Good afternoon,

There is currently a TikTok challenge circulating via that social media application to vandalize school's bathrooms. If you are unfamiliar with TikTok, simply ask your student what they know - chances are you will get a lot of background. 

Participating with this social media "challenge" is less than acceptable; unfortunately, students across the region, including at our school, are completing this challenge. We currently have active investigations in response to hundreds of dollars worth of bathroom facility equipment being vandalized. Students proven to have vandalized school property for any reason, TikTok challenge or otherwise, will face suspension, restitution costs, restorative justice, and / or criminal vandalism charges. 

Our school is currently implementing social-emotional curriculum on a weekly basis as a proactive approach to, for example, support students with being cognizant of their thoughts, emotions, and decisions. If you would like to discuss our 2nd Step social-emotional curriculum and plan, please feel free to contact your students' counselor. 

As many of you know, I am a firm believer that "it takes a village". If inappropriate social media conduct spills over into school, I have very limited meaningful responses. Because of the potential safety issues, harm, and impact that Social Media has proven to incite, and because most of the response in my control is reactive, I request all parents and guardians to spend time reviewing and discussing your son's or daughter's social media access, posts, recently viewed items, etc. Furthermore, I encourage all parents and guardians to consider a reduction, limit, or outright restriction of their son's or daughter's social media use. As a suggestion, a good rule of thumb is no social media after 8:00pm - in our professional experience, very little viewed, posted, or discussed by young adults after that time is productive.

If you need support with how to engage with your son or daughter on this topic, please let us know. 

Thank you, 

Anthony Karr, Principal

Holmes Parents and Guardians,

My sincere apologies, but unfortunately I am forced to cancel today's Parent Coffee. I am needed on campus today at Holmes in order to manage our response to immediate staffing and student situations.

Sorry for any inconvenience, and thank you for your understanding.

Tony Karr, Principal

The next Parent Coffee of the 2021-2022 school year will be held Wednesday, September 15, from 10:00-11:00am at Pneuma Coffee House. Pneuma is located at 505 Castle Road, Colorado Springs 80904.

Parent Coffee is an informal way for parents and guardians to engage with your school's principal. We do not have an agenda, we create a responsive feedback loop, and we build relationships one conversation at a time.

Please consider joining us for coffee and conversation.

Tony Karr, Principal

Hello Holmes Parents and Guardians,

Our September School Accountability Committee meeting is Friday 9/17 at 7:30AM. We will meet in person at Holmes in the conference room (13) with a remote call-in option. The conference room is located inside the library, through the classroom door in the back right corner of the room.

You can find the full schedule and details for joining online here.

SAC is a great way to get connected to decisions going on at the school. We would love for you to join us. We meet regularly on Friday mornings for 1-1.5 hours, typically on the 3rd Friday of the month.

About SAC
 
The School Accountability Committee is a way for you to have a voice in the decisions that school leadership makes about:

• Budget: oversight to ensure sound and accountable management of school finances
• Academic standards and accountability: recommendations on how to best meet the requirements of the state at our school
• Student engagement: identifying ways to best serve the needs of our diverse student body and the families that support them

SAC is a great opportunity to stay connected to Holmes that can also fit easily into a busy family schedule.
 
Come share your thoughts on the new year at Holmes, and learn more about our School Accountability Committee and how you can make an impact.
 
Best Regards,
Hannah Ditto, SAC Chair
Tony Karr, Principal

Hello Holmes Parents and Guardians,

Welcome to the 2021-2022 school year. We at the Holmes Counseling Department are writing to provide you with information about the wide variety of services and programing we will be utilizing this year to support our students. Holmes Counseling Department works to follow a comprehensive school counseling model as laid out by ASCA (American School Counselors Association). By following this model we are able to work to meet the needs of all students within our school. Below is a look at the services and programing the Holmes Counseling Department provides for students to support their personal and educational growth.

Second Step

Second Step is a district wide SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) curriculum that is delivered at Holmes every Monday by the core, grade level teachers. These lessons are reinforced on Friday during a multi-grade level advisory (Hawk Time) where students engage in discussions and activities to reinforce SEL learning. Some of the topics our teachers will be covering this year include Mindsets and Goals, Bullying and Harassment, Thoughts and Emotions, and Managing Social Conflicts. In order to ensure the effectiveness of this program, we will also administer a survey twice this school year. The Panorama survey assesses our students’ social and emotional skills and identified areas for growth.

ICAP (Individual Career and Academic Plan)

Part of a school counselor’s job is to support students within the realm of College and Career readiness. Colorado utilizes the ICAP program to facilitate our students’ growth within this area. School counselors will implement ICAP this semester and complete the appropriate grade level curriculum. Each year’s ICAP components build upon the previous year’s to allow for individual growth and preparation for life after high school.

Small Groups

Small groups are an excellent avenue to provide targeted support to students. At Holmes, we will be utilizing a school wide comprehensive screener (see below) to identify students who may need more support as well as the topics and skills that will be addressed within these groups. Groups that will likely run this year are study skills, communication, self-regulation, anxiety, and attendance.

