Harwood Families -
One of the beautiful traditions at Harwood is the passing of the torch that takes place at our final assembly each year. Begun in 1996 Seniors pass the torch to each other one at a time and then recess out of the auditorium. The silence in the room reflects the power and significance of this moment for all present. When all the Seniors have left the Junior class rises and takes their new seats in the designated Senior section as the leaders of the community.
We are excited to announce that Harwood graduates from the Class of 2023 will be attending the following schools next year. Students will also be participating in post graduate, gap years and United States Air Force in addition to joining the workforce.
Bennington College Boston College Champlain College Clemson University Colorado College Community College of Vermont Dartmouth College Elon University Emmanuel College Endicott College Fordham University Green Mountain Valley School Hawaii Pacific University James Madison University Job Corps Loyola University Maryland Merrimack College Montana State University | Mount Holyoke College Northwoods School Norwich University O'Brien's Aveda Institute Quinnipiac University Rochester Institute of Technology Saint Michael's College Seton Hall University Simmons University Skidmore College Southeast Lineman Training Center St. Lawrence University Suffolk University The American International University in London The George Washington University The New School | The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Union College (NY) Universal Training Institute University of Denver University of Massachusetts-Boston University of New England University of Rhode Island University of San Francisco University of Southern Maine University of Vermont Utica University Vermont State University Villanova University Wellesley College Western Michigan University Worcester Polytechnic Institute |
The 2022-2023 school year has officially ended and it has been a joy.
Have a safe and fun summer and we’ll see you in August.
Laurie, Meg and Duane
Safe - seen, heard, respected & understood:
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Student Support Services  | SOCIAL MEDIA: As we move into the summer months, warmer temperatures, and nicer weather; please encourage your youth to head outside, be active, and be social with others in person. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, social media continues to remain a risk to the well-being of children and adolescents. Though your child may share that it helps them feel more accepted, supported, and connected, excessive use has been found to increase depression and anxiety, perpetuate eating disorders, and lower self-esteem. As adults, we can hold each other accountable through our acknowledgement of the growing body of research about potential harms, efforts to increase our collective understanding of the risks, and encouragement of our youth to minimize their use! See this Tip Sheet on Social Media Use and Mental Health for healthy social media use created for and by young people: Tip Sheet on Social Media Use and Mental Health | Youth Engaged 4 Change For information on creating a family media plan, visit www.healthychildren.org/MediaUsePlan See the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines for media use: Media and Young Minds | Pediatrics |
 | Welcome Conferences, August 23 from 3:00 until 6:00 PM Why? At the start of the year we want to welcome our new 7th and 9th grade students and families as well as reconnect with all other students and families. Important information will be shared and we look forward to starting or continuing to build our partnership with students and families through advisory What? For 7th and 9th grade families this is an opportunity to meet your TA teacher for the first time. We will offer information about the schedule, Harwood support systems, clubs and extracurricular information and the purpose of advisory. More importantly we look forward to hearing from you through some connection questions and in response to any lingering questions you might have. For all other students and families this is a great time to reconnect. In addition to the information above, we will be providing information relevant to the grade for your student such as 10th, 11th and 12th grade planning outlines for preparing for high school and beyond and an opportunity to learn about Naviance, a program used for planning purposes through our School Counseling office. How? For grades 7-10 conferences will be offered on an individual basis. For grades 11 and 12 a group option is available in addition to individual appointments. Sign up information will be shared as we get closer to August. |
Rigorous & Robust Academic Program:
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 | Each year the Air Force Association recognizes a Teacher of the Year Program for their exceptional educational abilities and contributions to STEM. Our methodology for the program consists of meeting and observing the teachers in their teaching environment. This year the honor went to Harwood's own Susannah Cowden. |
