue Cahalan and Mrs. Penne Rudy we are releasing the 2025-26 guide link at the bottom of this message. 

This year’s Guide to the New School Year is presented in a similar format to our weekly newsletters (i.e., a Google Site), which is formatted for easy viewing on a computer, tablet, or phone. The site contains twenty (n=20) pages of all the “need-to-knows” (and a few “nice-to-knows”) about the upcoming school year! On this site you will find information about supply lists, our updated master schedules, new procedures, and important policies. There are embedded videos and images that help explain and provide clarity on various documents.  

It is important to review all of the material in our guide before the August 19th opening of the PowerSchool Parent Portal. When the Parent Portal opens to you on the 19th you will first be asked to sign-off on several key acknowledgements and policies. Those policies are included in the Summer Guide, so you can get a jump on reviewing them now before signing-off on the 19th. Only after completing the sign-offs on the 19th will you and your child(ren) be able to access schedules and other information stored in PowerSchool.  

The PowerSchool Parent Portal will open by 3:00 p.m. on August 19th. I will send a follow up message at that time.  

We will be resuming our HKMS Weekly Family Newsletter starting Friday August 29th, and weekly thereafter. 

We hope you and your child(ren) find the opportunity to go through the Summer Guide together and experience some of the joy we had in creating it.

Should you have any questions, problems, or concerns, please let me know.

Principal

Helen Keller Middle School

sclapp@er9.org