Dear Henderson Mill Community,

Two weeks ago I dedicated my principal’s message to school safety. Over the past few weeks, we have tightened up our security. We have a new check-in/out system that allows us to better know who is in our building at any given time and to ensure that our student records are accurate. At the same time, we’ve reviewed our procedures with the teachers and staff and practiced a lockdown with the students. We’ve also watched our exterior doors a lot more closely. Thank you for your support and understanding as we hold everyone to the same standards to ensure our students’ safety.

As I write this, I’m thinking about the day that you receive this, March 9th, the day that we open our doors to educators from across the State to come tour our school to find out the Hows and Whys of STEAM education. With multiple mornings such as these spread across the school year, we know that we are impacting students well beyond our own four walls, as the educators who visit us leave with inspiration and tools to transform their schools into interactive, engaging environments where students want to attend and teachers love coming to every day to help shape the future of tomorrow. We are so proud of all that we have accomplished and continue to tweak and improve.

These achievements don’t come without your support. To continue on the path to achieve our vision of a world-class STEAM school, we need you. We need your involvement. We need your participation and ideas, and we need your continued financial commitment. Unfortunately, it takes more than we receive from the district to bring great programs like Lego Enrichment with Ms. Miller, Small Fry to Go, Aquaponics and gardening, Alliance Theatre teaching artists, increased student technology, iStation, video production, grade level field trips, Sphero, Makey-Makey, Ozobot, Cubelets, Meccanoid, and aerogardens to name but a few of the resources and experiences that the HMES Foundation has supported financially in the recent past. Last Wednesday, 2/28, we kicked off our March Mania Fundraiser, a month-long effort to raise $50,000. Outside of this one month, we do not have other school-wide fundraisers. We don’t sell anything. At this time of year, we simply ask our children to reach out to relatives and friends, and we ask you to examine your personal finances and determine what it is you can afford to give to your child’s education, to enhance their experiences, and help us fulfill our mission. I’ve challenged each of our teachers to give, and I’ll do the same for you. Let’s shoot for 100% participation, and let’s achieve our $50,000 goal. Together, we can!

To engaged STEAM learning!
Mitch
Mitch Green
Principal