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End-of-Year JumpRope Scores  | Summer’s here! Which means the end of 2022-2023 classes… Final JumpRope reports for the 2022-2023 school year will be emailed to families tomorrow. Here is a guide to Understanding JumpRope to help with interpreting scores. In order to successfully complete a course, 9th graders need a final score that is emerging or above (1.8+), while 10th-12th graders need a final score that is proficient or above (2.6+). If a course is successfully completed, the score will remain in JumpRope, or a designation of SC (“successfully completed”) may be used if only self direction was assessed in the course. If a final course score is below this threshold, there are two things you might see:
If you have questions that are specific to a certain course, please reach out to the teacher. If you have questions about your student’s overall progress toward graduation or schedule for next year, email their school counselor. If you have general questions about JumpRope, you can reach out to Jess Deane (jdeane@huusd.org). |
Positive school climate and culture:
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 Invitation from Harwood Boosters - In need of new membership and leaders - are you interested? | Many of you may have never seen the Harwood Boosters in action. Covid brought almost all of our activity to a close after winter sports ended in March of 2020. All sports were canceled and along with it spring sports concessions. The following school year (2020-2021) there were also covid restrictions that made it very difficult for us to continue. During graduations of that year, 2 of our 5 board members' kids had all completed their high school careers. Last year (2021-2022) 2 more parents no longer have students at the school. That leaves us with our Vice President Katie Pike and myself acting President/Treasurer, Missy Semprebon. My daughter graduated in 2021 also, but because we were not able to recruit I stayed on until some normalcy could return. Concessions have been cleared to start up again. We were able to offer concessions for boys and girls senior nights and playoff games. In the past, we have let student groups run the concession stand with a Booster Representative available to assist. By having this partnership students were able to raise money for their groups and causes. We have a booth outside the gym and a hot dog cart for outside home events. It is a great way to engage the students and parents in what the boosters can do. Some other things that the Booster’s do: Have banners made to hang in the Harwood gym for our championship sports teams, gives away 2-$500 scholarships to graduating seniors each year, provide art box of supplies to support fellow students in playoffs, provide trophies to 12 season athletes, support leadership training with financial assistance, sports/group grant application process, held silent raffles, and organized volunteers for the Leaf Peepers Race. Harwood Boosters began in 1972 and has a proud tradition for helping our student groups, teams and our student body as a whole. With a brand new incoming board, it is a great opportunity to revitalize and reimagine where the Boosters goes in the future. Katie has the experience for the past few years so she can be a great asset. I can assist from afar but am no longer able to be present the way a board member needs to be. I have been part of the Booster since 2015-2016. My primary duties have been as Treasurer. Recently I have also become the president during Covid because it got down to just Katie and I. Members of Harwood Boosters enjoy the benefits of being involved in their children's education, meet other parents, teachers, administrator’s and a familiarity with the great student body at Harwood. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Harwood. The friendships I have made will stay with me long after my time at Harwood has ended. If you are interested in joining this team Katie and I are willing to answer any questions. Missy Semprebon 802-373-4546 missy@calmontbeverage.com Katie Pike 802-249-2517 kpike@huusd.org |
 | We have been busy preparing for the transition to the 2023-2024 school year and are excited to share that draft schedules for rising sophomores, juniors and seniors have been distributed. Schedules for incoming 9th grade students will be mailed home at the end of June. If students have a request for a change to their schedule they must be done through the 2023-2024 Course Change Request Form. There is also a QR code located on the back side of your printed schedule to access this form. School counselors are happy to answer scheduling questions until June 23rd, 2023. Any schedule change requests after this date will be answered upon our return in August. Up Time Form: Rising seniors who would like to participate in Up Time need to complete the following form with their parents / guardians: Up Time Form. |
| The Music Dept. continued end of year traditions by presenting the High School Music Awards Picnic and the Senior Music Showcase last week on Tuesday, June 6. The High School Music Awards Picnic was held in front of the school with Grill Master Sklar and many of the music department students in attendance. Great food, Senior Music Plaques and Department awards were presented.
The Annual Senior Music Showcase followed immediately after the Music Awards Picnic and featured ten graduating members of the music department performing a solo or group performance. Parents, family and friends were all treated to beautiful music as Seniors took the stage for the last time. Lots of gratitude from everyone involved!   |
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