School Wide Comprehensive Screener

This year at Holmes we will be utilizing a social-emotional needs assessment to identify students who may benefit from individual or small group support. Parents are welcome to contact their student's counselor if they wish to view the social-emotional needs assessment or to opt their student out of taking that assessment.

Lunch Bunch

During lunches, school counselors will be offering a meeting space to rotating groups of students. Students will have the option to eat lunch with their grade level counselor and other students. Some potential lunch bunch groups include New Students, Military Family Support, Genders and Sexualities Alliance, and others as they are identified.

Individual Support

Students have multiple avenues to reach out to their counselor for individualized services for academics, college and career readiness, and emotional support. Each week on Monday students will complete an electronic form to inform their counselor if they need a check-in. Throughout the week students also have access to appointment requests through the counseling website. Parents/ Guardians may also use this avenue to request support for their student. Non-urgent check-ins will then be conducted during MTSS pullout times to ensure that students are not missing instructional time.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact your grade level counselor.

Tara Falslev she/her/hers – 6^th Grade – Tara.Falslev@D11.org

Mikayla Hickman  she/her/hers  – 7^th Grade – Mikayla.Hickman@D11.org

Kris Martin she/her/hers  – 8^th Grade – Kris.CartwrightMartin@D11.org

Holmes Parents and Guardians,

This message is sent to the entire Holmes Community when a COVID exposure occurs at school.

A group of students and/or staff at Holmes Middle School has been quarantined due to one or more of the following:

• The person with COVID and close contacts were not wearing masks
• The close contacts were not fully vaccinated at the time of exposure

All quarantined students/staff have have been notified, and are currently under quarantine. If you have not been notified that your student was a close contact, then please read the attached letter for further information.

Thank you.

Anthony Karr, Principal

Holmes Parents and Guardians,

After observing and directing traffic this week, our administrative team, school and district security, and CSPD school resource officer have developed a plan to address an overall increase in students being picked-up by parents or guardians. Currently, we are coordinating over 300 students leaving campus in this fashion during the span of a 1/2 hour. Unfortunately, this school's traffic design was based around a predominately bus transportation model.

In order to streamline our afternoon pick-up procedures (morning drop-off is not a significant issue), and ensure safety of students around the Holmes campus, we ask for cooperation on the following items:

Note: Please use the attached map as a reference for the traffic flow.

• Vehicles entering the main entrances to campus (Bus Loop and South Lot) will enter using a right turn,
• This means vehicles must use northbound Mesa Road to arrive on campus
• This also includes D11 Bus Transportation
• Vehicles entering the furthest North entrance to campus (Mesa Valley Trail) will be able to enter using a right or left turn
• Vehicles (cars and busses) exiting the Holmes Bus Loop will exit using a right turn onto northbound Mesa Road.
• If the South Lot is full, northbound traffic will be re-directed to the furthest North entrance (Mesa Valley Trail).
• Students should only be picked-up at the Bus Loop, South Lot, or Mesa Valley Trail Lot
• We strongly discourage parking, waiting, and allowing students to get into a vehicle along Mesa Road as it is illegal and a significant safety / traffic hazard.

Finally, we are in contact with city engineers in order to have a traffic review completed and potentially develop other solutions for the Mesa Road entrances.

Thank you for your attention to and cooperation with this procedure. 

Anthony Karr, Principal

Attachments:
messages/attachments/cea4d115453d4170ea23a100ad647820/Traffic_Flow_Diagram.pdf (244.4 KB)

Fall football for 6th, 7th and 8th grade starts this week. Our first practice is Wednesday August 8th at 4:30pm at the track behind the school. Registration is still open. sign-ups are at the Memorial Park and Rec office. A current physical is required prior to practicing.  For more information, please contact Coach Moore at kevin.moore3@d11.org.

Go Hawks!!

Holmes Parents and Guardians,

August 16, 2021 6^th Grade First Day of School: 6^th graders will participate in the WEB (Where Everybody Belongs) orientation with their 8^th Grade WEB Leaders.  The 8^th grade WEB leaders will be reaching out by phone to introduce themselves to your students from August 13-15, and to invite them into their WEB group for this orientation

August 17, 2021 First Day of School: This is the first day of school for all Middle School students.

September 8, 2021 Open House: The open house will be from 5:30p-7:30p. Families will have a welcome and overview from staff, and then follow an accelerated version of their student’s school day. More information to come.

We look forward to this school year, are hopeful that it will bring a return to normalcy, and are excited to be able to engage in-person as a Holmes community again.

Anthony Karr, Principal

Holmes Student Purchased Supply Lists
District 11 provides basic school supplies free of charge to all students.

6th Grade D11 Provided Supplies, 7th Grade Provided Supplies, 8th Grade Provided Supplies

In addition, Holmes recommends that students purchase the following supplies: LINK

The 8th Grade Continuation video of the the live stream is now available at this link.

On behalf of the staff here at Holmes, I would like to extend a well deserved congratulations to our 8th grade class . All of the perseverance and dedication that was shown from students and families this year is greatly appreciated. We wish you success in the years to come. ~Anthony Karr, Principal